Wadsley Bridge

Coordinates: 53°25′07″N 1°29′55″W / 53.4187°N 1.4987°W / 53.4187; -1.4987

Wadsley Bridge is a suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of the city centre. The area is a mixture of residential housing and small industrial and commercial premises.

Etymology

Wadsley Bridge was named after the bridge at SK334905 called High Bridge near the eastern end of the Sheffield Wednesday ground in what is now called Owlerton. The bridge carried the track between the villages of Ecclesfield and Wadsley over the River Don in the early 17th century, and the immediate area around the bridge became known as Wadsley Bridge. The original description was “the hamlet near the bridge at Wadsley”. The centre of the suburb has now moved northerly and is centred on the railway bridge over the A61 road at SK334914 and many people think that the district is named after this bridge.

History

Wadsley Bridge started to expand during the 18th century when water power was harnessed and various mills were built on the River Don on Clay Wheels Lane and at the foot of Leppings Lane. John Hoult had a paper mill which was later converted into a steel tilt and run by the Sanderson Bros firm. The suburb was changed by the opening of the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway in 1845, Wadsley Bridge railway station was opened to serve the community and the railway bridge was constructed over the rough trail which went north to Ecclesfield which was later to become the A61. The Sheffield Tramway was extended to Wadsley Bridge in June 1924 with the ground beneath the railway bridge having to be excavated so the tram could pass under. The bridge itself was a small stone arched structure which double decker buses later had trouble getting under, having to move into the middle of the road to avoid hitting the stonework. It was replaced in the early 1970s when the A61 became dual carriageway, by a higher and wider structure.

Wadsley

Coordinates: 53°25′N 1°31′W / 53.41°N 1.52°W / 53.41; -1.52

Wadsley is a suburb of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It stands 3 miles (5 km) north-west of the city centre at an approximate grid reference of SK321905. Wadsley was formerly a rural village which was engulfed by the expansion of Sheffield in the early part of the 20th century.

History

The origin of the name Wadsley is thought to come from a personal or mythological name, possibly Wad, Wadde, Wade or Wada, in conjunction with the Old English word “leah” which means an open space or glade in a wood. A feudal manorial system existed in Wadsley in the Early Middle Ages under the control of Aldene. The Anglo-Saxon estate of Wadesleah is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 in its genitive form of Wadesleia. After the Norman conquest of England Waltheof, the last of the Saxon lords retained Hallamshire of which Wadsley was a part; however he was beheaded in 1076 for rebellion against William the Conqueror and his lands passed to his wife Judith of Lens, with Roger de Busli, first Lord of Hallamshire, holding power.