Abbeyfield Park Historic Park & Garden
Location/Address
None recorded
Type
Description
This Historic Park and Garden was identified and considered Locally Listed under the Sheffield UDP and UDP Policy BE21, which can be seen here: https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2022-07/03-udp-built-environment.pdf . The supporting document, which contains the schedule of identified Historic Parks & Gardens, can be seen here: https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/planning-and-development/sheffield-plan/Historic%20Parks%20%26%20Gardens.pdf. As a result, the park and all its associated features has been included in the current Local Heritage List for South Yorkshire.
Abbeyfield Park was established in the grounds of a Victorian villa with the intention of providing much needed recreational space in an area of poor provision. Much of the original layout and many features are still in evidence.
Abbeyfield House, formerly known as Pitsmoor Abbey, was built in the late 181h century by Mr Pass, the local colliery owner. Between 1850 and 1890 the Wake family, the succeeding owners, added to the house and redesigned and extended the grounds.
The Ordnance Survey map of 1890 shows an elaborate layout, typical of a villa garden in Sheffield in the Victorian period. The house was reached off Burngreave Road through a formal entrance and broad driveway and the entire garden was surrounded by stone walls. There were two lesser pedestrian gateways off Abbeydale Road and at the corner of Abbeyfield and Burngreave Roads. A well defined structure of tree groups and shrubberies existed and there was a small lake to the southern end. Substantial outbuildings and greenhouses, kitchen gardens and a walled garden are shown as well as a well developed path system linking a series of ornamental spaces
and viewpoints within the garden. Of particular interest are two features linked to the wall of the walled garden and the wall adjacent to Abbeyfield Road (4) that may have been water features or grottoes.
The house and garden were purchased in 1909 with contributions from the Sheffield Town Trust and the late H J Wilson Esquire. The intention was to provide an amenity for this part of Pitsmoor breathing space in what was a densely built up part of the city with poor recreational space provision. From 1918 to 1926 Abbeyfield House was used as school premises by Firth Park Grammar School.
Sheffield Directorate of Planning and Economic Development, 1997, Sheffield's Historic Parks and Gardens (Unpublished document).
Statement of Significance
None recorded
Date Listed
n/a
Last Updated
07 Sep 2022
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