Hallamshire

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Hallamshire (or Hallam) is the historical name for an area of South Yorkshire, England, centred on the current city of Sheffield.

The strong association of the suffix "-shire" with counties was a reasonably late development. Historically, the term shire would simply mean the district appropriated to some city, town, or castle. Hallamshire is usually assumed to be the district associated with a town ("vill") called "Hallam", but there is no known record of such a town's existence, and little is known about the early history of this district.

The exact boundaries of this historic district are unknown, but it is thought to have covered the parishes of Sheffield, Ecclesfield, Bradfield, and possibly Handsworth—an area roughly equivalent to those parts of the present-day borough of Sheffield that lie to the south and west of the River Don, and are within the pre-1974 boundaries of the traditional county of Yorkshire^[1].

Contents 1 History 1.1 Anglo-Saxon Hallamshire 1.2 After the Conquest 1.3 Present day Hallam 2 Connection to Robin Hood legend 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References

[edit] History

[edit] Anglo-Saxon Hallamshire

In Anglo-Saxon times, Hallamshire was in the border district between the Kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia. The Domesday book states that the manor of Hallam ("Halum") included sixteen hamlets or settlements and had existed before the 1066 Norman conquest of England as part of the lands owned by Waltheof, the Earl of Huntingdon, who had an aula or hall located in this district. Some historians have suggested that Sheffield was the location of Waltheof's aula, stating as evidence that the Domesday book asserts that the manor of Sheffield had once been inland of the manor of Hallam—that is, land reserved for the Lord of the manor. Indeed, an early 20th century excavation at the site of Sheffield Castle found evidence of an Anglo-Saxon building on the site^[2]. However, other historians have concluded that the Domesday book specifically excludes Sheffield as the site for the aula, noting that it describes Hallam and Sheffield as separate manors, and states that Waltheof's aula was in the manor of Hallam^[3]. Alternate sites have been suggested in and around the Rivelin valley, but it is unlikely that the location of the aula will ever be unequivocally identified^[4]. As the principal settlement in the district, the area around the aula may have been destroyed by the harrying of the North in the winter of 1069–1070, and its location forgotten.

Sheffield and Attercliffe, although once parts of the manor of Hallam, were separate manors at the time of the Domesday survey.

[edit] After the Conquest

Waltheof initially submitted to William I and was allowed to keep his lands. He took part in a failed uprising to support the 1069 invasion by Sweyn II of Denmark and Edgar Ætheling (including an attack on York), but then once again submitted to the William and was granted Judith, the King's niece, to marry. However, after taking part in a conspiracy against William in 1075 Waltheof was executed.

Initially, Judith retained his lands (including Hallamshire), but after Judith refused a second marriage to the Norman knight Simon Saint Liz, William confiscated much of her lands and handed them to her eldest daughter Maud, who then married Saint Liz in Judith's stead. After the death of Saint Liz, Maud married David, the heir to the crown of Scotland, and the Waltheof's lands and Earldom were passed to him.

It is possible that Hallamshire was exempted from this transfer and remained in Judith's hands. The Domesday book states that the manor of Hallam was held by Roger de Busli "of the Countess Judith". The exact nature of the arrangement between Judith and de Busli is unknown, however there is evidence that such an arrangement may have continued for a number of centuries—an inquisition following the death of Thomas de Furnival in 1332 found that his ancestors had held the manor of Sheffield "of the King of Scotland", paying a yearly service of two white greyhounds.

During the 12th century, William de Lovetot acquired most of the land within the Sheffield area including the old manors of Hallam, Sheffield, and Attercliffe. He had his castle constructed in Sheffield, establishing the town as the dominant settlement within Hallamshire. Sheffield gained a large parish, and a larger manor which encompassed most of Hallamshire—the subsequent history of the district being part of the History of Sheffield.

[edit] Present day Hallam

Hallam has come to mean, broadly speaking, that area of Yorkshire in the foothills of the Peak District and southwest of the River Don. The region includes much of western Sheffield, and the parish of Bradfield. Suburbs and villages within this area include Bradfield, Broomhill, Crookes, Fulwood, Hillsborough, Loxley, Stannington, Strines, and Walkley.

A number of institutions, companies, and Public Houses use the "Hallam/shire" name to reflect their association with the Sheffield area :

• The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire is a trade guild of steelworkers, founded in 1624 and based in Sheffield.
• Sheffield Hallam is a Parliamentary constituency in western Sheffield, demographically one of the wealthiest such constituencies in Britain.
• Hallamshire was a Parliamentary constituency from 1885 to 1918
• The Diocese of Hallam is a Roman Catholic diocese in England, covering South Yorkshire, northern Derbyshire and northern Nottinghamshire. Its mother church is the Cathedral Church of St Marie in Sheffield.
• Royal Hallamshire Hospital is a large hospital in the Broomhill district of Sheffield.
• Sheffield Hallam University is one of the two universities in the City of Sheffield. Created when Sheffield City Polytechnic became a university in 1992, it took the name Hallam to distinguish it from the pre-existing University of Sheffield.
• Hallam FM is a local radio station which broadcasts in Sheffield, Doncaster, and Barnsley.
• The Hallam Line is a railway line that runs from Sheffield to Leeds via Barnsley.
• Hallam F.C. is one of the oldest football clubs in the world.

[edit] Connection to Robin Hood legend

The small village of Loxley, or Locksley, now a suburb of western Sheffield, lies within Hallamshire. The leafy and hilly area nearby known as Loxley Common (next to Hillsborough Golf Course) is traditionally cited as the birthplace of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood. In many legends Robin Hood is said to have been a displaced son of the lord of Hallamshire, who at this period in history resided at his manor at Loxley. This also ties in with the traditional idea of Robin Hood being related to Scottish nobility, if not distantly, because the lords of Hallamshire were descendants of the early medieval kings of Scotland through the Earl of Huntingdon.

[edit] See also

• History of Sheffield
• History of Yorkshire

[edit] Notes

1. ^ See chapter I (transcribed at Wikisource) of Hunter (1819) for a discussion of the boundaries of Hallamshire.
2. ^ Accounts of the 1927–1930 (and more recent) archaeological investigations of Sheffield Castle can be found on the Sheffield Markets website and at the Sheffield Galleries & Musuems Trust archaeology website (both accessed 13 August 2005).
3. ^ See Hunter (1819) p18
4. ^ A discussion of possible locations of the aula can be found in chapter II of Hunter (1819)

[edit] References

• Hunter, Joseph (1819) Hallamshire. The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York. London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mayor & Jones. This book is out of print but can be purchased on CD-ROM.
• "Lordship of Hallamshire". Brief History of Rotherham. URL accessed on 13 August 2005.