Sheffield
a municipal and parliamentary borough of England, county of York (West Riding) on hilly ground at the junction of the Sheaf and Don, about 160 miles N. of London. The site of the town was originally confined to the angle formed by the Sheaf and Don, but it now extends along the slopes above these rivers and their tributaries, the Loxley, Rivelin, and Porter. In the central parts great improvements have been made in the crowded streets by the corporation, and the suburban districts are well built and picturesquely situated. The chief ecclesiastical building is the ancient parish church of St. Peter's in the Perpendicular style. There are numerous educational and literary institutions, and the St.
George's Museum founded by Mr.
Ruskin .
The principal buildings are the town hall, the Cutlers' Hall, the corn exchange, the music hall, and the Albert Hall. There are numerous hospitals and charitable institutions. The town is well supplied with parks, chief of these being the Norfolk, Birth, and Weston parks, the latter of which includes a museum and the Mappin Art Gallery. The trade of Sheffield is chiefly connected with cutlery, for which it has long been famous, and the manufacture of all forms of steel, iron, and brass work. The steel manufacture includes armor plating, rails, engine castings, rifles, etc. There are also manufactures of engines, machinery, plated goods, Britannia metal goods, optical instruments, stoves and grates, etc. Sheffield is supposed to have been originally a Roman station. Edward I. granted it a charter as a market town in 1296, and there is indication in Chaucer's writings that the town was then noted for its cutlery. But it was only after the beginning of the 19th century that it developed such importance as a manufacturing center. The chief modern event in its history was the terrible disaster in 1864, occasioned by the bursting of Bradfield Reservoir. Pop. (1919) 473,695.