Sylvester Gardens, Sheffield, South Yorkshire - Post-excavation Assessment

Wessex Archaeology

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned to carry out a programme of site investigation and recording in relation to a mixed use development at ‘Site C’, Sylvester Gardens, Sheffield.

The archaeological remains were predominantly structural and related to industrial development of the site from the early to mid-19th-century through to the demolition of standing remains in 2018. In additional to industrial buildings, a series of stone foundations excavated in the north of Area 2a correlated to early or mid-19th-century worker’s housing seen on historic mapping.

Two early stone structures (1156 and 2144) could not be dated and may relate to agricultural or other use of the site prior to industrial development. The walls of a goit (a channel such as a mill-race) known from mid-19th-century maps were revealed. Fragmentary structural evidence survived of the original early/mid-19th-century Ward’s Wheel, with its south-eastern stone foundations excavated in Area 3, as well as walls preserved within later phases of the Porter Island Works.

Three phases of the Porter Island Works grinding workshop were recorded including walls, floors and potentially the settings of grinding troughs. Some evidence for the use of belt power was identified. Grindstones had been reused structurally including as flooring. An associated boiler room was recorded to the north. To the south of the grinding workshop, structures were recorded relating to a furnace marked on 20th-century maps. The type and function of the furnace could not be determined. To the east of the grinding workshop was an area of 20th-century development, including walls, a lift shaft and a weighbridge. The structures were constructed on natural alluvial deposits associated with the Porter Brook. Natural alluvial deposits were studied and shown to comprise material from a series of high-energy events.

The finds assemblage is of moderate size, and dates entirely to the post medieval/modern period (probably all 18th-century or later). It is typical of assemblages recovered from the industrial centre of Sheffield, containing a mixture of domestic refuse alongside evidence for metalworking and cutlery handle manufacture. Environmental sampling added little to our understanding of the site.