Improvements at Abbeydale continue this Winter

Over the last 12 months, work has been underway to develop and plan the upcoming improvements to the site, which will include a refreshed welcome area with a new shop, new interpretation and displays, the introduction of a play area and restoration of the Blowing Engine Waterwheel and Boring Shop.

We’ve begun speaking to visitors, local residents and wider stakeholders, who are helping to shape the project, as well as undertaking additional research into the site and the people who lived and worked here. We’re currently in the process of appointing a contractor to create the new play area, and working with Historic England to plan the archaeological exploration that will precede it.

As the site closes for the winter, that work is set to continue:

• We’ll shortly be kitting out a workshop space for volunteers who’ll be supporting our Historic Engineering team in caring for the Waterwheels, the machinery they run and the wider fabric of the site.
  
• Over the next couple of months, we’ll also be continuing to ask for visitors, local communities, schools and groups to help us refine the plans for the improvements on site, including the development of new schools’ workshop sessions. (Look out for more information on how you can get involved on our social media channels.)
  
  
• Towards the end of the year, we’ll begin archaeological explorations on the site of the play area (just next to the Manager’s House), an important aspect of any development at a site of historical significance. Once the exploration is complete, the subsequent work on the play area will commence in late spring.
  
  
• In the New Year, we’ll be carrying out key restoration work on the waterwheel, creating new timber spokes and repairing the historic water controls to get the Waterwheel ready to run again once the millpond is refilled (more on that below).
  
  
• In late spring, we’ll be introducing the new suite of interpretation to better tell the Hamlet’s story.
  
  
• Finally, we’ll be delivering improvements to the car park, which will take place once Sheffield City Council’s repairs to the dam have been carried out.

Alongside the improvements to the Hamlet, Sheffield City Council are currently in the process of planning the delivery of a major repair to the dam that supplies the waterwheels at the site.

The water level in the millpond has been temporarily reduced to stop a leak in the dam posing a risk to the historic buildings, in particular the Grinding Hull. The Council are currently finalising plans to carry out the repairs, which are scheduled to begin in spring 2025.

You can find more about the improvements to Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, as well as information from Sheffield City Council on the repairs to the dam, in the Q&A document below.