Shepherd Wheel

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Shepherd Wheel.

Shepherd Wheel is a working museum in a former water-powered grinding workshop situated on the Porter Brook in the south-west of the City of Sheffield, England. One of the earliest wheels on the River Porter, it is one of the few remaining—and effectively complete—examples of this kind of enterprise, one that used to be commonplace in the Sheffield area. Its 5.5 m (18 ft) diameter overshot water wheel is powered from a large dam stocked with water diverted from the Porter Brook. The workshops, dam, goit and wier are Grade II* listed^[1], and the site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

1 History
2 The museum
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Works on the site of Shepherd Wheel date back at least as far as 1584 when the wheel was passed to the sons of William Beighton in his will. The present buildings date from c1780, during the time that Edward Shepherd—after whom the site is now named—was the tenant of the wheel (1749–1794). Throughout the 19th century the wheel was held by the Hinde family, who operated it until its closure in 1930^[2].

In 1900, Sheffield City Council bought the land surrounding the wheel from the Duke of Norfolk to make a public park. After a campaign by local history societies, the wheel was restored and opened as a museum in 1962. The museum was closed in 1997 and passed to the management of the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust in 1998^[2].

[edit] The museum

Since 1998, Shepherd Wheel has been run as a museum by the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust. The museum includes a water wheel, two grinding hulls and grinding wheels—all in working order, which now do not work. There is also a collection of tools and equipment on display within the grinding hulls. Generally the museum is only opened for pre-booked school and group visits. However, the museum is also opened to the public on selected Sundays and bank holidays throughout the year.