‘At The Cliffe’

Attercliffe, an industrial suburb in Sheffield’s northeast, is an anonymous place.  ‘Sheffield Attercliffe’ had been one of Sheffield’s parliamentary constituencies since 1885 but will become part of Sheffield South East. Further more, Attercliffe had recently been recategorised from the Burngreave Ward to the Darnall Ward.  It is a kind of placeless place.  This however has not always been the case.   In the beginning, Attercliffe was a small settlement centered around Attercliffe chapel, part of the parish of Sheffield. ‘Ateclive’ [meaning ‘at the cliffe’] was recorded in the Doomsday book as a small escarpment of the Don Valley.

Attercliffe was once the centre of Sheffield’s world renowned steel industry, where, out of the floodplains of the Lower Don Valley, a plethora of cutlers, forge-masters and steelworks emerged to brand the heraldic “Made in Sheffield” firmly on the city’s identity. Benjamin Huntsman, a clockmaker turned steelmaker, established a the Attercliffe Steelworks.  Here he invented the crucible process which lifted the quality of the steel industry of Sheffield from obscurity to worldwide fame.

[Cyclops Works, Sheffield]

However, beyond the works’ boundaries other developments were taking place. The extension in 1819 of the canal from Tinsley to Sheffield had passed just to the east of Attercliffe village and enabled the delivery of imported iron from Hull, via Tinsley and Goole directly into Sheffield. Many of the larger firms, including Huntsman, had acquired land adjacent to the canal to construct their own private wharves, saving time and money on the storage and transportation of the heavy raw materials.

During these prosperous times the area also supported a large residential population and Attercliffe road served as major retail centre, incorporating the original tramways and the famous John Banners Department Store [and it’s fondly remembered escalator first of its kind in Europe].

The area was known for its unique sense of community. At the turn of the twentieth century it was considered a self contained district, neither socially dependent on Sheffield nor Rotheram [but ofcourse still economically interdependent on both for global trade] and this was expressed in the number of civic facilities, many of which are either derelict or have been converted for other purposes.  The Attercliffe Free Library and Attercliffe Pubic Baths are now an office and business complex.  The Vestry Hall is now the Yemeni Economic and Training Centre.  The Adelphi, once a popular cinema and theatre venue, is now nightclub.  The Attercliffe Radical Club, aka The Rads, was a popular social club that existed as a bustling community and entertainments venue but is now derelict.

In an attempt to resist the industrial decline of the 1960s and 1970s the state evicted a large portion of the residential community to make way for more industry.  This was not successful and had a dramatic effect on the area’s demographic, ousting the community atmosphere and local identity as well as the residents.

Attercliffe is now better known for its sex shops and erotica industry.  It has become a destination for anonymity.