Hallamshire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hallamshire (or Hallam) is the historical name for an area of South Yorkshire, England. An Anglo-Saxon shire, it was the southernmost district of the kingdom of Northumbria. The exact boundaries of this district are unknown, but it is thought to have covered the parishes of Sheffield, Ecclesfield, Bradfield, and possibly Handsworth—an area roughly equivalent to those parts of the present-day borough of Sheffield that are in the traditional county of Yorkshire.
Contents |
[edit] History
Historically the term shire referred to a district appropriated to some city, town, or castle. The strong association with counties was a later development. Hallamshire then, could be assumed to be the district associated with the town of Hallam. However, there is no known historical record of such a town's existence.
Little is known about the history of this district prior to the Norman conquest. The Domesday book states that the manor of Hallam had existed before the conquest, and that it included sixteen hamlets or settlements. Prior to the conquest it had been part of the lands owned by Waltheof, the Earl of Huntingdon—the Domesday book states that he had an aula or hall located in this district. Waltheof initially submitted to King William I and was allowed to keep his pre-conquest lands. He took part in a failed uprising in 1069, but then once again submitted to the William and married Judith, the King's niece. After taking part in a conspiracy against William in 1075 Waltheof was executed. Waltheof's lands, including Hallamshire, were retained by his wife Judith. However, after she refused a second marriage to the Norman knight Simon Saint Liz, William confiscated much of her lands and handed them to her eldest daughter Maud, who was married to Saint Liz in her stead.
After the death of Saint Liz, Maud married David, the heir to the crown of Scotland, and the Waltheof's lands were passed to him. However, Judith may have been allowed to retain Hallamshire, as the Domesday book states that the manor of Hallam was held by Roger de Busli "of the Countess Judith". The exact nature of the arrangement between Judith and de Busli is unknown, however there is evidence that such an arrangement may have continued for a number of centuries—an inquisition following the death of Thomas de Furnival in 1332 found that his ancestors had held the manor of Sheffield "of the King of Scotland", paying a yearly service of two white greyhounds.
After the Norman conquest, a castle was built in Sheffield, and the town became the dominant settlement within Hallamshire. However, the importance of Sheffield prior to the conquest is unknown. Some historians have suggested that Sheffield was the location of Waltheof's aula, stating as evidence that the Domesday book asserts that the manor of Sheffield had once been inland of the manor of Hallam—that is, land reserved for the Lord of the manor. Indeed, an early 20th century excavation at the site of Sheffield castle found evidence of an Anglo-Saxon building on the site[1]. However, other historians have concluded that the Domesday book specifically excludes Sheffield as the site for the aula, noting that it describes Hallam and Sheffield as separate manors, and states that Waltheof's aula was in the manor of Hallam. Alternate sites have been suggested in and around the Rivelin valley, but it is unlikely that the location of the aula will ever be unequivocally identified[2]. As the principle settlement in the district, the area around the aula may have been destroyed by the Harrying of the North in the winter of 1069–1070, and its location forgotten. Sheffield gained a large parish, and a larger manor which encompassed most of Hallamshire—the subsequent history of the district being part of the History of Sheffield.
[edit] Connection to Robin Hood legend
The small village of Loxley, or Locksley, now a suburb of western Sheffield, lies within Hallamshire. The leafy and hilly area nearby known as Loxley Common (next to Hillsborough Golf Course) is traditionally cited as the birthplace of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood. In many legends Robin Hood is said to have been a displaced son of the lord of Hallamshire, who at this period in history resided at his manor at Loxley. This also ties in with the traditional idea of Robin Hood being related to Scottish nobility, if not distantly, because the lords of Hallamshire were descendants of the early medieval kings of Scotland through the Earl of Huntingdon.
[edit] Present day Hallam
Hallam has come to mean, broadly speaking, that area of Yorkshire in the foothills of the Peak District and southwest of the River Don. The region includes much of western Sheffield, and the parish of Bradfield.
Settlements in Hallam include:
A number of institutions and companies have tried to associate themselves with this historic district by using the names Hallam and Hallamshire:
- The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire is a trade guild of steelworkers, founded in 1624 and based in Sheffield.
- Sheffield Hallam is a Parliamentary constituency in western Sheffield, demographically one of the wealthiest such constituencies in Britain.
- Hallamshire was a Parliamentary constituency from 1885 to 1918
- The Diocese of Hallam is a Roman Catholic diocese in England, covering South Yorkshire, northern Derbyshire and northern Nottinghamshire. Its mother church is the Cathedral Church of St Marie in Sheffield.
- Royal Hallamshire Hospital is a large hospital in the Broomhill district of Sheffield.
- Sheffield Hallam University is one of the two universities in the City of Sheffield. Created when Sheffield City Polytechnic became a university in 1992, it took the name Hallam to distinguish it from the pre-existing University of Sheffield.
- Hallam FM is a local radio station which broadcasts in Sheffield, Doncaster, and Barnsley.
- The Hallam Line is a railway line that runs from Sheffield to Leeds via Barnsley.
- Hallam F.C. is one of the oldest football clubs in the world.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Accounts of the 1927–1930 (and more recent) archaeological investigations of Sheffield Castle can be found on the Sheffield Markets website and at the Sheffield Galleries & Musuems Trust archaeology website (both accessed 13 August 2005).
- ^ A discussion of possible locations of the aula can be found in chapter 2 of Hunter (1819)
[edit] References
- Hunter, Joseph (1819) Hallamshire. The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York. London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mayor & Jones. This book is out of print but can be purchased on CD-ROM.
- "Definition of Hallamshire" & "Lordship of Hallamshire". Brief History of Rotherham. URL accessed on 13 August 2005.
