Sheffield Castle Park opening delayed - because of amount of historic finds
Archaeologists have made a series of important finds on the site of the former Sheffield Castle
Last updated 24th Apr 2025
Work on creating a park celebrating Sheffield’s historic birthplace is taking longer and costing more than expected because of the sheer amount of archaeological finds uncovered in the ruins of Sheffield Castle.
Complications in work being undertaken to deculvert (uncover) the River Sheaf have also delayed the creation of Castle Park in the Castlegate area of the city centre, now expected to be completed by late 2026. The river is believed to have given Sheffield its name, originating from the Sheaf Field.
The expected budget gap for the Castle Park project, which is being delivered by Sheffield City Council, is now £5m.
The council’s transport, regeneration and climate committee will be looking at the revised plans and considering additional funding proposals next Wednesday (April 30).
The Gateway to Sheffield plan to regenerate the rundown area of the city centre was granted £20m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund in 2021, with £15.76m earmarked for the Castle Park project.
An archaeological investigation has now uncovered the castle ruins, mainly hidden underground for 400 years. This will form the centrepiece of the park celebrating the city’s long-hidden birthplace.
The original plan included only the partial deculverting of the Sheaf.
A second part of the scheme involved £1.6m funding to enable the creation of Harmony Works, a music teaching and performance hub based in Canada House, a listed building on Commercial Street.
Another £2.64m of the budget was intended to help S1 Artspace create a new cultural and art development. That was originally destined to be at Park Hill but has now been relocated to the grade II-listed former Yorkshire Bank Chambers on the corner of Commercial Street and Haymarket.
The report to the committee states: “The Castle Project will begin the process of rethinking Castlegate as a thriving part of the city centre, seeking to address long-term decline and underinvestment in a prominent historic area of Sheffield city centre.
“The new park will not only fulfil the need for high-quality green space in this part of the city but will also attract visitors and enhance the city’s
green and blue infrastructure credentials.
“It will exhibit and interpret archaeology from Sheffield Castle, deculvert the River Sheaf and celebrate the rich music scene and diverse community and cultural interests in the area with a serviced events space.”
Development plots in the park area are envisaged to bring outside investment. The report says that Sheffield College has an option to bring forward a development on the site.
The Mudfords Building on Exchange Street, which currently houses the Andalus Community Centre and Frehiwet Habesha Etritrean restaurant, may in the long term form part of a wider development plot, the report says. This could also include the site of the demolished Market Tavern plus a disused sub-station.
*Major discoveries made by Wessex Archaeology included the remains of the east and west towers of the castle gatehouse and drawbridge abutments, the moat of the stone castle and a 12.5m deep well that still had water at the bottom.
One of the most significant discoveries was of wooden stakes used in defences dating back to the English Civil War. The castle was captured from the Royalists by Parliamentary forces after a 10-day siege and was ordered to be demolished shortly afterwards.
Archaeologists also revealed 18th and 19th-century slaughterhouses and a gennel plus the remains of two cementation steel-making furnaces. Unusually, they shared a chimney and were built into part of the castle ruins.