Covering thousands of years and a multitude of topics, the book tells the story of the development from a group of small agricultural settlements into a town and then a modern city. It covers success, disappointments, miserable periods and glorious episodes that have marked the city's evolution.

It was the home of a knight, a baron, a viscount, two marquises and nine earls. The family had estates not only in South Yorkshire, but also in North Yorkshire, the Midlands and Ireland, at their greatest extent covering nearly 120,000 acres. One head of household was beheaded. Another saw one of the last wolves in the British Isles. One owner built the Palladian mansion at Wentworth, which has the longest frontage of any country mansion in Britain, and was one of the earliest growers of p...

Over a period of more than 150 years between the late eighteenth century and the 1930s the South Yorkshire rural landscape was transformed by coal mining and the movement of coal. But it was not just the development of collieries, canals and railways that caused this transformation. The population of the coalfield grew at a phenomenal rate and the new mining population, many of them migrants from other parts of the country, had to be housed near to the collieries where they worked. Small r...

In his Foreword to this book, Dr John Coutts writes:The author considers in detail the links between first-generation Salvationists and the ‘Higher Life’ movement which flourished in Great Britain in the 19th century, as well the Army’s relationship with Pentecostalism in the twentieth.Many questions, some contentious, were asked and variously answered. Does a Christian’s commitment to holy living offer, or even require, a second blessing after conversion? Or is the path of p...

If you stop and look around you will see trees everywhere: not only in woods and plantations, in parks and gardens and in hedges but also along streets, beside motorways, on old colliery sites, around reservoirs, in the centre of villages and larger urban settlements and standing alone or in small groups in such diverse places as churchyards, in the middle of fields or on high moorlands.This authoritative and copiously illustrated book guides the reader to an understanding of the natural, ...

Sheffield is the fourth largest city in England and was where the Industrial Revolution began in earnest. It is renowned for its high-quality steel and fine cutlery, for its two large universities and for having the biggest shopping centre in Europe, yet there is so much more to know about this proud South Yorkshire city. In Secret Sheffield, the authors pull back the carpet of history to reveal what lurks beneath. They delve into Sheffield’s murky and mysterious past, its dark secrets and...

The Rotherham area has undergone profound change in the last century or so. There has been much demolition and rebuilding in the town centre, the town has grown outwards in all directions and the surrounding settlements – rural and industrial – have been transformed in many cases. Many working patterns and workplaces have disappeared, means of transport have changed beyond all recognition and even how people used their leisure time in the early twentieth century shows some striking differe...

Secret Rotherham offers a unique insight into this bustling, modern South Yorkshire town through a series of little-known and forgotten stories, facts and anecdotes from its past. The town has an enviable industrial history: Nelson’s HMS Victory was armed with Walker cannons made at Masbrough, the iron plates for Isambard Brunel’s steamship the Great Eastern were manufactured at Parkgate Iron & Steel Works, and the firm of Guest & Chrimes invented the modern screw-down tap. Over the centur...

From the author of ‘Britain BC’, ‘Britain AD’ and ‘Britain in the Middle Ages’ comes the fourth and final part in a critically acclaimed series on Britain's hidden past.The relevance of archaeology to the study of the ancient world is indisputable. But, when exploring our recent past, does it have any role to play? In ‘The Birth of Modern Britain’ Francis Pryor highlights archaeology’s continued importance to the world around us.The pioneers of the Industrial Revolution wer...

The Forest of Dean is one of the largest areas of mixed woodlands in the UK with broadleaves and conifers of several species, flora and fauna, streams and ponds all masquerading the industrial remains of the Forest’s heavy industry - iron mines, furnaces, scowles and disused mines. Today it's an area for leisure, bordered by the River Wye to the west and Severn to the east.This book gives an insight into the industrial history and heritage of the area through to the present day wit...

Landskipping is a ravishing celebration of landscape, its iridescent beauty and its potential to comfort, awe and mesmerise. In spirit as Romantic as rational, Anna Pavord explores the different ways in which we have, throughout the ages, responded to the land. In the eighteenth century, artists first started to paint English scenery, and the Lakes, as well as Snowdon, began to attract a new kind of visitor, the landscape tourist. Early travel guides sought to capture the beauty a...

Sir Robert Atkyns's Ancient and Present State of Glostershire, which appeared in 1712, was the first published survey of the county. Alan Pilbeam's Gloucestershire 300 Years Ago is written to celebrate Atkyns's achievement and to present his information in a more accessible form. Atkyns's work is critically assessed with reference to other sources and used as a basis for comparison with today's landscape. Fully illustrated in both colour and black and white, it in...