Local events

• Room 5, Showroom Cinema, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield S1 2BX
• Tuesday 15 September at 7.30pm

Talk by David Mercer on how Local Castles in Sheffield shaped the understanding of Norman castles in England.
Mrs Armitage (1841-1931) was a pioneer archaeologist and historian in the field of castle studies. Her book ‘The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles’ (1912) is credited with establishing the principle that the motte-and-bailey castle was an early Norman innovation, overturning the idea that they were of Anglo-Saxon date. With over a century of research into castles following this seminal thesis, it is time to reassess Armitage’s legacy and show how local castles were fundamental in establishing her thesis on the earliest castles in England.

• Garden Room, Ranmoor Parish Centre, 5 Ranmoor Park Road, Sheffield S10 3GX
• Tuesday 15 September at 7.30pm

Talk by David Moseley on developments from horse-drawn tram to the city’s ‘last tram week’.

• Weston Park Museum, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TP
• Wednesday 16 September at 1pm

Join Rachel Atherton, Curator of Archaeology at Sheffield Museums, as she explores the restitution and repatriation of museum objects to their original communities.
Suggested donation £5. Booking recommended.

• Christ Church meeting room, Manchester Road, Stocksbridge S36 1DY and online
• Wednesday 16 September at 7.30pm

Talk by Ashley Tuck of Wessex Archaeology.

• The New Library, West Wing Malton School, Middlecave Road, Malton YO17 7NH
• Wednesday 16 September at 7.30pm

Speaker Geoff Taylor. Iron Mining on the North Yorkshire Moors -150 years ago the area supplied a third of the country’s iron and steel.

• Portland Works Randall Street, Sheffield S2 4SJ
• Wednesday 16 September at 7pm

This talk by Julie Banham explores the little known yet significant Sheffield furniture industry; its size, craftsmanship, services and organisation and how it won over local and later national markets by offering styles to suit increasingly demanding and sophisticated markets.

• online – book for details
• Wednesday 16 September at 7pm

Romany Gypsies have lived in the UK for over 500 years and have faced systemic persecution since their arrival. In 2024, John-Henry Phillips, himself from a Romany background, and Dr Stu Eve, led the first ever archaeological excavation of a historic Romany site in Britain. Featured in Digging for Britain, the excavation uncovered the little-known ‘Gypsy Compounds’ and ‘Gypsy Rehabilitation Centre’ sites of forced assimilation that operated until the late 1970s.
This talk explores the history of Romany Gypsies in the UK, the overlooked Romany heritage still visible today, and the unique and powerful discoveries made during this groundbreaking excavation.

• St John's Church, 5 Ranmoor Park Road, Sheffield S10 3GX
• Saturday 12 September at 4pm

A talk by Margaret Bennett and Val Hewson, followed by viewing of the art works, church trails and refreshments. Part of Heritage Open Days, also open on 15 September 2-4pm, 16 September 10am-12 noon, and 17 September 2-4pm.

Walkley Historians talk – History is Here

• Walkley Community Centre, 7A Fir Street, Sheffield S6 3TG
• Friday 18 September at 7.30pm

• Exchange Street, Sheffield S1
• Saturday 19 September

As part of the Castlegate Festival and Heritage Open Days, the Friends are offering four hour-long tours at 10.15, 11.30, 13.30 and 14.45 of the Castle site. Booking opens after 12 noon on 9 September – hurry as they book up very fast.

• Showroom, 5 Paternoster Row, Sheffield S1 2BX
• Saturday 19 September at 2.30pm

Best-selling author Sarah Gristwood discusses the centuries-old code of courtly love which held the Tudors in thrall — and which explains some of the mysteries around our most famous dynasty. Her books include ‘Arbella: England’s Lost Queen’ and ‘Elizabeth and Leicester’.
Ticket prices £9 Members/£11 Non Members

• Hartington Village Hall, Hide Lane, Hartington SK17 0AP
• Saturday 19 September 9.30 to 17.15; Sunday 20 September field visits

The conference is being brought to you in collaboration with the Tudor Farming Interpretation Group, who have been working around the River Dove on one of the most complete records of environmental change in an upland fringe landscape in the British Isles; we shall be looking at how this landscape has developed from the prehistoric period, using the results of pollen analysis, OSL dating of earthwork features, documentary research and landscape survey.
This work is hugely relevant to our understanding of environmental and social change both locally and nationally, and also very timely in view of the fact that the Archaeological Research Framework for the Peak District National Park will be undertaken this year.
Ticket prices vary and there is an optional dinner – please see the website.