historical

HISTORICALNOTE

TheUniversityofSheffielddevelopedfromthreelocalinstitutions:theSheffieldSchoolofMedicine,FirthCollegeand

oolofMedicine,founded1828,lyhistorywasvery

incureanditwassavedfromcollapbytheopeningofFirthCollege,whichtookovertheteachingofallbasic

sciencesubjectstomedicalstudents.

FirthColleglopedoutofthe

CambridgeUniversityExtensionMovement,aschemedesignedtobringuniversityteachingtothelargetownsand

citiesofEngland,cessofthecoursinSheffieldledMark

Firth,alocalsteelmanufacturer,toestablishtheCollegein1879asacentreforteachingArtsandSciencesubjects.

TheSheffieldTechnicalSchool

TheSheffieldTechnicalSchoolwastheproductoflocalconcernabouttheneedforbettertechnicaltrainingofthemen

responsibleforrunningthegreatindustriesofSheffield,entwasstartedwithinFirth

Collegetocollectfundstocreateatechnicaldepartment,whichwastablishedin1884astheSheffieldTechnical

1886theSchoolmovedtonewpremisonthesiteoftheoldGrammarSchoolatStGeorge’sSquare.

In1897,thethreeinstitutionswer

stepwaspartoftheplantolinkupwiththeVictoriaUniversity,afederationoftheUniversityCollegesatManchester,

LiverpoolandLeeds.

By1900,however,theFederalUniversitywasdisintegratingandwithinafewyearsindependentuniversitieswere

formedfromthethreeUniversityColleges.

On31May1905theUniversityofSheffieldwasgranteditsRoyalCharter,andinJulythenewFirthCourtBuildingon

ge’sSquareremainedthecentreof

AppliedSciencedepartments,withArts,MedicineandSciencebeinghoudatWesternBank.

TheUniversityin1905

AtthetimeoftheUniversity’sfoundationin1905therewere114full-timestudentsreadingfordegreesinArts,Pure

Science,1919whenreturningex-rvicemenwereadmittedinlargenumbers,the

full-timestudentfigurerotoashort-livedpeakofabout1,theFacultyofAppliedSciencehadsplitinto

EngineeringandMetallurgy;theUniversity’sfirstHallofResidence(theoriginalStephensonHall)hadbeen

established;andtheEdgarAllenlibraryhadopened(1909).

AtthattimetheUniversityscovered

notonlymanyconventionalacademicsubjectsbutalsotopicsasdiverascow-keeping,railwayeconomics,mining

theFirstWorldWarsomeofthewerereplacedbyteachingof(andparticipationin)

munitionsmaking,medicalappliancesdesignandproduction,translationandpolitics.

Betweenthetwowarsfull-timestudentnumbersstabilidatabout750andexpansionintonewareasofspecialist

ondWorldWarbroughtwithitnewareasofspecialistrearchand

training-in,forexample,radar,dietaryandvitaminstudies,productionofanaestheticsandchemicals(assubstitutesfor

materialspreviouslyimportedfromEurope),magnetism,fuelproductionandeconomy,navalcartography,glass

manufactureandEnglishlanguageteaching.

SincetheSecondWorldWar

SincetheSecondWorldWar,manyolderhoushavebeenbroughtintoacademicuandmajornewbuildingshave

beenconstructed-theMainLibraryin1959,andtheArtsTower,HicksBuilding,AlfredDennyBuilding,SirRobert

HadfieldBuilding,ChemicalEngineeringBuilding,UniversityHou,fiveHallsofResidenceandtheUnionof

Studentsinthe1960s.

NewbuildingsforGeographyandPsychologyfollowedinthe1970s,alongwiththeCrookesmoorBuilding(forLaw

andManagement),theRoyalHallamshireHospital,tdecadesawtheopeningof

theOctagonCentre,theSirHenryStephensonBuilding(forengineering),andmajorextensionsattheNorthernGeneral

Hospital.

Inthe1990s,newpremisfortheSchoolofClinicalDentistry,theManagementSchool,theSchoolofEducation,St

George’sLibrary(incorporatingBlackwell’sUniversityBookshop)andStGeorge’sFlatsandLectureTheatrewere

opened,togetherwithextensionstoStephenson,Halifax,andTaptonHallsofResidence,andthreenewblocksof

studentflats.

TheRegentCourtbuilding,whichhoustheDepartmentsofComputerScienceandtheInformationSchoolandthe

SheffieldCentreforHealthandRelatedRearch,onofStudentsunderwenta£5million

developmentprogramme,improvingwelfare,socialandmeetingsfacilities.

FollowingtheUniversity’sintegrationwiththeSheffieldandNorthTrentCollegeofNursingandMidwiferyin1995,a

buildingprogrammcludesthe

extensionandconversionoftheStGeorge’sHospitalsiteonWinterStreet,andtheconstructionofanewbuildingatthe

NorthernGeneralHospital.

HistoricalNote

The21stCentury

TheUniversity’additionsincludethe£80

millionrefurbishmentprogrammeforlaboratoriesinthemedical,biologicalandphysicalsciences:

Custom-builtUniversityHealthCentre.

TheSheffieldBioincubator.

MultidisciplinaryInformaticsCollaboratoryfortheSocialSciences.

Otherdevelopmentsinclude:

Theinaugurationofthe£20millionNorthCampus(housingtheKrotoRearchInstituteandthe

NanoscienceandTechnologyCentre).

A£20millionrefurbishmentoftheStudents’UnionandformerUniversityHou.

ConstructionofTheDiamond,an£81millionNewEngineeringBuildingontheJessopEastsite,whichis

predictedtobring£44.5millionintothelocaleconomyduringtheconstructionphaandfirstyearof

operation,withanongoingannualcontributiontoSheffield'conomyof£20.6million.

A£21milliondevelopmentofthevenstoreyPamLiversidgebuilding,housingtheFacultyofEngineering

GraduateSchool.

A£3millionrefurbishmentoftheDepartmentofJournalismStudiesonMappinStreet.

TherefurbishmentoftheCrookesmoor,building,previouslythelocationoftheUniversity’sSchoolofLaw,

tohoutheManagementSchool(whichmovedfromMappinStreet).

TheconstructionofInformationCommons,a£23millionlibraryandstudyspacebuildingwith24hour

access.

A£160millionbuildingprogrammewithprojectstoredevelopresidentialaccommodationontheEndcliffe

andRanmoorsites,completedin2008and2009respectively.

Theaward-winningFactoryoftheFuturewhichformstheheartoftheAdvancedManufacturingRearch

Centre(AMRC).

ThreebuildingsfortheFacultyofArtsandHumanities:TheJessopBuilding,TheSoundhouandJessop

West.

TherefurbishmentoftheGradeII*listedArtsTower.

Anew527spacemulti-storeycarparkandretailfacilityonthesiteoftheexistingDurhamRoadcarpark

(currentlyinconstruction).

ImplementationoftheCampusMasterplantodeveloptheUniversityEstateoverthe10-15yearsfrom2014.

Themile-long‘campus’nowstretchesalmostunbrokenfromStGeorge’sSquareintoCrookesmoor,withstudent

firstfiftyyearsofitxistencetheUniversity’s

full-timestudentpopulationdidnotriabove2,1980,however,ithadreached8,000andin2006thenumber

offull-timestudentshadrinto21,alstudentpopulationnowtops26,000andincludesstudentsfromall

overtheworld.