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Old Wall On Norfolk Park Road


JohnEBoy

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I think the low level arch may have been built to take the wall's weight off of an underground drain run or culvert.

In the case of small drains a stone or concrete lintel is used where drains enter or leave a building in order that the building walls don't settle on to the drain/sewer.

For a larger drain or culvert a stone arch could have been used.

Do the arches line up with any possible water courses connected with the lake ? I've just looked on the Lost Rivers of Sheffield map and it shows two streams running under the road from Norfolk Park and joining at the site of the lake before running down to the Sheaf. (see previous SH topic).

Just to add my two-pennorth to the lake debate, I was born early 1947 and trips to the Farm Grounds for the Sheffield Gala were a regular part of my childhood.

I remember the lake during my early visits but as an twelve year old in 1959 I was taken to the gala by the young couple who had just become our new neighbours and discovered that the lake was being filled in.

I do remember seeing some water in a partly filled in culvert but this was situated towards the Granville Road end of the site.

HD

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The Arch could be part of the culvert (already mentioned) what was the spring feed for the lake that was in the grounds, which does substantiate my theory that the road was much lower than it is now.

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Feeds don't go always directly to its target, the lake, the water may have gone into some kind of holding cistern, this only a supposition I must add.

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In 1824 the old farmhouse was enlarged as a residence for the Duke of Norfolk's agent, Michael Ellison, thirty years later in 1854 it was further enlarged by Weightman, Hadfield & Goldie, as an occasional home for the Duke and his family. The map is a section of a O.S. map of 1903. In an earlier post a sluice can be seen in the top pointed section of the lake, the smaller lake seems to be a "Header" pond to feed the lake, so you have to ask yourself just where did the water that fed the Pond come from, which leads me to the Arches in the wall at pavement level, did local springs flow through these sections to keep the water at a reasonable level.

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As there was probably a roof that only sloped slightly, this would have been a good point for intruders to climb over an otherwise high and secure wall. So to deter unwanted visitors the property owners put glass on the top in the place where people climbed over.

On another wall nearby, near the Almshouses on Norfolk Road, there is what appears to be random sections of the 5ft tall wall topped with this same concrete & glass security stuff?

Regarding the above-mentioned 'arches' on Norfolk Park Road (almost below ground level) that seem to be drainage of some sort, there are four in total, all in the section between Norfolk Park Drive and the Norfolk Park Road entrance to the park on the other side.

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Can someone link this post with the one posted some time ago about the lost rivers and streams of Sheffield. Or was it on that "other forum" ?

If you Google "Lost Rivers of Sheffield" it comes up with a map that shows, amongst all the other streams, two watercourses that come down through Norfolk Park and crossing under Norfolk Park Road combine in the area of the old pond.

If you add these two supposed culverts with the possibility of sewers draining towards the trunk sewer running down Granville Road, you could soon come up with the four arches. If you look under "Historical Maps" on the Picture Sheffield website, the last map shows the late nineteenth century sewer network and the drainage districts.

I knew a bloke who bought an old house in Sheffield. When he cleared out the cellar he found a similar arch half buried in the wall in the lower end of the cellar. He started to dig to investigate but gave up somewhat sharpish when he came to the large brick sewer it was protecting.

HD

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Guest Adam Broadhead

Just seen this topic, and yes from what you are all saying about this small stream near Norfolk Park, it supports my "lost rivers" map. I recall the evidence for the map in this area being a little thin - so mainly linking up tiny segments of stream shown on historical maps by looking at the contours. But, as someone said, the road levels are likely to have been built up significantly.

The arches in the wall do suggest a culvert/drainage channel at some point. Or something akin to the collecting water at a trough/spring as shown really well in these photos going on Ebay right now.

The same effect of "hidden" bridges over watercourses is, incidentally, a big clue to hunting lost rivers in Hull. See this Street View image showing a single span bridge seemingly built into the walls at the sides of this road, with no visible watercourse around; it is culverted and now a sewer.

Can someone link this post with the one posted some time ago about the lost rivers and streams of Sheffield. Or was it on that "other forum" ?

If you Google "Lost Rivers of Sheffield" it comes up with a map that shows, amongst all the other streams, two watercourses that come down through Norfolk Park and crossing under Norfolk Park Road combine in the area of the old pond.

If you add these two supposed culverts with the possibility of sewers draining towards the trunk sewer running down Granville Road, you could soon come up with the four arches. If you look under "Historical Maps" on the Picture Sheffield website, the last map shows the late nineteenth century sewer network and the drainage districts.

I knew a bloke who bought an old house in Sheffield. When he cleared out the cellar he found a similar arch half buried in the wall in the lower end of the cellar. He started to dig to investigate but gave up somewhat sharpish when he came to the large brick sewer it was protecting.

HD

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