The Hole In The Road in Sheffield city centre

[Sheffield History]

 

THE HOLE IN THE ROAD SHEFFIELD

Above is a short video of The Hole In The Road in Sheffield city centre, surely Sheffield's most famous landmark with its infamous fish tank.

The Hole In The Road is perhaps one of Sheffield's most well known famous landmarks. It's no longer there now having been replaced by Park Square Roundabout tram stop.

The Hole In The Road was an underpass in the centre of Castle Square roundabout that was built in 1968.

Underneath the roads a labyrinth of walkways, shops and passageways was created to bring a state of the art area of Sheffield which was groundbreaking and extremely popular at first.

One of the most famous features of The Hole In The Road was the fishtank that was built into the walls containing 2000 gallons of water and usually around 20 fish including carp, goldfish, bream and roaches.

In the centre of the hole in the road was usually a flower feature and around the central part of this Sheffield landmark were benches where shoppers used to sit and rest their weary feet after a hard day shopping for bargains in Sheffield city centre.

To get down under the roads into the hole in the road there were pedestrian escalators or on other parts there were simple walkways that at first were popular but as time went on became very run down.

In 1994 The Hole In The Road met it's end having been run down for many years. It was closed and filled in with the rubble from the demolition of Hyde Park Flats.

The famous Sheffield landmark was basically closed and filled in to make way for the brand new supertram network with the Park Square Roundabout stop being located right above where the hole in the road would have been.

What started out as a subterranean shopping centre turned out being a run down and often scary place to be, with the benches being often filled with alcoholics or the homeless who found refuge in this underground location.

Shops that were located in or around the hole in the road were C&A, Thorntons, Walsh's, House Of Fraser, GT News and more. Back in those days this was still the hub of Sheffield shopping but as business moved further up town towards Division Street it soon started getting very quiet indeed.

Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker talked about the landmark when asked about places that inspired him, saying: "One of my earliest memories is of being taken there as a young child to look at the fish tank that was set into one wall, as a reward for not causing too much trouble during a shopping expedition.

“When it was first built I guess it was seen as a symbol of Sheffield's determination to be a 'City of the Future', but it soon became the favourite hang-out of the local wino population. They would occupy the long curved benches that ran around the circumference of the building leaving little or no room for weary shoppers."

As you can tell the Sheffield Hole In The Road landmark was both fondly remembered and disliked in equal measure but one thing is for sure, every Sheffielder remembers it.