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A major residential construction project in Sheffield is finally getting underway after being held up by an extended archaeological dig.
Building firm Clegg Construction started work in the spring at the former Queen’s Hotel site on Scotland Street in Sheffield city centre, where a 229-unit apartment development is being built on behalf of RISE homes. It will be known as Founders Yard in homage to its industrial past.
However, scaffolders in Sheffield have had to wait to play their part in the £40 million project as work was halted to carry out an archaeological dig. This took longer than expected and it is only now that construction work has resumed, the Sheffield Star reports.
The project is expected to be completed in 2023, with the new development featuring a rooftop garden, courtyard, meeting room and a biomass hot water and heating system.
In the planning application, architects Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson stated that Scotland Street’s layout had been established by 1736 and was fully developed by 1771, with the most notable development being the furnace established in 1759 by Sheffield’s Corporation of Cutlers.
Before that, however, the location had been part of the Town Field, which meant it was likely to have been used for agriculture as far back as medieval times before it was urbanised.
The results of the archaeological dig have not yet been revealed, so it remains to be seen if the lengthy nature of the dig was due to some unexpected finds at the site.
Speaking to the paper, contract manager at Clegg Construction Stephen Brown said the project will be a “really interesting” challenge.
He explained: “It’s on a difficult site, with the topography requiring significant retaining structures to be constructed, as well as building out the underground car park,” but added that the firm is “always up for a challenge”.
As a city with a name derived from the medieval word Sheaf, Sheffield certainly carries plenty of archaeological evidence of the period. Last year, the University of Sheffield’s Archaeology Department published details of past digs, the most recent in 2018, showing that the city’s long-lost castle was one of the most important in medieval England.
Located in the Castlegate area of the city centre, it was a major royalist base in the English Civil War. Because of this, it was mostly destroyed by the Parliamentarians in 1646.
Fascinating though any archaeological discoveries and digs can be for those interested in Sheffield’s medieval and early industrial past, this can nonetheless be frustrating for modern developers, not least in areas like Scotland Street where the former industrial landscape is being replaced by major urban residential accommodation.
However, the level of disruption faced by scaffolders and other construction industry workers can be worse in places with even older treasures buried beneath streets and buildings, such as important Roman sites.
For instance, engineers from Northumbrian Water made an unexpected discovery earlier this month when digging up the main road west out of Newcastle to lay new piping, as foundation stones from Hadrian’s Wall were discovered.
The road in question, the A186, was originally built over much of the wall, with other sections still visible alongside it today.
