Millhouses Park

Before the park was created, the area had been used for farmland and small industrial sites, which had been built to take advantage of the power provided by the river. The Ecclesall corn mill—remnants of which can be seen at the north of the park—is recorded as early as 1299, when it was given by Robert de Ecclesall to the monks of Beauchief Abbey. The Skargell or Bartin wheel was located on the site of the present-day boating lake. It was a cutlers wheel that was constructed in the first half of seventeenth century and remained in use into the mid-nineteenth century. In the late eighteenth century land at Millhouses, known as the Grange Ville Estate, was purchased by Peter Wigfall. He died…

In 1907 William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 7th Earl Fitzwilliam gave some of his land in Millhouses to the City of Sheffield. The City Council bought more land and laid out a public park. By the 1930s facilities at the park included a boating lake, an open-air swimming pool, paddling pools, a cricket pitch, bowling greens, and tennis courts. In 2010, Splash Waterplay was opened, completing the renovation of the old Lido area. This now incorporates a traditional and adventure play area, skate park and Splash area. The old paddling pools were also filled and landscaped to form a 'fish ladder' which allows migratory fish to swim up-stream to spawn. It also creates several rock-pools and planting…