A History of Shepherd Wheel
In 1584, William Beighton, a cutler of Stumperlowe left to his sons in his will
"all my interest terms titles and possession which I have in and upon one watter whele called
Potar Whele which I have of the grant of the said Lord".
This is the earliest reference to a wheel on the site. The description of this wheel matches one that
a Mr Shepherd held the tenancy of in 1794. There were no similar wheels in the area, which leads us
to the conclusion that the references are to the same wheel. From the 1820s, the wheel was occupied
by a family called Hinde. They worked there for over a hundred years until the end of Shepherd Wheel’s
working life in about 1930.
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In William Beighton’s time, the land was originally owned by Gilbert Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, who was
Lord of the Manor of Sheffield. When he died, his estates passed to Thomas Howard, who became Duke
of Norfolk. The land remained with the Dukes of Norfolk until 1900, when Sheffield City Council bought Whiteley
Woods to make a public park.
Shepherd Wheel was included in this public park. Over many years, local historical societies campaigned
for its restoration and the site was opened as a museum in 1962. After closure in 1997 the site was placed
under the management of Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust in 1998.
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