By Tim Lambert
c. 1120
A castle is built on the site Sheffield. Afterward, a little town grows up in the shadow of the castle.
1266
Sheffield Castle burns
1270
The castle is rebuilt
c. 1300
There are cutlers in Sheffield
c. 1380
Chaucer mentions a Sheffield knife. The little town is already known for its cutlery.
1600
Sheffield is the main town outside London where cutlery is made
1603
Thomas Crowland leaves money in his will to found a grammar school
1617
Sheffield has a population of 2,207
1624
A Company of Cutlers is founded
1628
A workhouse is built
1642
During the English Civil War Royalists occupy Sheffield
1644
Parliamentary troops capture Sheffield
1648
Sheffield Castle is destroyed
1690
The population of Sheffield is about 5,000
1707
A boy’s charity school is founded
1721
Earl Gilbert’s Hospital is founded
1756
The road from Sheffield to Derby is turnpiked
1758
The road to Leeds is turnpiked
1762
Assembly Rooms are built
1763
The first theatre in Sheffield is built. The population is over 10,000.
1773
Sheffield is given its own silver assay office
1801
Sheffield has a population of more than 31,000
1818
Improvement Commissioners are formed to pave and clean the streets. The streets of Sheffield are lit by gas.
1832
Cholera kills 402 people. A dispensary opens where the poor can obtain free medicines.
1836
The first cemetery is formed. The Botanical Gardens opens.
1843
Sheffield is given a charter
1851
Sheffield has a population of over 135,000
1856
Sheffield gains a public library
1864
Sheffield bans the building of back-to-backs (houses joined back to back). A dam bursts and the flood kills 240 people.
1873
Horse drawn trams run in the streets
1875
Ruskin Gallery is founded
1887
Mappin Art Gallery opens
1897
Sheffield Town Hall is built
1899
The first electric trams run in Sheffield
1900
The population of Sheffield is over 400,000
1905
Sheffield University is founded
1910
The first cinema in Sheffield opens
1916
Sheffield is bombed by zeppelins and 28 people are killed
1934
Graves Art Gallery opens
World War II
Bombing kills 589 people in Sheffield
1959
Castle Market Shopping Centre is built
1985
The Fire/Police Museum opens
1990
Meadowhall Shopping Centre is built
1991
Sheffield Museum of Popular Music opens
1994
The Sheffield Supertram begins running
1997
Sheffield City Airport opens
2001
Millennium Gallery opens. The population of Sheffield is 513,000.
2003
The National Ice Centre opens. The Winter Garden opens.
2006
Millennium Square opens
2010
The population of Sheffield is 547,000