| Loxley | |
|---|---|
_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7440736.jpg) Loxley Road | |
  Loxley Location withinSheffield | |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SHEFFIELD |
| Postcode district | S6 |
| Dialling code | 0114 |
| Police | South Yorkshire |
| Fire | South Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| UK Parliament | |
| 53°24′18″N1°32′16″W / 53.4049°N 1.5378°W /53.4049; -1.5378 | |
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Loxley is a village and a suburb of the city ofSheffield, England. It is a long linear community which stretches by the side of theRiver Loxley and along the B6077 (Loxley Road) for almost 2.5 miles (4 km). Loxley extends from its borders with the suburbs ofMalin Bridge andWisewood westward to the hamlet of Stacey Bank nearDamflask Reservoir. The centre of the suburb is situated at the junction of Rodney Hill and Loxley Road where the oldvillage green stands and this is located 3 miles (5 km) north west of Sheffield city centre. The suburb falls within theStannington ward of the City of Sheffield.
Loxley was a village in theWest Riding of Yorkshire under the jurisdiction of Wortley Rural District Council, until it became part of the City of Sheffield in the 1974 boundary changes brought on by theLocal Government Act 1972. Today the suburb is within Bradfield Parish Council[1] and consists almost exclusively of residential housing but it did have some industrial activity in the past. Much of the Loxley Valley is designated asgreen belt land.[2]
The place-name derives from theOld English wordslox, meaning 'lynx', andleah, meaning "glade". Loxley had a population of 1,775 in 2011.[3]
The area on which Loxley stands was originally moorland; Loxley Chase was a large expanse of upland ground set aside for hunting by theNorman lords after theConquest in the 11th century. The Loxley valley was an extensive woodland which was mentioned in theinquisition post mortem after the death of Thomas de Furnival, 1st Lord Furnival (1270–1332). Hunting on Loxley Chase was an infrequent pursuit, and so much of the more productive ground in the valley was turned over to farming. Loxley developed over the following centuries as agricultural and common land with a few scattered farms.[4][5]
The extensive forest of Loxley Chase extended as far south east asNottinghamshire in the 12th century where it joined up withSherwood Forest. Loxley is one of the locations claimed as the birthplace ofRobin Hood. It is maintained that Robin of Locksley or Robert Locksley was born in the area in 1160 with John Harrison saying in hisExact and Perfect Survey and View of the Mannor of Sheffield of 1637, "Little Haggas Croft (pasture) wherein is ye founacion of a house or cottage where Robin Hood was borne." Little Haggas Croft was in the area of present-day Normandale House on Rodney Hill. Ballads from theHigh Middle Ages published in theChild Ballads such asA Gest of Robyn Hode,Robin Hood and the Monk,Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, andRobin Hood and the Potter, as well as SirWalter Scott's 1820 novelIvanhoe all point to a possible South Yorkshire birth for the legend.[6][7]
In hermaiden speech toParliament in 2020, the local MPOlivia Blake said that theSheffield Hallam constituency had a "very long history of social justice", as mythology points to aYorkshire origin for Robin Hood in Loxley, lending her support to the idea that Loxley was the birthplace of Robin Hood.[8]
Industry came to the Loxley area in the middle of the 17th century when the first mills were set up on the fast flowing River Loxley as small pocket businesses. Steel and iron forging and rolling mills were established and became the main manufacturing processes with the Loxley Steel Works, the Green Wheel Steel Works, theLittle Matlock Rolling Mill and the Olive Rolling Mill all becoming established industries by the river. Many of the mill ponds associated with these mills are still present on the river and provide a haven for fish and wildlife.[9]
During the 1800s, the Loxley Valley became an important producer ofrefractory bricks and materials for the expanding Sheffield steel industry. The bricks were used to line the furnaces and were made from Fireclay from the Stannington pot clay seam which was prevalent in the Loxley area and the ramming materials and some bricks were made fromganister, a sort ofsandstone. Many ganister and fireclay mines existed in the area supplying the local firms of Bramalls (ganister bricks and monolithics) Siddons Bros. (ganister monolithics), Thomas Wragg & Sons (Storrs Fire Clay Works) and Thomas Marshall and Co. (Storrs Bridge Fire Brick Works) and later Hepworths, which sprang up in the district and produced the bricks. Refractory production ceased in the area in the 1990s.[10] Wraggs and Marshalls along with Dysons Griffs Works at nearby Stannington, specialised in manufacturing fireclay-based casting pit (pouring pit) refractory holloware and ladle flow control bricks for the steel industry worldwide. Carblox, part of the Marshall group, shared the Storrs Bridge Works site manufacturing carbon blocks for use in hearths in blast furnaces.
All three plants (Marshalls, Wraggs and Dysons) closed following a collapse in demand for casting pit refractories of the type made locally mainly because of the introduction of continuous casting of steel worldwide and because of the general decline of the British steel industry. Carblox's plant closed and carbon block production moved to Hepworth's Bawtry works.
Farming in the Loxley Valley was extended by the passing of theWadsley and Loxley Chase Act 1789. This allowed the conversion of moorland to grass pasture which was enclosed by straightdry stone walls and roads.[11]
Loxley suffered greatly on 11 March 1864 when the dam wall of theDale Dike Reservoir was breached causing theGreat Sheffield Flood. 17 people died in the flood in the Loxley area including five members of the Chapman family along with their domestic servant Alathea Hague and apprentice John Bower. Thetrip hammer androlling mill works owned by the Chapmans was completely destroyed. Most of the industrial mills in the area were either destroyed or severely damaged but were quickly rebuilt with compensation money from the Water Company.[12]
The substantial residential development of Loxley started between 1905 and the beginning of theFirst World War with housing expansion taking place on Rodney Hill and Loxley Road near the village green. Inter-war building established the Normandale area and post-Second World War building saw a large amount ofCouncil housing being built in the area.[2]
Present-day Loxley has a population of 1,828, living in 753 households, the majority of which (82.6%) are owner occupied. 12.5% are rented from the local authority. A high proportion (76%) of the housing in the area is either detached or semi-detached and this is well above the average for the whole of Sheffield.[13]
Loxley has no extensive shopping area with most of the residents commuting toHillsborough to do their shopping. There are threepublic houses in the area, the best known of which is the Admiral Rodney; the pub has a long history and was originally named afterGeorge Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney after his defeat of the French in theBattle of the Saintes in 1782. The current Admiral Rodney dates from 1957 when the old pub was demolished and a new one built further back from the road.[14] The Nag's Head is in the small rural hamlet of Stacey Bank and is surrounded by farm buildings at the very west of the suburb. The Wisewood Inn is the most easterly of the three and is situated in the Normandale area.
After the closure and sale into private ownership of Loxley Methodist Church in 2012, there are no longer any places of worship in Loxley. The church building being situated at the junction of Loxley Road and Low Matlock Lane; this was built in 1885.Loxley United Reformed Church, a Grade II* listed building, located near the junction on Loxley Road and Rowell Lane was constructed in 1787 and closed in 1993 and is now in private ownership although the burial ground is still used, in 2016 the chapel was destroyed by fire and as of 2020 still sits as an empty shell surrounded by construction fencing. There is one school in the area: Loxley Primary School opened in 1911 and is situated on Rodney Hill; it has just over 200 pupils between the ages of 4 and 11. Senior pupils in the area go toBradfield School inWorrall.[15]
The site of the former Hepworth's refractory works (previously Marshalls, Wraggs and Carblox works) was purchased by the house building company,Bovis Homes Group who intended to build 500 homes on the site in plans released in 2006. However the plans have met opposition from the Loxley Valley Protection Society, the Loxley Valley Design Group, theCampaign to Protect Rural England and Bradfield Parish Council. Bovis have not received permission to go ahead with the development and as of 2020 the site is still a derelict industrial site.[16]
Loxley has a recreation ground on Loxley Road near the junction with Long Lane; it is the only substantial public open space in the suburb. However, just to the north is Loxley Common, an ancient area ofcommon land which is now owned and managed bySheffield City Council on behalf of the people of the city. The common consists ofheath land interspersed with trees. The southern slopes of the common which run down to the Loxley Valley have asandstone escarpment, below which is thick woodland.[17]
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