Friends Of Sheffield Castle

31/08/2026

The 10th Castlegate Festival is set to take place 12 - 20 September. The Festival is a celebration of heritage as well as the rich arts, music and market scene in Castlegate, Sheffield’s oldest quarter.

Find all the details here:-
https://www.welcometosheffield.co.uk/content/events/castlegate-festival-2026/

Friends of Sheffield Castle & our friends from Wessex Archaeology will be doing limited tours on Saturday 19th Sept. The tours take you around the site for a hour with starting times at 10:15, 11:30, 13:30 and 14:45

This is a free event but you need to book a timeslot for each tour as we have limited numbers allowed on site The tickets are available from 12 noon on Wednesday 9th September the link is below :-
https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/sheffield-castle-excavation-tours.html

Of special interest on 20th September at 1pm will be the revealing ceremony for five new display panels along with the naming of the new park. These will be installed onto the wall on Castlegate (the road) and titled “The Evolution of Castle Hill: Where History Meets Nature” There will also be the usual Pollen Market running on Castlegate that day too.

Come and join us on the day!

30/05/2026

Please click on the link below for more detailed information on what progress has been made to the park, as reported in the latest Castlegate newsletter from Sheffield City council

Castlegate News Sheffield City Council sent this bulletin at 28-05-2026 11:30 AM BST Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. Issue 10 • May 2026 General progress on the new park in Castlegate The new park at Castlegate will celebrate 1,000 years of Sheffield’s history. It is a ...

21/05/2026

Great new article from Wessex Archaeology on the well they first discovered during the excavations on the castle site in 2024

Please click on the link for full information and details just released with exclusive videos taken just this week of a drone going down the well!

https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/medieval-well-sheffield-castle

19/03/2026

As you look at the developing site today, you’ve probably noticed a concrete structure left standing isolated on the site. It’s not just the last remaining structure of the old Castle Market, it’s actually the second concrete chamber that was built to preserve castle remains discovered by Leslie Armstrong

Many of you may have gained access in the past to view the castle ruins by the Castle Market attendant when the markets occupied the site or on one of our older tours.

What was discovered during the construction of the foundations of the first Castle Market in the early 1930s is the remains of castle walls and a tower that was overlooking the castle courtyard

Next to the tower remains walls is a cellar which appears to be vaulted, is this a castle dungeon? Who knows? There are no known plans of the Castle that we know off that could tell us of the castles original layout, only descriptions survive in the archives

The following photos show something of what was excavated and preserved inside the concrete chamber.
The plan is that these remains will be on display in the park for all to see again. Until then, the photos give you another glimpse of what we have of Sheffield Castle

06/03/2026

Please click on the link provided to see all the relevant information which is an update on progress on the site!

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKSHEFFIELD/bulletins/40a1141

This shows that good progress is being made with some elements of the park which can now clearly be seen if you walk close to the site.

Whilst it does say that the Council is working with FoSC, we are not involved with day to day matters, we are however involved with looking at the future interpretation and activities on the site and being consulted on the design of the area around the Castle gatehouse.

As soon as we can share some images we will do and also keep you updated on general progress too.

25/01/2026

Hope you managed to make it over the weekend to the heritage fair, maybe meet and chat with some of our members of the group?

Hopefully an update will follow soon as process is slow on site due to delays in the redesigning plans to include thoes finds discovered

Thank you for your support
FOSC!

09/01/2026

Save the date - Sheffield Heritage Fair 2026 with over 40 stalls including Sheffield Home of Football Stocksbridge and District Local History Society, Friends Of Sheffield Castle, Sheffield Heritage Open Days, South Yorkshire Industrial History Society, National Emergency Services Museum and many more - enjoy a great FREE day out and discover our area's wonderful history and heritage, see flyer for dates and times.

24/12/2025

Merry Christmas to all who have supported us this year, old and new followers!

We appreciate every single one of you very much!

🎄🧑‍🎄🤶🎁🦌🍻🍷🥃🍸🥂

28/11/2025

Amongst the discoveries at the castle during the Wessex digs last year, one that they were not expecting to find was the castle well!

Capped and covered over by stone slabs once they were removed, a circular stone lined well was rediscovered with water still contained in it!
It has a recorded depth of 12 meters and as it's located and cut into the motte, it could therefore date from the 12th century.
There is a strong possibility that it's the well to the original timber motte and bailey castle built on the site

Found next to the well location was a post hole with some traces of burnt timbers inside, were still waiting for the results on this to possibly give us another date in the castles timeline!
There’s speculation the post hole was part of the well head or possibly part of the walls of the original timber castle itself!

Special thanks to Aureos at Sheffield City Council, for the two last added photos taken of the well just last week.