Sheffield Castle remains set to be revealed in city centre park plan

Sheffield City Council has published detailed plans for the "transformation" of Castlegate

The remains of Sheffield's long-lost castle are set to be revealed in plans to create a new public space.

Sheffield City Council has submitted a planning application for the redevelopment of the city centre's derelict Castlegate site.

Proposals include a new park, an events space and opening up a section of the River Sheaf which has been covered since the early 20th century.

The council said its plans would create a "vibrant and inviting" area.

Castlegate is the oldest part of Sheffield and has been inhabited since at least the 11th century.

Its future has been up in the air since the indoor Castle Market was demolished in 2015.

The council hopes work will be completed by spring 2024

Under the proposals, the castle's 12th-century stone gatehouse would be exposed and visible to the public, and art would be installed to "celebrate the history of the area," the council said.

A footbridge across the remains would allow people to view them from above, the application states.

A grassed event space with a capacity for 500 people has been designed as a "nod to" the bowling green that was at the site in the 1600s.

The application also includes plans for the construction of buildings for commercial, community, education or residential use.

'Hub of activity'

Mazher Iqbal, co-chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee, said: "Our teams have worked incredibly hard to develop a plan which brings together the history of the space and offers an inviting space for Sheffielders to visit and enjoy within the city centre.

"The castle site has played a crucial part in Sheffield's history and remains an important part of our city. We hope everyone is just as excited as we are about this next step and bringing the area back to the hub of activity it used to be."

The council hopes work will begin on the site in summer 2023 and be finished by spring the next year.

The development would be funded using £20m granted through the government's Levelling Up Fund.

Sheffield Castle in the time of Edward III. The castle was a huge structure which dominated the city, but was demolished during the Civil War

A castle is first thought to have been built in Sheffield at the confluence of the Sheaf and Don rivers between 1100 and 1150 following the Norman invasion.

Historians believe the original timber and earth structure had been replaced with a stone building, commissioned by King Henry III, by the end of the 12th century.

Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in the castle for 14 years in the 1500s.

The castle was destroyed by Parliamentarians in 1647 during the English Civil War and its remains were covered by other buildings in the following centuries.

Archaeologists began excavating the site after Castle Market was demolished eight years ago.