Sheffield was founded in the early 12th century by the Lord of the Manor, William De Lovetot who built a castle on the site of the current Castle Market. This was burned down in 1266.  Most of the people who lived here were part-time farmers. Wool was made in Sheffield at this time and the first cutler was mentioned at the end of the 13th century.

Sheffield was beginning to be known for cutlery by the 14th century and in 1340 the king made an inventory of his possessions in the tower of London which included a knife from Sheffield.  The author Chaucer also mentioned a Sheffield “thwitel” in his Canterbury Tales.  There were many other trades at that time including butchers, bakers, brewers, carpenters, blacksmiths and shoe makers.

Bishops House was built round the beginning of 16th century and was so named because the two brothers who lived there became bishops. By 1600 Sheffield was one of the main towns in England for cutlery. In 1624 the Company of Cutlers was founded and the first Cutlers House was built in 1638. Sheffield’s population had grown to about 5,000 by the late 17th century.

In the 18th century Sheffield’s industries boomed and it was noted for its iron industry.  Benjamin Hunter invented a way of making better quality steel called crucible steel and Thomas Bolsover discovered a way of plating copper with silver.  This was cheaper than silver and was very popular for teapots and candlesticks.  In 1733 Sheffield was granted its own assay office.
By the early 1750’s the river Don was made navigable all the way to Sheffield and the roads from Sheffield to Chesterfield and Derby and  from Sheffield to Barnsley and Leeds were “turnpiked” ie: made into a privately owned and maintained road which you had to pay to use.

It the beginning of the 19th century the first census was undertaken and Sheffield had a population of over 31,000 and by 1851 this had grown to over 135,000. Sheffield had a reputation of being a grimy and dirty town but that was not surprising considering its heavy industries but in 1818 under an Act of Parliament a group of men called the improvement commissioners had the powers to pave, clean and install gas lighting to the streets of Sheffield.  A police force was also formed around this time.

A charter was granted to Sheffield in 1843 giving the townspeople certain rights and a town council was elected which gradually took over the powers of the improvement commissioners.  Sheffield was made a city in 1893 and the town hall was constructed in 1897.

Towards the latter part of the 19th century Thomas Bessemer invented a way of making better quality steel and began producing this in Sheffield in 1858 although cutlery making continued to be the dominant industry. By 1900 the population of Sheffield was over 400,000, although this was partly due to boundary changes.

Sheffield University was founded in 1905 and the first cinema built in 1910.  Sheffield was bombed in 1916 during World War 1 after which Sheffield’s heavy industries entered a recession with severe unemployment during the 1920’ and 30’s. During World War 2 Sheffield was bombed again with industry and other major buildings being hit hard with and over 3,000 homes destroyed.

The traditional industries of Sheffield such as iron, steel and cutlery making declined in the 20th century although they remain a major employer and there is still an important surgical instrument making industry thriving today.

Meadowhall shopping centre was built in 1990 on the site of some demolished steel works, the Museum of Popular music opened in 1991 and Supertram began operating in 1994. The Castle Market shopping centre which was built on the original Sheffield Castle site in 1959 is due to be replaced with a new market complex to be opened towards the end of 2010.  There are numerous market places situated in the surrounding township.

Today Sheffield has become noted for its hi-tech information technology and specialised metals development and manufacturing industry and its population has grown to around 550,000.