A Brief History of Firth Park

Firth Park was Sheffield's first publicly-owned park, donated to the then town by steel manufacturer, Mark Firth.  The opening ceremony took place on 16th August 1875 when Mark Firth was Mayor of Sheffield. It was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII,  and his wife Princess Alexandra.

 

The 36-acres park is made up of a long spur of land flanked by two valleys each containing a small stream.  The two valleys were (and still remain) wooded. Brushes Wood, in the east, is an ancient oak wood mentioned in 1637 as a spring (coppice) wood. To the south of Brushes Wood is Hinde Common Wood, which was purchased and added to the park in 1909.

The main entrance to the park was the Clock Tower, and this was the focal point of the park in its early days.  It incorporated the park keeper's house, rooms for refreshment, and a verandah where visitors could shelter in bad weather.  To the north was an ornamental lake which towards the end of the 19th century had not only about a dozen ducks of various breeds but also a pair of swans and a parading peacock.

 

A very significant part of the park was the 'gymnasium', a physical education area, with its swings, horizontal and parallel bars, which in the 19th century was a very innovative idea.  Also there was what was known as a 'giant stride', a pole from which hung ropes and chains, which turned around the pole and which children hung onto and made leaps as it revolved.

 

Such was the popularity of the park that it was estimated that at the end of the 19th century, as many as 1,000 people visited the park every day in Spring and Summer, and that on Good Friday, the number of visitors might be as great as 30,000!

 

One organisation that has stood the test of time is Firth Park Bowling Club.  It is one of the founder members of the Sheffield and District Crown Green Bowling Association, which will soon reach its centenary in 2008.