Forge Dam Park is a park in Fulwood, in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Forge Dam Park is the fourth of the Grade II listed Porter Valley Parks, a connected series of parks (when travelling west from Sheffield city centre) along the course of the Porter Brook. The Шаблон:Convert park is on the site of the Old Mayhouse Farm and Forge Dam. It was acquired by the J G Graves Charitable Trust in 1938.[1]
History
In the 1700s, Sheffield's industry was focused on the manufacture of cutlery. To aid this, the Porter Brook was dammed diverting the water to a series of grinding mills. As the town expanded through the 19th century, the Porter valley was used for walks.[1]
Sheffield Corporation (later Sheffield City Council), purchased Шаблон:Convert of land in the area in 1885 with the intention of building pleasure grounds as well as to improve local sanitation by building a new sewer. The new park was designed by William Goldring, who included features to improve the aesthetics of the walks, such as gravel paths, flower beds and stepping stones.[1]
In 1913, when the pleasure grounds were sold, they advertised "boating, fishing, bowling green, swings, tearooms, and motor boats"[2]
Today, the park is laid out a roughly rectangular space occupying approximately Шаблон:Convert. It is located between Quiet Lane, Whiteley Lane, Ivy Cottage Lane and fields to the south. The main entrance is located on Ivy Cottage Lane, with some informal parking along the road.[1]
In 1924 Patrick Abercrombie said of the parks, "The Porter Brook Parkway, consisting as it does of a string of contiguous open spaces, is the finest example to be found in this country of a radial park strip, an elongated open space, leading from a built-up part of the city direct into the country, the land occupied being a river valley and so for the greater part unsuitable for building."[1]
