Hallamshire

Hallamshire (or Hallam) is the historical name for an area of South Yorkshire, England, in the current city of Sheffield.

The origin of the name is uncertain. The English Place-Name Society describe "Hallam" originating from a formation meaning "on the rocks". Alternative theories are that it is derived from halgh meaning an area of land at a border, Old Norse hallr meaning a slope or hill, or Old English heall meaning a hall or mansion.

The exact boundaries of this historic district are unknown, but it is thought to have covered the parishes of Sheffield, Ecclesfield, and Bradfield—an area roughly equivalent to those parts of the present-day borough of the City of Sheffield that lie to the west of the rivers Don and Sheaf that are within the boundaries of the ancient county of Yorkshire (later descriptions also include Brightside and the parish of Handsworth).

In Anglo-Saxon times, Hallamshire was the most southerly of the "small shires" or regiones of the Kingdom of Northumbria. Its southern border with Mercia was already fixed and may have Celtic origins.

The mother church of Hallamshire lay five miles north of Sheffield at Ecclesfield, whose placename includes the Common Brittonic or primitive Welsh root *eglẽs meaning "church", suggesting that Hallamshire has even earlier roots and must have existed as a territorial unit at the time of the area's first conversion to Christianity during the Romano-British period.

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