Longley (Sheffield)

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Longley is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. It lies four km north of the city centre and is a residential neighbourhood made up mostly of housing built by Sheffield City Council in the late 1920s. The suburb falls within the Firth Park ward of the City.

The recorded history of the Longley area goes back to the Late Middle Ages with the first mention being in 1366 when it was part of the parish of Ecclesfield. At that time it was a hamlet called “Longeley”, meaning “Long Clearing”, subsequent spellings over the years were “Longlegh” and “Longlee”. From the start of the 15th century the sparse population of Longley rented their land from the Earl of Shrewsbury who was Lord of the Manor. During this time the inhabitants were mostly employed in arable and livestock farming although there was also some small scale cutlery manufacturing.

In 1617 Longley came under the ownership of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, a member of the family who later became the Dukes of Norfolk. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution the agricultural nature of Longley became threatened as the farms found it harder to be profitable and the expanding industry of Sheffield came ever closer. In the early part of the 20th century Longley became within the boundary of the City of Sheffield and was earmarked as a site for a council housing estate and the rural life disappeared altogether.

The Longley area had a number of large country houses before it became part of Sheffield, most of these have now been demolished.

Longley Hall stands on Longley Lane at its junction with Crowder Road, it was built around 1780 for Kenyon Parker a renowned and wealthy Sheffield law attorney. It is a Grade two listed building which became the target of vandals throughout the 1970s. In 1980 the hall was purchased by Business Advisory Services Ltd. who restored the building to a high standard inside and out. Today the Hall is owned by a private landlord, and operated as a Supported living project providing a home for people with a range of disabilities. It is surrounded by modern housing and well screened and is easily missed by the passer-by although there is a plaque on the wall on Longley Lane.

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