ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a typical area of 18th-century expansion, 19th-century consolidation and 20th-century decay in order fully to explore the notions of perception and protection for urban industrial landscapes. This development of an urban industrial landscape reflected and complemented the emergence of an industrial urban society in Sheffield. This new urban society had little to do with its antecedents, for the main impetus behind the growth of the ‘crofts’ in the second half of the 18th century was an increase in migration to the town. Investigations of shifting property boundaries and the occupations of local residents are a start — hopefully this brief investigation has shown just how much innovation and excitement has been masked by Victorian perceptions. The components of a steel-making site varied according to the processes undertaken there; moreover, because of the relative permanence of steel-making structures they were able to be treated more expensively than their counterparts in the lighter trades.
