The huge concrete apartment complex, completed in 1961, continues to divide opinion but is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance, celebrated in music, art and on stage in the award-winning musical Standing at the Sky’s Edge.
And now members of the public are invited to join a series of public tours around the housing complex.
The monthly tours will be led by residents and tickets cost £6. They are available to book via https://parkhilltours.eventbrite.com
When they were built, replacing rows of rundown back-to-back housing, the flats at Park Hill were among the most civil engineering projects of their day. The 995 flats and maisonettes were linked by bridges – famously dubbed ‘streets in the sky’ – which were wide enough to accommodate milk floats. There were four pubs – The Earl George on The Pavement, The Link and the Scottish Queen on Gilbert Row, and the Parkway on Hague Row – and 31 shops.
Park Hill hasn’t always been as well loved as it is today, with the newly refurbished flats becoming among the city’s most sought-after addresses. But as these photos from the archives show it has been home throughout its six decades to a thriving community.
Take a look back over the history of Park Hill with our photo gallery below.
1. Eighties life
Sheffield's Park Hill flats pictured in January 1986 Photo: Sheffield Newspapers Ltd
2. New play area
Children using the new play area, created by Prince's Trust volunteers, at Park Hill Primary school, on Duke Street, Sheffield, in 1998 Photo: Waistell
3. Concrete brutalism
The architecture at Sheffield's Park Hill flats has always divided opinion, with some people huge fans of the concrete brutalism and others less keen Photo: Star
4. Photography
Eric Winnert with his photographs of Sheffield's Park Hill flats, in one of the flats Photo: Stuart Hastings