Opened in 2001, the Sheffield Millennium Gallery is housed in a contemporary concrete and glass building that provides a counterpoint to the city's Victorian heritage. The gallery houses a comprehensive collection of fine Sheffield metalwork, including teapots and razors. The Ruskin Collection, the life's work of Victorian author John Ruskin, encompasses an eclectic range of material such as Renaissance art, Durer and Turner engravings, and natural history illustrations. Just a few minutes' walk from the Millennium Gallery in the city center, Sheffield Winter Garden is a glass house 230 feet long and more than 70 feet tall with a collection of approximately 2,500 plants from around the world. Admission is free, and the gallery includes a small art gallery and cafe.
Elsecar Heritage Centre occupies mid-19th century ironworks and workshops once owned by the Earls Fitzwilliam, local grandees and industrialists. The center runs a program of events year-round and includes craft and antique shops, and exhibits about the surrounding village of Elsecar. Take a walk around the village to see the charming stone cottages built for workers in the 19th century. Elsecar is 11 miles north of Sheffield, and entrance and parking are free. A 25-minute drive from Sheffield, Wortley Top Forge Industrial Museum is a former manufacturing site dating back to the 17th century and it retains its 19th-century water wheels and water-powered drop hammers, which still can operate today. Run by volunteers, the museum is open on Sundays and public holidays from Easter until early November.
Forty miles north of Sheffield and set in 70 acres of gardens, woods and grassland, Cannon Hall was, for nearly 300 years, the family home of wealthy iron magnates the Spencer-Stanhopes. It was converted into a museum in 1957 and exhibits there include paintings, furniture and ceramics. The grounds have a walled garden, pathways through the parkland and lakes where visitors can fish. Wentworth Castle, 30 minutes' drive north of Sheffield, is a magnificent mix of Baroque and Palladian architecture built and added to from the 17th to 19th centuries. The house is not open to the public, but the surrounding 60 acres of landscaped gardens and 600 acres of woods and farmland are open. Guided walks are available, and wildlife flourishes, including fed and fallow deer.
Visit Penistone, a small town set in rolling farmland about 14 miles north of Sheffield. Penistone has many fine Victorian villas and terraces, and a cinema built in 1915, the Penistone Paramount, still is in business. Pop into the ArtHouse Cafe on Church Street for a light lunch, made with locally sourced ingredients. Twenty-two miles west of Sheffield, the town of Bawtry was a river then canal port until the advent of the railway in the mid-19th century. The town's High Street has many well-preserved 18th- and 19th-century buildings, and some inviting traditional pubs. The Ship serves a pub menu and a selection of ales such as Mansfield Original Jennings Bitter.
