In 1866 the West Riding County Asylum at Wakefield had 1,130 beds and was suffering from overcrowding, having trebled in size in the previous 25 years.

[1] Work on levelling the land on the sloping site took place in 1868 and building commenced on the construction of the South Yorkshire Asylum in the summer of 1869 with the architectural plans being mainly drawn up by Bernard Hartley, the West Riding surveyor from 1868 to 1884.

In 1986 the number of patients at Middlewood had reduced to 600 as a community oriented service was developed in conjunction with the NHS and Sheffield City Council.

It was sold off to various other developers such as Redrow, Barratt, Harron Homes, Wimpey and PJ Livesey although Bloor’s were the major house builder for the new Wadsley Park estate which was constructed on the site of the old hospital.

In March 2012 plans were submitted by architectural design consultancy Coda Studios to converted the Victorian church into a mixture of town houses and apartments.

[9] The planning application was formally refused by Sheffield City Council in July 2020 on the grounds it would have a negative impact on the Listed Building and the Conservation Area surrounding it.

The stumps display long roots on one side and short on the other, which scientists at the time considered an indication of the ancient wind direction.

The discovery was judged so significant that in 1875, under the direction of the eminent Sheffield scientist Henry Clifton Sorby, two sheds with large windows were built to protect the biggest stumps from the weather and allow visitors to view the fossils.

Following a scientific study project at the time of house construction they are now buried under open space adjacent to Middlewood Drive.