A Trip to Fulwood on the No. 120 Bus

Fossil Lepidodendron roots in Sheffield Botanical Gardens

Usually, when I have set out on my travels - using only public transport - I have planned to go to a place where I know that I will find something interesting; however, when I set out on the No. 120 bus to Ranmoor and Fulwood – having visited the Longshaw Estate and Padley Gorge only the day before - I had no idea what I might find, because I had never been to this part of Sheffield.

Oakwood - now part of Notre Dame High School

Like Dore, Grenoside, Norton and other old villages that are set on the hilly suburbs of Sheffield, I suspected that they would contain a variety of historic buildings that are built from the local stone; however, having seen only a couple of Victorian churches and a few large private houses of similar age, including Oakwood, alongside the main road, the bus arrived at the terminus in Fulwood – set in an inter-war housing estate - and not seeing anything of interest within walking distance, I didn’t get off the bus. 

St. John's church in Ranmoor

Although a little disappointed in what I had seen to date, on the return journey to Sheffield, I got off the bus at St. John’s church in Ranmoor, which I had noted as being open during the Heritage Open Days event a couple of weeks earlier. 

Ancaster limestone used in the south door surround

Except for the tower, the original Victorian church - built in 1879 - was burned down in 1887, with the new church designed by Flockton and Gibbs reopened a year later. It is constructed of a rock faced iron stained sandstone and dressings of Ancaster limestone – a Jurassic oolitic limestone that forms a strong visual contrast in the building. 

Ranmoor war memorial

In its churchyard, the Cornish granite war memorial is a Celtic style wheel-headed cross, with knot carving and having had a quick look at this, I decided to head back to Sheffield via Endcliffe Vale Road, another road that didn’t have much of architectural interest. 

The Ridge in Ranmoor

I only stopped to follow a sign to Ranmoor Village - which I thought might direct me to its historic centre – only to find that this was just the name given to an area of student accommodation, where the sole point of interest was a very large rough block of local Carboniferous sandstone used creatively to identify a particular block of housing. 

An information sign in Sheffield Botanical Gardens

At this point, I had just accepted that this wasn’t going to be my day for finding things and, as the sky had turned very cloudy with an imminent threat of rain, I didn’t even stop when I got to the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, where the fossilised roots of the Carboniferous club moss, Lepidodendron – found when Sheffield Midland railway station was being built – and some large blocks of coal are well worth seeing.

Blocks of coal in Sheffield Botanical Gardens