Barker's Pool
city square and street in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK
Barker's Pool is a public city square and street in the centre of Sheffield, England. The focus of Barker's Pool is the Grade II* listed 90-foot-tall (27 m) war memorial that was unveiled on 28 October 1925 to commemorate the First World War. The Grade II* listed Sheffield City Hall is on the north side of the plaza facing the Grade II listed former John Lewis & Partners department store.
History
One of the earliest known references to Barker's Pool comes from the records of the Burgery of Sheffield for 1570. The name Barker's Pool may derive from a "Barker of Balme" mentioned in a deed dating from 1434. At this time the area was known as Balm Green and was on the edge of the town. Sheffield historian Sidney Addy suggests that the name Balm Green indicates that this site was formerly used for the cultivation of the herb lemon balm.
The reservoir was reconstructed and extended by Robert Rollinson before 1631, and was demolished in 1793.
In addition to supplying drinking water, the location of Barker's Pool at the highest point in the town allowed water released from the reservoir to be guided through channels that ran along the centre of the town's streets:
All the channels were then in the middle of the streets, which were generally in a very disorderly state, manure heaps often lying in them for a week together. About once every quarter the water was let out of Barker Pool, to run into all those streets into which it could be turned, for the purpose of cleansing them.
The public source identifies “Barker's Pool” as city square and street in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Barker's, Pool and city.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Barker's Pool”, the useful work is to connect “city square and street in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4860929. Authority coordinates are 53.380, -1.472. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1925, 1570, 1434 and 1631.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Barker's Pool” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.