Matthew 13:9 – Peace Garden – Sheffield, UK - Etched in Stone on Waymarking.com

The garden is on the site of a church built in 1720 at a time when Sheffield was expanding. However in later years the size of the congregation fell and by 1938 the Church of England did not need it anymore. The church was demolished to make room for a planned extension to the nearby Town Hall, but this was abandoned after the outbreak of the 2nd World War. The council turned the area into a temporary garden named St. Paul’s after the church. However after the end of the war local people started to call it the peace garden. Eventually the council officially changed the name to the Peace Garden on Hiroshima Day, 6th August in 1985.

The council then decided to redesign the gardens for the millennium, and with funding from the Millennium Lottery Fund completely renovated the gardens, with a large number of fountains and seating areas.

This plaque commemorates the history of the garden. At the bottom of the plaque is the quote form Mathew.

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS FOR THEY
SHALL BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF GOD

The remaining text above the quote is

THIS SQUARE PREVIOUSLY NAMED ST. PAUL’S GARDENS
WAS CALLED BY THE PEOPLE OF SHEFFIELD THE PEACE
GARDENS & WAS DEDICATED AS SUCH ON HIROSHIMA
DAY ON 6TH AUGUST 1985 IN THE PRESENCE OF THREE
HIBAKUSHA SURVIVORS OF THE ATOMIC DEVASTATION
OF THE CITY OF HIROSHIMA. IT WAS REBUILT IN
CELEBRATION OF THE SECOND MILLENNIUM AND
REDEDICATED IN THE NAME OF PEACE ON
9TH DECEMBER 1998 BY THE CHILDREN OF SHEFFIELD

This plaque is one of a set of three on the garden wall next to the town hall. One of the others commemorates people from Sheffield who died in the Spanish Civil War. The final plaque commemorates all people of Sheffield who have died fighting in any war.

Address: The Peace Gardens Pinstone St. Sheffield United Kingdom S1 2HH Website: [Web Link]

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