ECCLESFIELD

ecclesfield, a township in the hallamshire parliamentary division of the west riding of yorkshire, england, 5 m. n. of sheffield, on the great central and midland railways. the church of st mary is perpendicular, with a central tower, and contains excellent woodwork. it formerly bore, and must have deserved, the familiar title of the "minster of the moors." ecclesfield was the seat of a benedictine priory, which passed to the carthusians in the 14th century. cutlery and tools are largely manufactured, and there are coal-mines, paper mills and iron and fire-clay works. after the inclusion within the county borough of sheffield of part of the civil parish of ecclesfield in 1901, the population was 18,324.