Sheffield is a city in the metropolitan county of South Yorkshire, north central England, within the junction of the Don River and four of its tributaries, at the southern foot of the Pennines. Sheffield is a major steel-manufacturing center, noted especially for its stainless steel products, notably cutlery. The city is found an essential coal-mining region and features iron and brass foundries and manufactures that include steel tools as well as other metal products, processed foods, and glass. Among the superb structures in the city are the former parish church (largely 15th century), which since 1913 has been the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, as well as the 15th-century Bishops House, now housing a museum. Sheffield incorporates a municipal museum along with the remarkable collections of the Mappin and Graves art galleries. Also here are the University of Sheffield (1905) and Sheffield Hallam University (1992, formerly a polytechnic college).
Sheffield was already known by the 14th century for the manufacture of cutlery. Waterpower, furnished by the area's rivers, as well as the local availability of iron ore and coal were the primary reasons for the community's industrial progress. A silver-plating technique was developed within 1742, and in the 1850s the inventor, Henry Bessemer, developed a process for the inexpensive production of steel. Such developments led to the city's prominence during the British steel trade. Sheffield suffered deterioration from German bombing throughout World War II and has since undergone extensive reconstructing.