the 16th century up to the 1920s Wadsley’s main industry was cutlery manufacturing; at the end of the 19th century there were over 100 cutler's shops in the village. The industry declined as the small workshops of Wadsley lost business to the large cutlery works of Sheffield. It is generally believed that the last little mester operating as a knife maker in Wadsley was Harry Horsfield who died in 1938. In 1901 Sheffield extended its boundaries and part of Wadsley came within the city; a further expansion in 1923 brought the rest of the village inside the city boundary. The recent history of Wadsley has been its development as a residential suburb with many houses built, especially in the area between Wadsley Lane and Langsett Avenue, in the 1930s. The original manor house that stood on Laird Road was controversially sold and demolished in 1958 to make way for the Laird Road Flats - after this happened the Wadsley conservation campaign ceased to be a coherent force. Over the next fifteen years most of the small old shops, houses and workshops of Wadsley were demolished virtually without opposition - culminating in the City Council's Wadsley redevelopment programme in 1968. Historical buildings and eminent residents Due to its former rural setting Wadsley has several country houses which are still standing within the now built-up suburb. Wadsley House Wadsley House () is a grade two listed building which stands on a cul-de-sac called The Drive. George Calvert Holland M.D. lived in the house in the mid-19th century; his writings include “The Philosophy of Animated Nature” and “Vital Statistics of Sheffield”. George Miller, a railway contractor who was involved in building the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway bought the house in 1851 and lived there till his death in 1884. The house is now a social club with a bowling green attached. Wadsley Hall Wadsley Hall, () which stands in Far Lane, is also a grade two listed building and a structure of some antiquity. It was probably built in the 15th century although it was substantially modernised in 1722 by George Bamforth, the then lord of the manor. Sir Robert Wadsley, Lord of the Manor, built a chapel on to the east end of the hall in the 15th century; this was partly destroyed in the reign of Elizabeth I although not completely demolished until 1813. From 1812 it was the home