Whirlow is a suburb of the City of Sheffield in England, it lies south-west of the city centre. The suburb falls within the Dore and Totley ward of the City. It is one of the most affluent areas of Sheffield, with much high class housing and several notable small country houses within it. During the Victorian era it was home to some of Sheffield's most influential citizens. Whirlow straddles the A625 (Ecclesall Road South), the main Sheffield to Hathersage road. The suburb covers the area from Parkhead in the north to Whirlow Bridge in the south and from Ecclesall Woods in the east to Broad Elms Lane in the west. Whirlow had a population of 1,663 in 2011. Etymology The name Whirlow means “Boundary Mound”, it is a very appropriate, as the nearby Limb Brook which rises on the moors around Ringinglow and flows south-east through Whirlow on its way to join the River Sheaf at Abbeydale was formerly an important boundary marker. The brook separated the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria as well as the ecclesiastical provinces of Canterbury and York and latterly the counties of Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Whirlow has had many spelling variations over the centuries including Horlow, Hurlowe, Horlowe, Horloo, Whirlowe, Whirlawe and Whirley. History The use of the suffix “Low” in a place name often means a tumulus. Although no burial remains have been found at Whirlow there is a strong possibility that there was a burial mound in the vicinity which indicates the presence of the Tumulus culture of the Middle Bronze Age people. In 2011 excavations revealed remains of a substantial 1st or 2nd century AD Roman rural estate centre, or ‘villa’ on what is believed to be a pre-existing Brigantian farmstead at Whirlow Hall Farm. The excavations also revealed pieces of Mesolithic chipped flint which included a microlith, scraper and retouched blade. In the years following the Norman conquest of England, the hamlet of Whirlow was part of the manor of Ecclesall. The name of the Parkhead district is a reminder that the area was a medieval deer park which stretched down the hill to the River Sheaf. In the 16th century the park was changed into a coppice wood, the same size and shape as the present day Ecclesall Woods. The first documented mention of Whirlow came in a grant of land of 1296 in "le Horlowe" in "le parke