New Magna exhibition charts history of the site

BOSSES at struggling tourist attraction Magna hope that a new exhibition charting the history of the site will lead to more visitors.

Steelos Gallery - which has been supported by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £74,800 - includes video, audio, touch screens and a giant map.

It tells the story of the Templeborough site from Roman times to the present day after research by staff and volunteers along with the University of Sheffield.

Stuart Ballard, Magna’s education manager, said: “We wanted to tell the story of the site to set this building in context. There was an ironworks here when there was a Roman fort at Templeborough and these steelworks were vital during the First World War.

“This building is as important to this area as Chatsworth or Cannon Hall. The heritage of Sheffield and Rotherham was built on steel.”

The site once employed 10,000 people and produced up to two million tonnes of steel a year when it was Steelos steelworks.

The factory included 14 furnaces and 14 chimneys before its closure in 1993.

It was mothballed before being converted into Magna.

The new exhibition was officially opened by Rotherham Mayor Cllr Maggi Clark at a ceremony recently.