You are standing close to where Olaudah Equiano walked in August 1790. His visit to Sheffield was arranged by the Reverend Thomas Bryant, a local Methodist minister who understood the power of Equiano's story and the importance of bringing it before the people of this city.
Wincobank Hall, which stood not far from where you are now, was the home of Joseph and Elizabeth Read — radical thinkers who were among Equiano's most committed supporters in Sheffield. Their daughter, Mary Anne Rawson, would go on to attend the inaugural World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840, and later formed the Sheffield Ladies Association for the Universal Abolition of Slavery.
The thread from Equiano's visit to this hillside in 1790 runs directly to the abolition of slavery across the British Empire in 1833.
— Dr Rev. Inderjit Bhogal, The Equiano WayThe hill you stand on — Wincobank Hill — is itself ancient. There is an Iron Age hill fort here, and the hill has been a place of significance for thousands of years before Equiano or Wesley ever walked these paths.
As you begin your journey, carry with you the knowledge that this place was once a centre of resistance, of radical thought, and of faith put into action.