Handsworth is an Anglo-Saxon name meaning "the land enclosed around hands farmhouse". It was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086, although at that that time it would only have been a very small village surrounded by farmland and extensive woodland.

Under Norman rule, the parish of Handsworth prospered and grew to include Darnall, Gleadless, Richmond and Woodhouse. Today, Handsworth is part of the City of Sheffield.