Historic Architecture in Sheffield - Part 5

 

A pediment on the Cavendish Buildings

Leaving St. George’s church, having had a quick look at the building stone used in its construction, I set off back towards Sheffield city centre and stopped briefly to take a few photographs of the Mappin Building, which was built in red brick with massive sandstone dressings from 1902 to 1913, to a Baroque Revival style design by Flockton and Gibbs.

 

Views of the Mappin Building

 

The Pevsner Architectural Guide to Sheffield mentions that the eminent sculptors Frank Tory and Sons were responsible for work to the Mappin Hall in the interior and, since they were employed by the various Flockton practices for all of the carving on many of their buildings, it is likely that they were responsible for the exquisite external decoration here.

 

A detail of the Mappin Building

 

Moving down to Glossop Road, Nos. 207-215 (1906-1907) is another building designed by Flockton and Gibbs for the Birmingham District & Counties Banking Co. and comprises a bank and a row of thee shops. It is again built in brick with medium grained gritstone dressings, which could be any one of Stoke Hall, Darley Dale or Huddersfield stone – all of which are uniform in colour and texture and are suitable for ornate carving.

 

Nos. 207-215 Glossop Road

Continuing along West Street, which was widened between 1907 and 1910, there is the greatest concentration of Edwardian architecture in Sheffield, with decorative architectural faience used in several buildings that are surprisingly not listed.

 

West Street on the 1905 and 1923 Ordnance Survey maps

Nos. 252-54 West Street (1906) is one of many buildings designed for Boots the Chemist by the Nottingham based architect, A. N. Bromley. It is in a Renaissance style with a light brown faience façade, large Flemish gables and a domed cupola on the corner.

 

Nos. 252-254 West Street

Even more impressive is the Cavendish Buildings (1907) by Hemsoll and Chapman, which is built in similar brown faience and was extended in 1910 and 1919 in the same style. It was originally built as a garage and showrooms for the Sheffield Motor Company, with billiard saloons on the upper floor. Although faience buildings are not normally included in this Language of Stone Blog, the façade and the three oversized pediments are a magnificent sight in the afternoon sunshine.

 

Cavendish Buildings

 

Walking down to Devonshire Street and on to Division Street, I stopped briefly at the Water Works company offices (1867), an example of fine sandstone ashlar, which was designed by Flockton and Abbott in a Classical Revival Palazzo style - very rarely seen in Sheffield. I have never stopped to systematically photograph them, but I have always been very impressed by the carved heads on the keystones here.

 

The keystone above the entrance to the Water Works

 

Immediately next to this is the Grade II* Listed Sheffield City Hall, which I include as a stopping point when leading walks around Sheffield with the Sheffield U3A Geology Group - to look at its building stones - as it is built in the renowned Darley Dale stone, has first class stone carving by Alfred and William Tory and fine examples of British decorative stones in the interior.

 

Sheffield City Hall

On the opposite side of Barker’s Pool is the former Cole Brothers’ branch of the John Lewis Partnership, which has been a great loss to Sheffield along with Debenhams. It is now a Grade II Listed building, which I photographed for the British Listed Buildings website, but I don’t think it has great architectural merit and I continued down Burgess Street until I reached the Grade I Listed Sheffield Town Hall.

 

Sheffield Town Hall

 

Over the years, I had passed by this many times and had attended Heritage Open Days events here, to look at its interior and also with the Sheffield U3A Geology Group, but I like to stop and photograph the details whenever the light is right.

 

The clock tower at Sheffield Town Hall

 

I finished my very brief visit to Sheffield at the bronze sculpture of Thomas Boulsover, the inventor of Sheffield Old Plate, who is also commemorated by a memorial at Wire Mill Dam in the Porter Valley and the chapel at Whiteley Wood Road. Unfortunately, its Portland stone plinth is marred by the run off from the copper carbonate patina on the bronze, which nobody has tried to ameliorate by using poultices that can be quite successful on such stains.  

A sculpture of Thomas Boulsover