The Ball Inn in Darnall

 

A detail of the Ball Inn

When planning my afternoon to explore the geology along the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal and the Sheffield Board Schools in Darnall Ward, I particularly wanted to see the Ball Inn on Darnall Road, partly to take a photo for the British Listed Buildings website but also because I thought that it looked a wonderful building.

 

The front elevation of the Ball Inn

Built in the Baroque Revival style and looking more like a large bank than a public house, it had been closed for very many years but, at the time of my visit, the boarding had been removed from the windows and work had been taking place inside it.

 

A close up view of the front elevation

Although built in red brick, sandstone ashlar has been use lavishly throughout, for the grand entrance, the two storied bow windows to each side and for Ionic columns, James Gibbs style rusticated window dressings and the large round arched panels on the third floor.

 

A detail of lettering carved in relief

In its Victorian heyday, John Smiths brewery was renowned for its ales, as two of the large panels depict with large lettering carved in relief - "John Smith's Tadcaster Ales" – with the third central panel recording that the Ball Inn was rebuilt in 1904.

 

The main doorway

 

I didn’t stop to take a close look at the sandstone ashlar, but its uniform buff colour and even medium grained texture suggests that it is one of best quality sandstones quarried from the Millstone Grit in Derbyshire and West Yorkshire and brought to Sheffield by train.

 

Details of the main doorway

 

The ornate detailing around the main door surround, including the scrolled brackets with swags, also belie its function and the bulging pink granite columns - which look like Corrennie Pink from Aberdeenshire -  add another touch of luxury to the building, which at the best of times would have been surrounded by terraced houses for the workers in the steel industry.

A detail of a pink granite column