The painting of Beauchief Abbey was by Reuben Bower (1828-1912) and is the property of Museums Sheffield.
In another post, we looked at the history of Beauchief Abbey and now we look at some of its romantic legends and secret tunnels.
It is said that an underground passage runs between Beauchief Abbey and Norton Church. About halfway between the two buildings is an iron box full of treasure which can be removed only by a white horse with his feet shod the wrong way; furthermore, he must approach the box with its tail foremost.
Then there is a supposed passage between the mill house at Millhouses and the Abbey, where gold plate belonging to the Abbey is reputed to have been hidden at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries in 1537.
Finally, there is another legend attached to Lees Hall, a mansion that once adjoined Lees Hall Golf Course and dated to 1626. Before that the site was thought to have been occupied by the White Canons from Beauchief Abbey, and that an underground passage went from one of the cellars in the house to the Abbey.
Local legend said that Lees Hall was used as a place of refuge for Mary Queen of Scots in her flight from Elizabeth I, and that there was also another secret passage leading to Manor Castle.
The mansion was demolished in 1957, described as “one of the tragedies of urban development in Sheffield,” and all traces of it reclaimed by nature.
Unfortunately, excavations at Beauchief Abbey during the 1920s didn’t reveal any evidence of the tunnels, but stories persist that the secret passages are still waiting to be discovered.
Until Beauchief Abbey, together with the surrounding estate, was purchased by Frank Crawshaw in 1922, little beyond the name and a private chapel with a western tower, remained to remind anyone of the former magnificence of this house of Premonstratensian Canons.
At this time, Beauchief Abbey (comically mispronounced outside Sheffield, it should be spoken as Beechiff), was set in a beautiful rich valley, through which the Abbey Brook meandered, bounded by well-wooded hills and by the distant Derbyshire Moors.
Sheffield has swallowed it up now, but Beauchief Abbey remains in a tranquil location and its history remains a mystery to many.
The suburb of Beauchief takes its name from the small abbey, founded on the southern border of Hallamshire over eight hundred years ago.
Beauchief is a Norman French name for the ‘beautiful headland’ above the River Sheaf.
The abbey was dedicated to St. Mary and St. Thomas the Martyr, otherwise known as Thomas Becket and now more commonly known as St. Thomas of Canterbury.
It was founded somewhere between 1173 and 1176 by Robert FitzRanulph, former Sheriff of both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and Lord of Alfreton and Norton in Derbyshire, Edwalton in Nottinghamshire and Wymeswold in Leicestershire.
The Beauchief estate was created in a remote part of FitzRanulph’s manor of Norton, right on the border with Yorkshire.
Photograph by Delcampe.net
The White Canons (or Premonstratensian Canons) came from Welbeck Abbey which had been founded in 1153. The White Canons lived under a rule less strict than that of the monks, and attended regular services at the abbey church, ate a vegetarian diet in the refectory, and slept in the common dormitory.
The abbey land amounted to about 800 acres with the abbey set in a park of about 200 acres with several fishponds fed by the small stream.
The White Canons also owned a corn mill at Bradway, a fulfilling mill on what is now the site of Dore Station, a corn mill to which Millhouses was named after, and a smithy – Smithy Wood.
Beauchief was surrendered ‘without any trouble or giving opposition’, as part of the dissolution of monasteries, and in April 1537 was granted by Henry VIII to Sir Nicholas Strelley , Lord of Ecclesall, on the opposite bank of the River Sheaf. The description of the property granted was of ` the house and site of the abbey or monastery De Bello Capite’ and included gardens, orchards, ponds and parks plus a further 259 acres.
In 1648, it passed through the marriage of Gertrude Strelley to Edward Pegge of Ashbourne, who used much of the stone from the abbey to build a suitable country house called Beauchief Hall.
Seven bays wide and three storeys high, it was built on a site to the south-west of the abbey described as `a gentle descent on the brow of the hanging wood, the bellum caput or Beau Chef’. The house is thought to have been the site of the Grange where the monks formerly made their butter and cheese.
Photograph of Beauchief Hall by Neal Theasby.
Pegge adapted the ruins of the abbey church into a private chapel and by the 1660s this was the only part of the old abbey remaining.
The present appearance of the abbey grounds owes itself to excavations carried out between 1923 and 1926 by William Henry Elgar, an Art Master at King Edward VII Grammar School.
Frank Crawshaw, a businessman and local councillor, as owner of the estate, encouraged the excavations and on the very first afternoon a wall to the west of the cloister was discovered, and during the next two months they succeeded in tracing this southward to the refectory doorway.
Search was then made for the opposite wall, and when it was found attention was drawn to the eastern end of the abbey and defining the site for excavation. When the sanctuary was laid bare the base of the high alter and two broad steps were uncovered in which several fourteenth century tiles bearing arms were found.
A recess was also found in the north wall which had held a coffin of a full grown man, believed to have been the founder, Robert FitzRanulph. Several bones and portions of the lead coffin were found.
“The buildings included an aisleless cruciform church about 150ft long, each transept having two almost square chapels, and a great western tower. Abutting against the tower was the western range of the cloister, and against the south transept came the eastern range: the south side of the cloister was formed by a long refectory with a kitchen adjoining it.”
Sketch by William Henry Elgar, 1926. The British Newspaper Archive.
In March 1931, Frank Crawshaw gifted Beauchief Abbey to Sheffield Corporation, which agreed to buy the nearby golf course, the adjoining Abbey Farm, land, and woods, comprising about 166 acres, and extending from near Woodseats to Twentywell Lane, for £30,000. Parts of the old estate have now been built on – Greenhill and Bradway – and the areas around Abbey Lane and Hutcliffe Wood.
Today, only the western tower of the Abbey remains, together with some ruins (including a wall) to the immediate south-east. The tower is attached to the chapel (now a church). The foundations of other buildings are visible, and the medieval fishponds still exist.
Much of the old estate is now occupied by two golf courses (Abbeydale Golf Club and Beauchief Golf Club), but several areas of ancient woodland remain: Parkbank Wood to the east of the Abbey, Old Park Wood and Little Wood Bank to the south, Gulleys Wood in the centre of the park and Ladies Spring Wood to the west.
W.H. Elgar explaining some of the arch stones of Beauchief Abbey to members of the Derbyshire and Hunter Archaeological Societies in 1925. Photograph by The British Newspaper Archive.
The map shows the approximate area of Hallamshire as described in the 14th century (red shaded area) overlaid on a map of the modern ceremonial county of South Yorkshire.
Hallamshire is an ancient name for Sheffield and the villages, hamlets and farmsteads in the surrounding countryside. It is a name that everyone knows, but very few know what it means, and where it was.
Let’s go back to the days before the County of York existed.
Hallamshire is first recorded by its full name in a charter of 1161, although it is thought to be much older. The Domesday Book of 1086 used the shortened version, though it was transcribed as Hallun.
The name Hallam is peculiar; it looks to have had a Frisian origin; and probably was derived from the great tribe of the Halling or Halsing. The lordship belonged to the Waltheof family for a considerable time before the Norman conquest; passed to a female heiress of that family in 1075; passed afterwards to the Earls of Northampton; had a seneschal in the time of Edward I; and then parts of it belonged to the Duke of Norfolk.
The English Place-Name Society describe Hallam originating from a formation meaning “on the rocks”.
Alternative theories are that it is derived from halgh meaning an area of land at a border, Old Norse hallr meaning a slope or hill, or Old English heall meaning a hall or mansion.
Hallamshire was the most southerly of the Northumbrian shires, for it shared a border with the kingdom of Mercia.
The extent of its boundary is unclear, but it would seem to have constituted the Saxon manor of Hallam, included the parish of Sheffield, together with the parish of Bradfield and the smaller Saxon manor of Attercliffe.
In later chronicles, Sheffield, Bradfield, Ecclesfield and Handsworth are included under the term.
In broader terms, Hallamshire probably covered much of the same area as does present day Sheffield.
Its legacy is still with us, with various uses of the name evident – Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield Hallam University, Hallam FM, Diocese of Hallam, Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire, Hallam F.C., Hallamshire Golf Club and Hallamshire Harriers, to name just a few.
The Citadel, a prominent Sheffield building that has remained vacant since 1999, could finally be brought back into use after planning consent was granted for its redevelopment by Sheffield City Council.
WMA Architects, on behalf of Tandem Properties, submitted full planning and listed building applications in October 2019 for work on The Citadel on Cross Burgess Street.
The Grade II-listed building was constructed in 1894 as the Sheffield headquarters of the Salvation Army. It was designed by William Gillbee Scott (1857-1930), who had conceived the Gower Street Memorial Chapel in London.
The foundation stones were laid in September 1892 with construction completed by the end of 1893. Completed at a cost of £25,000, the building consisted of a large hall, various rooms and apartments, with three large business premises on Pinstone Street.
It has remained vacant following the charity’s relocation to new premises in 1999.
The interior of the four-storey building is set to be modernised to make it suitable for use as a food and drink establishment, while retaining its historic features.
Work will include increasing the amount of glazing on the Cross Burgess Street frontage with the existing auditorium expected to form part of the restaurant or bar area.
The applications have now been approved, subject to conditions, by Sheffield City Council under delegated powers.
Today, we lose a genuine Sheffielder and a ‘survivor’ on the city’s radio airwaves. I’m referring to Gerry Kersey, the BBC Radio Sheffield presenter, who presents his last show today (at least for the time being that is).
For a generation, here’s a guy whose voice has been with us since childhood.
Born and brought up on Bellhouse Road, Shiregreen, his first job was at Hadfields, working in the wages department. By his own admission, going around the various departments collecting clock cards helped him develop communication skills. At 18, he was called up for National Service and recruited into the RAF as a telephonist.
He later handled advertising for Stanley Tools, and used amateur dramatics as a side-line, first playing with Shiregreen and District Community Players, followed by Sheffield Playgoers and finally South Yorkshire Operatic Society.
From 1968 he was called in by Radio Sheffield to read stories which led to him getting his own show in the early 1970s.
In 1980, Gerry made the switch to Radio Hallam, taking over Bill Crozier’s request programme, and a year later was the obvious replacement for broadcasting legend Roger Moffat on the weekday mid-morning show.
We should also remember his Sunday offering of Music of the Masters, a weekly classical music programme, a far cry from today’s output at Hallam FM, which the station morphed into.
With split frequencies between AM and FM, Gerry presented Classic Gold’s breakfast show from Sheffield, switching to other slots as it underwent a series of name changes – Great Yorkshire Gold, Great Yorkshire Radio – and finally Magic AM.
Like many ‘old timers,’ Gerry’s time in commercial radio was at an end, and in 1997 he switched back to Radio Sheffield, latterly presenting the Sunday afternoon nostalgia programme, with a generous response from listeners. Indeed, he is of the old school, choosing to acknowledge everybody who writes in.
Photograph by Sheffield Star
Gerry is also a talented painter and veteran member of Hallam Art Group and for years has combined stories of his long radio career and artwork with talks to community groups across the city.
This afternoon Gerry, now into his eighties, signs off while BBC local radio stations switches to standardised schedules, making it easier to share output if necessary, during the Covid-19 outbreak.
“It’s not been said to me that it’s my last show,” Gerry told the Sheffield Star. “As far as I’m aware it’s a temporary arrangement. They’ve got to cut down, inevitably brought about by the coronavirus. They’ve changed the system just for now.”
And finally, as somebody who once worked alongside him, I can confirm that off-air he is the same person that we have heard on the radio for the past 52 years. Nice guy, charming, friendly and incredibly humble.
“If you lay out your money in improving your seat, lands, gardens, etc., you beautify the country and do the work ordered by God himself.” These were the words of the 1st Marquess of Rockingham in the letter of advice he left for his son, the future Prime Minister, shortly before his death in 1750.
He had been good as his word, by his own reckoning he had spent £82,500 improving his house and grounds at Wentworth, providing it with one of the longest fronts of any English country house.
We are talking about Wentworth Woodhouse, situated within Rotherham borough, but within a stone throw of the Sheffield border, up the road from Chapeltown.
This remains one of South Yorkshire’s hidden secrets, only emerging from years of obscurity within the past few years.
Few people realise that behind the 600ft Palladian front is a second house with a grand baroque front. The difference between the two houses is blatant, but they formed a single building programme between 1724 to 1749.
Photograph by Sheffielder
The family made their fortune from coal mining, and the Fitzwilliams, descended from the Rockinghams, became well-known in Sheffield circles.
However, the 20th century wasn’t kind to the family and certainly not to Wentworth Woodhouse.
After World War Two, Manny Shimwell, Minister of Fuel and Power, told Peter Fitzwilliam, “I am going to mine right up to your bloody front door.” And he did.
Years of open-cast mining devastated the gardens and parkland and did lasting damage to the old house itself.
Unable to be maintained properly, Wentworth Woodhouse survived due to the efforts of Lady Mabel Fitzwilliam, sister of the 7th Earl, who negotiated a deal with West Riding County Council in 1949 to use it as a training college for physical education teachers. The family retained the Baroque wing.
Lady Mabel College later merged with Sheffield Polytechnic (now Sheffield Hallam University) and remained at Wentworth Woodhouse until 1988.
The house was put up for sale and bought by Wensley Haydon-Baillie, a millionaire, who, after a bad business investment in 1998, admitted debts of £13million, and the property was repossessed by the bank.
Its saviour was Clifford Newbold, a London architect, who, far from being the recluse he was originally made out to be, did what he could to save Wentworth Woodhouse.
After his death in 2015, Wentworth Woodhouse was put on the market and eventually sold to Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust for £7million in 2017.
This is undoubtedly the renaissance for Wentworth Woodhouse, with £7.2million of repairs to the roof almost complete.
Photograph by Sheffielder
In normal circumstances, the state rooms are open to the public, with plans to use parts of the house as a hotel and business centre.
Subsidence and age have contributed to its unstable condition, underlined by the recent discovery that Georgian cornices, 18 metres above the ground, were crumbling away.
The good news is that Historic England has stepped in with a grant of £224,000 to replace more than 90metres of the ornate sandstone and limestone cornice, which runs around the roofline of the mansion’s Palladian East front.
They say that American schoolchildren know more about Wentworth Woodhouse than their British counterparts. More astonishingly, there are far more people in Sheffield who have probably never heard of it.
Wentworth Woodhouse, just over the Sheffield border with Rotherham, is the result of building work carried out by Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham (1693-1750), who built it between 1724 to 1749. It is remarkable for consisting of two houses built as one. The famous Palladian east front hides the grand Baroque west-wing behind.
His son, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (1730-1782), was a committed Whig and became Prime Minister of Great Britain on two occasions – between 1765-1766 and in 1782.
He spent most of his political career in opposition to George III’s Government, but Wentworth Woodhouse became a seat of political activity, where ‘The Rockingham Whigs’ including Edmund Burke, Charles James Fox and the Duke of Portland met to draft policies.
He argued consistently with reconciliation with America at a time when thirteen colonies were becoming increasingly at odds with Great Britain. However, he failed to convince most of the House of Commons and as a result there was the long and bloody American War of Independence (1775-1783).
When he took office again in 1782 it was on condition that George III recognise American Independence, but Wentworth died before terms of peace could be negotiated. As one historian says, he was “a champion of a lost cause.”
But don’t think that he was a radical, initially believing that America shouldn’t be given independence. “Our object has always been to try to preserve a friendly union between the colonies and the Mother Country.”
The American War of Independence ended a year later, marking the end of British rule and the formation of the United States of America.
Photograph of Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam and Kick Kennedy by Turtle Bunbury
Peter Wentworth Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam (1910-1948), soldier, nobleman and peer, with a seat in the House of Lords.
He was born at Wentworth Woodhouse, just over the Sheffield border with Rotherham, married Olive Dorothea Plunket in 1933, and succeeded to the earldom in 1943.
In later years his marriage was said to be in disarray and heading for divorce.
His life was engulfed with scandal and, despite being married, he fell in love with Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy (Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington), sister of future US President John F. Kennedy, at the end of the Second World War after meeting the 28-year-old widow at the Dorchester Hotel in London.
Kennedy patriarch Joe had been persuaded to consider them marrying, but tragedy struck in 1948 as they took a premeeting holiday, and their plane crashed in France during a storm.
He left no son and the peerage moved to his second cousin once-removed Eric Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, but his fortune, including half the Wentworth Woodhouse estate, the Coolattin estate in County Wicklow and a large part of the Fitzwilliam art collection, was inherited by his 13-year-old daughter, Lady Juliet Tadgell.
Fitzwilliam is portrayed by Thomas Gibson in the television mini-series The Kennedys of Massachusetts (1990) and by Larry Carter in the film Lives and Deaths of the Poets (2011).
It’s a Sheffield park that we take for granted, but the story behind the Botanical Gardens is not as straightforward as we might believe. The next time you visit, spare a thought for our ancestors who probably didn’t have the opportunity.
It is Sheffield’s oldest park, with origins going back to 1833 when Thomas Dunn, the Master Cutler, called a public meeting following a petition signed by 85 local residents concerned about the lack of public open spaces and facilities to promote both healthy recreation and self-education in Sheffield. It was resolved, at the meeting, to develop a Botanical Garden.
Photograph by Sheffielder
By 1834 the Society had raised £7,500 through shares, and, having taken practical advice from Joseph Paxton of Chatsworth and Joseph Harrison of Wortley Hall, they purchased 18 acres of south facing farmland at Clark House from Joseph Wilson, head of the family of snuff makers.
“The roads to it were good, the land itself lay very well to the south, it was well sheltered and very fertile.”
Photograph by Sheffielder
The laying out of the grounds was determined through a competition, the winner chosen from a panel of judges made up of experienced gardeners – Joseph Paxton (Chatsworth), Joseph Cooper (Wentworth), Joseph Walker (Banner Cross) and John Wilson (Worksop Manor).
A design submitted by Robert Marnock, former Head Gardener at Bretton Hall, was chosen for the new Botanical Gardens – . “He laid out the Gardens in the then highly fashionable Gardenesque style, the main characteristic being that all the trees, shrubs and plants were positioned in such a way that each plant can be displayed to its full potential in scattered planting. The approach involved the creation of small-scale landscapes, winding paths, expanses of grass and tree-planted mounds.”
Photograph by Sheffielder
Photograph by Sheffielder
Photograph by Sheffielder
The runner-up in the competition, Benjamin Broomhead Taylor, was appointed as the architect for the buildings. The pavilions became known as Paxton’s Pavilions, hinting that these were designed by Joseph Paxton, but it is more likely that he merely offered advice in their design.
The Botanical Gardens were finally opened on the 29th July 1836, under the patronage of the Duke of Norfolk, Duke of Devonshire, Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord Wharncliffe, the Earl of Surrey and John Stuart Wortley.
“Two excellent bands of music were stationed in the grounds, and refreshments of various kinds offered. The buildings, consisting of a lodge or grand entrance, on the left of which are the conservatories, and the residence of Robert Marnock, the Curator, are erected in a very tasteful style of architecture, which reflects the skill of Mr Benjamin Broomhead Taylor.
“The walks assume all the intricacy and mystery of a labyrinth maze, while the monkey cages, the bear’s den, the eagles’ habitation, water-works etc., give a variety to the whole.
“The gardens command a view of many miles of rural scenery, with the grand imposing appearance of the New Cemetery (General Cemetery) in front, seeming, as it were, to form a portion of the grounds.”
Photograph by Sheffielder
A few things to note here. One, is that the Botanical Gardens were built in what was then open countryside. Second, the Gardens were only open to the general public on about four gala days each year; otherwise admission was limited to shareholders and annual subscribers.
In 1839, The Gardeners’ Magazine reported that the attempt to combine a zoological garden had not succeeded. “In fact, the filth, stench, roaring, howling, and other annoyances incident to carnivorous animals, are altogether inconsistent with the repose which is essentially a botanic garden.”
Photograph by Sheffielder
Robert Marnock left the Botanical Gardens in 1840 and moved to Hackney in London. Soon afterwards, the Council of the Royal Botanic Society appointed him Curator and to lay out the grounds in Regent’s Park.
In 1844, financial problems led to the failure of the first society, but the Gardens were rescued with the formation of a second society (also known as the Sheffield Botanical and Horticultural Society) which purchased the land from the former society for £9,000. The conservatories were extended, a tea pavilion and the present Curator’s House were constructed within the succeeding decade. A period of steady development and growing international renown followed for the next 30 years.
Photograph by Sheffielder
In 1897, falling income, competition from the new free city parks and residential development in the area meant that the Gardens were in danger again. It was decided that the proprietors could not make them pay and were disinclined to maintain them. It was suggested that several of the shareholders would give their shares, and others would sell theirs, for £5 each, if the Sheffield Town Trust (dating back to 1297) would purchase the Gardens and maintain them for the benefit of the people of Sheffield.
In 1898 the Sheffield Town Trust paid £5,445 for the value of the shares, becoming owners and managers of the Gardens for the first half of the 20th Century. The Gardens were reopened without fuss on Thursday 20th August 1899, and it was then that free admission was introduced and continues today. Demolition of unsafe buildings was necessary and only the conservatory domes were repaired. The Gardens thrived until World War II, when extensive damage left the Sheffield Town Trust unable to afford the repairs and restoration required.
Photograph by Sheffielder
In 1951, a Special Committee decided that they could lease the Botanical Gardens at a nominal rent; the maintenance of the Gardens as a Botanic Garden; that no organised games or sports other than a children’s corner be permitted; that the staff of the Gardens be taken over by Sheffield Corporation.
Sheffield Corporation accepted the offer and the management of the Gardens passed to them on a 99-year lease for a peppercorn rent of one shilling per year raised to 5p a quarter in 1971. The Town Trust remains the owners of the Gardens.
With the aid of a grant from the War Damage Commission, the Council was able to instigate repairs to the domes, creating an Aviary and an Aquarium, and restoring Sheffield Botanical Gardens to their former glory. However, a downturn in the economy during the 1980s meant a severe reduction in funding and once again the Gardens were on their way to dereliction.
Photograph by Sheffielder
In 1984, the Friends of the Botanical Gardens, Sheffield (FOBS) was established as a group providing education for the public and supporting the Gardens. Practical volunteer work to help staff maintain the Gardens started in 1993.
The Friends managed to arrest the decline in many parts of the Gardens but not the listed structures, even the Paxton’s pavilions were derelict and in danger of collapse.
In 1996 the Friends set up the Sheffield Botanical Gardens Trust with the aim of applying for grants to restore the Gardens.
Photograph by Sheffielder
The Heritage Lottery Fund announced its Urban Parks Programme in January 1996. Soon afterwards, an organisation known as the Sheffield Botanical Gardens Partnership was formed to produce a bid for the Gardens. Its membership was Sheffield Botanical Gardens Trust, Friends of the Botanical Gardens, Sheffield Town Trust, the City Council and the Landscape Department of Sheffield University.
The Gardens were awarded a grand of £5.06 million, which was to be matched by £1.22 million in funds and £0.41 million in work in kind.
The project was designed to restore the Gardens, all the buildings and features to their 19th century condition whilst adapting to modern requirements. This included the full reinstatement of the Paxton’s pavilions to become a splendid home for frost sensitive plants from around the world.
The restored Gardens were officially opened in June 2007 at a cost of approximately £6.69 million.
(Information for this post was provided by Sheffield Botanical Gardens, Sheffield Town Trust and ‘Sheffield Botanical Gardens – People, Plants and Pavilions’ by R. Alison Hunter).
These ordinary looking student flats on Bramall Lane stand alongside the Sheaf House public house on a site that stretches towards Shoreham Street. It’s hard to imagine now, but the flats stand on the site of a remarkable building that was demolished in the 1990s.
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Our story begins with Sheaf House, an early 1800s private residence, probably built for John Younge – “a much-admired mansion, in a very beautiful country” – and converted into pleasure grounds and hotel in the late nineteenth century.
By the 1870s, a sports ground had been established in the former gardens, and this was where Sheffield Wednesday played some of their early games.
At the turn of the twentieth century it was better known as the Sheaf House Cricket Ground, home to Heeley Cricket Club, surrounded by an athletics track used by Sheffield United Harriers, as well as being home to many local sporting events.
In 1909, there was dismay when it was announced that the 3½-acre sports ground had been sold, the site used to construct a skating rink.
“The proved financial success and popularity of roller-skating are now beyond dispute. For the last six years almost every town of importance in America has had roller-skating rinks, which should be a guarantee that this fascinating and health-giving pastime is a permanent one and provides the means of sound investment.”
These words are taken from the prospectus of Sheffield Olympia and Provincial Rinks Ltd, a company established at 7 East Parade, with three directors – Albert Ball, JP, a Nottingham-based councillor and property developer, A.S. Fawcett, a solicitor on Queen Street and John Lancashire, Sheffield architect.
There were already roller-skating rinks in Sheffield, but the Olympia promised a better experience.
In England, the first rink to use maple-flooring and ball-bearing skates was opened in Liverpool in 1907. This was the model used for the Olympia (and other sites in Rotherham, Manchester and Nottingham).
The sports ground closed in August 1909, and almost immediately construction started on the Olympia.
It was designed by Thomas William Newbold, an architect who had spent 18 years with the Architectural Department of Sheffield Council. Newbold had gone into private practice in January 1909, probably annoyed at losing out as Sheffield City Architect a few months earlier.
Building work was undertaken by Roper and Sons and took just eight weeks to build. It opened on 7 October 1909, with two entrances – on Bramall Lane and Shoreham Street, a “maple block soundless floor, semi-circular banked at each end, white and green decoration, statuary, palms, café and smoking lounge.” It was constructed so that in summer months the rink could be adapted for concerts, bazaars, cinematograph and other entertainments.
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Soon after the doors opened about 1,200 people were skating, supervised by a staff of about thirty, including two lady instructors, and with “an especially good orchestra conducted by Herr S. Otto Mey.”
It is likely that the Olympia was rushed in construction to take advantage of the lucrative Christmas trade. In August 1910, just ten months after opening, the summer vacation was used to re-glaze the roof and redecorate the entire building. It also had a new manager, Mr Edgar K. Smith, who had moved from the American Rink on John Street, to replace R.W. Maude.
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Newspaper reports from the time indicate that all was well with the Olympia, but in 1911 it was standing idle, re-opening in September as the Olympia Electric Palace Picture House, “the largest and most comfortable of its kind in Yorkshire.”
The cinema had nearly 2,000 seats, set on a sloping base that covered the centre of the hall, surrounded by a wide promenade.
The Olympia’s role was extremely short-lived, and according to the Cinema Treasures website lasted just three weeks before re-opening again as a roller-skating rink.
It was now Sheffield’s only place used exclusively for roller-skating, the bubble seemingly burst, and despite World War One, hosted the All-British Industrial Home Exhibition, organised by the Sheffield Independent in October 1915.
Photograph of Scottish singer and comedian Harry Lauder visiting the All-British Industrial Home Exhibition by The British Newspaper Archive.
Roller-skating continued, before the Olympia was secured by the Sheffield Volunteer Defence Corps (17th and 18th West Riding Volunteers) as their headquarters in September 1916. (Part of the building was also utilised by Royal Mail for parcel traffic during the busy Christmas period).
After the war, with no chance of it ever hosting roller-skating again, it stood empty but during King George V’s visit to Sheffield in May 1919, Olympia was used as the assembly point for a march past of troops through the city centre.
By July 1919, the maple floor had been ripped up and the building was occupied by W.E. Chivers and Sons, haulage contractors, which remained until the late 1920s.
In 1927, Arnold Laver and Company bought remaining sports ground land next door , and built the Olympia Sawing, Planing and Moulding Mills.
Olympia became a Sheffield Transport bus depot until 1963 and afterwards was used by the as workshops by Sheffield Council’s Public Works Department, also by Yorkshire Electricity Board.
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
Photograph by Picture Sheffield
By the time of its demolition in the 1990s, the former Olympia building looked less grand and curiously different to its roller-skating days. The reason for this might well date to the Sheffield Blitz of 1940. Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane ground was damaged by German bombs and Arnold Laver’s property was all-but destroyed, and it is very likely that Olympia suffered a similar fate and later rebuilt.
sheffielder.net 