 |
|
Sheffield Town Halls
Its believed that Sheffield has had four Town Halls.
Town Hall No 1 is not fully substantiated.
Town Hall No 1
The first "Sheffield Towne Halle" referred to in
"Survey of the Manor of Sheffield 1637" was said to have had eleven
shops beneath it. Tenants included a "William Skirgell" believed to
have been a carpenter. The "Widdow Eyre" and "Widdow Elmore"
The whereabouts of this building was not recorded, however a book written by R.E. Leader contained a passage that stated "No 10 Pinfold Street was thought to be the first Town Hall. Apparently it had chains attached to the walls which were said to have been used to detain prisoners.
Town Hall No 2
..... 1700 - 1808
This Town Hall was built in 1700 and was a small brick building
erected at the south east corner of the churchyard. It was facing High Street
and there were steps leading up to the door where parliamentary candidates made
their speeches during the elections. Beneath the hall were three dark damp dismal
dirty prison cells. The hall was used for dances, plays and meetings during
its lifetime. It was demolished in 1808.
Town Hall No 3
..... 1808 - 1897
Town Hall No 3 was rebuilt
a short ¼ mile away and had its foundation stone laid June23rd 1808. The
architect was Charles Watson. The building was enlarged in 1833 and again in
1867 and was used as a prison with prison offices for Petty and Quarter Sessions
and for town meetings. The Town Trustees originally owned the building but the
lease was taken over by Sheffield Council in 1866. In 1867 the hall was enlarged
and re-modelled internally. A clock tower was added the materials of which came
from the parts of the building which had been demolished. A drinking fountain
had been built into the wall in 1857 facing Castle Street (the first of its
kind in Sheffield). An underground tunnel or passage was built which connected
the town hall to the newly constructed police offices in Castle Green. Although
re-routed slightly here and there, this passage was still in use up to a few
years ago and may well still be today.
Town Hall No 4 ..... 1897
- present day
The present town hall was built in 1897 after a number of premises were cleared
at the Surrey Street, Norfolk Row and Pinstone Street area. The tower is 193
ft high. Set on top of the tower is the figure of Vulcan raising aloft his newly
forged arrows as a symbol of the staple trades. The new part of the building
was opened on May 29th 1923 which was designed by F.E.P. Edwards using the same
materials as those used on the original 1897 building.
The "New Town Hall Extention".
1977 - 2001
Plans for more extensions were shelved a number of times over the years until
the "New Town Hall" extension was built on the east side of Norfolk
Street. This extension soon became known as "The Egg Box" for the
obvious reason its exterior shaped design looked like an egg box. The cost of
this extension was approx £9 million. The building was vacated earlier
this year and moved to brand new premises built close by on the corner of Union
Street and Charles Street.
Information obtained from a book by Bob Horton
