Details
SHEFFIELD
SK3587SW LEOPOLD STREET
784-1/24/478 (South West side)
18/08/71 Sheffield City Council Education
Committee offices
(Formerly Listed as:
LEOPOLD STREET
Central Technical School)
(Formerly Listed as:
ORCHARD LANE
City Grammar School (original,
eastern block only))
GV II
School Board offices, Firth College and Central Schools and
attached railing, now Education Committee Offices. 1879-80. By
TJ Flockton and ER Robson. Adjoining former Science School,
1894, by JB Mitchell-Withers. All for the Sheffield School
Board. Ashlar and coursed squared stone, with ashlar
dressings, hipped and gabled slate roofs and various coped
gable and side wall stacks. Renaissance Revival style.
EXTERIOR: former School Board Office, to Leopold Street, 7
windows, has recessed centre flanked by higher blocks, 3
windows. Plinth, pilasters, those to ground floor rusticated,
first floor and eaves cornices and open balustrade.
Bow-fronted centre, 2 storeys plus basement, has a central
plain sash flanked by pilasters and with a segmental pediment
above it. Below, a central 8 pane sash flanked by single
smaller sashes. Basement has 3 openings with keystones. Right
block, 2 storeys plus basement, has in the centre a double
8-pane sash flanked by single 12 pane sashes and below, a
double 8 pane sash flanked by single 8 pane sashes, with
similar fenestration to the basement. The windows to the lower
floors are smaller.
Canted 2 storey left block has a central plaque with festoon,
flanked by single round-headed niches. Below, central niche
flanked by single plaques.
Left return, to Orchard Lane, has 2 double 8 pane sashes and
above, a similar 8 pane sash to left and two 12 pane sashes to
right. The basement has 4 plain openings.
To left, former Central Schools building, 2 storeys plus
basement and clerestory; 9 window range. Rusticated pilasters,
first floor band, cornice and blocking course. Clerestory has
ramped coped gables, each with a pair of corniced square
stacks linked by a balustrade. Corner and intermediate
pilasters are carried up to the eaves cornice and topped with
urns. Roof has remains of a hexagonal lantern. Windows are
mainly 8 pane sashes arranged singly or in mullioned pairs.
Centre has 3 paired windows flanked by pilasters and beyond,
single windows, then 2 paired windows. Clerestory has twelve
2-light wooden cross casements separated by panelled
pilasters. Ground floor has a central doorcase reached by a
bridge with wrought-iron balustrade and square piers, with
Ionic pilasters and broken pediment containing a crest.
Panelled double door with side lights and overlight. On either
side, a paired window, then a single window. Beyond, 2 paired
windows. Basement has similar fenestration. At either end, a
recessed entrance bay, 2 storeys, with a paired window and
below, a moulded doorcase approached by a bridge. Broken
pediment containing a plaque inscribed Boys / Girls, and above
it a small round-headed window. Gables have the stacks
expressed as pilasters, flanking a large paired window in a
moulded round-headed recess with keystone. To left, a 2 storey
block with first floor band, cornice and blocking, with 2
paired windows on each floor.
To left again, the former Science School, 2 storeys plus
basement; 7 window range. Rusticated angle and intermediate
pilasters, first floor and eaves cornice and blocking with
urns at the corners, shouldered round-headed coped gables. On
each floor, 7 paired windows. To right a slightly lower
recessed entrance bay with a paired window above and below, a
recessed double door with enriched lintel and above it, a
small window with moulded architrave. Over it, an ornamented
panel with the Sheffield School Board monogram. Left gable has
a Diocletian window to the garret and 2 paired windows to the
ground floor. At the rear, a buttressed block, 2 storeys; 9
window range. Outside, a wrought-iron railing with stone
plinth and chamfered coping, running the whole length of the
Orchard Lane frontage.
Former Firth College has principal front to West Street. 3
storeys; 5 window range. Cornices to each floor, double angle
pilasters to the upper floors, balaustrade. Projecting centre,
3 windows, has a single bay central feature with stepped
pediment topped with urns. 2 storey round oriel window with
festooned plinth and frieze with 2 windows and single flanking
windows, all 8 pane sashes. Beyond, single flanking piers and
pilasters. On either side, a paired window with scrolled
pediment, and beyond, single set back bays with single
windows. Above, a central round-headed window with balustraded
circular balcony, flanked by single windows. Beyond, single
paired windows, then set back single windows. Ground floor has
moulded round-headed entrance with panelled double doors and
glazing bar fanlight, and spandrels with large relief figures.
On either side, single Doric columns. Beyond, single paired
windows, then set back single windows. Left return, to Leopold
Street, has 3 storeys above rusticated basement. 7 window
range, with alternating paired and single windows on each
floor, the paired windows to the first floor with scroll
pediments. Second floor has similar fenestration with smaller
plainer windows. Basement has 7 segment-headed openings with
rusticated keystoned heads.
To left, a linking block , 2 storeys plus attics; 2 window
range. Rusticated basement, balustrade and mansard roof. 2
paired windows with wreathed aprons, and above, 2 box dormers
with 9 pane lights. Below, 2 triple windows and 2 basement
openings.
To left again, a larger block. 2 storeys plus basement and
attics; 7 window range. Rusticated basement, cornices to each
floor, balustrade, mansard roof. Central round oriel window
with festooned frieze, with 2 windows and single flanking
windows, all 8 pane sashes. On either side, a paired window
with scroll pediment, flanked by single windows. Above, a pair
of square coped stacks framing a round-headed window with
semicircular balustrade. On either side, a large pedimented
dormer with a paired window, flanked by single box dormers
with 9 pane windows. Elaborate central entrance with
round-arched doorway flanked by Doric columns, and broken
pediment framing the moulded corbel of the oriel window.
Panelled double doors. On either side, 3 paired windows.
Basement has 6 segment-headed openings with rusticated
keystones. Coped pedimented left gable has 2 windows and
above, a paired window flanked by single windows. To left, a 3
bay round-arched open arcade with rusticated plinth and
pilasters and balustrade topped with urns, forming a link to
the School Board Office building.
INTERIOR not inspected.
HISTORICAL NOTE: the Sheffield School Board adopted a high
standard of architecture from its inception, and employed
these well known architects for their most prestigious
buildings. They form a homogenous group. Robson also designed
2 Board Schools at Brightside and Heeley Bank (qv), although
most were designed by local architects. Mark Firth, prominent
steel manufacturer and philanthropist, was the principal
benefactor of Firth College.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Yorkshire: The West
Riding: London: 1967-: 454; Researches by G Hague, Sheffield
City Council).
Listing NGR: SK3524287317
