Town Hall

Details

SHEFFIELD

SK3587SW PINSTONE STREET 784-1/24/594 (East side) 28/06/73 Town Hall

GV I

Town hall. 1890-97. By EW Mountford. Rear addition 1923, by FEP Edwards, in the same style. Ashlar, with hipped, gabled and pyramidal slate roofs with various prominent coped side wall and ridge stacks. Renaissance Revival style. EXTERIOR: 3 and 4 storeys plus basements and attics. Windows all have stone cross mullions. Rectangular plan with corner tower and small inner courtyard. Symmetrical west front has steep pitched roof topped with a 2-stage octagonal domed lantern, central entrance gable and projecting gables at each end. Entrance bay has ornate shaped gable with figure and niche, and is flanked by octagonal turrets topped with domed lanterns. Bow fronted first floor balcony with open balustrade, and behind it, a round-arched opening with hoodmould and sculptured crest. In the recess, two 3-light windows. Above, 3 round-arched windows with fanlights separated by pinnacled buttresses passing through a cornice, and a balustraded balcony on brackets. Below, steps to a round-arched entrance flanked by paired Tuscan columns with heavily block-rusticated bases. Ornate wrought-iron gates. On either side, 2 storey wings with sillbands, and a low relief frieze of figures between floors. Wreathed main frieze and pierced balustrade. First floor has on either side 3 pedimented 3-light windows and below, 3 round-arched 4-light windows with a balustrade before them. End bays have on the first floor a canted oriel window with a 4-light Ipswich window under a segmental pediment. Above, a canted balustrade with pierced central section and dies with pinnacles. Coped gables with finials and round-arched opening flanked by octagonal turrets topped with domed lanterns. Ground floor has a round-arched 4-light window with basement opening below. At the left end, a canted hipped projection with plinth, first floor cornice and balustrade. 2 storeys plus basement; 3 window range. On the first floor, 3 round-arched single light windows, with a similar window to the angle and the left return. Below, 2 pedimented cross casements, flanked to left by a pedimented niche, then another window to the return. Basement has 2 small single mullion windows. Square corner tower, 3 stages, has string courses, traceried frieze and cornice. Second stage has 3 vertical strips, corresponding to the mullions of the 2 superimposed windows. Third stage has on each side a scroll pedimented panel with clock, and below it, 2 round-arched openings and a balcony with balustrade on scroll brackets. Above again, an open round-arched arcade topped with a pinnacled balustrade. Above, on each side, a pinnacled gabled dormer with 2 round-arched openings and balustrade. The tower is topped with a domed octagonal cupola with round arches and a swept-roofed octagonal lantern with a standing figure. Right return, to St Paul's Square, has to left the main gable with 2 pedimented windows and above, 2 cross casements flanking the central stack. Below, 2 round-arched windows. To right, a canted 2 storey bay window facing to the rear, with a 2-light window flanked by 3-light windows. To right again, a square block with parapet and pyramidal roof, 2 storeys; 2 window range of 3-light windows. In the centre, a swept shaped gable with segmental pediment. First floor has 3 elliptical arched traceried 4-light windows with buttresses between them, and above, a figure niche flanked by single mullion windows. Below, buttressed ground floor with three 4-light windows. To right again, symmetrical block, 4 storeys plus attics; 7 window range. First floor has 2-light windows with cornices and balconies, second floor has smaller 2-light windows with cornices, third floor has plain 4-light windows. Above the parapet, 3 shaped-gabled dormers with pinnacled flanking buttresses and 4-light windows with crosslets above them. Ground floor has a round-arched arcade with 3-light windows. At each end, an octagonal turret with traceried balustrade, then a recessed bay with a single window, and beyond, large octagonal stair towers with conical roofs topped with domed lanterns. Left tower has multi-gabled parapet, right tower a pierced balustrade. Left return, to Surrey Street, has a double gabled projecting centre, 6 windows, and slightly projecting end gables. 4 storeys plus attics; 14 window range. Centre has a slight recess with two 4-light windows and above, 2 round-arched openings with balustrade, and above, two 4-light windows. Above the parapet, 2 round-arched dormers with wooden cross casements. Ground floor has 2 smaller 4-light windows. Flanking projections have swept shaped coped gables with broken segmental pediments and finials. Left gable has two 4-light windows and above, 2 similar windows with ogee arched central lights and scroll pediments. Above, a round-headed niche flanked by single 4-light windows and above, in the gable, a pedimented cross casement flanked by single corniced cross casements. Ground floor has two 3-light windows. Right gable has similar fenestration, but with a scroll-pedimented Doric portico to left, with steps to a round-arched doorway with rusticated voussoirs. To its right, the ground floor window is replaced by a double door. Wings have three 3-light windows with segmental and gabled pediments, and above, 3 dormers, the central one gabled, the others round-arched. Ground floors have, to left, three 3-light windows and to right, a single 3-light window, then steps to an underground public toilet, protected by a balustrade. Beyond, projecting end bays have traceried coped gables with buttresses and pinnacles. First floor has 2 cross casements, and between them a bracket supporting the bow fronted first floor oriel. This has a 5-light window and balustrade. Above, a 4-light window with central glazed door. Ground floor has 2 cross casements. At the left end, an octagonal stair tower with multi-gabled parapet and conical roof topped with a domed octagonal lantern. 3 windows on each floor, those to the third floor with segmental pediments. Rear elevation 5 bays, has a central 2 storey canted oriel with 3 windows on each floor, flanked by single bays with a 4-light window in each floor, and swept shaped gables. Above the balustrade, 3 hipped dormers. Ground floor has 3 moulded round-arched entrances with keystones, flanked by single doorways. On either side, single bays with 2 windows on each floor, and above, single box dormers. On the ground floor, 2 windows and beyond, single doorways with mullioned overlights under segmental pediments. On the left side, to Surrey Street, a lower 3 stage square stair turret with swept segmental pedimented gable. Upper stage has a 3 bay arcade of Doric piers on scroll brackets, with 3 single mullion windows. Ground floor has an elliptical arched door, and intermediate stages small slit lights. INTERIOR has entrance hall with rich carved decoration by Pomeroy. Square stairwell with marble and alabaster panelling and round-headed blind arcade at first floor level, open on the entrance side to a vaulted passage. Moulded cornice with coved plasterwork ceiling and hammer beam clerestory roof. Stone staircase with landings around 3 sides, with alabaster balustrade and moulded marble handrail. On the first landing, a seated statue of the Duke of Devonshire, 1900, by Onslow Ford. On the right side, a 2 bay polychrome round-arched arcade with central marble pier. Entrance side has a round-arched arcade with larger enriched central arch and coffered flanking arches. Above, round-arched arcade with serpentine alabaster balustrade. Ground floor has coffered round-arched corridors with pilasters and round-arched doorways with half-glazed doors. First-floor council chamber has half-height framed wall panelling with blind arcading above, and cross beam ceiling. At the front, a dais with a central aedicule framed by paired Ionic columns with broken swan neck pediment, with a coat of arms in a panel. On the opposite side, a 5 bay round-arched arcade, the upper parts of the 3 central bays opening onto a public gallery with traceried front. Flanking arches have windows above and glazed screens below. Original oak desks, chairs and fittings. Mayor's parlour and ante room are fitted in the same style. This building is an outstanding and well preserved example of the late C19 Town Hall, and of Mountford's work. Edwards' addition of 1923 is outstandingly sympathetic. (The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Yorkshire: The West Riding: London: 1967-: 453).

Listing NGR: SK3536187189

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

455954

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Radcliffe, E, The Buildings of England: Yorkshire: The West Riding, (1967), 453

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