John Watts Cutlery Works

Details

784-1/0/10089 LAMBERT STREET
17-APR-02 John Watts Cutlery Works

II

Cutlery manufactory, empty at the time of inspection ( February 2002 ). Late C18, with extensive remodelling and enlargement throughout the C19 and early C20. Red brick with stone dressings, the street elevation now completely rendered with bands of raised lettering . Slated roofs with ridge chimney stacks.
PLAN: Complex evolved plan, with long stepped frontage range , parallel extensions to the rear elevations enclosing narrow yards , and a irregular, rectangular extension range across the rear of the plot incorporating galleried machine shops with galleries above.
EXTERIOR: Front elevation: Stepped frontage of 3 storeys , formed of 5 linked units with window bays arranged 3:4:5:2:4 . Left end range with 2 and 3 light windows with casement frames and 2 doorways to ground floor, one enlarged. Second unit with deep front roof pitch, and 4 wide first floor windows above wide full-width sign with raised lettering which reads 'JOHN WATTS ESTABLISHED 1765.' Single and double doorways to ground floor. Third unit with 5 sash windows to first and upper floors, those to first floor with 2 over 2 sashes. 2 ground floor windows and wide vehicle entrance to right. Fourth unit with low eaves, 2 window front, the openings diminishing in height in ascending order. Signs made up of raised lettering between floors. Upper sign reads 'MANUFACTURERS CUTLERY & OTHER SPECIALITIES'. Lower sign reads ' STA-ERS AND PIERCERS AND METAL WORKERS'. Double doorway to left, single door to right with tall 3-light casement between. Fifth unit with 5 sash windows to each of the upper floors , each with raised letter signage below. Upper sign repeats company name and date of establishment, lower signs reads 'SAFETY RAZORS SCISSORS SKATES ETC.' Rear elevations now built against, with single and storeyed C19 and C20 workshops extending along and across the rear yards, some with glazed north light roof structures.
INTERIORS: Frontage ranges with modified plan form to provide workshop and office accommodation at first and second floor levels. Left-hand part used as open plan workshop with exposed late C18 roof trusses and purlins, one truss with collar, supplementary collar to replace removed tie beams, the stubs of which are carried on raking struts. In-situ work benches. Right-hand part with complete attic buffing workshop with in-situ workbenches and belt-driven polishing wheels. First floor with office, showroom, cashiers and board room areas, with in-situ display cabinets, counters, wall panelling and part-glazed internal screens, together with enquiry and cashiers windows with painted signs. The principal offices retain hearths with moulded surrounds. Machine shops to rear of yard, that to the left with north-light glazed roof structure, and access gallery carried on cast-iron columns. The workshop retains many C20 machine tools and extensive line shafting for belt drives. Right-hand machine shop with fully-glazed pitched roof and gallery workshop carried on cast-iron columns. Continuous gallery benching facing onto central light well. Ground floor with 2 domestic hearth in otherwise modified compartments.
HISTORY: Lambert Street is shown with built-up frontages on Gosling's 1736 map of Sheffield. The 1850 Ordnance Survey map shows dwelling houses with overbuilt courts to the rear, whilst the 1890 edition shows a large works complex, incorporating the earlier dwellings.
Source: 'One Great Workshop: the Buildings of the Sheffield Metal Trades' English Heritage. (2001).

An evolved cutlery works, initially developed from adapted late C18 dwellings, and progressively extended with purpose-built workshops and machine shops throughout the C19 and early C20, many of which retain contemporary machinery, line shafting, and office and showroom furniture and fittings. This is a rare survival in a Sheffield context, reflecting the phase of adaptive re-use of dwellings so graphically displayed in the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, and like Sheffield, a highly-distinctive metal- working community of international significance.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

489003

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Wray, N, One Great Workshop: The Buildings of the Sheffield Metal Trades, (2000)

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