Church Street (Sheffield)

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Looking west up Church Street from the Supertram stop. The listed buildings of The Cutlers Hall and the H.S.B.C. Bank are on the left.

Church Street is situated in the centre of Sheffield at the grid reference of SK353874. It runs for approximately 450 metres in an westerly direction from its junction with Fargate and High Street to its termination at the crossroads formed by the junction with West Street, Leopold Street and Townhead Street.

Church Street does not have any retail shops on it, but it does have some of the more significant buildings in Sheffield. Sheffield Cathedral and the Cutlers' Hall both stand on Church Street. The Cathedral is a grade one listed building, construction started in 1430 although a church has existed on the site since the twelfth century. The Cutlers Hall was built in 1832 and is the headquarters of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire, it is the third Cutlers Hall on this site and was extended between 1865 and 1867^[1].

Other listed buildings on Church Street are the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, HSBC Bank and NatWest Bank buildings^[2] which stand on either side of the Cutlers' Hall and are built in a similar style. The premises of the Stone House Public house is also listed although the pub has been closed for a few years and stands empty. In August 2005, London & Associated Properties bought the Stone House for £2,500,000 and plan to incorporate it within the nearby Orchard Square shopping centre which they own. This will create 42,000 square feet of redeveloped space.

A bronze Statue of James Montgomery “The Christian Poet” stands on the Cathedral Precinct on Church Street just east of the Cathedral. Another significant building on the northern side of the thoroughfare is the Blood Donor Centre, a large building on the corner with Townhead street which was a Jobcentre in the 1980s. There is a Lloyds TSB bank also on the northern side of the street at number 14. Further to the west up the street on the same side at number 20 stands Cairns Chambers^[3] built between 1894 and 1896. They were designed by Charles Hadfield in Tudor Gothic style for the solicitors Henry & Alfred Maxwell, the chambers have decorative exterior stonework by Frank Tory including a four foot statue of Earl Cairns, a former Lord Chancellor. Church Street has its own Sheffield Supertram stop directly in front of the Cathedral and it carries that name. Other businesses on Church Street include an armed forces recruiting centre and several employment agencies.

[edit] References

• A History of Sheffield, David Hey, ISBN 1-85936-110-2
• London & Associated Properties on Stone House pub
• Info on James Mongomery Statue
• Listed buildings in Sheffield

Footnotes