can anyone help, i'm an art student who has currently been given a project on local history. well i'm from sharrow and i was wondering if anyone has any stories about the are or interesting bit of info, memories etc?

please help!

There was a discussion about Sharrow Lane not long ago, but that's more to do with its current situation. Try Sharrow Community Forum on London Road, they should be able to advise you.

if you are still looking for help with sharrow history i may be able to help just email me cheers ron

If you want something interesting, try the General Cemetery. The office in the newly restored gatehouse can help you with the history etc. You can also consult the website: www.gencem.org

Also at Sharrow Head there are many historic buildings--an 18th century mansion tucked in behind Sharrow Head House...the stone buildings on the triangle between Psalter Lane and Sharrow Vale Road, which date from the 1790s, and of course Wilson's Snuff Mill, which has also been in operation since the 18th century. There used to be many water wheels along the Porter Brook. You can buy a facsimile of the 1903 6" Ordnance Survey map of the area and see a lot more.

Incidentally, the name itself is from the Old English word "scearu" (related to modern "shear") which means something cut off--so called because it was an old administrative division separated from the surrounding ones. (By the same token, the classy suburb of Fulwood just means "mucky wood"!)

Hope all this helps

Most of the land in Sharrow originally belonged to the Duke of Norfolk, as did the original 18th century buildings that constituted the shear smithy and the cottage rented by Joseph Wilson before 1750. The house, if you look at it, begins near the end of the reservoir and is single storey (17th century) next to it is a two-storey addition (18th century), then the main door and a further building which is 19th century. The older part of the snuff mill (Bottom Mill, not Top Mill) was built in the 17th century when the Wilsons were shearsmiths. I lived in the house with my parents who were caretakers there before and during the war.

can anyone help, i'm an art student who has currently been given a project on local history. well i'm from sharrow and i was wondering if anyone has any stories about the are or interesting bit of info, memories etc?

please help!

My family lived on Priory Terrace with the back of the house on Sharrow Lane. You may like to research the Shop run by an old couple during the war who baked the most wonderful bread. It was a mixture of potatoes and flour. One day I was walking by the Static water tank when I saw 2 lads throwing an army officer into the tank,all three in uniform. It appeared the two soldiers had come out of the pub on Sharrow lane and not saluted this officer,he was T.A.,the 2 soldiers being a bit worse for wear picked him up and trhew him into the tank. I was working at Gowers then delivering groceries,which leads me onto another story.

A local councilor was talking to the manager,both stood in the passageway between the shop and the storeroom when the councilor reached down and grabbed a handful of baccy from a small barrel,this was on saturday morning. Next saturday he was there again but when he put his hand in this time all he got was black treacle, I 'd switched them over.

Most of the land in Sharrow originally belonged to the Duke of Norfolk, as did the original 18th century buildings that constituted the shear smithy and the cottage rented by Joseph Wilson before 1750. The house, if you look at it, begins near the end of the reservoir and is single storey (17th century) next to it is a two-storey addition (18th century), then the main door and a further building which is 19th century. The older part of the snuff mill (Bottom Mill, not Top Mill) was built in the 17th century when the Wilsons were shearsmiths. I lived in the house with my parents who were caretakers there before and during the war.
My sister worked at the snuff mill for about 2 years,Jean Kay during the war.

Football was introduced to the world from the bottom of Sharrow Lane if you would like to research. Sheffield Club which still exists but plays in Dronfield and I believe won the World cup beating London.

i would very much like to talk to peterw as i am living in the snuff mill now as me and my wife are the current caretakers and i am trying to get some history of the place

I believe that the priory area was called this because there was a priory there back in eighteen hundred and frozen to death.

Club Garden road was named for the Club_Gardens, or allotments that were there before the area was built-up, around the 1850s/60s/70s (there are corresponding dates on stones, on various houses in the area confirming these dates; my own house, as a kid was built in 1866)

PT

Does anyone know the history of the building that was the D.H.S.S. in the early 70's. I think it may now be called the hub????????????.

I thoght the hub/ mount pleasant house was the driving test centre, after it'd stopped being an Orphanage?

the fact that it was a Driving Test centre was why it was nicknamed "the learners", (that's what it was known as locally).

Hi Plain Talker, what you say must be correct, how daft am i, we had a gang called the learners mob around there so hence the name lol.

ooh! when did you hang around there, "only_me"?

I lived by there in the 70s

There is a fairly detailed history of the Sharrow district in three small books by Mary Walton, who was an archivist at the Central Library and also lived in the district.

A History of the Parish of Sharrow, Sheffield.

A History of the Parish of St Peter, Abbeydale, Sheffield.

A History of the Parish of St Barnabas, Highfield, Sheffield.

These contain far more local history than just the details of the Anglican church in the area.

I used to be the caretaker of this church:-

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s04321

the church secretary wrote a book of the history of the church,in the 1980's called "Three Names, One Church, A History of Sharrow St Johns Church"

the church was originally a "Methodist New Connexion" chapel, built in about 1889, the congregation outgrew the original chapel, so in 1906, a hundred years ago this year, there was opened a new, bigger sanctuary, with the original becoming a church hall.

in WWII, John Street methodist chapel

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s19428

was bombed, and the congregations joined together, adding the name of john st chapel to Sharrow's.

it was very interesting to read the names of local dignitaries and "minor celebs" in the history of Sharrow church, such as the Caudle family, who used to own the haulage/ removals firm at the corner of Charlotte and Queens Roads.

I believe another chapel was also incorporated into the church, from somewhere around the Summerfield St/lansdowne road/moorfoot area, but i cannot remember the details unfortunately.

ooh! when did you hang around there, "only_me"?

I lived by there in the 70s
I lived on Abbeydale road near to Horner rd from 1970, i went to cecil road (st barnabus) school. A load of us hung around the learners from around 71/72 ish. Can you remember the corner shops like Fitzgerald's and Adrians chip shop, was that Sitwell rd?.

I lived on Abbeydale road near to Horner rd from 1970, i went to cecil road (st barnabus) school. A load of us hung around the learners from around 71/72 ish. Can you remember the corner shops like Fitzgerald's and Adrians chip shop, was that Sitwell rd?.

I remember Fitzies shop very well; my mother used to shop there, and she always used to comment that the chap who owned it must have been Psychic, cos he ALWAYS seemed to know EXACTLY how much th e cigs were gonna go up by, in the chancellor's budget, cos he always managed to put his prices up by that amount, the morning the budget was to be announced..... ;)

I also remember well Roses beer-off, on the corner of Horner rd and abbeydale rd... Mrs Rose always used to call us kids 'sausage', or 'soss-pot' lol.

the other beer off was up at the top of cecil rd, on Sitwell rd, big double fronted thing, it was, opposite that house that stood on its own next to the special school (the house the woman was murdered in about 20-odd yrs ago) (my friend eve lived next door to that beer-off).

at the top end of sitwell rd, there were a couple of shops, around the junction of vincent rd, with the electrical shop, Sharrow Electrical, on the left, and the butchers on the other side on the two corners of asher rd, and I forget what the shop on the other corner was... some kind of grocers, IIRC.

I can't remember Adrian's chippy, unfortunately. I DO remember the chippy on the terrace at the bottom of sharrow lane, and the (slightly better one) on Club Garden Rd, (which was where my mum preferred to send us, if we were having a treat of a fish-and-chip supper.

There was a bakery, painted yellow outside, opposite Fitzies, on the other corner of Mount Pleasant Road and Sitwell Road. The old chap who lived opposite us often used to ask me to run an errand to fetch him a small loaf, "very well-done on't top" for him.

do you also remember Dunbar-Cookes' fish and Game shop near the post office? and Bob's "corner" shop which is now "Beers and Steers"?

sigh, Happy days! lol

PT

I remember Fitzies shop very well; my mother used to shop there, and she always used to comment that the chap who owned it must have been Psychic, cos he ALWAYS seemed to know EXACTLY how much th e cigs were gonna go up by, in the chancellor's budget, cos he always managed to put his prices up by that amount, the morning the budget was to be announced..... ;)

I also remember well Roses beer-off, on the corner of Horner rd and abbeydale rd... Mrs Rose always used to call us kids 'sausage', or 'soss-pot' lol.

the other beer off was up at the top of cecil rd, on Sitwell rd, big double fronted thing, it was, opposite that house that stood on its own next to the special school (the house the woman was murdered in about 20-odd yrs ago) (my friend eve lived next door to that beer-off).

at the top end of sitwell rd, there were a couple of shops, around the junction of vincent rd, with the electrical shop, Sharrow Electrical, on the left, and the butchers on the other side on the two corners of asher rd, and I forget what the shop on the other corner was... some kind of grocers, IIRC.

I can't remember Adrian's chippy, unfortunately. I DO remember the chippy on the terrace at the bottom of sharrow lane, and the (slightly better one) on Club Garden Rd, (which was where my mum preferred to send us, if we were having a treat of a fish-and-chip supper.

There was a bakery, painted yellow outside, opposite Fitzies, on the other corner of Mount Pleasant Road and Sitwell Road. The old chap who lived opposite us often used to ask me to run an errand to fetch him a small loaf, "very well-done on't top" for him.

do you also remember Dunbar-Cookes' fish and Game shop near the post office? and Bob's "corner" shop which is now "Beers and Steers"?

sigh, Happy days! lol

PT
The last time i heard of the Fitzgeralds they had a coach bussines out beighton way. I can remember the Roses well, i lived in the same yard lol, also the shop corner sitwell/cecil rd, a mate called David had a saturday job there. Yes can remember Dunbar-Cookes, there was also a laundry and fruit n veg shop there. Can you remember the childrens film foundation films they would show around once a month at the highfield library?. Happy days:thumbsup:

There was a blind school on Sharrow Lane in the 40/50s and I wouldn't be surprised if a certain politician went there.

There was a blind school on Sharrow Lane in the 40/50s and I wouldn't be surprised if a certain politician went there.


EX:help: :help: :help:

There was a blind school on Sharrow Lane in the 40/50s and I wouldn't be surprised if a certain politician went there.

no, the "blind school" was actually some sheltered workshops for the blind. they were in existence until maybe the late 1980's

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s12579

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s12581

The school for the blind, that the politician you are thinking of attended, was the late lamented Tapton Mount School, on manchester road, crosspool.

I sit corrected, thank you.

We played Cricket in the grounds and there was an old delapidated bungalow at the top of the field.

I did some research once at the Sheffield Archive on the lower London Road area, known as Little Sheffield. Most of the buildings date from before 1840 so records are vague.
The Cremorne pub was named after a private park called the Cremorne Gardens (names after the bigger Cremorne Gardens in London)that existed in the 1840s around the Mount Pleasant/Club Garden Road area, it was sold and the land closed, possibly due to high crime rate and 'immoral behaviour' .
I have a vague recollection that the family that initially built Mount Pleasant House in the 1700s (I think) were affected by a scandal when the daughter tried to elope to Castleton with a servant to get married. They met at the Waggon and Horses pub on Abbeydale Road which was the boundary of Sheffield or Derbyshire at the time, and a popular place to elope from, but the father hunted them down and killed the servant. I'm vague about the details but I do remember the story being in the Archives.
Mt friend tells me that his great great aunt used to work in a coffee shop on London Road that was frequented by some of the 20s gangs leaders.

.
I have a vague recollection that the family that initially built Mount Pleasant House in the 1700s (I think) were affected by a scandal when the daughter tried to elope to Castleton with a servant to get married. They met at the Waggon and Horses pub on Abbeydale Road which was the boundary of Sheffield or Derbyshire at the time, and a popular place to elope from, but the father hunted them down and killed the servant. I'm vague about the details but I do remember the story being in the Archives.

That would be the Sitwell family, who, I believe, also owned Renishaw Hall.

I have just acquired a book about the sitwell family, including one of teh more "recent" members of the family, Sacheverell Sitwell.

I believe the Mount Pleasant House (MPH) to have been built in the last half of the 18th century, or the very, very early days of the 19th. I don't believe the building is as early as Jacobean, it's more Georgian in style.

The architecture of MPH is very reminiscent of the old methodist chapel, on Carver Street which was built in 1802. (which is now the Walkabout bar)

PT

I lived on sharrow lane between 1959 to 1977 I attended sharrow lane school. I also attended a youth club at sharrow st johns church. My father was the youth leader.

Does anyone know the history of the building that was the D.H.S.S. in the early 70's. I think it may now be called the hub????????????.
It used to be called mount pleasant i am not sure what It was used as before the Hub which was geared towards black youths

It used to be called mount pleasant i am not sure what It was used as before the Hub which was geared towards black youths

it was known as Mount Pleasant House for donkey's years, possibly since it was first built on the original Mount pleasant Park. (before the victorian housing)

it was a grand house, belonging to the Sitwell family, when it was first built.

By the beginning of the 20th Century, it had become an orphanage.

By the fifties/ sixties it had become known locally as "The Learners" as it was the driving test centre.

By the early 70s it had become disused, and semi-derelict, when only me and I were kids, and we used to play in the grounds.

Mid seventies, it was spruced up a bit internally, and was used as a community centre and then an adult education centre. It was run by the city council.

The sheffield college took it over a few years ago.

The stable block (On your left as you look at the building from Sharrow Lane) was turned into a youth centre called "The Hub"/

About 18/ 20 or so years ago, the disused school next door (Highfield special school) was incorporated into the centre.

I remember Fitzies shop very well; my mother used to shop there, and she always used to comment that the chap who owned it must have been Psychic, cos he ALWAYS seemed to know EXACTLY how much th e cigs were gonna go up by, in the chancellor's budget, cos he always managed to put his prices up by that amount, the morning the budget was to be announced..... ;)

I also remember well Roses beer-off, on the corner of Horner rd and abbeydale rd... Mrs Rose always used to call us kids 'sausage', or 'soss-pot' lol.

the other beer off was up at the top of cecil rd, on Sitwell rd, big double fronted thing, it was, opposite that house that stood on its own next to the special school (the house the woman was murdered in about 20-odd yrs ago) (my friend eve lived next door to that beer-off).

at the top end of sitwell rd, there were a couple of shops, around the junction of vincent rd, with the electrical shop, Sharrow Electrical, on the left, and the butchers on the other side on the two corners of asher rd, and I forget what the shop on the other corner was... some kind of grocers, IIRC.

I can't remember Adrian's chippy, unfortunately. I DO remember the chippy on the terrace at the bottom of sharrow lane, and the (slightly better one) on Club Garden Rd, (which was where my mum preferred to send us, if we were having a treat of a fish-and-chip supper.

There was a bakery, painted yellow outside, opposite Fitzies, on the other corner of Mount Pleasant Road and Sitwell Road. The old chap who lived opposite us often used to ask me to run an errand to fetch him a small loaf, "very well-done on't top" for him.

do you also remember Dunbar-Cookes' fish and Game shop near the post office? and Bob's "corner" shop which is now "Beers and Steers"?

sigh, Happy days! lol

PT

I used to live on sitwell road ,opposite the midland bank on the corner of sitwell road and sharrow lane from 1961-1976.
Mountplesant house as it was known , was the DSS and the Driving test centre , from where I took my driving test . The building was taken over by Sheffield Education as far as I remember . The stable block was converted into a West Indian Youth club .
Whilst I never counted them , I was told that the house had a total of 365 panes of glass in it . Having been to the Creamorn pub . the building never stood still long enough for me to count them .
My mother used to work at the pie shop , just below Adrian's chippy , on the corner of sitwell road , which was owend by Erick and Ireen Harrison .It was previously owned by an old lady , Mrs France .
I remember Jeff Cook at the fish shop - Dunbar-Cooks , the fishing tackle shop at the top of woodhead road , post office , butchers , wilkinsons DIY shop , Cooper electrical shop , Dixons chip shop on London road . You could do your entire shopping in that area .