Allen's forge - Leppings Lane

Does anyone have any information to add to the following:

 

My grandfather was Charles Edmund Allen (1889 - 1954). He and his brothers owned and ran the Wadsley Forge (aka J C Allen's Forge). Prior to 1924, the forge had been owned by Charles father, Joseph Clifton Allen (1858 - 1924). JC Allen died at home, Birley Mount, Wadsley Bridge, six months after the death of his wife, Sarah Helen (nee Hill) (1859 - 1924), had died. JC Allen is listed as owner of Bruce Works, Mowbray Street (111 Vale Road), in 1905. Recorded in: Whites Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham.

 

Charles and wife, Alice Allen (nee Allen) (1893 - 1979), lived at 53 Carlton Road, S6.

 

Prior to moving to Birley Mount JC Allen had lived at 14 Carlton Road, S6.

 

Sarah Helen was the daughter of James Hill (1817 - 1886), corn miller of the Attercliffe Windmill, which was built near to the present day Amberley Street. James was the son of Cllr George Hill (1787 - 1858), who was elected with 90 votes to the inaugural Sheffield Town Council. George had moved at the beginning of the 1800s, from Ouston Ferry in north Lincolnshire, where he was born, to settle in the village of Attercliffe, which was rich farmland at that time.

 

George's Son, James Hill, appears to have moved later to "Gate, Wortley, Oughtibridge (1881 census)" to run a corn mill there, although the 19th century records are ambiguous on that matter, and I cannot find any trace of a windmill

at Gate "farm?". But this does seem feasible as members of the next generations are recorded as living in Bradfield and Wadsley Bridge

 

The Attercliffe windmill (of which I have some pictures circa 1920) was dismantled in the 1930s (probably as a result of a fire).

 

I have letters dated 1840 and 1841 between James and George, when James was on a tour of UK to improve his education and life experiences - on arriving back at Sheffield Victoria Station (bottom of the Wicker) it seems that James proposed to walk home to the windmill at Amberley Street. By the way, the Attecliffe windmill had 10 acres of fields going down to the Don, where the family ran the ferry (before the Janson St bridge was built).

 

James Hill's brother was Ernest Hill (1834 - 1917), who married Sarah (nee Styring) (1841 - 1941). Ernest started the firm called Ernest H Hill Ltd (aka NestHill), which still manufacturers air pumps today; and the Sheffield Motor Company, the first car distributors and garage in Sheffield. Ernest worked with a Scottish born Dublin based veterinary surgeon, called John Boyd Dunlop (1840 - 1921), and helped to develop the very first reliable pneumatic tyre. NestHill developed the very first effective pneumatic pump to inflate bicycle and car tyres.

Edited July 13, 2015 by gwyn_roberts

My Dad worked at the forge in the early 50's and I can remember going there and seeing the big hammer!!! Sadly he has passed away but have loved to reminisce about it.

Was this forge actually on Leppings Lane? I recall one on nearby Claywheels Lane across from Fletcher's bakery.

Hello Mary. I thought that only the Allen brothers worked in the forge. Are you an Allen. What was your dad's name?

 

---------- Post added 11-07-2015 at 18:18 ----------

 

Hello stpetre. Yes JC Allen's forge (The Wadsley Forge), which my grandfather Charlie Allen managed, was on Leppings Lane, where Law Brothers garage is today

Edited July 11, 2015 by gwyn_roberts

Here is a c. 1908 photo of Leppings Lane showing the forge. It appears as "Lepping Forge" on a map of 1890. Here is an old map showing the location of the hamlet of "Gate" in relation to Oughtibridge proper, and here is a photo of the present-day Gate Farm.

Edited July 12, 2015 by hillsbro

Thank you very much for the two photographs and map, Hillsboro. I am coming to the conclusion that James Hill lived at/and worked Gate farm and continued to work as corn miller at Attercliffe Windmill. Have you been able to find anything about Birley Mount. Apparently it was an imposing house - I met a cousin who had been there as a girl. I have found its location on an old map, but I still don't know what it looked like.

Edited July 13, 2015 by gwyn_roberts

...Have you been able to find anything about Birley Mount...

To judge from old maps, Birley Mount is the name of the locality where "Birley Mount Cottage" was situated. Here is a link to a photo on the picturesheffield.com site (click on "Zoom image" to enlarge). The description reads "Birley Mount cottage is in the background". The building in the foreground (No 183 Fox Hill Road) is still there - here is a Google Earth photo. Birley Mount Cottage seems to appear as a "ruin" on a 1950s map.

The Birley Mount Cottage was apparently in the grounds of the main house known as Birley Mount. My cousin, Mollie (b 20 Aug 1918), who visited her grandparents as a youngster, told me that the Mount was huge (intimidating) house. She recalled that it was a mansion. She was born on Leppings Lane opposite the Forge.

I've looked in the directories I have back to the mid-1800s and I cannot find an individual house named Birley Mount. There is a "Birley Mount Villa" in directory of 1901 but this may not be helpful as there is another reference to "Birley Mount villas". On the other hand, this map of 1901 shows Birley Mount Cottage as a sizeable property with a large garden.

I am sure the forge was where the Law Brothers garage is - I was only 4 or 5 when I was taken there. Not an Allen I'm afraid.My dad was called Frank Hibbert - he left there to work at Newton chambers

Hello Hillsboro - I have spoken with my cousin - I showed her the map for which you had provided the link - she pointed out Birley Mount - it is the large house almost in the centre of the map provided - access was along its own drive (a letter P label is alongside the driveway) - Birley Mount itself is the rectangular building to the left of and adjacent to the letter "B" of the words Birley Mount - Can you open the following link which shows the house, drive and garden as described by my cousin using your map? https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/eddff538-a49c-4c8e-9859-544a4cbebfa3

Edited July 30, 2015 by gwyn_roberts
New map

Hi gwyn roberts - you may like to know of an old postcard showing the Attercliffe windmill that is currently on sale via eBay - here is a link. The card reproduces a drawing signed "J W M" - this is evidently the Sheffield photographer and artist John William Mottershaw (1860-1930).