1. The History
Located in Waingate in central Sheffield, South Yorkshire, opposite the site of the former Castle Market, the building was commissioned to replace Sheffield's first town hall, which had opened in 1700 next to the parish church. The Old Town Hall was designed by Charles Watson and built between 1807–08. It was designed to house both the Town Trustees and the Petty and Quarter Sessions. Initially built with five bays and facing Castle Street, it was later extended in 1833 and then again in 1866 to plans drawn up by Sheffield architect William Flockton (1804–64) and his partner George Abbott. The most audacious feature was the new central clock tower over a new main entrance, built from stone recycled from elsewhere in the building. The building's courtrooms were also linked by underground passages to the neighbouring Sheffield Police Offices. The first Town Council was elected in 1843 and took over the lease of the Town Trustees' hall in 1866.
Old engraving:
Old map of the courts:
By the 1890s the local administrative services had outgrown the building, so the new (current) Sheffield Town Hall was built further south. The Old Town Hall was then extended once more in 1896–97, by the renamed Flockton, Gibbs & Flockton, in order to create the Sheffield Crown Court and Sheffield High Court. A drinking fountain on the Castle Street side of the building was also added. Yet another extension was built in the1950s before the older building was Grade II listed in 1973. In 1997, the courts moved to new premises just around the corner and the building has been empty.
Archive picture of Court-room No.5:
In 2004 it was bought by London-based G1 London Properties Ltd for £650,000. In 2008 the Victorian Society named the building as one of its top ten buildings most at-risk. A campaign group called The Friends of the Old Town Hall formed in November 2014 with the aim of getting the G1 London Property to state its intention for its future use. In September 2015, the building was put for sale with an asking price of £2 million, only for the sale brochure to be withdrawn from the internet after about ten days. It then went back on the market again, this time with Fernie and Greaves. It was eventually bought by developer Efe Omu’s company, Aestrom OTH, who in 2019 then received planning permission to convert it into apartments, a hotel and market. However, in the Summer of 2020, it became clear that the building had been cleared of its mountains of rubbish and weatherproofed, but the massive of task of restoring it was yet to commence. Shortly after, Mr Omu was forced to abandon the project as he was unable to meet deadlines due to lockdown, leading to the scheme being in default with lenders. This represented a major blow for Mr Omu who had sunk thousands of pounds into trying to redevelop the building. With receivers appointed, the building was advertised for sale at a guide price of £1.35m. The Friends of the Old Town Hall drew up a business plan to raise money via a share issue and through lottery money and wanted Sheffield City Council to use compulsory purchase powers to buy and sell it to them as part of a 10-15 year plan but this didn’t happen. With an auction guide price of £750,000, an online auction on Tuesday 9th November, 2021 failed to attract any bids. Pantera Properties said the sale was completed just before Christmas having been bought by a mystery buyer. In February 2022, the owner was revealed to be well-known property developer in Sheffield, Gary Ata.
2. The Explore
This place was due a revisit as there doesn’t appear to have been a subsequent report since when I explored and reported on here previously, back in September 2018. Since then, it’s been sold several times and had minimal bits of work done on it. It’s looking pretty poorly in places with the biggest change the complete removal of the floor in some of the offices at the front of the building. While the courtrooms continue to decay, the cells were looking a lot more tidier. It remains, along with George Barnsley’s, one of the best explores in Sheffield and you can easily spend a couple of hours in here getting lost in its labyrinth-like rooms and staircases. The only bit we didn’t see was the clock tower which is firmly secured. Really enjoyed the revisit and got some better shots than last time. However the courts what were pitch black were very difficult to shoot, what with the white walls and very dark wood. Didn't get anywhere close to the standard of @Andy the Spicy Egg and the fab shots he got when he went many moons ago.
3. The Pictures
Internal phone box:
In the newer part, the library then:
And now:
First up in terms of courts, Court No.5 in the modern extension:
Peeking at the iconic clock tower:
So many staircases:
The massive and pitch-black Court No.1:
Part of the court’s heating system:
The Solicitor’s offices at the front:
But now minus the floor:
Located in Waingate in central Sheffield, South Yorkshire, opposite the site of the former Castle Market, the building was commissioned to replace Sheffield's first town hall, which had opened in 1700 next to the parish church. The Old Town Hall was designed by Charles Watson and built between 1807–08. It was designed to house both the Town Trustees and the Petty and Quarter Sessions. Initially built with five bays and facing Castle Street, it was later extended in 1833 and then again in 1866 to plans drawn up by Sheffield architect William Flockton (1804–64) and his partner George Abbott. The most audacious feature was the new central clock tower over a new main entrance, built from stone recycled from elsewhere in the building. The building's courtrooms were also linked by underground passages to the neighbouring Sheffield Police Offices. The first Town Council was elected in 1843 and took over the lease of the Town Trustees' hall in 1866.
Old engraving:
Old map of the courts:
By the 1890s the local administrative services had outgrown the building, so the new (current) Sheffield Town Hall was built further south. The Old Town Hall was then extended once more in 1896–97, by the renamed Flockton, Gibbs & Flockton, in order to create the Sheffield Crown Court and Sheffield High Court. A drinking fountain on the Castle Street side of the building was also added. Yet another extension was built in the1950s before the older building was Grade II listed in 1973. In 1997, the courts moved to new premises just around the corner and the building has been empty.
Archive picture of Court-room No.5:
In 2004 it was bought by London-based G1 London Properties Ltd for £650,000. In 2008 the Victorian Society named the building as one of its top ten buildings most at-risk. A campaign group called The Friends of the Old Town Hall formed in November 2014 with the aim of getting the G1 London Property to state its intention for its future use. In September 2015, the building was put for sale with an asking price of £2 million, only for the sale brochure to be withdrawn from the internet after about ten days. It then went back on the market again, this time with Fernie and Greaves. It was eventually bought by developer Efe Omu’s company, Aestrom OTH, who in 2019 then received planning permission to convert it into apartments, a hotel and market. However, in the Summer of 2020, it became clear that the building had been cleared of its mountains of rubbish and weatherproofed, but the massive of task of restoring it was yet to commence. Shortly after, Mr Omu was forced to abandon the project as he was unable to meet deadlines due to lockdown, leading to the scheme being in default with lenders. This represented a major blow for Mr Omu who had sunk thousands of pounds into trying to redevelop the building. With receivers appointed, the building was advertised for sale at a guide price of £1.35m. The Friends of the Old Town Hall drew up a business plan to raise money via a share issue and through lottery money and wanted Sheffield City Council to use compulsory purchase powers to buy and sell it to them as part of a 10-15 year plan but this didn’t happen. With an auction guide price of £750,000, an online auction on Tuesday 9th November, 2021 failed to attract any bids. Pantera Properties said the sale was completed just before Christmas having been bought by a mystery buyer. In February 2022, the owner was revealed to be well-known property developer in Sheffield, Gary Ata.
2. The Explore
This place was due a revisit as there doesn’t appear to have been a subsequent report since when I explored and reported on here previously, back in September 2018. Since then, it’s been sold several times and had minimal bits of work done on it. It’s looking pretty poorly in places with the biggest change the complete removal of the floor in some of the offices at the front of the building. While the courtrooms continue to decay, the cells were looking a lot more tidier. It remains, along with George Barnsley’s, one of the best explores in Sheffield and you can easily spend a couple of hours in here getting lost in its labyrinth-like rooms and staircases. The only bit we didn’t see was the clock tower which is firmly secured. Really enjoyed the revisit and got some better shots than last time. However the courts what were pitch black were very difficult to shoot, what with the white walls and very dark wood. Didn't get anywhere close to the standard of @Andy the Spicy Egg and the fab shots he got when he went many moons ago.
3. The Pictures
Internal phone box:
In the newer part, the library then:
And now:
First up in terms of courts, Court No.5 in the modern extension:
Peeking at the iconic clock tower:
So many staircases:
The massive and pitch-black Court No.1:
Part of the court’s heating system:
The Solicitor’s offices at the front:
But now minus the floor:
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