Crucible Furnace Cellar at 2 Top Side, Grenoside

PLAN: cellar running east-west containing five melting holes, with curved flight of steps at east end rising to ground-floor level and exiting outside in the garden.

EXTERIOR: the cellar is accessed by an external flight of stone steps located on the east side of the garage, formerly the site of the melting shop. The steps have stone retaining walls to both sides and descend in a southerly direction before curving round to the west to enter the cellar. INTERIOR: the furnace cellar is 13 metres long, 1.94 metres high at its highest point, and 0.34 metres wide. It has a barrel vault built of brick. On the south side, this springs off a roughly coursed stone wall. The west, end wall is also of stone, with a well-formed recess, the top of which was open in the verge outside the building (now covered by a monolithic stone slab). On the north side, the entire wall is built of brick. There are ash-pit recesses for five furnace chambers. The recesses are located beneath the individual melting holes, which would have been set into the melting shop floor. The fire bars upon which the crucible pots rested remain, as does the metal reinforcing strapping holding the structure together. At the back of each ash-pit are small openings into the stack flues which could be used to regulate the air-flow being drawn beneath the melting holes from the cellar, and thus the temperature. On each side of the furnace chambers is a wider opening or recess, perhaps formerly hearths, which are now blocked. At the left-hand, west end of the wall is an approximately square opening with a monolithic stone lintel. The opening itself is blocked with stone. At the right-hand, east end there is a possible former hearth with a brick segmental-arched lintel, which is also blocked with stone. The floor is stone paved, with a shallow, central runnel, which during wet weather feeds water into a circular well or sump at the east end to prevent the cellar flooding.

The former melting shop building over the cellar has been rebuilt as a double garage and is not of special interest. Nor is the house and extensions to the south of the garage.