Kenilworth Works

Kenilworth Works

A comb works, now divided into shared workshops, dating from the late 19th century. The building is constructed of red brick with slate roofs and brick chimney stacks.

The works follows a rectangular courtyard plan, formed by two parallel ranges enclosing a yard. The front range, which faces Denby Street, curves slightly to follow the street line. Brick walls enclose the sides of the yard, with the western wall angled. The front range rises to three storeys and originally comprised ten bays, later extended by two bays to the west over what was the original open yard entrance. A pitched roof with a central ridge stack (now truncated and rendered) runs the length of the range, with stacks at the original gable ends—the eastern one truncated, and another at the gable of the western extension. The windows are closely spaced two-light casements with shallow segmental heads and no sills. Many on the first and second floors retain small panes and strap hinges; some ground-floor windows are blocked. The ground-floor brickwork is now painted. An entrance doorway with a segmental head and overlight is located in the 5th bay from the left. The western extension features a cart entrance with a depressed arch springing from stone impost blocks, painted with the works' name. Windows above this entrance are slightly larger than those in the original block. A blocked first-floor doorway opens in the east gable wall.

The rear range is three storeys tall with a basement, ten bays wide. A straight joint four bays from the left marks a phase of phased development. Chimney stacks stand at the gable ends of the four eastern bays. First and second-floor windows resemble those on the front range but with deeper heads. A first-floor opening in the 6th bay from the east has been lengthened to form a doorway, now boarded. The ground floor contains an entrance doorway and a wider doorway in the 5th and 6th bays from the east, plus a two-light window in the 9th bay. An inserted doorway appears in the 4th bay, with inserted or altered windows in the 3rd, 7th and 8th bays. A stairway to the basement is protected by a plain painted iron railing. A low lean-to addition adjoins the easternmost bay. The wall on the west side of the yard shows two phases of construction: an acute angle at the rear in the same brick as the rear range, with a straight joint leading to later brickwork against which the cart entrance abuts.

The works was occupied from the 1870s into the 20th century by George Tandy and Sons, manufacturers of horn, tortoiseshell and German silver combs. Horn and tortoiseshell were among the materials used for cutlery handles and penknife scales, and Sheffield possessed local expertise in working them. German silver, also known as nickel silver, is an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel, commonly used as a base metal for electroplating.

Kenilworth Works exemplifies a small specialist works representing one of the subsidiary trades that developed from local expertise in materials used in Sheffield's cutlery industry, an industry of international significance. The building thus holds contextual importance in the city's renowned industrial heritage.