Cutlers' Hall

Cutlers' Hall

Cutlers' Hall on Church Street, Sheffield, is a Neo-Classical building completed in 1832 by architects Samuel Worth and BB Taylor. An attic storey was added in the early 20th century. The interior was extensively remodelled in 1867 by Flockton & Abbott, with further redecoration undertaken in 1893 by Hugh Stannus.

The building is constructed of ashlar with ashlar dressings. The exterior comprises two storeys plus attics, arranged in an eight-window range. The facade features a plinth and entablature with a dentilled cornice and parapet. The parapet is enriched with a corniced pedestal at its centre, flanked by large carved and painted coats of arms, with a similar pedestal positioned above the entrance bay to the left.

The symmetrical main block to the right displays a single-bay centre containing a twelve-pane sash window, flanked by pairs of giant Corinthian columns in antis with giant Corinthian angle pilasters, and further angle pilasters beyond. Three twelve-pane sashes appear on each side. Below, a plain central doorway features granite jambs and double doors with an overlight and frieze decorated with rosettes. On either side are three larger twelve-pane sashes with guard railings. The entrance bay to the left has giant Corinthian angle pilasters and a twelve-pane sash, beneath which a carriage entrance is fitted with wrought-iron gates and above them a grille bearing a coat of arms. The attic storey contains eight twelve-pane sashes.

Interior

The panelled entrance hall contains granite Tuscan columns and pilasters, and a marble fireplace incorporating a reset stone coat of arms and monogram of Tobias Ellis, dated 1692. A large branching stone staircase of 1867 features a cast-iron balustrade and ramped scrolled wooden handrail. The square stairwell is finished with a coved ceiling and round-arched wooden wall panels with keystones.

The first-floor banqueting hall, remodelled in 1867, features a panelled marble dado and paired marbled Corinthian columns on either side. The south end displays five similar single columns. The east side contains three round-arched moulded recesses, with the central recess containing a bow-fronted panelled gallery with a half-dome. The north end features a marble-panelled ladies' gallery with two pairs of double doors below it. An elaborate cornice and coved panelled ceiling with semicircular windows at the head of each bay complete the scheme. The 1832 banqueting hall displays plaster-panelled walls with paired Corinthian pilasters and an enriched dentilled cornice. A coffered segmental vaulted glazed ceiling incorporates a central glazed saucer dome. The south end features a concave-fronted enriched gallery with an elliptical arch carried on giant Corinthian columns, with panelled double doors on each side below. At the opposite end are a pair of double doors with corniced doorcases. An adjoining vestibule features a similar segmental vaulted coffered ceiling.

The front reception room has three centrally-positioned windows flanked by single recessed windows with paired Ionic columns in antis. A marble fireplace with mantel mirror, dentilled cornice and coved ceiling with a guilloche band complete the space. The adjoining silver gallery features early 20th-century wooden panelling salvaged from an ocean liner, fitted display cases, and recesses at each end flanked by single Egyptian columns, with a coved glazed cross beam ceiling. The adjoining drawing room has three corniced doorcases and a larger doorway to the reception room, two corniced marble fireplaces, and a coved cross beam ceiling with a Greek Key and moulded cornice.

The ground-floor Master Cutler's room features half-height wooden panelling and an egg-and-dart cornice. A resited oak Renaissance Revival-style fireplace, dated 1623, displays double columns and an overmantel, flanked by single stained-glass windows. The adjoining Mistress Cutler's room has plaster-panelled walls and ceiling with cornice, a Classical plaster fireplace and corniced doorcases. The Hughes room, completed in 1923, features wooden wall panels with keystones and cornices framing windows and display cases. Elliptical arches at each end frame a fireplace with portrait above at one end and a doorcase at the other, both flanked by Corinthian columns.

The muniment room displays Adam-style frieze and panelled ceiling. Hadfield Hall at the rear features double arcades of Doric columns, panelled walls and moulded cornice. At one end stands a bust of Sir Robert Hadfield, surrounded by a railing and flanked by smaller busts.

Historical Note

Cutlers' Hall served as a significant location in the local women's suffrage campaign. In March 1908, Christabel Pankhurst and Mary Gawthorpe, leaders of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), addressed an 'At Home' meeting in the Hall as part of the Union's large-scale membership recruitment campaigns. In October 1908, when Home Secretary Reginald McKenna was the chief guest at the Annual Cutler's Feast, suffragettes protested outside the hall. When Winston Churchill attended the same event in October 1912, a large police presence prevented protesters from approaching, and Churchill was smuggled from the railway station in a luggage lift before being driven to the Hall. Though police kept protesters outside, suffragettes interrupted the dinner by sending Churchill several telegrams.