old town hall friends of the old town...

NEWSLETTER: ISSUE 9! 28 NOVEMBER 2016

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FRIENDS OF THE OLD TOWN HALL

SKYLIGHT DAMAGE AT OTH

A lot’s been going on since Newsletter 8; indeed the situation has been so fluid, as regards both the Old Town Hall and Castlegate generally, that it’s been hard to pin down the right time to make a report. But there have been some interesting developments.

First, the building itself. As can be seen from the photograph above the condition of the courtrooms continues to deteriorate. We were told early in the summer that the 3 big skylights over one of the main courtrooms had been systematically destroyed. This must have taken a lot of effort as the glass was security-grade and not easy to smash. Someone went up there with malign intent and, probably, a very heavy-duty hammer. No-one saw or heard anything and we only found out because an architect friend of ours noticed while visiting with the estate agent trying to sell the building. You have to ask why anyone would do such damage, and over the least water-damaged of the 3 big courts. It’s not like that now, of course; the attack was just before we had the wettest June on record. Some urban explorers who got in recently were so appalled at the change since they visited last year that they made sure we saw their photos. Note, this damage was done after the usual trespass route into the OTH was stopped up under pressure from the Friends.

URGENT WORKS ORDERWe’ve worked with the City Council to press them to use their legal powers to force the owners to repair the damaged skylights, via an urgent works order. This allows the Council to do the work itself and charge the owners, if the owners won’t act. In the event the owners did board up the skylights, possibly because of the threat of an order. So far so good, but we’re still left with the roof damage which continues to allow water ingress, as it has for many years now. We will keep on banging this drum.

OTH

OLD TOWN HALL

OTH

OLD TOWN HALL


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INCREASED VANDALISM INSIDE THE BUILDING!In August we received reports that a back door and window had been opened up, and took a look. No question; the rather flimsy MDF board had been cut through, with a saw – this was no kick-it-down job. Even worse, whoever got in that way made an exit onto Waingate via the old judges’ entrance! This door was latterly a fire door so can be pushed open from the inside. We contacted the Council, who moved quickly to tin up the back and Waingate openings, though not before the police had scoured the building with dogs to make sure no-one would be shut in. Sadly the level of vandalism inside the OTH has increased this year, with graffiti on the inside of windows and regular smashing of the glass in internal doors and panels. We wrote to the owners in September, to detail the damage and ask what plans they had to secure and repair the building. Once again, we got no reply. That was why we sent out a press release drawing attention to the owners’ continued neglect. We are grateful to the local papers for their coverage, and will continue to ‘name and shame’ if there is a need for that.

INCREASE IN PRICE FOR THE OTH - WHY?

This is not to say the owners did nothing over the summer. In July, having failed to sell the OTH for the advertised £1.25m, they actually increased the price. So now you’ll need to find £3m – yes, £3m - down the back of your sofa if you feel like doing a smooth deal with G1 London Properties Ltd. Such a huge increase, for a building in a very bad way, attracting no interest at less than half the figure and with probably a negative value, seems bizarre. Mind you, there have been rumours since the summer that an offer has been made, though whether at the new or old price who knows. The property is still on the agents’ website, and not shown as under offer.


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THE OLD TOWN HALL : SITE OF THE OLDEST PUBLIC DRINKING FOUNTAIN IN THE CITYby Joy BullivantIN 1859 the first drinking fountain was installed in Sheffield. It was part of a national plan, the first in the country being installed in London, with all the major cities soon following. The second would appear to be the one in Sheffield. 1859 was a very big year for installing drinking fountains. It was seen by many as a tool to cut the drunkenness of the poor labouring classes in the cities. "The best way to meet an evil was to take means to prevent it. If the working man was able to quench his thirst at one of these fountains, he would frequently be prevented from going to a public house and taking that which would do him harm. That would be a means of checking incipient vice; and he trusted that many would quench his thirst here and thank God for it"The Sheffield Daily News. 1859

But this idea was not without its sceptics as one contemporary article in another paper commenting on the Sheffield fountain was to state."Nothing can possibly be more ornamental in the streets of large towns than these artistic shells, filled by the gentle hand of charity, with sweet water for every thirsty soul who passes. They may possibly keep mechanics from the public-house now and then: we say possibly, because we are far from certain that they are of use to the temperance movement. We pay all honour due to the good men who have set up these fountains in our crowded ways, but if we are asked to regard the iron ladle as something that will presently knock down drunkenness, we demur. We must ask ourselves whether in the first place, men drink beer or spirits because water is beyond their reach? We must seriously inquire whether it would be reasonable to set about the cure of a drunkard by keeping a jug of cold water constantly before him? The mechanic while he drinks his beer is not bemoaning fate that kept the pump handle beyond the reach of his arm. " Lloyds Weekly London Newspaper Sept 25th 1859

Perhaps the Town Council hoped that by installing public water fountains it would also create better habits in its police force. In 1829, when the Town Trustees ran the force, it was such a big problem that they actually had to provide in the Town statutes than any victualler or publican that harboured police officers and served them drink while they were officially on duty would be fined. But drunkenness in the police was still a problem in 1904 when the police authorities had to sack three constables and reprimand several more for partaking of too much free hospitality.


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THE OLD TOWN HALL : SITE OF THE OLDEST PUBLIC DRINKING FOUNTAIN IN THE CITY SHEFFIELD (continued)

Nine years later, after the installation of the first fountain and many others across the city and in the outskirts, all was not well it would seem as an indignant letter to the paper complained of the state the fountains were in.To the Editor- Allow me through your columns to call attention to the state of our public fountains, which I am sure are a disgrace, not only to those whose duty it is to superintend them, but to the town. They are only partially supplied with water-without cups, and generally in a lost and dirty condition, which I think is an insult to the generous donors, who if I mistake not, presented them to the town on condition that they were properly cared for and attended to. If temperance and sobriety are to increase in our town, by all means let us have what few silent promoters we have kept in good order and condition, and I have no doubt they would be appreciated by thousands of both young and old. Sheffield and Rotherham Independent Tuesday June 2 1868.

However that did not put off the philanthropists and public subscribers from installing more and considerably more ornate drinking fountain than one at the Old Town Hall. These included the James Montgomery Memorial Fountain of 1875, the Meersbrook Park one of 1889, the Jeffcock Memorial Fountain in Handsworth in 1900, and the Jeffcock Memorial in Ecclesfield 1903; there was one, date unknown, in lower Bradfield.In 1920 the Council dismantled many fountains, claiming that just too many working parts were being stolen from them to make it viable to maintain them. Plainer steel ones were put in public parks till they too were discontinued.

Can you place where

these public fountains

are in Sheffield ?


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How to contact us

We are on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OTHSheffield – and have a blog at https://friendsofothsheffield.wordpress.com/ We have a video, now with over a 1000 Youtube views and shot by Juun Loh of Sheffield University’s Department of Journalism Studies. View it on the Locality website at http://locality.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/cado/town-hall/ We now have our own website: https://sheffieldoldtownhall.co.uk Finally you can always email us at: [email protected]

Contributors

VALERIE BAYLISSValerie Bayliss is a former civil servant and consultant with a long-standing interest in Sheffield's historic buildings.

BRIAN HOLMSHAWBrian recently chaired the Making History for a Successful City conference (part of Year of Making 2016) and

designs this newsletter. In any spare time he runs his own heritage interpretation consultancy - sheafvalleyheritage.co.uk

JOY BULLIVANT Joy Bullivant, MA. joint secretary of FOTH is a local historian and co- ordinator for the

Sheffield based Timewalk project.

THE MAKERHUB, PRIMARK AND THE NEW BOARDWALK DEVELOPMENT

And what of wider developments? You may have noticed that there is a lot of new construction work in the city; things are looking up. So maybe there is a glimmer of hope that things will get moving in Castlegate.

The Friends of Sheffield Castle are working hard to get work done on the archaeology of the castle site, a step that must be taken before any redevelopment happens there. They also have stacks of excellent ideas for getting new uses onto the site quickly – for what is known as ‘meanwhile use’. The Council is urgently seeking funding for deculverting the River Sheaf where it runs by the castle site, having failed to get a Heritage Lottery Grant last year; they are optimistic the money will soon be found. Opening up the Sheaf would really kick-start transformation of the area.

The high-quality refurbishment, by Sheffield Hallam University, of the old Post Office in Fitzalan Square has increased footfall at that end of Castlegate, and only last week a planning application was published for turning part of the now empty Primark building in the High Street into a hotel. This would do a lot to improve the appearance and usage of the area. Planning applications for more new residential accommodation in the wider area around Castlegate are numerous – we have to see if they actually get built. The City Council is updating its city centre master plan and we have some continued involvement with that. More good news includes the Mucky Duck - with a craft beer and music venture in the Black Swan/Boardwalk building on Snig Hill set to open in the new year.

And an announcement will be made very soon about who will get the £3.5m provided by central government to set up a MakerHub, a new business incubator for the digital sector. An earlier proposal based on Castle House, the listed former Co-op in Castle Street, fell through but there are reasons to believe the winner of the competition for the money may be looking at Castlegate for this new venture.

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