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Old Wall On Norfolk Park Road


JohnEBoy

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I have often walked along this road and wondered about the changes to the wall, which leans outward in places (!), during it's history from surrounding the old farm (before today's college and Academy).

Even in the continuous stretches of it, the wall seems to have been broken up at times and no 'toothed in' for whatever reasons?

Also, I've noticed some curious oddities in it (attached pictures), of which I am unsure of the original purpose?

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Does not answer your questions, but this was what happened on Norfolk Park Road when it flooded after heavy rain in June 2009, and a car finished up on the other side of the wall.

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This is a great wall isn't it? its well built I think mainly because the Farm was the home of the Duke Of Norfolk while he stayed in Sheffield, the part that's not keyed in, could that have been a gate entrance or a Stile? and the small shelter perhaps that was where milk churns were placed and subsequently the aperture was filled in leaving the piece that juts out. I don't know but maybe.

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Good points, Tozzin. The walls were clearly breached at various places for gateposts, etc

I bet that's what the 'eaves' were for, milk urns. I couldn't think what else holes in the wall were once for! Although being a farm, maybe they were leaving produce for someone to collect/buy?

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Looks like the top of 'your' wall, Steve, might have been added on later than the original lower wall?

I don't think this is the same, the two pieces of coping look as though they were built into the wall for a specific purpose.

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On having a look via Google Maps, there are two of these puzzling features, I now think it wasn't for Milk Churns, if you look carefully the stones below the overhang have weathered differently to the rest of the wall, so something was there to shield the stones beneath from the weather, was there some kind of information or a notice board there, even a Train Time-table. If nothing had been there the wind and rain would have weathered the stones like the rest.

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Good theory, Tozzin, as I said above, a kind of mould in my pic?

History Dude also raised a good point about the Midland station, so twinned with your theory indeed there may well have been notice boards with information, the eaves protecting them.

The rain obviously leaked behind those boards and caused the mould?

You guys seem to have solved it.

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Why would anyone go to the trouble of erecting notice boards at such a relatively low level....who would stoop down to read them and why go to the trouble to add on a couple of coping stones?? The "mould" could well be a chemical reaction producing a "salt"...as is frequently seen in some modern brick buildings. Self evidently, the wall was originally built with some sort of an opening which has been bricked up....I have seen similar constructions for Victorian wall mounted post boxes....is that a possibility?

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Possibly, no need to sound irritated? :)

Orifices for milk churns, or Notice boards (used to be a station) seem both logical to me. Mould, which seems to be in small patches in certain places only, could also be from adverse weather seeping behind an unventilated area?

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What about a removed Post Office Letter box?

There's a similar one not far away in Shrewsbury Road (built into the wall) that was still in operation last time I passed by.

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Why would anyone go to the trouble of erecting notice boards at such a relatively low level....who would stoop down to read them and why go to the trouble to add on a couple of coping stones?? The "mould" could well be a chemical reaction producing a "salt"...as is frequently seen in some modern brick buildings. Self evidently, the wall was originally built with some sort of an opening which has been bricked up....I have seen similar constructions for Victorian wall mounted post boxes....is that a possibility?

I think you may be forgetting that the road and pavement were much lower than now,the coping stones worked like the stone ridges over windows on medieval houses, they deflected rain from running on what was below.

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Another good possibility- there is one on nearby Norfolk Road.

I think you can rule that theory out, none of the maps or directories I have access to show or mention a wall letter box on Norfolk Park Road, nearest post box was bottom of East Bank Road.

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No, I am not irritated at all... just interested in certain conclusions. But I have to say I never realised that Norfolk Park Road or even the Farm Buildings were ever a part of a railway station...granted the latter was used as office accommodation by the LMS and, latterly, by BR. :)

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No, I am not irritated at all... just interested in certain conclusions. But I have to say I never realised that Norfolk Park Road or even the Farm Buildings were ever a part of a railway station...granted the latter was used as office accommodation by the LMS and, latterly, by BR. :)

I think this is just a typo/mis quote by JohnEBoy of Historydudes post

I suppose the question is (probably not for this topic) was the Farm Buildings used by the Midland Railway?

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No, I am not irritated at all... just interested in certain conclusions. But I have to say I never realised that Norfolk Park Road or even the Farm Buildings were ever a part of a railway station...granted the latter was used as office accommodation by the LMS and, latterly, by BR. :)

Ah, good, didn't want to cause a kerfuffle! Yes I think I misread someone's post above about the Midland Railway!! :wub:

I think this is just a typo/mis quote by JohnEBoy of Historydudes post

I suppose the question is (probably not for this topic) was the Farm Buildings used by the Midland Railway?

I think so, given the mention above, Stuart?

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Martin Olive mentions the Farm being used by the Railway in his book on Central Sheffield. Railway workers called the Farm the "Kremlin". Martin also states the building's foundations were affected by the railway.

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