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The Official Opening of Sheffield's Town Hall


RichardB

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Extract :

a report in The Times that graphically describes Queen Victoria's last visit to Sheffield in May 1897. Ostensibly the purpose of the occasion was the official opening of Sheffield's new Town Hall. Located at the top of Pinstone Street, the building was designed by the London-based architect E. W. Mountford and constructed over a seven year period from 1890 to 1897. The neo gothic design was supposed to compliment the architecture of the adjacent St. Paul's Church of 1720 (now demolished). The exterior of the building made extensive use of "Stoke" stone from the Stoke Hall Quarry in Grindleford, Derbyshire and was decorated with fine carvings by F. W. Pomeroy. The friezes depict the industries of Sheffield, and the 64 metre high clock-tower is surmounted by a statue of the Roman God of Fire Vulcan.

Go here : http://www.chrishobbs.com/queenvictoriasheff1897.htm

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Hi Richard.

Interesting article, thanks! The nice bit is in Note1: The Queen was getting old and in poor health, so to officially open the Town hall she stayed in her coach and was handed a special key which would open the gates by the wonder of the new electricity. What in fact happened was it lit a light in the Town Hall as a signal and several men pulled on hidden chains to open the gates! One of the men was an ancestor of my wife. He was one of the first electricians in Sheffield. He installed a single electric light in his house on Dykes Lane, and people came from the streets around to see it!

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Hi Richard.

Interesting article, thanks! The nice bit is in Note1: The Queen was getting old and in poor health, so to officially open the Town hall she stayed in her coach and was handed a special key which would open the gates by the wonder of the new electricity. What in fact happened was it lit a light in the Town Hall as a signal and several men pulled on hidden chains to open the gates! One of the men was an ancestor of my wife. He was one of the first electricians in Sheffield. He installed a single electric light in his house on Dykes Lane, and people came from the streets around to see it!

Even more interesting is what the steel workers did with "Heather" (the plant, not some tart) to impress the Queen, not sure it's mentioned here, just one to keep Tsavo busy, don't tell him, it's a secret lol

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