William Johnson, Cabinet Maker & Upholsterer, Nos 82 & 84 Fargate

[Ponytail]

William Johnson, Cabinet Maker & Upholsterer, Showrooms Nos 82 & 84, Fargate

Advertisement from Illustrated Guide to Sheffield, Pawson and Brailsford 1862

Did he make the furniture on these premises or elsewhere? 

[Edmund]

Did he make the furniture on these premises or elsewhere? 

Prior to 82-84 Fargate, William Johnson was at Fitzwilliam street in 1833, 34 Fargate in 1837, 77 Fargate in 1839-1841.

When William Johnson moved to the new larger premises from 77 Fargate in 1841, he advertised that "IN CABINET FURNITURE Every article is made under his own personal management ... From the superior character of his Workmen, and the facility afforded by his extensive Workshops (which he has Erected to suit his greatly-increasing business..." so not altogether clear from this, but I think there's a good chance that the workshops were on the premises.

William died in 1866 and in 1879 his firm merged with Appleyards of Rotherham and Conisbrough, who also did their own manufacturing. By 1895 Johnson & Appleyards had a substantial (?) works at 70 Sidney street (Sidney Street works) though if all the Sheffield works advertising pictures were accurately sized, Sheffield would have needed to be the size of Yorkshire to accommodate them all.

[Ponytail]

Thanks Edmund, couldn't agree more about the size of works depicted in the illustrations. 

Is it possible to pinpoint where the 1862 shop was in Fargate? When Johnson & Appleyards amalgamated did they keep open the shop in Fargate or move elsewhere?

[Edmund]

The 1862 premises were on the corner of Fargate and Leopold Street (Wilson Peck, Beethoven House etc). The shape of the building in 1850 is the same, but I can't find the date of any rebulding. The 1888 plan below shows the street numbering was still 82-84 Fargate and the wood storage areas next door would indicate manufacturing of cabinets on the premises. There's a detailed write-up on the Johnsons and the Appleyards here: Johnson / Appleyard

[Ponytail]

Johnson & Appleyards Ltd, 82-84 Fargate

Carved detail, Coat of Arms, Cabinet Makers to HRH Prince of Wales. No danger of it being taken down if they lost the patronage. 

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;t04059&pos=1&action=zoom&id=34353

Queen Victoria Statue with Johnson & Appleyard Ltd in the background. 

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s07693&pos=10&action=zoom&id=10871

Johnson & Appleyard Ltd. 

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;y07163&pos=22&action=zoom&id=101151

Lorries belonging to Johnson & Appleyard Ltd. 

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;v05021&pos=6&action=zoom&id=137020

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;v05023&pos=7&action=zoom&id=137022

Rear of Johnson & Appleyard Ltd., cabinet manufacture premises. 

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;u00413&pos=4&action=zoom&id=35878

The Beeches, Park Grange, off Park Grange Road, former home of Joseph Appleyard  owner & managing director of Johnson & Appleyard Ltd. 

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s05817&pos=2&action=zoom&id=9179

 

[Edmund]

Johnsons & Appleyards had their new premises designed by Flockton and Gibbs, built on their existing site in Sheffield at the junction of Fargate and Leopold Street.  It was opened for business on Tuesday 16th December 1884. Following a severe fire in March 1892 the top floor was rebuilt with a mansard roof that gave an additional attic floor.

This would become an iconic Sheffield building - I have a painting of it on my lounge wall (by P.O.Jones). I really cannot believe that it is not protected by listed building status, although the telephone kiosk on Leopold Street IS listed!

[Edmund]

When I saw that Yorkshire House was not a listed building I decided to submit an application for listing to Historic England.  I've just received their response:

"Yorkshire House, 2 Barkers Pool, Sheffield

Thank you for your application for the assessment of Yorkshire House, Sheffield for listing. We appreciate your time and enthusiasm spent considering places that could be added to the National Heritage List for England.

We have now carefully considered the contents of your application. Unfortunately, the current circumstances of Yorkshire House do not fall into any of the three categories used by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to prioritise designation resources on those sites that are most in need of protection. Those categories are:

1. Threat: any candidate for designation demonstrably under serious threat of demolition or major alteration

2. Strategic Priority: any candidate for designation of a type that is a strategic designation priority under the Historic England Action Plan, Historic England’s programme of strategic work. You can find a list of this year’s projects on our website

3. Evident Significance: any building or site that possesses evident significance that makes it obviously worthy of inclusion on the National Heritage List for England

Historic England is therefore currently unable to take your application further. Should the situation change, particularly with regard to any specific threat to the building, you could submit a new application in the future."

The threat criteria I included in the application was: "Description of Threat:
The building was gutted during redevelopment in 1986 and only the facade remains to be listed. Sheffield City Council have a poor record in protecting important buildings (reference: in 2012 the planning committee voted to approve Sheffield University’s plans for the demolition of Grade 2 listed Jessops Hospital ). The Beethoven/Yorkshire House building is within the Sheffield City Centre Conservation Area, (the original 'Town Hall Conservation Area' and 'Cathedral Conservation Area' were combined). The City Centre Conservation Area was designated on 19 August 1996, and no further appraisal has been done (in almost 30 years). The most recent document is the 1996 'Statement of Special Interest' (copy attached in documents section) - this poor document shows the low level of commitment to conservation. The building is in a prominent location for commerce in Sheffield and changes in customer habits and business environment are likely to induce pressure for further redevelopment of this site."

Further comments I made were: "The building's facade is an iconic structure at the exact centre of Sheffield and forms part of a distinctive grouping opposite the grade 1 listed Town Hall and the Yorkshire Bank building (unlisted) and adjoining the Barkers Pool and Fargate areas. There is significant Community interest in the area in front of the building - it is the subject of photography and paintings, and is an area for special markets and events."

However, on the bright side, the telephone kiosk on Leopold Street remains listed, so therefore is now unlikely to be converted into student accommodation...

[Ponytail]

Nice try Edmund..

Does the 1pm "whistle" still function?