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Tower House,


Guest tsavo

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"The earliest recorded private school for the girls was the one run by Mrs Harrison at the Tower House. This was an unusual house with a right of way from Fox Street to Gray Street, running through it and duplicated kitchens, pantries etc. A tunnel running from the Tower House is held in local legend to have run to the old Sheffield Castle (site of the present Castle Market) through to the manor house at Manor Top. A more prosaic theory suggests it has something to with drainage! Whatever the truth, it must have been an exciting, if rather creepy place to live for the 'young ladies' who were boarders there."

From: Welcome to Pitsmoor : glimpses of Pitsmoor past and present. Sheila Sparkes 1986

Dates for the school aren't given. I have a note somewhere of who built Tower House and why but forgot where I put it - someone is stealing my marbles in the dead of night, I seem to lose a few every day :blink:

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Found it !!

"This odd little house, built by the Mounteneys of Shirecliffe in 1629, stood roughly between Gray Street and Fox Street. When new it was surrounded by green fields with a clear view of Sheffield Castle and the market town in the valley below.

In 1813, David Parkes lived in the house. As a boy he often saw gangs of chained prisoners walking up Pye Bank on their way to Wakefield. He said, "the keeper of the old Toll Bar was famous for miles around for his salve and here, occasionally, the prisoners were halted and some of them would purchase the salve for their sore feet".

The house fell into disrepair by 1930 and was demolished a few years later."

http://www.burngreavemessenger.org.uk/mess...002/tower.shtml

I also have it my head that it was built as a 'Dower House'.

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Found it !! he he

"This odd little house, built by the Mounteneys of Shirecliffe in 1629, stood roughly between Gray Street and Fox Street. When new it was surrounded by green fields with a clear view of Sheffield Castle and the market town in the valley below.

In 1813, David Parkes lived in the house. As a boy he often saw gangs of chained prisoners walking up Pye Bank on their way to Wakefield. He said, ‘the keeper of the old Toll Bar was famous for miles around for his salve and here, occasionally, the prisoners were halted and some of them would purchase the salve for their sore feet’.

The house fell into disrepair by 1930 and was demolished a few years later."

http://www.burngreavemessenger.org.uk/mess...002/tower.shtml

I also have it my head that it was built as a 'Dower House'.

Hello,

I think the Burngreave Messenger were a little out with their geography. The house was perched on the hill side above the 'old" Pitsmoor Road (now Pye Bank Avenue). The water colour which accompanied the article indicates this.

The house, and other properties in the immediate vacinity, were connected to Pitsmoor Road/Pye Bank Avenue by a steep cobbled lane between low stone walls.

Grey Street and Fox Street, the location suggested in the article, are over the other side of the hill and may not have had even direct pedestrian access to the house.

Regarding its demolition, The house was still there in my years at Pye Bank School (1942-1948). I also recall the house had some form of occupation during that time. Remember, a lot of old properties were pressed back into service during and afterWWII, there was wide scale 'Squatting' at the time, etc. I'm not certain if it was still there or occupied, as late as 1948.

Regards

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Thank you Falls, it's always good to hear from those who actually remember these places. Would Tower House have been one of the properties on the right hand side of Pye Bank as shown on this 1903 map ?

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Thank you Falls, it's always good to hear from those who actually remember these places. Would Tower House have been one of the properties on the right hand side of Pye Bank as shown on this 1903 map ?

Hi Gramps,

That maps really interesting and got my old memory going. I think you have found the site alright.

I ovbiously can't mark your map but I' think I can tell you where Tower House was located.

If you look at the right hand side of Pitsmoor Road, as it was then, and the street No. 273, near the bottom of the map sheet.

1 - It wasn't the group of buildings to the right of the number 273 (lets call them Buildings No1)

2 - It wasn't the cluster of building to the north (above) of the number 273 either (lets call these Buildings No.2)

What I think was Tower House is the group of buildings to the right of Buildings No. 2.

Another recollection is that the group of buildings making up Tower House were set at a slight angle to Pitsmoor Road, wereas Buildings No.2 where parallel to the Road.

I don't want to read too much into the details on the map but the side of the building I think was Tower House, the side nearest to Pitsmoor Road, seems to have the out line of either a very large bay window or possibly the outline of one side of the octagonal tower that was the main feature of The House.

In my school years, that whole area around The House was a mish-mash of old properties. Some were being lived-in, some were still standing but uninhabitable, some were just the walls (no roof) and others that had been deliberately brought down (not in the Blitz) and were lying there, just piles of rubble.

Regards

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Hi Falls, thanks for all the feedback, I have labelled the map with where I think you suggest Tower House was - if I'm wrong I'll be happy to correct it. I do have a reference somewhere confirm what the Burngreave messenger says about the house being built by one of the Mounteney's as a house for his mother - or possibly mother-in-law ;-), in the early 17th. century. Standing alone there up on the hillside it would have been quite impresseive and had a spectacular view over the little town of Sheffield some while before the castle was demolished.

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Could Falls be thinking of this building in Pye Bank?

Hi,

This could be the building I suggested as a possible locations for Tower House. It certainly has a pronounced bow at the front, as the map illustration indicates. The sloping stone walls across the front of the picture look like they are the walls for lanes and these could tie in with the details show on Gramps map.

Regarding the comment about Tower House having a Fox Street address. There had been buildings high up on the Fox Street side of the same hill but most were rubble in my day. Whether these properties had been demolished or bombed I can't say. The Fox Street location I remember for these buildings was very close to the rear entrance to the old Holy Trinity Church vicarage property on Rock Street. We do know the vicarage was destroyed in the first night of the Blitz.

Regards

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Hi,

This could be the building I suggested as a possible locations for Tower House. It certainly has a pronounced bow at the front, as the map illustration indicates. The sloping stone walls across the front of the picture look like they are the walls for lanes and these could tie in with the details show on Gramps map.

Regarding the comment about Tower House having a Fox Street address. There had been buildings high up on the Fox Street side of the same hill but most were rubble in my day. Whether these properties had been demolished or bombed I can't say. The Fox Street location I remember for these buildings was very close to the rear entrance to the old Holy Trinity Church vicarage property on Rock Street. We do know the vicarage was destroyed in the first night of the Blitz.

Regards

Hello,

I have just had another look at the article from the Burngreave Messenger, together with the water colour;the map and the photographs of what we think is Tower House, plus the possible contender.

Is it possible that we are all talking about the same thing: that Tower House, with its Fox Street address, was actually built so high on the Fox Street side of the hill (it was more like a ridge) that it overlooked Pitsmoor Road?

First I looked at the water colour from the Messenger article. We all know paintings don't have the accuracy of photographs; however, we see a view looking towards Town with, presumably, Tower House on the left. The hill slopes from left to right so this is a view on the Pitsmoor side of the hill. Pitsmoor Road must be down below over to the right. If it was on the Fox Street side of the hill the slope would be right to left.

From this commanding height above Pitsmoor Road, it would be quite easy to see Convicts on the road below, as the Messenger article states.

Looking at the map, the location I suggested as a possible site for Tower House shows a building outline that is aligned with the properties, gardens, allotments, etc. on Fox Street. The other properties on the Pitsmoor road side of the hill seemed to be aligned with Pitsmoor Road- if they are aligned with anything at all.

As for the photgraphs, the one supposedly of Tower House is I think correct. The caption gives the address as Pitsmoor Road; however, this may have been a note from the photographer who happened to approach the building from the Pitsmoor Road side and was not aware of the Fox Street address.

That just leaves the photo of the second building. Is this the building I saw or did I actually see the original Tower House.

I think I saw Tower House but if the House had definitely been demolished in the 1930's as the Messenger article states, then I was wrong. After all we are talking about an observation made over 60 years ago.

Anway, its just a thought.

Regards

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Hello,

I have just had another look at the article from the Burngreave Messenger, together with the water colour;the map and the photographs of what we think is Tower House, plus the possible contender.

Is it possible that we are all talking about the same thing: that Tower House, with its Fox Street address, was actually built so high on the Fox Street side of the hill (it was more like a ridge) that it overlooked Pitsmoor Road?

First I looked at the water colour from the Messenger article. We all know paintings don't have the accuracy of photographs; however, we see a view looking towards Town with, presumably, Tower House on the left. The hill slopes from left to right so this is a view on the Pitsmoor side of the hill. Pitsmoor Road must be down below over to the right. If it was on the Fox Street side of the hill the slope would be right to left.

From this commanding height above Pitsmoor Road, it would be quite easy to see Convicts on the road below, as the Messenger article states.

Looking at the map, the location I suggested as a possible site for Tower House shows a building outline that is aligned with the properties, gardens, allotments, etc. on Fox Street. The other properties on the Pitsmoor road side of the hill seemed to be aligned with Pitsmoor Road- if they are aligned with anything at all.

As for the photgraphs, the one supposedly of Tower House is I think correct. The caption gives the address as Pitsmoor Road; however, this may have been a note from the photographer who happened to approach the building from the Pitsmoor Road side and was not aware of the Fox Street address.

That just leaves the photo of the second building. Is this the building I saw or did I actually see the original Tower House.

I think I saw Tower House but if the House had definitely been demolished in the 1930's as the Messenger article states, then I was wrong. After all we are talking about an observation made over 60 years ago.

Anway, its just a thought.

Regards

Bringing this back to the front. I'm waiting to be shot down

Regards

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Hi Fellow SHs

Just a little Old Photo taken by my late mother when she was a child of The Tower House in the snow

with information on the back written by her at the time ( i have removed an address that is irrelevant )

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Bringing this back to the front. I'm waiting to be shot down

Regards

Hi Falls, - I did a little more digging....but this is in the spirit of enlightenment rather than shooting anybody down.

Looking at this photograph and the 1890 plan below, certain features are easily identified. The curved wall on the left, the little bay window on the right and of course the tower. On the plan the tower is represented by the hexagonal feature surrounding the trig point. Pye Bank/Pitsmoor road is on the left, - the junction with Marshall street is just in view.

1890 Plan

The location of Tower House is quite clear from the earlier plan of 1850. At that time the front garden extended down to Fox street close to the junctions with Fox Hill and Gray street. The house overlooked Fox street but the approach to the house was via a zig-zag carriage drive off Pye Bank/Pitsmmor road. Access from Fox street was probably lost when Tower Terrace was built.

1850 Plan

But anyway I'm really more interested in the history of 'Pitsmoor Castle' than it's precise location.

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Hi Falls, - I did a little more digging....but this is in the spirit of enlightenment rather than shooting anybody down. lol

Looking at this photograph and the 1890 plan below, certain features are easily identified. The curved wall on the left, the little bay window on the right and of course the tower. On the plan the tower is represented by the hexagonal feature surrounding the trig point. Pye Bank/Pitsmoor road is on the left, - the junction with Marshall street is just in view.

1890 Plan

The location of Tower House is quite clear from the earlier plan of 1850. At that time the front garden extended down to Fox street close to the junctions with Fox Hill and Gray street. The house overlooked Fox street but the approach to the house was via a zig-zag carriage drive off Pye Bank/Pitsmmor road. Access from Fox street was probably lost when Tower Terrace was built.

1850 Plan

But anyway I'm really more interested in the history of 'Pitsmoor Castle' than it's precise location.

Hi Gramps,

That's a great piece of detective work. Looks like the location we suggested on your earlier map is spot-on . As for the second building, could this be "Tower Hill"?. The location looks about right.

Now, I suppose we need to know when Tower House was actually demolished. I know someone on Sheffield Forum who may remember that area better than I can. He lived in the area from birth in 1933 until 1940 when they moved to Lancashire. They came back to that area in 1944. I'll send him a PM and see what he has to say.

Regards

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Hi Falls,- I'm not sure what you mean by the 'second building'. I suspect that all the buildings on the site constituted Tower Hill until some time between 1850 and 1890. The additional walls in the yard suggest the property had been split into separate tenements by 1890 and Tower House may have been so named to distinguish it from the rest. It's also possible that Tower house was an additon built by William Blackwell

Tower House isn't mentioned in any of the early directories but we have the following for Tower Hill -

1828/9 Mrs Mary Bower, (gentry and Clergy)

1833 William Blackwell, Silver Plate Manufacturer (Cornish Works)

- same occupant in 1837, 1841, 1849 and 1852.

The property seems to have been a high status one until the 1850s, but then came the railway and goods yard just down the road and the view in the valley below changed in just a few years from mostly pastoral to a mass of smoking chimneys. On top of this the house was quite quickly surrounded by streets of back-to-back housing.

The 6 inch OS map below shows the still semi-rural situation in 1850; Tower Hill is picked out in red.

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Hi Falls,- I'm not sure what you mean by the 'second building'. I suspect that all the buildings on the site constituted Tower Hill until some time between 1850 and 1890. The additional walls in the yard suggest the property had been split into separate tenements by 1890 and Tower House may have been so named to distinguish it from the rest. It's also possible that Tower house was an additon built by William Blackwell

Tower House isn't mentioned in any of the early directories but we have the following for Tower Hill -

1828/9 Mrs Mary Bower, (gentry and Clergy)

1833 William Blackwell, Silver Plate Manufacturer (Cornish Works)

- same occupant in 1837, 1841, 1849 and 1852.

The property seems to have been a high status one until the 1850s, but then came the railway and goods yard just down the road and the view in the valley below changed in just a few years from mostly pastoral to a mass of smoking chimneys. On top of this the house was quite quickly surrounded by streets of back-to-back housing.

The 6 inch OS map below shows the still semi-rural situation in 1850; Tower Hill is picked out in red.

Hi Gramps,

I think you are right. Tower house must have been part of, or very near to, the Tower Hill property. The arrival of the railway and rapid industrialization of the Don Valley in the early 19th century must have been a terrible shock to people that owned property in what had probably been almost idyllic surroundings.

As promised, I contacted the SF member and this is what he had to say:

"Regarding the 'Tower House' at the bottom end of the old gardens, it was certainly there in the 30's and it was occupied. I was only a kid of 4 or 5 years old when I first played on there. We used to get adventurous and wander about, even then though it was run down, and that's putting it mildly. I got to be honest, it was a little scary to go that far over the 'old gardens' as a 5 year old. There were the old stories about Mary Queen of Scots being incarcerated there one time and that didn't help at all. But the 'tower' itself, it wasn't all that grand, a bit of a stump really, it was just different. An interesting thing though that has been brought up, I think once, in the Forum, was a blocked tunnel which at one time had an entrance on what was Pitsmoor Road/Bank."

Falls again:

Its interesting to see that all the land to the north of Tower Hill was under cultivation - most likely some kind of allotments. In my day, it was virtually abandoned, although it still retained the name "Old Gardens" or "Owd Gardins" in the vernacular. The surprising thing was they never brought it back into cultivation during WWII, when they were already digging up public parks to grow food.

I also found your OS map very interesting as it identified the location of the old Brightside Bierlow Workhouse - before they replaced it with the one at Firvale. Something I was looking for a few months ago. I knew it was on Rock Street and its general position but the map gave me the precise location.

Thanks very much for the message.

Regards

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This must be before my time. Looks rather Victorian to me. Any further info?

Picture Sheffield: picturesheffield, s05926

Hi was searching for history on where my father used to live as a boy and this picture you have on here the middle bit that looks a bit like a castle is where he lived as a boy with his grandad(Robert Duff) and grandmar(Georgina Duff) in the 1950s he as great memories of this place and as the address as 117 pitsmoor road

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Pitsmoor Rd---Pyebank---to Tower Hill--- 1940's to 1950's .

I was born in 1938 at 4 court 1 house Pitsmoor Rd .I have seen the street map of Tower Hill .

It gives addresses 114--116--118 Pitsmoor Rd . Number114 was where my grandma lived .

To the rear of these 3 houses there was a little cluster of houses , one of which is where I was born .

It shows a number 4 court , but it does not show number 4 court 1---4 court 2 ---4 court 3 --- and 4court4 .It is the exact position of 4 court 1 house that I am wanting to find out .

I would be extremely grateful if someone can be of help .

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I am extremely interested in the EXACT position of number 117 Pitsmoor Rd as well as number 4 court 1 Pitsmoor Rd .It does not give these addresses on street map .

Wonder if someone could direct me towards a street map with this Information ,it is very important .

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I am extremely interested in the EXACT position of number 117 Pitsmoor Rd as well as number 4 court 1 Pitsmoor Rd .It does not give these addresses on street map .

Wonder if someone could direct me towards a street map with this Information ,it is very important .

No. 117 Pitsmoor Road is given at the corner of Marshall Street -1948 Dir.- Mrs Annie Sturdy greengrocer

Court 4 in 1925 Dir.-next to Tower Hill and 160 Pitsmoor Road Loco Club & Inst. Ltd.

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I am extremely interested in the EXACT position of number 117 Pitsmoor Rd

as well as number 4 court 1 Pitsmoor Rd .

It does not give these addresses on the street map of Tower House .

Wonder if someone could direct me towards a street map with this information .

It is very important to me .

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Hi neddy someone called jolow posted on this topic that their father lived at 117 Pitsmoor Rd at the same

time that you gave Mrs Annie Sturdy greengrocer .Wonder if you could confirm Mrs Annie Sturdy for me

please , much obliged .

jolow gave 117 Pitsmoor Rd Tower Hill area on the opposite side of Pitsmoor Rd that you gave

Marshall Street same address .

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