Sharrow Head House

[Guest Danny]

Hi

Each morning I walk past Sharrow Head House. Or at least I think I do!

Dont ask me why my interest has been piqued by this dwelling, but I hope others on here will understand the little obessions I get from time to time with buildings/streets etc and my desire to then know all about them. it drives me a little crazy sometimes, .

Anyway, up until yesterday I thought the actual old Sharrow Head House had been demolished, mainly due to the caption attached to this picture on Picture Sheffield

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s19339

which states the houses at the top of Sharrow lane had been built on the site of Sharrow Head House. And certainly the large houses which occupy that plot of land, leading down both Cemetery Rd and Sharrow Lane led me to believe the original house was 'no more' as I didn't think there would be enough room for the big house to still be there.

But........

Because I frequent that area each morning, I also kept noticing this entrance/drive way.

It isn't gated off or anything, and although it doesn't look well used due to the slight carpet of grass, it is by no means overgrown either. This made me think it may still get some light traffic. So, I then began wondering what was up there? Where did the pathway lead to?

Up until this point this was still just a very occasional interest, mainly because I had seen some pictures on Picture Sheffield of the old house and I walked past this way each morning/evening to and from work. But yesterday I was bored and I began wondering what could lay at the end of the driveway, and impatient as I am, I couldn't wait to have a sneaky wander up there at the end of the day, so I jumped on good old Google maps (The lazy/impatient persons dream come true)

What I found then opened the flood gates and I now can't rest until I make full sense of what I have found.

(I have tried linking to a Google map of the area, but can't get it to work for some reason, sorry)

Google maps clearly shows a building/house at the end of the driveway. Indeed there seems to be a small turning circle as if this was a purposeful entrance/exit for this house. Google maps also clearly shows 3 chimneys on the building. So, I then went back on to Picture Sheffield and found this picture

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s05637

which show Sharrow Head House as having 3 chimneys! No, it couldn't be could it? Could the old house still be there, tucked well out of the way, totally invisible from the road?

I then looked on the OS map from 1950, (Map No. 270 on the Sheff history OS map list) which shows the house still there, AND the new houses around it built on what was once the grounds of the big old house.The plot thickens.

When I saw that first picture which stated the houses at the top of Sharrow lane being built on the site of Sharrow Head House I thought it meant actually on the spot of the actual house, not that they were built in what was the grounds of the old house. But looking back at the various pictures on Picture Sheffield I noticed the house sat in substantial grounds, well back from both Cemetery Rd and Sharrow Lane, so it is more than feasible to think the house could still be there.

But this is where it gets confusing. Last night I couldn't help myself and had a quick sneak down the driveway, and again this morning, and took this picture

I was expecting to see the front entrance way to the house, looking something similar to this old picture, which very nicely shows the Bright family outside posing for the camera.

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=t01748

This picture shows the main door way in the middle of building, flanked by two protrusions each with their own windows/gables etc, but as you can see from my picture the part of the house I saw looks nothing like this at all. There is no door way, no protrusions, nothing like the old picture at all. I have managed to deduce from the various pictures/OS maps that this elevation

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s05639

Is the side that faces away from the roundabout at the top of the Cemetery Rd, and is what would be the back of the house on the opposite side of the small turning circle shown on both Google maps and now on my own picture. So i didn't expect to be greeted with this when i got to the top of the path. But equally I wasn't expecting to see what i saw either.

Looking at my picture i cant see any evidence of structural changes or additions which would alter this facade of the house so dramatically. There are even more windows on the side of the house to the right of my picture (the side without the rendering, where you can see the brickwork) than on the old Picture Sheffield images which show just one window on the right side poking through the ivy.

HELP!!

Can someone else cast a fresh set of eyes over this lot and see if I am missing something, or even better still does anyone have any knowledge of Sharrow Head House that would clear all this up??

By the way, i do know the corner house which overlooks the roundabout at the top of Sharrow lane/Cemetery Rd etc does have Sharrow Head House over the main door way, for some reason, but his isnt the original 19th century Sharrow Head House.

[SteveHB]

Link to OS map #270

Link to Flash Earth

[Guest Danny]

Brilliant, thanks Steve!!!

That second 'map' you have posted, where is that from? it seems to totally contradict the shape of all other overhead images of the house i have seen, but does support the old bright family pictures from Picture Sheffield. By the look of it, the pictures showing the Brights outside their house 'could' have been taken from the Cemetery Rd side on this map which seems to show the two protrusions with a recess for the main door.

This image however does not seem to show any angle which could look like this from the ground

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s05639

But the shape of the current building and the one on the 1950's OS maps does.

And...........

Why is this representation of the house so vastly different from all others. From the 1950's OS map, present day and also 'some' of the pictures on Picture Sheffield???

It just doesnt make any sense to me at all

Also, i love the Flash earth veiw. It is a lot clearer than the Google maps version, and although i know it predates what is currently available on Google maps, it looks like the driveway is used mush more as the ground looks more worn.

Edit - Just found this picture

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s05635

Which i hadnt noticed before (god knows why) This also seems to support that 1903 map you have found Steve, but this time from the other side which would overlook Sharrow Lane. I think what must have happened, and I will try my hardest to find out, is that there have been 2 big houses on the site. The one where the Brights lived which is the one on the 1903 map you found and on the pictures showing the brights outside, and then another house which is the one which is there now. My only niggle is that this picture looks so old

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s05639

And annoyingly there is no date on Picture Sheffield.

More work required i think!

[SteveHB]

More work required i think!

I would say that Gramps has already solved it Dan.

Link to ..Godfrey Maps of Sheffield 1901 - 1905

Good owd Gramps !

:)

[Bayleaf]

A couple of snippets from another thread-

No.311 Cemetery Rd (Sharrow Head House) was built around 1763.

Cemetery Rd was built at about the time the General Cemetery was extended in 1848.

Prior to that it was a lane called Mackenzie Walk, after the Rev. Alexander Mackenzie, curate of St Paul's from 1778 to 1816, who lived at Sharrow Head.

[SteveHB]

A later resident;

Lieut Percival Harold Davy, R.A.F., younger son of

the late S. H. M. Davy, of Paignton, Devon,

and of Mrs.Austin Batty, Sharrow Head House, Sheffield,

was married on July 11th at St. Mark's Church, Sheffield,

to Muriel, younger daughter of the late Sydney Steel

and of Mrs. Steel, of Bournemouth.

1918

source .. www.flightglobal.com

Austin Batty, 311 Cemetery Rd.

Kelly's 1925

[Guest Danny]

Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it.

Solves the puzzle of the different houses showing up on maps pictures etc.

I can rest now! .

[Guest emmak]

I lived there from 1973 til 1982 ish. I have photos of that period if they would help

[Guest Gramps]

Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it.

Solves the puzzle of the different houses showing up on maps pictures etc.

I can rest now! .

Not quite - here's a couple more maps that might interest you (and Bayleaf because it wasn't Mackenzie's walk that became Cemetery road )

[Guest Leipzig]

Not quite - here's a couple more maps that might interest you (and Bayleaf because it wasn't Mackenzie's walk that became Cemetery road )

Hi Gramps

What is the source and date of the right hand map please.

Are you able to put online the rest of the map, particularily the area to the east which would include the Whitehouses possibly.

Kind regards

Leipzig

[Guest Gramps]

Hi Gramps

What is the source and date of the right hand map please.

It's from Fairbank's 1808 map of Sheffield but that is the only decent bit I know of, - taken from Mary Walton's book on Sharrow.

Richard posted a copy of the central part here http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=6627 but the complete map covers a much wider area. Sadly the only copy held by Sheffield Archives is in a very poor condition and encased in plastic film which makes it impossible to photograph well.

I have Fairbank's 1795 map of Sheffield parish but the detailing isn't as good as the 1808 version. For what it's worth this is how he renders the Whitehouses...

and to stay on topic, Sharrow head...

[Guest Danny]

Brilliant stuff, i cant thank you all enough!