What was the Corn Exchange?

[OwlsChick]

The fire was in Jan/Feb 1947. Can't remember what the cause was but it occured in the coldest part of a very extreme winter.

 

The Fire Brigade: Yes! that's what they were called back then, had a hell of a time fighting it. Huge icicles hung from the building for days after.

 

The Registry Office had been using the main hall which was totally destroyed, leaving them homeless. That, is until they found the place on Surrey Street.

 

Some of the other business around the outside of the building kept going until the demolition: Remember Kidders Cafe and the Maunche P.H. The cellars underneath were in use until the end as well.

 

Don't forget the Boatmen's Mission and Sunday School that was also in the building.

 

Regards

I still say the fire brigade! Havent a clue why

[hillsbro]

Hi southfork - I'd like to say that I have clear memories of the Corn Exchange but I was only about 14 when it was demolished, and I just remember seeing it on my way to and from Bernard Road trainspotting! But the central tower (facing the Rag 'n' Tag Market) had what resembled pillars at the four corners, so perhaps this is what you remember. Although much of the building was gutted by fire, this link to a photo on the picturesheffield.com site, taken during demolition shows that enough of it remained for a restoration job to have been done. Such a shame.

[gadget_man]

I worked in the old castlefolds wholesale fruit market opposite the corn exchange and we had Banana ripening rooms in that building,when the old market closed in 1961 we had to clear all the rooms of the insulating material that used to come wrapped around the bananas to keep them warm,I can also remember going right up to the top of the turrets,up a very narrow winding staircase with narrow slit windows every so often on the way up,The stone turrets around the top were just like at the top of a real castle and the view across the city was breathtaking,what a beautiful historic building it was, and i can remember people at the time saying that they did not want to see it demolished.

[dennisgwild]

just a thought about old buildings that we have sacrificed to make Sheffield a modern city =

in the 50s we demolished many old, mainly stone buildings to make way for concrete and glass structures

some of these have now been replaced-but just think if instead of demolishing old and somewhat bomb damaged buildings after the war, we had restored them to there original status ,Sheffield may have attracted visitors to feel the ambience of yesteryear

alas hindsight wins again

[DUFFEMS]

I remember my mother telling me that she married my father at the Corn Exchange in 1942,could this be true was this the place of the registrar in those days?.

 

My parents married there in 1946.

[southfork]

Hillsbro.

Thanks for your comments, now despite what my kids think i know that i`m not loosing my marbles, well , maybe a few!

Relating back to what Dennisgwild posted i think he was spot on, he brought memories back of the statues that were removed from the bridge at the top of the wicker amongst many others.

Sheffield then was most interesting.

Southfork.

[soft ayperth]

Yes indeed - the Register Office was in the 'Corn Exchange Buldings'. Here is a scan from the 1942 directory. .

 

I remember that building well as my relatives had a fruit stall in the old rag and tag and my aunt operated a fish & chip shop on Broad Street.

 

It seems it's served a variety of purposes over the years but why was it called the "Corn Exchange?" What happened in there with respect to corn? I've often wondered that.

[Falls]

Your memory is good, Falls! Here is a scan from the old directory..

 

Thanks for posting the list. Boy!, some of those names bring back a few memories. Apart from the Maunche P.H. already mentioned most of the other businesses must have passed into history.

 

If I remember correctly, all the fruit and veg. merchants listed were round the back on the Maunche (street) itself. Where the two ramps lead down to the cellars under the building - opposite the Hallamshire (later Burnett & Hallamshire) Coal offices.

 

One last thought about Kidder's. The cafe used to open very early, every morning but Sunday. And I mean EARLY!! The place was usually packed with market people by 6am. For the rest of the morning, and into the early afternoon, they made tea, by the Gallon!! Mostly for the market people but also any "Park People" who happened to drop-in for a cupper. "Kidder's Fresh Mash" was a well known local beverage.

 

All a long time ago.

 

Regards

[Plain Talker]

just a thought about old buildings that we have sacrificed to make Sheffield a modern city =

in the 50s we demolished many old, mainly stone buildings to make way for concrete and glass structures

some of these have now been replaced-but just think if instead of demolishing old and somewhat bomb damaged buildings after the war, we had restored them to there original status ,Sheffield may have attracted visitors to feel the ambience of yesteryear

alas hindsight wins again

 

Hindsight is an exact science, I'm afraid, Dennis. It would have been a good building if refurbed...

 

As much as it sticks in my throat to say it, the oldest part of l**ds City market is beautiful, outside and in. the ornate victorian wrought iron decoration is really pretty. The l**ds corn exchange has also been 'refurbed' magnificently.

 

I know Sheffield's buildings suffered a lot more during the war than l**ds' did, (which is why they have the pretty Victoria Arcade and the like), but the city planners really did make a dogs breakfast of many of the replacement buildings that were erected.

 

The clearances of much of the older housing stock in the city, over the last 50/60 years, has also been somewhat short-sighted.

 

Yes, by all means get rid of the insanitary and primitive back-to-back style properties, with he outside / shared lavatories. But why demolish perfectly serviceable housing stock like the properties that were flattened to create Mount Pleasant Park? All that was needed in that instance was to have installed indoor sanitation, which would not really have cost a great deal back then, maybe £50 to £100, maximum per property. There would have been some nice, sturdy housing.

 

The Broomhall flats development was built in the late 1960s to early 1970's... by the time it was 20 years old, it was gone! Same with the maisonettes that I lived in at pitsmoor... Built early sixties, by the mid 1990s they were gone.

[Jim Hardie]

.....I know Sheffield's buildings suffered a lot more during the war than l**ds' did, (which is why they have the pretty Victoria Arcade and the like), but the city planners really did make a dogs breakfast of many of the replacement buildings that were erected.....

 

I don't think you can pin that on the Luftwaffe. The only two arcades we had were pulled down long after the war by the vandals on Sheffield City Council. Cambridge Arcade and the S&E Arcade.