The Sheffield Code

Following the clues to be found in the curious signs and symbols hidden on Surrey Street, Sheffield City Centre.

Early on a Sunday morning in September I decided to take a walk into the city centre to see if I could find anything to photograph. I like to walk along  familiar streets and look at them from a fresh view-point. Often in our day-to-day lives as we rush to and from work or push our way through the crowds on a weekend, we don't get a chance to look above street level or notice the relationships between buildings, streets and other aspects of the urban environment.

And so I found myself standing in front of the Sheffield Central Library, located at the end of Surrey Street, just before the stairs and cycle path that lead down on to the Arundel Gate, one of the main roads into the city centre.

I've always had a warm fondness for the Sheffield Central Library and especially the Graves Art Gallery hidden away on the top floor. It feels like a little corner of the city that's just for me, although I'm happy to share it. The library is one of Sheffield's finest buildings, built between 1929 and 1934 to the design by W.G. Davies in a style that marries Neoclassical and Art Deco, indeed, the interior retains many Art Deco original design features. The entrance lobby especially evokes the 1930's with it's marble floor and Art Deco flourishes. The building is faced with white Portland Stone, a lime stone that was also used to build Buckingham Palace and St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

Main entrance of Sheffield Central Library between two pilasters, with 9 medallions around the carved doorway.

On the frontage of the library six Ionic pilasters adds to the strong Neoclassical theme, while around the main entrance doorway 9 medallions are carved in the stone. Pilasters are 'fake' flat columns that are decorative rather than structural. Classical architecture is based on aesthetics used by the Greeks and Romans in their buildings, generally columns are either Doric, that is plain and quite squat; Ionic with scrolls at the top and bottom; Corinthian columns are more slender with decorations based on plant-forms.

Medallion of Astronomy.

The 9 medallions are carved with surprising detail and represent Literature, Music, Drama, Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Mathematics, Chemistry and Astronomy.

Medallion of Literature.

Nine is quite an unusual number but reflects an aspect of Ancient Greek mythology, the Nine Muses, who were daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. The Muses were thought to be responsible for inspiration in literature, science and art.

Medallion of Chemistry or perhaps Alchemy.

The legendary Great Library of Ancient Alexandria grew around a 'mousaion' that is a shrine dedicated to the Muses and museum 'cult place of the Muses' became a public place used for the display of knowledge after a movement in Paris that sought to revive the ideas of the classical world.

All very interesting and just a little bit 'Da Vinci Code'!

Plaque dedicated to the memory of J.G Graves (1866 - 1945).

My favourite place in the whole city of Sheffield has to be Graves Art Gallery, hidden above the noise and bustle of the streets and free to everyone. It has a wonderfully peaceful atmosphere with some amazing paintings and sculptures. I love the forgotten and hidden feeling of a sanctuary in the middle of the city. Along side the permanent collection, there are often visiting art works to surprise and delight. I've had the joy to stand in the company of works by Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec. Especially exciting, I had the chance to see the complete 'A Rake's Progress' by Hogarth as well as a collection of prints by Goya, many of which I'd seen reproduced in books. And as a final treat, there's the opportunity to enjoy some cake and an excellent cup of coffee in the tea room.

Just visible the Ionic scroll-shaped capitals of the pilasters.

Opposite from the library is a building that has often fired my imagination, mainly because of the strange symbols carved above windows and doors. From a fascination with all things strange and esoteric in my younger days, I recognised the symbols from Freemasonry.

Freemasonry is too complex and shrouded in myth and rumour to be covered here but from what I understand it's an institution based on the organisation and grading of Mediaeval Stonemasons that uses initiation and symbolism to preserve and transmit knowledge. I don't think much more could be said with any degree of certainty.

From the very limited research I've done, there was a Savings Bank on Surrey Street that in 1861 was converted into a Masonic Lodge, this was then replaced by a purpose built Hall in 1875 - 1877.

In the 1960's the Masonic Hall was converted in to a pub and gymnasium and so it remains today having been extended and reorganised somewhere along the way.

Next to the library is a large open space called Tudor Square, surrounded by Sheffield's theatres and is a relatively recent development. Standing in the square just off the pavement of Surrey Street, next to the library, stands a large plaque upon a stone pedestal. I had often seen it and wondered vaguely what it commemorated.

Thomas Boulsover (1705 - 1788) inventor of Sheffield Plate sometime around 1745.

The plaque depicts Thomas Boulsover (1705 - 1788) who worked as a cutler in Sheffield and invented a process that, according to a smaller memorial plaque on the pedestal, created " a thriving industry and helped Sheffield prosper". The word cutler comes from the Old French word 'coutelier' which in turn is derived from 'coutel' which means knife. In French today 'couteau' means knife.

The process Thomas Boulsover invented is essentially a silver plating technique using copper, found by accident while trying to repair a customer's decorative knife. This enabled the manufacture of items that appeared to be solid silver but for a fraction of the cost. His workshop was on the site now covered by Tudor Square.

Carved feature on the buildings at the junction between Surrey Street and Norfolk Street.

I continued to walk down Surrey Street past the Winter Gardens and the row of shops that lined the opposite side of the road that dates from the 1830's. At the junction with Norfolk Street I carried on towards the main shopping precinct with Sheffield Town Hall on the left and another row of shops on the right, in a building from the late 1800's. I didn't pay too much attention to Sheffield Town Hall, I planned to make that a future subject in itself, however there is something in it's shadow that I definitely was interested in, an oddity that catches the attention of anyone new to Sheffield. The Police box!

It may not be blue but it's our own T.A.R.D.I.S.

The first Police box was introduced to Britain in 1891 and was a narrow hexagonal construction, the design changed in 1923 to wooden rectangular structures. The one in the photo above along with 120 others, were introduced to Sheffield in 1928. The design of the Police box that features as the T.A.R.D.I.S. in the BBC series Dr. Who is based on a design by Metropolitan Police Surveyor Mr Gilbert MacKenzie Trench and was introduced to service after 1929. The Police box was used by Police Officers out on their beat to communicate with the Station, a light on the top of the box would indicate a need to make contact or pass on important information. Inside there would often be a stool, telephone and an electric heater, as well as providing shelter and somewhere to write reports the Police box occasionally served as a temporary jail and as a point where members of the public could contact the Police. They continued to be in service nationally until 1969/1970 when personal radios were issued to Officers.

As I walked round the front of the Town Hall, the city centre was starting to come to life. I spent some time trying different shots in and around the Peace gardens. I particularly like the image above with the leaves against the oxidised metal. Originally called St Paul's Gardens, they were laid out in 1938 following the demolition of St Paul's Church that was built on the site in 1721. They were called by the people of Sheffield 'Peace Gardens' to commemorate the signing of the ill-fated Munich Agreement in 1938 between Nazi Germany, Britain, France and Italy, causing Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to declare that the signing meant "peace for our time". They were officially renamed Peace Gardens in 1985.

View of the Peace Gardens and Sheffield Town Hall.

The Town Hall was completed in 1897 after taking 7 years to build and was opened by Queen Victoria. The figure on top of the clock tower is Vulcan the Roman god of fire, although the Romans identified him with the Greek god of metalworking, Hephaestus. An appropriate patron for the Steel City.

Flowers in the Peace Garden.

I finished my little tour of Surrey Street in and around the Peace Gardens and as it turned out it was the last time I'd use my camera before selling it. I'm surprise at how much history and points of interest I found on one small, single street. Although I haven't done too much research, my knowledge of my favourite little area in the city centre has grown and I think my enjoyment will be greater now I have an understanding of it's past.

Rear entrance of the Winter Gardens.