[2852] Sheffield : Castle House

Castle house, Lady's Bridge, Sheffield, 1899-1900.

By Flockton, Gibbs & Flockton.

Grade ll listed.

 

On the banks of the River Don opposite Castlegate stands an unusual and impressive group of buildings in a 'Flemish' style, built in elaborate glazed brick with ashlar dressings and slate roofs.

 

This group, including the office block west of the bridge was built in 1900 by John Henry Bryars, a successful animal breeder and vet who had the care of the Midland Railways Company's dray horses.

 

The horses were stabled in four floors of the large building, Castle House, facing the river, reached by ramps and served by a farriers shop and a sick bay. The vet's surgery was at the rear of the tenement block known as Royal Exchange Buildings. The surgery entrance is marked by a device incorporating a horse head. Later this stable became the home of the famous Tommy Ward's elephant, Lizzie, and later still, in 1928, it was taken over by Batchelors as their first canning factory. As such it is the birthplace of the 'mushy pea', an essential accompaniment of hot pies and fish and chip suppers.

Done