The Green Lane Works are a disused industrial facility situated in the City of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

, England. The entrance gate to the works is particularly ornate and has been designated as a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

called the gate ''“the most spectacular survival of factory architecture in the city”''.''Pevsner Architectural Guides - Sheffield'', Ruth Harman & John Minnis, , Pages 170-171 Gives details of architecture and Pevsner quote. The works are situated in the suburb of

Neepsend Neepsend is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it stands just north-west of the city centre. The main area of Neepsend covers the flood plain of the River Don from Lady's Bridge at the Wicker up to Hillfoot Bridge. The suburb falls within the ...

within the Kelham Island Quarter of the city and date from 1795 although there were extensive alterations in 1860.

History

The original Green Lane Works were established in 1795 by the firm of Hoole and Company who were manufacturers of ornamental stove grates and fenders in Bronze and metal. The firm flourished and their products won a first Council medal at

The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took p ...

of 1851 and a Medaille d'honneur at the Exposition Universelle of 1855. This success brought considerable prestige to the firm and its proprietor at the time Henry E. Hoole. In 1859 Hoole was elected

Lord Mayor of Sheffield The Lord Mayor of Sheffield is a ceremonial post held by a member of Sheffield City Council. They are elected annually by the council. The post originated in 1843, with the appointment of William Jeffcock as the first Mayor of Sheffield. E ...

and to celebrate this he had major alterations carried out to the works.''"Illustrated Sheffield Guide"'', Pawson & Brailsford, , Page 174 Gives early history of works.

Entrance gateway

The most important part of the 1860 rebuilding was the construction of the decorative entrance arch on Green Lane. It is thought that the sculptor Alfred Stevens designed the gatehouse and may have been responsible for the

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

sculptured decoration. Stevens had worked for Hoole and Company between 1850 and 1852 as chief designer on a salary of £20 per annum and had designed much of the firms award winning work for the 1851 exhibition. When he returned to London after two years with Hooles he left behind him many drawings and designs for apprentices to study.''"A Popular History Of Sheffield"'', J. Edward Vickers, , Page 204 Gives details of Alfred Stevens. Sheffield Hallam University - Public Art in Sheffield.
Gives details of Stevens‘ work on Green Lane Works. The Gateway is constructed of ashlar, stucco and brick and takes the form of a tripartite

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, cro ...

with a carving of a female head on the keystone above the main (central) arch. The two outer (pedestrian) arches have relief panels of the Greek gods

Hephaestus Hephaestus (; eight spellings; grc-gre, Ἥφαιστος, Hḗphaistos) is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire (compare, however, with Hestia), and volcanoes.Walter B ...

(left) and

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

(right) above them. The name of the works is carved above the central arch and above this is an apex roof which at one time had a coat of arms on it which is now missing. The gateway is topped off by a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

with clock and

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

Later history

The works were considerably damaged in the Great Sheffield Flood of March 1864 with Samuel Harrison in his "A Complete History of the Great Sheffield Flood" saying: The works continued to make stove grates and fenders until 1930, up until 1948 it produced files as part of the Ibbotson Brothers group. In April 1948 the works were purchased by W.A. Tyzack who produced agricultural tools and parts for farm machinery. In late 2009, the works was disused with its future unknown. The gateway was partly boarded up to protect it from vandalism. A History of Tyzack‘s.
Gives details of Tyzack's purchase of works. Gives details of architecture and latter history. In 2013, the works was added to the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

. In 2015, it was removed from the register following repairs. As of 2018, it has been converted in four commercial spaces as part of the Little Kelham development. The spaces range from to and were for sale,

leasehold A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...

, at prices from £249,514 to £305,073.

References

{{Listed buildings in Sheffield Industrial buildings and structures in Sheffield History of Sheffield Industrial buildings completed in 1795 Grade II* listed buildings in Sheffield