Old Bank House is the oldest surviving

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

-built house in

Sheffield City Centre Sheffield City Centre (referred to locally as simply Town) is a district of the Sheffield, City of Sheffield and is covered partly by the City ward, Sheffield, City ward of the City of Sheffield. It includes the area that is within a radius of ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It lies on Hartshead, north of the

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

. Although the Manor Lodge had been partly constructed from brick, the first brick building in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, 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 Historic counties o ...

city centre was not completed until 1696, and was initially much ridiculed. However, by the 1720s, several houses had been rebuilt in brick, and

Burrowlee House Burrowlee House is a Georgian style building situated at grid reference on Broughton Road in the Owlerton district of Sheffield, some north-west of the city centre. It is the oldest building in the Owlerton and Hillsborough area and was one of ...

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

had been completed, so the style was no longer a novelty. The building was constructed in 1728 by the

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

merchant Nicholas Broadbent. From 1771 until 1782, his grandson Thomas Broadbent ran a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

from the building, having moved to Page Hall. The three-storey building is divided into five bays, with the central bay brought slightly forward. The central bay and corners of the building are marked with giant

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s, and a plain

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

tops the facade. St Peter's Close runs through the ground floor of the leftmost bay. The interior of the building, restored in the 1970s and further improved in 2006 contains some original

panelling Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...

and

plasterwork Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster Molding (decorative), decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called parge ...

and is partially Grade I listed. The building is

Grade II* listed 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 ...

and is now used as offices by Bank House Chambers, the longest established set of barristers chambers on the North Eastern Circuit, who began operating in 1862.

References

*Ruth Harman and John Minnis, ''Pevsner Architectural Guides: Sheffield'' {{SheffieldStructures Houses completed in 1728 Grade II* listed buildings in Sheffield Houses in Sheffield 1728 establishments in England