Tapton Hall is 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 ...

situated on Shore Lane in the

Crosspool Crosspool is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, located west of the city centre. The suburb falls within the Crookes ward of the City of Sheffield. It is a middle class residential area''"Approach To Urban Sociology" ...

area 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.

History

Tapton Hall was built in 1855, however on the 1853 Sheffield town plan a building known as Tapton Grove existed on the site. The date of the construction of Tapton Grove is unknown but it is known that Mary Shore (thus Shore Lane) lived in the house until her death in 1853. Mrs Shore was the Grandmother of

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...

and the young Florence often stayed at the house. Upon the death of Mary Shore in 1853, aged 96, the house was bought by Robert B. Mitchell who within two years had sold the house to the Sheffield steel magnate

Edward Vickers Edward Vickers (1804-1897) was the founder of Naylor Vickers & Co. which became Vickers Limited. Career Vickers was a successful miller who invested his money in the railway industry. In 1828 he gained control of his father-in-law's steel foundry ...

. Vickers’ first action was to demolish Tapton Grove and completely rebuild it in 1855 as Tapton Hall. Vickers used the architects Flockton & Son and the house was built in the Classical style with

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

features. In 1867 the house was bought by George Wilson of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of snuff manufacturers. Wilson paid £3,500 for Tapton Hall, plus £1,424 for the furniture and £218 for the wine left in the cellar. The hall was owned by the Wilson family until the late 1950s, being lived in by George Wilson’s son George Kingsford Wilson (1853–1933) and then his grandson George Ronald Wilson (1888–1958). Gives details of history and architecture. Soon after the death of George Ronald Wilson in 1958 the hall was purchased by the Masonic Hall Company of Sheffield who had plans to refurbish and extend the building. In 1959 the Masonic Hall Company held a limited competition and invited architectural firms to submit plans for large scale additions to meet highly specialised needs without detracting from the quality of the house,. The competition was won by the Sheffield firm of Hadfield, Cawkwell, Davidson & Partners who restored and renovated the existing house providing specialised suites of rooms and a new 30,000 square foot extension. The new extension which was completed in 1967, was built in a contemporary style and has been described as “large and uncompromisingly modern”.''"Pevsner Architectural Guides – Sheffield"'', Ruth Harman & John Minnis, , page 272, Gives details of architecture and quote. It comprises two floors and includes four

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

, dining rooms and kitchen to serve 360 diners. The extension is constructed in grey brick, ashlars stone slabs and precast concrete cladding. A large abstract concrete mural symbolising the turmoil and chaos of the outside by

William Mitchell William Mitchell may refer to: People Media and the arts * William Mitchell (sculptor) (1925–2020), English sculptor and muralist * William Frederick Mitchell (1845–1914), British naval artist * William M. Mitchell, American writer, ministe ...

stands at the members entrance.''"150 Years Of Architectural Drawings"'', Hadfield, Cawkwell, Davidson, Brampton Print and Design, , page 104, Gives details of extension.''"Sheffield‘s Remarkable Houses"'', Roger Redfern, , page 20, Gives historical details. In 1969, the Irish historian

Edith Johnston Edith Mary Johnston aka Edith Mary Johnston-Liik (11 July 1930 – 25 February 2008) was a historian and editor. She was the first female St. Andrews PhD student to go on to an academic career. She served on the board who created the Dictionary ...

became the first Warden of Sheffield University's Tapton Hall of Residence and she served until 1971.

Present day

Today Tapton Hall is a Conference and banqueting centre which hosts wedding, civil ceremonies, corporate events and special occasions.Tapton Hall website.
Gives details of history, architecture and present day.

Architecture

The building is dominated by a large rounded two storey

bow window A bow window or compass window is a curved bay window. Bow windows are designed to create space by projecting beyond the exterior wall of a building, and to provide a wider view of the garden or street outside and typically combine four or more w ...

consisting of three sash windows on each floor. The hipped slate roof is concealed by balustrades. The eastern entrance has a two storey square

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

. The interior has a grand entrance hall with an open well staircase with moulded segmental arches, modillion cornice and a roof light.

References

{{SheffieldStructures Houses in Sheffield Grade II listed buildings in Sheffield History of Sheffield Houses completed in 1855