Mount Pleasant is an 18th-century mansion situated on Sharrow Lane in the Highfield area of the City of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, England. The house stands just under two km south of the city centre and is a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, Sheffield Council website.
Lists all listed buildings in Sheffield. it has been described as "one of the best 18th century houses in Sheffield".''"Pevsner Architectural Guides - Sheffield"'', Ruth Harman & John Minnis, , Page 224, Gives this quote and details of architecture. The adjacent former stables and coach house are also Grade II* listed.

History

Mount Pleasant was built by Francis Hurt Sitwell. The Sitwells were an eminent family of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

landowners who owned a large ironworks at Eckington. www.sitwell.co.uk.
Gives details of Sitwell family. The house was constructed in 1777 using the architect John Platt (1728–1810) of Rotherham, who was also involved in masonry work at Clifton Hall and

Wentworth Castle Wentworth Castle is a grade-I listed country house, the former seat of the Earls of Strafford, at Stainborough, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is now home to the Northern College for Residential and Community Education. A ...

during his career. www.rotherhamweb.co.uk.
Gives details of John Platt. When first built the mansion stood in a rural situation within sight of the centre of Sheffield, surrounded by farmland at the top of a slight gradient overlooking the valley of the

River Sheaf The River Sheaf in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, flows northwards, past Dore, through Abbeydale and north of Heeley. It then passes into a culvert, through which it flows under the centre of Sheffield before joining the River Don. Thi ...

. The Sitwells owned Mount Pleasant for less than 20 years as in 1794 it was sold to Samuel Broomhead Ward who was to become

Master Cutler The Master Cutler is the head of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire established in 1624. Their role is to act as an ambassador of industry in Sheffield, England. The Master Cutler is elected by the freemen of the company on the first Monday o ...

in 1798. www.rotherhamweb.co.uk.
Gives list of Master Cutlers. By the 1850s the family of Thomas Tillotson, a Sheffield merchant were living at Mount Pleasant, after that the building was utilised for various purposes. In 1868 the committee of the West Riding County

Asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

acquired a five-year lease on Mount Pleasant and used it to alleviate overcrowding at their main hospital. As an asylum, Mount Pleasant accommodated approximately 75 residents with eight staff, in 1872 all residents were transferred to the newly built South Yorkshire Asylum at

Wadsley Wadsley is a suburb of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It stands north-west of the city centre at an approximate grid reference of . At the 2011 Census the suburb fell within the Hillsborough ward of the City. Wadsley was f ...

.''"A History Of Middlewood Psychiatric Hospital"'', F.T. Thorpe, No ISBN, Page 6, Gives details of building as an asylum. In 1874 Mount Pleasant became the Girls’ Charity School when it was relocated from its original location in St James Row at the side of

Sheffield Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul, Sheffield, also known as Sheffield Cathedral, is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when ...

. In 1927 the school was renamed the Mount Pleasant School for Girls.''"Sheffield’s Remarkable Houses"'', Roger Redfern, , Page 46, Gives history of Mount Pleasant. Mount Pleasant was requisitioned for use by the Government during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and after the War the building continued to be used by various Government departments with the Ministry of Works Engineering Department, the Ministry of Fuel and the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

all having office space there. Mount Pleasant was designated a listed building in May 1952. By 1961 there was just the

National Assistance Board The National Assistance Board was established by the National Assistance Act 1948 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 29) and abolished in by the Ministry of Social Security Act 1966. It was preceded by the Unemployment Assistance Board (known from 1941 as t ...

and the Drivers Examiners Department using the buildings with the latter using the old stables and coach house buildings as offices. When the building was vacated by the government it fell into a state of near ruin during the late 1960s and early 1970s but was restored in the mid-1970s and converted into a

Community centre A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

with the stables used as a

Youth club A youth center or youth centre, often called youth club, is a place where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities, for example table football, association football (US soccer, UK football), basketball, table tennis, v ...

known as The Stables Connexions Centre.''"A Popular History Of Sheffield"'', J. Edward Vickers, , Pages 173 & 174, Gives history of Mount Pleasant.

Architecture

Mount Pleasant is brick built with stone dressings and a hipped

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roof. It has three stories with a full-height canted

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. A bow window is a form of bay with a curve rather than angular facets; an oriel window is a bay window that does not touch the g ...

on the south side. Most of the windows are of the

sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the human body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else encircling the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, ...

design. The most decorative side of the house is the shorter east elevation which has its middle three bays brought forward and given a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

. There is a

palladian window Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Republic of Venice, Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetr ...

on the first floor set in an arch with a

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

below. The ornamental doorway has Corinthian columns and a pediment. The former stables and coach house are of similar build to the main house being constructed of red brick with stone dressings incorporating sash windows. Gives details of architecture.

References

{{SheffieldStructures Houses in Sheffield Houses completed in 1777 Grade II* listed buildings in Sheffield Grade II* listed houses