Church Street (Sheffield)

Church Street is situated in the centre of Sheffield at the grid reference of SK353874. It runs for approximately 490 yards (450 m) in a westerly direction from its junction with Fargate and High Street to its termination at the crossroads formed by the junction with West Street, Leopold Street and Townhead Street. Church Street has its own Sheffield Supertram stop directly in front of the Sheffield Cathedral and it carries that name.

Church Street was originally named Church Lane and was referred to as this by John Harrison's in his survey of the town centre streets for Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel in 1637. Ralph Gosling's map of Sheffield of 1736 shows the area around Church Lane as "extraordinarily narrow". Joseph Mather (1737–1804), the local songwriter and file cutter described Church Lane in the 1780s in his song "The Black Resurrection":

In 1785 Church Lane was widened by taking a section of the nearby churchyard which resulted in the exhumation of several bodies and coffins. This produced adverse reaction from local inhabitants who directed their wrath against the vicar, the Reverend James Wilkinson.

Church Street does not have many retail shops on it, but it does have some of the more significant buildings in Sheffield. Sheffield Cathedral and the Cutlers' Hall both stand on Church Street. The Cathedral is a grade one listed building, construction started in 1430 although a church has existed on the site since the twelfth century. The Cutlers Hall was built in 1832 and is the headquarters of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire, it is the third Cutlers Hall on this site and was extended between 1865 and 1867.

Other listed buildings on Church Street are the RBS building (number 5), and number 17 which was formerly the HSBC bank. which stand on either side of the Cutlers' Hall and are built in a similar style. The premises of the Stone House Public house (number 19 - 21) is also listed although the pub has been closed for a few years and stands empty. In August 2005, London & Associated Properties bought the Stone House for £2,500,000 and plan to incorporate it within the nearby Orchard Square shopping centre which they own. This will create 42,000 square feet (3,900 m²) of redeveloped space.

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