Endcliffe Hall

Endcliffe Hall is a 19th-century, 36-room mansion situated on Endcliffe Vale Road in the City of Sheffield in the suburb of Endcliffe. The hall is situated just over three km west of the city centre and is a Grade II* Listed building.

The present hall was built between the years of 1863 and 1865 by the Sheffield architects Flockton & Abbot for the Sheffield industrialist John Brown. Brown had acquired considerable wealth and prestige from the manufacture of armour plate from Bessemer steel at his Atlas Works in the city and wanted to build a private residence to reflect his position as one of the Nouveau riche industrialist of the Victorian Age. It is the largest private residence ever to have been built in Sheffield.

The Endcliffe estate can be traced back to 1333 when John de Elcliffe was awarded a financial grant, at that time the estate extended considerably and took in land between the Porter and Sheaf valleys. It is believed that the first Endcliffe Hall was built in the reign of George II (1727 - 1760) although Sheffield historian J. Edward Vickers says there may have been an earlier building on the site. The hall was owned from 1818 by the merchant William Hodgson and included 50 acres (200,000 m²) of land and cost £6,700. The hall later passed to Henry Wilkinson, a Sheffield silversmith before being bought by John Brown in August 1860.

Brown had previously lived at the large seven bedroomed house of Shirle Hill in Cherry Tree Road, Nether Edge and entertained the Prime Minister Lord Palmerston there in 1862. However Brown was looking for a more impressive structure to entertain his visitors and wanted a building that was “…. specially adapted for dispensing hospitalities on a scale worthy of such distinguished visitors”. Brown’s first action on acquiring the building was to pull the old hall down and replace it with the current building which cost £100,000 to build with a further £60,000 spent on the furnishings. Brown was determined to use Sheffield craftsmen during the work on the hall and in addition to the architects Flockton & Abbot he employed local firms such as John Jebson Smith (staircases), Longden & Co. (kitchen stoves), Messrs Craven (ornamental plasterwork), William Gibson (carpentry), Mr Pitt (plumbing and glazing) and John and Joseph Rogers (decorating).

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