Parkhead Hall

Parkhead Hall, formerly Parkhead House and The Woodlands, is an English country house situated in the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire. The hall is a grade II listed building and is located in the suburb of Whirlow close to the junction of Ecclesall Road South and Abbey Lane. The hall is difficult to view for the general public, being surrounded by high walls and housing, although a glimpse of its northern side can be seen from Ecclesall Road South.

The building was constructed in 1864 - 65 by the architect John Brightmore Mitchell-Withers (1838-1894) for his own use. It was originally named The Woodlands and Mitchell-Withers created the house as a Gothic fantasy with carved human heads looking out from the eaves and the front door. The dining room was panelled with oak taken from the long gallery of Sheffield Manor. The grounds were landscaped with many trees and included kitchen gardens, orchards, stables, a carriage house and harness room. Withers-Mitchell lived at The Woodlands with his wife Lise and by 1871 they had three children, the oldest of which, John, would also become a well-regarded architect like his father. John Mitchell-Withers senior died at the young age of 56 in 1894 and in June 1898 The Woodlands was sold to Sir Robert Hadfield, the metallurgist and owner of the vast Hadfields steel foundry in the east end of Sheffield.

Upon purchasing the house, Hadfield commenced on a series of extensive modifications between 1900 and 1903 using the architects R.G. Hammond and Wyngard, Dixon & Sandford. A two storey extension was added comprising a billiard room, a library, two additional bedrooms and a bathroom. He also renamed the building Parkhead House. Hadfield owned the house for over forty years, staying there until 1939, a year before his death. Parkhead House was purchased in 1939 by Sheffield Corporation who had for some time been looking for a suitable house which could be used as Judges’ lodgings after the opening of the Assizes Courts in the city. The Corporation paid £6,750 for the property, however the outbreak of World War II prevented their use for the intended purpose and during the conflict the house was the headquarters of No. 33 Group RAF Balloon Command which was responsible for all barrage balloons and their sites in the industrial Midlands between March 1939 and September 1944.

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