Cornish Place is a

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 ...

situated in the

Neepsend Neepsend is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it stands just north-west of the city centre. The main area of Neepsend covers the flood plain of the River Don from Lady's Bridge at the Wicker up to Hillfoot Bridge. The suburb falls within th ...

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 ...

. The building was formerly the factory of

James Dixon & Sons J Dixon & Sons (James Dixon & Sons), founded 1806 in Sheffield, was one of the major British manufacturers of the Industrial Revolution. They were manufacturers of pewterware, electroplated Britannia metal, silverware and electroplated nickel si ...

, a

Britannia metal Britannia metal (also called britannium, Britannia ware, or Vickers White Metal (Cite
an
Sheffield plate Old Sheffield Plate (or OSP) is the material developed by Thomas Boulsover in the 1740s, a fusion of copper and sterling silver which could be made into a range of items normally made in solid silver. The material rapidly gained popularity as ...

and

Cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware) includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. While most cutlers ...

manufacturer. In the late 1990s the disused building was cleaned and converted into

apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...

s, it is regarded as the most impressive cutlery works that still stands in Sheffield''"A History of Sheffield"'',

David Hey David G. Hey (18 July 1938 – 14 February 2016) was an English historian, and was an authority on surnames and the local history of Yorkshire. Hey was the president of the British Association for Local History, and was a published author of sev ...

, , Pages 208-209 Gives detailed history. and rivals the

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

s of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and the

West Riding The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The lieutenancy at that time included the city of York a ...

in terms of architectural quality and heritage.''Pevsner Architectural Guides - Sheffield'', Ruth Harman & John Minnis, , Pages 170-171 Gives details of present day, architecture and some history. The east and west ranges of the structure are the most spectacular, with Grade II* listed classification, while the rest of the works receive the lower Grade II category. The "Cornish" in the buildings name is thought to derive from the manufacture of Britannia metal which is made up of 93%

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

which came from

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

History

Foundation

The firm was founded as Dixon & Smith in 1805 and was based on Silver Street in the centre of Sheffield. James Dixon’s association with the Cornish Place site began in 1819 when a

rolling mill In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simi ...

on the spot came into the possession of Dixon & Smith. In 1822 Dixon set up business on his own and the rolling mill was converted into a workshop for the manufacture of silver and plated goods. During the 1830s the firm acquired land to the south of the original buildings and new workshops were constructed. The first phase of the works were a U-shaped series of buildings which fronted onto Cornish Street and the River Don and consisted of workshops, casting shops and offices.

Expansion

The works were extended as the firm became more successful with the more notable part of the building, the east range, being built between 1851 and 1854 when the works were being converted to

steam power A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transf ...

. The completion of the enclosure of the inner courtyard involved the construction of a range, forming an L shape with its long side facing Ball Street and its short side adjacent to the River Don, connecting with older workshops. Additional building work occurred between 1857 and 1859, resulting in the addition of warehouses and a showroom at the southern end of Ball Street. Around 1860, the west range was built, featuring more decorative architecture and prominently displaying the name of the works on the parapet, as it faced Green Lane. By the 1860s, the works spanned approximately four acres and employed over 700 people.''"Illustrated Sheffield Guide"'', Pawson and Brailsford, , Pages 167-170 Gives some history.

Peak, decline and closure

The firm reached its peak in 1914 as Dixon’s sons and grandsons expanded the business, selling goods throughout America and the Empire. At that time between 900 and 1000 people were employed at the works. Up until

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Cornish Place was powered by steam power with a steam engine situated in the engine house which had a 135 feet high chimney on top (the chimney still stands today). Electrification of the works began during World War I although it was some time before steam power was not needed. Another effect of World War I was a reduction in demand for luxury products which hit the firm badly and from which they would never recover. Cornish Place Works 2

Competition from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the production of cutlery was also a blow to Dixons, by the 1970s the firm was making regular annual losses and by 1982 had virtually collapsed with debts of over £1,000,000. At that time there were only 57 employees and parts of Cornish Place were let out to other businesses. A re-launch of the firm was attempted in 1984 with 30 employees but this was short-lived and Dixons was eventually absorbed into the Sheffield-based firm British Silverware. Production continued at Cornish Place until 1992 when the building closed.''"Made in Sheffield - The Story of James Dixon & Sons"'', Pauline Cooper Bell, , Pages 33-38 Gives detailed history.

Present day

In 1998 the disused Cornish Place was converted into apartments by the Sheffield-based architects Axis Architecture with construction work done by Gleesons.

Architecture

The east range which fronts onto Ball Street and the River Don is constructed from

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

and brick with ashlar dressings and a

Gablet roof A Dutch gable roof or gablet roof (in United Kingdom, Britain) is a roof with a small gable at the top of a hip roof. The term Dutch gable is also used to mean a gable with parapets. Some sources refer to this as a gable-on-hip roof. A Dutch ga ...

made from slate and asbestos cement. There are four floors with the ground and first floor having attractive arched windows. The ground floor was made to be fireproof with extensive use of cast iron. The west range on Green Lane is brick built with ashlar dressing and decorative arched windows. The adjoining plating shop has distinctive large windows with

clerestories A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

above.

References

{{Listed buildings in Sheffield Industrial buildings and structures in Sheffield Industrial buildings completed in 1860 Grade II* listed buildings in Sheffield