Riverdale House is a Victorian mansion located at 89 Graham Road in the Ranmoor area of Sheffield, England. Formerly a private residence, the building, which is Grade II Listed has now been adopted for commercial use and accommodates several small businesses.
The house was built around 1860 for Charles Henry Firth (1837-1892) of the eminent Sheffield family of steel makers. Charles was the fifth son of Thomas Firth and the brother of Mark Firth. [1] The house was constructed in the Victorian Gothic style and faced south taking in views of the Porter valley and Whiteley Woods. Firth lived at Riverdale house after his marriage to his wife Adelaide in 1860, who died at a young age in 1875. Firth himself died in December 1892 in Bath after suffering from gout for some time. Marianne Firth (Charles second wife) remained at Riverdale House for several years, along with her children and second husband.
Riverdale House was put up for sale in June 1898 and was described as “a substantially stone built family mansion, having upwards of 13 acres of valuable freehold land (exclusive roads) surrounded by excellent boundary walls and belted with well grown plantations”. [2] The house eventually became the property of John George Graves (1866-1945) who, in 1902, moved in. The 36-year-old Graves was a successful and wealthy businessman who had set up one of the first mail order catalogues selling furniture, electro-plated goods, tools, drapery and clothes, he also became known as a generous benefactor to the City of Sheffield. At its height Graves’ company employed 3,000 people and he and his wife Lucy held an annual tea party for staff in Riverdale House's large grounds (photograph on Picture Sheffield).
Despite his success as a businessman, Graves did have financial difficulties in 1908 and was forced to lease Riverdale to a tenant and live in a smaller house in Beauchief, however by 1915 he had returned to the house and lived there for the rest of his life. After J.G. Graves’ death in 1945 Riverdale House was lived in by his daughter Ruth and her husband Stanley Drummond-Jackson. Around 1955 it was taken over by Brown Bayley Steels and used as offices. [3] Today the house is still used as offices but is divided up between a number of small businesses. The substantial grounds were built on in the mid 1970s to accommodate the Riverdale Park apartment complex and the house is now hemmed in by modern buildings. [4]
The house has been described as “Sumptuous Gothic” [5] and is built from rock faced stone with ashlar dressings and gabled and hipped slate roofs. There is extensive use of lancet and sash windows with two storey bays at the front. [6] The house has a fine entrance lodge at the corner of Graham Road and Riverdale Road, it is built in the same style as the main house and includes a hipped porch. It is also Grade II listed and is now used as offices. [7]
Sir John Brown, British industrialist, was born in Sheffield. He was known as the Father of the South Yorkshire Iron Trade.
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and Neoclassicism, were synthesised with picturesque aesthetics. The style of architecture that was thus created, though also characterised as "Neo-Renaissance", was essentially of its own time. "The backward look transforms its object," Siegfried Giedion wrote of historicist architectural styles; "every spectator at every period—at every moment, indeed—inevitably transforms the past according to his own nature."
The General Cemetery in the City of Sheffield, England opened in 1836 and closed for burial in 1978. It was the principal cemetery in Victorian Sheffield with over 87,000 burials. Today it is a listed Landscape on the English Heritage National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. It is also a Local Nature Reserve. It is owned by the City of Sheffield and managed on behalf the city by a local community group, the Sheffield General Cemetery Trust.
Whirlow is a suburb of the City of Sheffield in England, it lies 3.7 miles (6 km) south-west of the city centre. The suburb falls within the Dore and Totley ward of the City. It is one of the most affluent areas of Sheffield, with much high class housing and several notable small country houses within it. During the Victorian era it was home to some of Sheffield's most influential citizens. Whirlow straddles the A625, the main Sheffield to Hathersage road. The suburb covers the area from Parkhead in the north to Whirlow Bridge in the south and from Ecclesall Woods in the east to Broad Elms Lane in the west. Whirlow had a population of 1,663 in 2011.
Fulwood ward—which includes the districts of Fulwood, Lodge Moor, and Ranmoor—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the far western part of the city and covers an area of 23.2 km2. The population of this ward in 2011 was 18,233 people in 6,476 households. Fulwood ward is one of the five wards that make up the Sheffield Hallam Parliamentary constituency. In the 2004 local elections John Knight, Janice Sidebottom, and Andrew Sangar, all Liberal Democrats, were returned as councillors for the newly drawn ward. The current Member of Parliament is Labour's Olivia Blake.
Ranmoor is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, England. It is an affluent suburb in the Fulwood ward of the city. It mostly developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it features a number of large houses that were built for the city's steel magnates, as well as, most notably, a large church, St John's. This church was opened 24 April 1879 but was almost entirely destroyed by fire on 2 January 1887. All that survived from the original church was the tower and spire, which still stands today. A new building was built and the church reopened on 9 September 1888; it is now a Grade II* listed building. A row of early 19th century buildings near the church includes the Bull's Head and Ranmoor Inn public houses.
Longley is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. It lies four km north of the city centre and is a residential neighbourhood made up mostly of housing built by Sheffield City Council in the late 1920s. The suburb falls within the Firth Park ward of the City.
The former Sheffield Central Technical School (CTS) was housed in the collection of buildings now called Leopold Square in the city centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The complex of buildings home to the school is bounded by Leopold Street, West Street, Orchard Lane, and Holly Street.
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 Mount is a Grade II* listed building situated on Glossop Road in the Broomhill area of Sheffield in England. It stands just over 1.3 miles (2.1 km) west of the city centre. It is a neoclassical building which was originally a terrace of eight houses but since the 1950s has been used for commercial office space for various businesses. The building is part of the Broomhill Conservation Area, which was set up in March 1977 through an agreement with local residents and Sheffield City Council.
Mount Pleasant is an 18th-century mansion situated on Sharrow Lane in the Highfield area of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. The house stands just under two km south of the city centre and is a grade II* listed building, it has been described as "one of the best 18th century houses in Sheffield". The adjacent former stables and coach house are also Grade II* listed.
Norton Hall is an English country house situated on Norton Church Road in the suburb of Norton in Sheffield, England. For most of its history it has been a private residence, in its latter history it has been used as a NHS hospital, a private hospital and has now been converted into high quality apartments. It is a Grade II* listed building.
William John Hale was an architect based in Sheffield, England, who produced the city's most striking early 20th-century architecture. He practised between 1896 and 1929 and designed several schools and churches in Sheffield, using the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau styles as a basis.
The Towers is a small English country house situated in Sheffield, England. The house stands on Sandygate Road close to the junction with Coldwell Lane in the suburb of Crosspool. It is a Grade II listed building as is the lodge and attached gateway and the concave garden wall. It has been described as “an extraordinary Scottish baronial fantasy”.
Leader House is a Georgian townhouse located on Surrey Street in the city centre of Sheffield, England. It overlooks the busy Arundel Gate dual carriageway and is a Grade II listed building.
Mylnhurst is a small English country house on Button Hill in the Ecclesall area of Sheffield, England. The house was previously a private residence, it now serves as a private school. The house along with the attached stables and lodge are Grade II listed buildings.
Firth Park is a public park in the Firth Park area of the City of Sheffield in England. It is located 3.75 km north-northeast of the city centre. The main entrance to the park is on Hucklow Road although there are several entrances on Firth Park Road to the east and one on Vivian Road to the south. Established in 1875, the park gave its name to the Sheffield suburb of Firth Park, a social housing estate constructed around the area of the park in the 1920s and 1930s.
Fulwood is a residential suburb and ward of the City of Sheffield in England, it lies 5.5 km west-southwest of the city centre. Formerly an ancient settlement and village on the Porter Brook, it became integrated into the city in the 1930s. It is bounded by the suburbs of Lodge Moor to the NW, Ranmoor to the east and Crosspool to the NE. The open countryside of the Peak District lies to the west and SW. The sub districts of Stumperlowe and Goole Green are part of the suburb. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 18,233. Fulwood is located in the Sheffield Hallam constituency which, as of the 2019 general election voted Labour.
Carsick Hall is a stone built Victorian Lodge located in the affluent Ranmoor area of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which lies 3 miles west of Sheffield City Centre.
John Dodsley Webster (1840–1913) was an English architect who designed more than 15 churches in Sheffield in various Gothic styles, usually working to a tight budget. His work also included hospitals and commercial buildings, small country houses and private houses. All his known work was carried out in the South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire area except for a chapel and school built in Coventry.