1. The History
Not too much history on this place. It was designed by William Gillbee Scott (1857-1930), who had conceived the Gower Street Memorial Chapel in London and located opposite John Lewis in the city centre. The foundation stones were laid in September 1892 and with construction completed by the end of 1893, the Citadel opened in January 1894 as the headquarters of the Salvation. and according to the application and cost £7,500 to build. The Castellated style red-brick building (complete with crenelated parapet with machicolations and a 3-stage square turret on stepped corbels) underwent some alterations in the 1950s. Internally, the key feature was its theatre-like auditorium with its ramped seating and gallery which could seat up to 1,800 people, along with its large central rooflight.
It was Grade II listed in December 1995 and four years later in 1999, the church moved its Sheffield headquarters to Sharrow in 1999 meaning the building has stood empty for just over 20 years.
The citadel become the location of protests in 2012 when 'Occupy Sheffield' took possession and renamed it 'The Citadel of Hope’ on the basis of a so-called ‘Section 6′ notice. There is also hope that the building can be repurposed. WMA Architects, on behalf of Tandem Properties, submitted full planning and listed building applications in October 2019 for work on The Citadel on Cross Burgess Street. Hence the interior of the four-storey building is set to be modernised to make it suitable for use as a food and drink establishment, while retaining its historic features.
2. The Explore
I’ve probably walked past this building and taken more externals of it than any other building. Ironically, I have never been inside. It’s occasionally popped up on here via reports from @Muninn back in 2009 (HERE), @tarkovsky in 2016 (HERE) and most recently @xox in 2017 (HERE) But access has been intermittent and fleeting. Hence finally being able to explore this once lock-down had eased was a big thing for me. Once in I had the place to myself bar a few of our feathered friends. The place is in pretty good nick and looks relatively dry. The façade of the building is one of the nicest in Sheffield and the main auditorium the main thing to see internally. I hope it does get repurposed successfully in a sympathetic manner, but it was really nice to see it after all these years.
3. The Pictures
Let’s kick off with a few external pics of the building’s wonderful façade:
And we’re in!
Not sure that would go that far these days:
Staircase up:
This is the only bit stained glass I could find in the place:
View of the stage in the morning light:
View from the stage:
Looking back up at the gallery:
And that roof:
Sound system:
A few from higher up:
The staircase down:
There’s not much in there but there is this old safe:
And a few more for luck...
Not too much history on this place. It was designed by William Gillbee Scott (1857-1930), who had conceived the Gower Street Memorial Chapel in London and located opposite John Lewis in the city centre. The foundation stones were laid in September 1892 and with construction completed by the end of 1893, the Citadel opened in January 1894 as the headquarters of the Salvation. and according to the application and cost £7,500 to build. The Castellated style red-brick building (complete with crenelated parapet with machicolations and a 3-stage square turret on stepped corbels) underwent some alterations in the 1950s. Internally, the key feature was its theatre-like auditorium with its ramped seating and gallery which could seat up to 1,800 people, along with its large central rooflight.
It was Grade II listed in December 1995 and four years later in 1999, the church moved its Sheffield headquarters to Sharrow in 1999 meaning the building has stood empty for just over 20 years.
The citadel become the location of protests in 2012 when 'Occupy Sheffield' took possession and renamed it 'The Citadel of Hope’ on the basis of a so-called ‘Section 6′ notice. There is also hope that the building can be repurposed. WMA Architects, on behalf of Tandem Properties, submitted full planning and listed building applications in October 2019 for work on The Citadel on Cross Burgess Street. Hence the interior of the four-storey building is set to be modernised to make it suitable for use as a food and drink establishment, while retaining its historic features.
2. The Explore
I’ve probably walked past this building and taken more externals of it than any other building. Ironically, I have never been inside. It’s occasionally popped up on here via reports from @Muninn back in 2009 (HERE), @tarkovsky in 2016 (HERE) and most recently @xox in 2017 (HERE) But access has been intermittent and fleeting. Hence finally being able to explore this once lock-down had eased was a big thing for me. Once in I had the place to myself bar a few of our feathered friends. The place is in pretty good nick and looks relatively dry. The façade of the building is one of the nicest in Sheffield and the main auditorium the main thing to see internally. I hope it does get repurposed successfully in a sympathetic manner, but it was really nice to see it after all these years.
3. The Pictures
Let’s kick off with a few external pics of the building’s wonderful façade:
And we’re in!
Not sure that would go that far these days:
Staircase up:
This is the only bit stained glass I could find in the place:
View of the stage in the morning light:
View from the stage:
Looking back up at the gallery:
And that roof:
Sound system:
A few from higher up:
The staircase down:
There’s not much in there but there is this old safe:
And a few more for luck...
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Will have to check it out sometime!
