Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - William Rose (miner) Had 5 rooms
1901 - James Goodall (miner) Had 4 rooms
1891 - Empty
1881 - Empty
1871 - Sarah Ward (widow)
We cannot trace any information about the whereabouts and history of this property
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Shentalls Ltd (grocer and wine and spirits)
1901 - Shentalls Ltd (Edwin Moore the shopkeeper and grocer’s manager)
1891 - no entry
1881 - Unoccupied
1871 - John Cullen (grocer)
1861 - John Cullen (grocer)
1851 - John Cullen (grocer)
A lockup shop for most of its life, this property was in what was known after 1877 as Taylor’s Building.
Back in 1665 Thomas Tayler of Dronfield , a blacksmith, and James Taylor of Newark, a locksmith, were mentioned in the Will of their brother Jarvis Tayler of London, a tailor, which was proved in the Commissary Court of London. Jarvis is listed in the Farriers’ Company, London, apprentices records dated 30 October 1622, where he is apprenticed to William Comber. Thomas died in 1681 and in his Will he directed that all his property in Dronfield should go to the son and daughter of a kinsman of his in London (Jarvis) and then to his brother James. The £4 rent for his blacksmith’s shop, which stood on the site of what is now Taylor’s Building, should be paid yearly to James at the market cross in Dronfield. After the deaths of named heirs Thomas asked that their inheritance should go to the overseers of the poor in Dronfield and their successors. The profits from it were to be used to fit out poor children of the town as apprentices to “any lawful trade or trades in any place or places within the Kingdom of England”. In 1875 the Charity Commissioners directed Taylor’s Charity to alter the way in which trustees were appointed, and the way in which they and the poor law commissioners administered the charity, which would have removed the ratepayers’ right to do this via the poor law commissioners who were elected by them, as was required under the terms of the will by which the charity was founded.
The Thomas Taylor Charity is still administered today for the benefit of young people going to college or starting out on their careers.
In 1876 the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent reported that some of the premises, rented by Mr Moore, grocer, until he went bankrupt, were so dilapidated as to be beyond repair and needed to be rebuilt, before a new tenant was appointed. Mr Flockton, architect, of Sheffield was to be instructed to produce a report for the Charity Commissioners on the state of the building.
In 1880 the Parish Magazine noted that H Ball was a grocer and provision merchant in Town Hall Buildings, High Street. Later in the same year the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent of 25 November carried a notice of a meeting of creditors of Henry Rumsby Ball, which resulted in his business being liquidated. Mr Ball’s bankruptcy was blamed on the departure of Cammell’s and its workforce to Workington.
By 1892 John Shentall’s grocery shop was installed in the premises, where it would remain for about 70 years. In August 1892 the Independent reported that Henry Willis, an employee of Mr John Shentall, provision merchant, of High Street, Dronfield, had the misfortune to be badly hurt as a result of being thrown from a cart when his horse bolted down Church Street.
William Watson (of 4 Chapel Yard) was the manager at Shentall’s up to his death in 1940.
The parish records note that Sarah Ellen Rudge (nee Newsam), wife of William Francis Joseph Rudge,a platelayer, died at No 2 High Street in 1913; in the 1911 Census they were living in Snape Hill.
Shentall’s grocery is well remembered in the town, the business having been there for so long. The directories in 1895, 1898, 1899, 1912, 1925 and 1958 list Shentall’s grocery at these premises (although 1912 does not give a street number). The 1925 directory gives the address as 22 Church Street. The address Town Hall Buildings is also used.
At the end of the 20th and into the present century the premises were occupied by two different pet shop businesses and, currently, in 2016, the Painted Teapot pottery painting centre, Hair Nail and Beauty (and Christine White’s Soft Options soft furnishings business upstairs).
No historic photo known
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - William Wilson (draper)
1901 - Empty
1891 - Empty
1881 - John Wildgoose (chemist)
1871 - John Wildgoose (chemist)
1861 - John Wildgoose (chemist and druggist)
1851 - John Wildgoose (chemist and druggist) and also John Baggaley (glazier)
Earlier Census returns possibly put this property in Soaper Lane. The property had 5 rooms.
An advertisement in the Parish Magazine in 1878 states that J Wildgoose, opposite Railway Station and High Street supplied Pure Drugs and Chemicals.
The Wildgooses were a major Dronfield family.
The 1912 and 1925 directories still list William Wilson, draper, as the occupier. The Sheffield & Rotherham Independent of 8 August 1899 notes that a fire occurred here at was described as Mr Liddell’s drapery establishment in High Street. Mr Fisher’s home adjoined the premises and 2 of his sons saw that their ceiling was burning. Mr Liddell was a tenant, the owner being a Mr Gill.
More recently the building has been occupied by Dronfield Barber’s Shop and Taylor Taylor Hairdressing (now No 3), Ringland Construction and Haddon Special Steels (No 3a) and a glass shop and Gregory’s men’s outfitters (No.5).
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - William H Fletcher (plumber)
1901 - William H Fletcher (plumber)
1891 - William H Fletcher (tinman & brazier)
1881 - William H Fletcher (plumber & glazier)
1871 - William Hopkin (gas fitter)
1861 - Henry Gascoyne (stonemason)
1851 - Henry Gascoyne (stonemason)
A shop in part of what was known after 1877 as Taylor’s Building. The premises had 6 rooms
.In 1883 a meeting of creditors of William Henry Fletcher, plumber, glazier and tinman, of Taylor’s Building Dronfield, was held at the offices of H N Lucas, solicitor, of Church Street, Sheffield. Evidently Fletcher’s business survived as he was still there in the 1912 directory. In the 1925 directory the premises were occupied by Thomas Corbett, shopkeeper. Elizabeth Fletcher died at the premises, aged 77, in 1920.
Now No. 6, the premises in 2016 is occupied by the Coffee Central cafe.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - William Charles Fisher (butcher)
1901 - James Fisher (butcher)
1891 - James Fisher (butcher & farmer)
1881 - James Fisher (butcher)
1871 - Edward Outram (butcher)
1861 - Edward Outram (butcher & farmer)
1851 - Edward Outram (butcher)
This property, including No 5a, the shop, has been a butcher’s premises since the early 18thC, for much of that time in the hands of the Fisher family. Prior to the Fishers, another well-known local family, the Outrams, had the business. It is recorded as having 7 rooms.
In August 1871 the owner of the property was a Mr Gill, who was in trouble with the Local Board of Health as a result of Edward Outram, butcher, allowing a very offensive manure heap and offal from his slaughterhouse to cause a nuisance in the High Street. It was not the Outrams’ first offence: in December 1865 Rebecca Outram was accused of allowing sewage to overflow into Machin’s Yard and in February 1866 she was in trouble again for allowing night soil to be scattered around on the High Street, unmixed with ashes or sawdust. A month later Edward Outram was accused of slaughtering beasts in the shop and that the shop should be abolished. In 1878 this slaughterhouse was recorded as being used by James Fisher, although Gill was still the owner of the property.
Details of No 3 High Street record the incidence of a fire in the building in 1899.
The 1912 and 1925 directories record William Charles Fisher as the butcher. The telephone directories of 1927 and 1941 list W C Fisher there. The Fishers are still there: to this day Frank Fisher has the business in the same premises. Roger Redfern thought that this was the oldest trading butcher’s shop in Britain but this is now known not to be the case.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - John Thomas Dickinson (drayman)
1901 - Uninhabited
1891 - Samuel Ward (spindle flyer grinder)
1881 - John Whitworth (coal miner)
1871 - Joseph Mason (labourer)
1861 - Joseph Mason (labourer)
The property had 4 rooms.
There is a photograph taken in 1931 of Mary and Eric Marples, the children of Thomas and Agnes Marples, outside their family home and shop; they had a greengrocery business here between the 2 World Wars. There was a postbox in the wall outside.
In 2016 the premises, now numbered No 8, is occupied by Elegante shoe shop.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Thomas Platts (Sexton)
1901 - William Bennett (coal miner)
1891 - Joseph Gray (living on club money)
1881 - Empty
1871 - Richard Lonsdale (barber)
The property is recorded in the censuses as having 4 rooms.
The owner before 1876 was John Pattison. A conveyance dated 19 February 1876 refers to Lot 1 as “John Pattison of the one part and James Fisher of the other part”. A property sale dated 16 March 1922 of freehold properties owned by James Fisher, deceased, lists No 7 as part of Lot 1*, sold for £280 to a Mr Jordan. The accommodation consisted of living room, kitchen, cellar, 2 bedrooms. The occupier was a Mr S Tomlinson.
*Lot 1: the two dwelling houses one with a sale shop attached, situate and being Nos 7 and 9 High Street, together with the cottage now occupied as a warehouse, outbuildings and yard. No 7 is in the occupation of Mr S Tomlinson at the weekly rent of 4/- and the district rate, and No 9 is in the occupation of Miss Jenkinson at 4/6 per week and the district rate. The warehouse in the rear is let to Mr W C Fisher at 1/6 per week, the whole producing £26 per year.”
Thomas Platts, the Sexton, was one of a large Dronfield clan whose family trades were stonemasons, sextons and cemetery supervisors. They also had the Blue Bell Inn, High Street, for many years in the C19th. Later occupiers have been the district nurse, a dress shop, then June Day’s florists and greengrocers shop, and in 2016 was Athi Law.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - James Markham (chimney sweep)
1901 - Empty
1891 - Reuben Priestley (road labourer)
1881 - Henry Locke (coal miner)
1871 - George Webster (spindle turner)
The property had 4 rooms according to the censuses.
Now numbered No 10, occupied by Jax dress agency.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 -Eunice Jenkinson (shopkeeper, tobacco and sweets) It had 3 rooms
1901 -Rebecca M Jepson (shopkeeper and provision dealer)
1891- George Jepson (greengrocer) It had 4 rooms
1881- John Allen (grocer)
1871- Peter Jackson (edge tool maker)
1861- Peter Jackson (edge tool maker)
The owner before 1876 was John Pattison. A conveyance dated 19 February 1876 refers to Lot 1 as “John Pattison of the one part and James Fisher of the other part”.
A property sale dated 16 March 1922 of freehold properties owned by James Fisher, deceased, lists No 9 as part of Lot 1*, sold for £280 to a Mr Jordan. The accommodation consisted of living room, kitchen, cellar, 2 bedrooms. The occupier was Miss Jenkinson.
*Lot 1: the two dwelling houses one with a sales shop attached, situate and being Nos 7 and 9 High Street, together with the cottage now occupied as a warehouse, outbuildings and yard. No 7 is in the occupation of Mr S Tomlinson at the weekly rent of 4/- and the district rate, and No 9 is in the occupation of Miss Jenkinson at 4/6 per week and the district rate. The warehouse in the rear is let to Mr W C Fisher at 1/6 per week, the whole producing £26 per year.”
In 1911 and 1912 Eunice Jenkinson had her sweet shop there. In 1922 the owner was James Fisher and the occupier was still Eunice Jenkinson. By the 1925 directory the sweet shop was run by Henrietta Searles, followed by Mrs Belshaw. It became Long’s fish and chip shop, well remembered by many Dronfield residents. The 1984 telephone directory lists K Long, fish frier. In 2016 Stitches clothing alteration business was there for a short time.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Empty
1901 - Albert Cooper (coal hewer) It had 4 rooms
1891 - Empty
1881 - Thomas Billam (road labourer)
1871 - Henry Priestley (labourer)
Nos. 10, 12, 14 and 15 are now the Manor Hotel. They date from mid-17th to 18th century with 20th century alterations to create the present , listed, property. The present owner of the Manor Hotel (2016) is Kevin Gage.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Herbert Howarth (miner & innkeeper) It had 7 rooms
1901 - Robert Norman (coal miner and publican)
1891 - George Jepson (gardener & beer house keeper)
1881 - Charles Frith (spindle turner)
1871 - Charles Frith (machinist and beer house keeper)
1861 - Charles Frith (spindle maker & publican)
1851 - Charles Frith (spindle turner)
A pub for much of its history, known as “The Ivy”, this building became a private house sometime after 1912; a bedroom fireplace on a gable end is all that remains. The last occupants were the Tomlinsons. Roger Redfern records that it was empty during the winter of 1947, when the snow was piled up to the windows. It was demolished c.1955. The recently built shop that accommodates Domino’s pizza takeaway now occupies part of the site. During the mid-1870s the Ivy was also a lodging house, operated by Euclid Shufflebottom, who was more than once in trouble with the Local Board of Health for overcrowding the premises. He lived behind the Ivy in Outram’s Yard, also known as Ivy Cottage Yard. The directories record that Herbert Howarth was the landlord in 1905 and 1912 but had gone by the 1925 directory.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Charlotte Taylor (widow) It had 6 rooms
1901 - Charlotte Taylor (widow)
1891 - Thomas Taylor (miner)
1881 - Thomas Taylor (tobacconist)
1871 - George Davison (mason)
1861 - George Davison (stonemason & beer house keeper of the Mason’s Arms)
Now part of the Manor Hotel.
The pub name of the Mason’s Arms moved to Farwater Lane from High Street (and eventually, on the demolition of the Farwater Lane building in the 1940s, to Cemetery Road). In 1869, as noted in the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent of 7 September, a licence was applied for, for a second time after an earlier refusal, by George Davison at an adjourned Eckington Brewster sessions. He was refused again. Evidently he got it eventually as he is there in 1871
Charlotte Taylor died there in 1920, aged 85.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - James Goodwin (butcher) It had 5 or more rooms
1881 - James Goodwin (butcher) Address given as Chapel Yard
1871 - William Westnidge (castrator)
1861 - George Raynes (butcher)
In 1861 James Goodwin was the owner and occupier, having a slaughterhouse here. The 1895 and 1912 directories record James Goodwin here as a butcher (again, see the census return). The building is described as being Ron Fisher’s house, to the extreme right of Hall Farm.
In 1911 James Goodwin had 2 sons, William Henry (moulder) and Clarence Edgar (butcher). The latter died in 1973. The 1925 directory lists James Goodwin still the butcher there.
Since 1984 the building has been the Samad Indian restaurant. Prior to that it was Jessie Brough’s wool shop.
In 2016 John Hubbard’s and Judy A Myers’ 90 year old mother, Mrs Hubbard, visited the Hall Barn and related that the house was lived in by the Fisher family and that she used to visit them there when it was Ron Fisher’s house.
Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement records: two storey gabled C18th house, with front and rear ranges. Coursed squared coal measures sandstone with ashlar dressings, quoins, sill band and plinth. Welsh slate roof with one red brick stack to west gable. Central doorway with ashlar surround, C20th door, flanked by two 10 over 10 vertical sliding sash windows with margin lights. Three similar windows above. Outbuilding to the rear: two storey, possibly C18th, believed to be a former slaughterhouse. Rubble coal measures sandstone with quoins under Welsh slate roof.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Ann Thorpe (widow) It had 6 rooms
1901 - Jonathan Thorpe (former spindle flyer forger) It had 4 rooms
1891 - Jonathan Thorpe ( spindle maker) It had 4 rooms
1881 - Jonathan Thorpe (flyer forger)
1871 - Jonathan Thorpe (flyer forger)
1861 - Jonathan Thorpe (flyer forger)
Now part of the Manor Hotel. No further information except that Jonathan Thorpe lived here for more than 40 years.
In 1922 Luther Briggs (son of Doris Lockwood and John L Briggs) died here, aged only 25 days.
Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement records: Hotel, formerly a three storey row of three mid C18th town houses and a two storey mid C17th building. Coursed squared coal measures sandstone with ashlar dressings, one coped gable with pyramidal finials. Stone and Welsh slate roofs with red brick gable and ridge stacks. C18th range has three doorways, with moulded surrounds, pulvinated frieze and shallow cornice, the two coupled at the east end serving as window openings, the other having a six panelled door. C20th pivot windows with glazing bar. C20th two light casements to street on C17th range, with sill band to first floor level. Chamfer mullioned windows on west end. Listed building.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Ann Ward (widow) It had 4 rooms
1901 - John Whitaker (shoemaker) It had 4 rooms
1891 - John Whitaker (boot & shoemaker) It had 4 rooms
1881 - John Whitaker (shoemaker)
1871 - John Whitaker (shoemaker)
1861 - John Whitaker (shoemaker)
1851 - William Hodgson (cordwainer, ie shoemaker)
1841 - William Hodgson (cordwainer, ie shoemaker)
This small building at the upper end of the Manor Hotel (now the bar) may be of late C16th origin and perhaps part of an older building demolished when Nos. 10, 12 and 14 were built (cf. Ann Brown). The vagaries of early house numbering have left No. 15 on what we would regard as the “wrong” side of the road, ie, an odd number amongst the even ones.
Roger Redfern recorded that Lawrence Gould was the proprietor of a fish and chip shop in this building.
Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement records: Hotel, formerly a three storey row of three mid C18th town houses and a two storey mid C17th building. Coursed squared coal measures sandstone with ashlar dressings, one coped gable with pyramidal finials. Stone and Welsh slate roofs with red brick gable and ridge stacks. C18th range has three doorways, with moulded surrounds, pulvinated frieze and shallow cornice, the two coupled at the east end serving as window openings, the other having a six panelled door. C20th pivot windows with glazing bar. C20th two light casements to street on C17th range, with sill band to first floor level. Chamfer mullioned windows on west end. Listed building.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - William Bennett (confectioner) It had 2 rooms
1901 - Rebecca Bennett (confectioner) It had 2 rooms
1891 - Rebecca Bennett (confectioner) It had 5 rooms
1881 - Rebecca Bennett (shopkeeper)
1871 - Rebecca Bennett (widow)
1861 - Rebecca Bennett (greengrocer)
1851 - Thomas Bennett (coal miner)
William Bennett was still there in 1912, and John Bennett had the business in 1925, according to the directories of those dates. According to Roger Redfern Nos. 16 and 18 were an ancient building, pulled down in the late 1940s. It stood on what is now the Blue Stoops car park.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Frederick William Bingham (farmer) It had 6 rooms
1901 -Frank Grafton (steam engine fitter)
1891 - Thomas Grafton (farm bailiff)
1881 - No entry
1871 - Samuel Wilson (farmer)
1861 - Edward C Outram (farmer & carter)
Frederick Bingham was still there in 1912 according to the directory. An old photograph of Hall Farm shows a sign for Chapel Yard on its lower side gable end. This building was next door to what is now the Samad restaurant; it was demolished in the 1950s. The Tomlinson family lived in the farmhouse until it was demolished.
Thomas Grafton (farm bailiff) died 9 March 1901 (just before Census day – 30 March). His son, Frank (steam engine fitter), is listed as head of the household on the 1901 Census.
Edward C Outram died 15 March 1865 (born 1823 in Dronfield); he was the son of Edward and Rebecca Outram. The Outrams are mentioned again under No. 5 High Street.
By 1881 Samuel Wilson had moved to Sheffield Road following the death of his wife Mary Ann in 1880 (he was still farming, having 17 acres).
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Elizabeth Ride (shopkeeper) It had 3 rooms
1901 - Elizabeth Ride (grocer) It had 4 rooms
1891 - Elizabeth Ride (grocer) It had 4 rooms
1881 - Luke Orton (carter)
1871 - Henry Pearson (miner)
Elizabeth Ride was listed in the 1925 directory as still there. She died in there 1931. Roger Redfern records this ancient property as having been demolished in the late 1940s.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Elizabeth Lucas (widow) It had 13 rooms
1901 - Bertha Ward (cook; Lucas family away in Southport)
1891 - Samuel Lucas (ironfounder)
1881 - Samuel Lucas (ironfounder)
1871 - Samuel Lucas (ironfounder)
1861 - Samuel Lucas (coalmaster employing 43 men & 23 boys)
Built in 1699 for the son of John Rotherham II. A Victorian service wing was added. Belonging to the Cecil estate it was tenanted by Samuel Lucas and his wife Elizabeth (nee Harrison). The Lucases came to Dronfield in 1811. Samuel Lucas died in 1910. Thomas and Herbert Noel Lucas grew up here. According to the 1912 directory Dr Arthur William Wilson MB lived there. The Rotherham estates map showed that C O Foster was the tenant. In 1925 Sydney Hough lived there.
From 1930s until well into the 1950s Dr George Clifton lived and had his surgery there. In 2016 the owners were Andrew and Andrea Bedingfield.
The house was reputed to be haunted by a white lady. More happily it was remembered for the masses of crocuses in the front garden.
Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement records: two storey with attics, early C18th with C19th additions and C20th alterations. Coursed squared coal measures sandstone with ashlar dressings, rusticated raised quoins and moulded cornice below pierced parapet. Welsh slate roof with ashlar gable and ridge stacks. Central doorway with segmental pediment and moulded stone surround flanked by four mullioned and transomed windows with heads linked by flat band. Five similar windows at first floor level. Listed building.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Richard Curzon (licensed victualler) It had 10 rooms
1901 - Charles Street (innkeeper)
1891 - Charles Street (publican)
1881 - George Mansfield (licensed victualler)
1871 - John Eken (innkeeper)
1861 - Thomas Jenkinson (publican)
1851 - William Goodwin (victualler)
1841 - George Stevenson (publican)
Listed building dating from 1596 with alterations in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. It was a coaching inn originally, its rebuilding in the C18th possibly to accommodate this business. The name used to be the Blue Posts, which may be related to the custom of painting the doorposts blue to indicate that the building was an inn. The inn sign that existed at the end of the C19th showed two blue stoops (posts) at the yard entry to prevent carts being driven into the yard. (Explore Dronfield Heritage Trail No. 1).
Directories list occupiers as Thomas Bingham (1849), Thomas Jenkinson (1861), John Eken (1868 and 1872), Richard Curzon (1912) and Herbert Howarth (1925).
John Slack was there in 1809, Joseph Jenkinson’s diary records that John Slack and Peter Slack in 1828-29
In 1859 the Eckington Petty Sessions applications for licences put landlord Thomas Jenkinson on their black list.
The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent of 7 May 1831 reports the death of Peter, son of Mr Thomas Hill of the Blue Stoops, Dronfield. This implies that Thomas Hill was the licensee at that time.
In 1867 Frederick Mosley, occupier, was in trouble with the Local Board for having a filthy yard with the drains blocked up.
John Eken was still the licensee in 1878, when the Independent reported on a pigeon shoot held at his house, the Blue Posts (Stoops). His name is given as Haykin: many variants of his name occur throughout this and the Census returns.
A press report in December 1880 tells us that Charles Street was the landlord but the 1881 Kelly’s Directory and also the 1881 Census list George Mansfield as the landlord. In 1884 Millicent Crossland was the landlady.
Mrs Charles Street sadly hanged herself in 1908 because of debts.
Henry Tarr and his wife Eliza Howarth had the pub certainly between 1918 and 1923, when their children Henry (1918), Mary (1921) and Nellie (1923) were born there.
In the 1990's Carl and Sharon Tiller were the tenants.
Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement records: two storey public house, c.1596 with C18th, C19th and C20th alterations. Coursed rubble coal measures sandstone with ashlar dressings. Welsh slate roof with red brick ridge stacks. Off centre doorway to front north elevation with C20th door in flush ashlar surround. To its left one 8 over 12 vertical sliding sash window and to its right two similar windows, all with horns. Three 8 over 8 vertical sliding sash windows without horns to first floor level and one 10 over 10 vertical sliding sash window with horns on east elevation, all in flush ashlar surrounds. Rendered east elevation with ground floor door flanked by C20th bow windows. Listed building.
The building has an old stone chimney piece which forms a “baffle wall” behind the front door, forcing anyone entering to turn either left or right. This prevented draughts each time the door was opened, and also prevented precipitate entry or exit by customers not entirely under their own control.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Charlotte Lucas (widow living on private means) It had 11 rooms
1901 - Charlotte Lucas (widow living on private means)
1891 - George Poplar (Stationmaster)
1881 - George Poplar (Stationmaster)
1871 - Jarvis Smedley (grocer)
1861 - Henry May (non-practising surgeon of Guy’s Hospital, London)
Listed Grade II, the rear part of the building was built before 1622, the front was built after 1622. Deeds dated 1622 exist. The property took the number 22 sometime after the former No 22 was demolished. Charlotte Lucas and her daughter Henrietta lived there and in 1925 a Mrs Rhodes is recorded there. Henrietta married Hugh Rhodes in 1896.
The Victorian bay windows were added to the ground floor soon after Jarvis Smedley moved in, sometime after the 1861 Census. Henry May was there according to the 1862 Directory. George Poplar arrived in 1870; he was the first Station Master, the railway having opened in 1870. He married Emily Smedley two years later.
Arthur Redfern moved into the house in 1939; his son Roger, who has recorded much of Dronfield’s history in words and photographs, grew up there. Arthur found bones of a baby’s hand under the stone flag of the cellar floor in the early 1950s.
The 1965 telephone directory lists Arthur L Redfern, and the 1967 directory lists Roger Redfern here.
The property was once owned by the poet Byron as part of his estates, and was used as a dame school. It now belongs to David Ingham.
Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement records: two storey with attics, early C17th house with C19th alterations. Coursed squared coal measures sandstone with ashlar dressings, quoins, coped gables and moulded kneelers. Stone slated roof. Central doorway with moulded stone surround, flanked by C19th single storey bay windows with leaded roofs. Plain vertical sliding sash windows within flush stone surround to first floor. Gabled attic dormer with C29th casement. Listed building.
No old or new photographs are available as the property has been demolished and its exact position on High Street is unknown.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1891 - Edwin Buttery (bootmaker)
1881 - James Wildgoose (grocer)
1871 - James Wildgoose (grocer & chandler)
1861 - James Wildgoose (grocer)
1851 - James Wildgoose (grocer)
1841 - Sarah Wildgoose (grocer)
By the 1891 Census James Wildgoose had moved to the Victoria Inn. The 1888 directory lists Edwin Buttery, bootmaker, as here.
This shop property was demolished or empty in 1901, and was definitely demolished by 1911. The number 22 was at some point transferred to The Cottage (aka Manor Cottage).
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - George Ward (solicitor’s clerk) It had 6 rooms
1901 - George Ward (solicitor’s clerk)
1891 - George Edwards (living on own means)
1881 - William Richards (printer)
1871 - Ann Bennett (widow)
1861 - William Girt (retired farmer)
Part of mid 19thC listed terrace (Nos. 23-26). A double fronted house. Roger Redfern records the Booker family as resident in the 1950s.
Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement records: (one of) a mid C19th row of four terraced properties. Coursed coal measures sandstone with quoins. Welsh slate and concrete tile roof with ashlar gable and ridge stacks. Nos 23 and 24 double fronted with semi-circular arched doorways, flanked by four light vertical sliding sash windows, with similar to first floor.
The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent of 15 November 1900 recorded the establishment of Dronfield Chess Club and that George Ward of 23 High Street was the Hon. Secretary and Treasurer.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - George Albert Yates (Stationmaster) It had 6 rooms
1901 - George Knowles (railway clerk)
1891 - George Robert Hydes (cattle dealer)
1881 - James Rees (assistant roller steel worker)
1871 - John Carr (colliery agent)
1861 - John Carr (colliery agent)
Part of a listed mid C19th terrace. Double fronted property. Now Dronfield Physiotherapy Clinic.
Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement records: (one of) a mid C19th row of four terraced properties. Coursed coal measures sandstone with quoins. Welsh slate and concrete tile roof with ashlar gable and ridge stacks. Nos 23 and 24 double fronted with semi-circular arched doorways, flanked by four light vertical sliding sash windows, with similar to first floor.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Ann Searles (milliner) It had 4 rooms
1901 - Empty
1891 - Elizabeth Laxton (laundress) It had 4 rooms
1881 - Henry Laxton (woodturner)
1871 - Henry Laxton (carter)
1861 - Robert Greaves (flyer maker)
Part of a listed mid 19th C terrace. Single bay cottage now occupied by Frame-It.
Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement records: (one of) a mid C19th row of four terraced properties. Coursed coal measures sandstone with quoins. Welsh slate and concrete tile roof with ashlar gable and ridge stacks. Nos 25 and 26 have square doorways with lintels and C20th casement windows. Listed building.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Henry Goodlad (old-age pensioner & part-work steel spindle turner) 4 rooms
1901 - Henry Goodlad (ex-spindle turner) It had 4 rooms
1891 - Henry Goodlad (woodturner) It had 4 rooms
1881 - Alexander Earle (painter)
1871 - Alexander Earle (plumber & glazier)
1861 - Alexander Earle (plumber & glazier)
Part of a listed mid C19th terrace. Single bay property. The Parish Magazine in 1878 carried an advertisement for A. Earle, decorator, painter and glazier, High Street, est. 25 years. In the 1912 directory the proprietor was Charles William Talbot. Alexander Earle, the proprietor in the mid-19th century, was married to Susannah Bargh (daughter of William Bargh, blacksmith). Their daughter was Elizabeth Ride, who had the shop at No 18. (cf.). In the late C20th Harry Wolstenholme lived there. It is now Colante (2016) jewellers owned by Steve Bisby.
Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement records: (one of) a mid C19th row of four terraced properties. Coursed coal measures sandstone with quoins. Welsh slate and concrete tile roof with ashlar gable and ridge stacks. Nos. 25 and 26 have square doorways with lintels and C20th casement windows. Listed building. After No. 26 the boundary wall is listed.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1891 - Ann Dixon (living on own means)
1881 - John Cox (stonemason)
1871 - James Taylor (miner)
1861 - John Taylor (miner), James Taylor (miner) and John Bingham (miner)
This was part of the Old Manor House, later known as Rookery Cottage. Another alternative name recorded for it is The Armoury. This is the surviving north wing of the C17th Old Manor House which had originally been a yeoman farmer’s dwelling. According to Roger Redfern the original building was partially demolished by the Cecil family before 1910, to make way for the building of the 3 houses that are Manor Villas (cf.). The surviving building stands in what was Talbot’s Yard near the top of the High Street. In the 1925 directory Charles William Talbot, motor haulage contractor, was the occupier (who was listed at No.26 in the 1912 directory). The Rotherham Cecil estates map shows Mr C H Talbot at the Rookery Cottage Yard.
In the mid 20th century it was used as a store by the Council and then lay empty for many years. Threatened with demolition, it was saved by the Old Dronfield Society. It was restored and renamed Rookery Cottage, owned later in the last century by the Dobsons and Michael and Barbara Sorby.
A picture dated c.1900 shows the west wing extending right up to the roadside wall bordering High Street. Originally one large farmhouse, it had by this date become 3 dwellings. Behind stood the building which served as the original Nonconformist chapel.
Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement records: two storey with attics, mid C17th house with C20th alterations, the remaining wing of a larger house, partly demolished in the early 1900s. Coursed rubble coal measures sandstone with quoins, coped gables and moulded kneelers. Stone slate roof with single stone gable stack. Offset C20th glazed door to east. Stacked two light chamfer mullioned windows with drip moulds. Remains of massive quoined doorway at southwest corner. Listed building.
No New Image as property demolished
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Betsy Pearson (sweetshop keeper) It had 4 rooms
1901 - Maria Sheldon (grocery shop keeper) It had 4 rooms
1891 - Maria Sheldon (shopkeeper) It had 4 rooms
1881 - Thomas Sheldon (coal miner)
1871 - Thomas G Bingham (labourer)
1861 - Thomas Bingham Jnr (labourer)
The 1912 directory records that Betsy Pearson was still there. She died there in 1920, aged 72.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Demolished
1901 - William H Scruton (carrier on farm) It had 4 rooms
1891 - Reuben Sharpe (miner) 1881 Harriet Unwin (widow)
1871 - Empty
1861 - Thomas Bingham (labourer & court bailiff)
This property was in the part of the Old Manor House which was demolished in 1910 and replaced with the present Manor Villas. This property stands on the former site of the original Nonconformist chapel and is now called Corner Cottage.
Present building as described in Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement (DCA): two storey with attic, early C20th. Coursed coal measures sandstone with quoins. Welsh slate roof, stone gable stack with double band and dormer attic window. Finials, barge boards and linked gutter supports. Half-glazed doors with plain fanlights, flanked by bay window with tiled canopy above. Plain timber mullioned vertical sliding sash windows to first floor level.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns:
1911 - Demolished
1901 - Reuben Sharpe (miner)
1891 - James Goodall (miner)
1881 - George Westnidge (carter & farmer of 8 acres)
1871 - Sarah Searston (widow) and William Searston (mechanic)
This property was part of the Old Manor House that was demolished and replacement with the present Manor Villas which were built in 1910. It is on the site of the former Non-Conformist chapel. Now called The Old Manse, occupied by Michael and Pamela Wass and family.
Present building as described in Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement (DCA): two storey with attic, early C20th. Coursed coal measures sandstone with quoins. Welsh slate roof, stone gable stack with double band and dormer attic window. Finials, barge boards and linked gutter supports. Half-glazed doors with plain fanlights, flanked by bay window with tiled canopy above. Plain timber mullioned vertical sliding sash windows to first floor level.
Occupiers recorded in the Census returns – not applicable
Inhabited from 1912 by Frank Edwin Newton.
This property was built on the site of part of the Old Manor House, formerly known as No. 31 High Street, which had been demolished c.1910 and replaced with this new house, built c. 1910.
Present building as described in Dronfield Conservation Area Character Statement (DCA): two storey with attic, early C20th. Coursed coal measures sandstone with quoins. Welsh slate roof, stone gable stack with double band and dormer attic window. Finials, barge boards and linked gutter supports. Half-glazed doors with plain fanlights, flanked by bay window with tiled canopy above. Plain timber mullioned vertical sliding sash windows to first floor level.