Wessex Archaeology has revealed the remains of a late 19th-century cutlery adjacent to the Porter Brook behind Sydney Street NCP car park in Sheffield. The work is in conjunction with Esh Construction on behalf of Sheffield City Council, and is being carried out in advance of the landscaping of the site and creation of a terraced garden adjacent to Porter Brook.
The works have revealed the basement of the grinding wheel building, with many internal features surviving, and a chimney base. The Commercial Directory of Sheffield names Jas. Deakin and Sons, Silversmiths and Joseph Smith and Sons, Timber Merchants as the site tenants in 1879. The adjacent saw mill is thought to have been demolished but the remains of it may yet appear during watching brief works. The site team also recorded some of Sheffield’s more recent past – photographing the graffiti on the retaining steel struts before their removal.