University Heritage Collection

Discover the University’s Heritage Collection

The Heritage Collection is a unique collection demonstrating the university's diverse history and development towards its position as one of the UK's leading universities.

The diversity of the collections are displayed across the campus, making them accessible to students, staff and the public. Collections are displayed in offices, coffee shops, libraries, study and work spaces and external locations all over the campus. Other areas of the collection is used for teaching and research.

The collection is still being added to through generous donations and commissions and is made accessible to wider audiences through loans out to other institutions. 

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Firth Hall Portraits

Firth Hall is part of the original Firth Court building that opened in 1905. It possesses a high vaulted ceiling with large leaded windows and oak panelling. This classical setting provides a formal space for university events such as the University Concerts Series, other musical events, talks and alumni events.

The University Heritage Collections holds almost 100 portraits of which 12 are currently on display in Firth Hall. The portraits include former University of Sheffield’s Vice-Chancellors and leaders, notable academics such as those that have made great contributions to research, teaching, and to the city of Sheffield.

Download more information about the portraits on display in Firth Hall

These portraits commemorate people and their accomplishments, to inspire future generations and leaders. They also portray dedication and contribute to the university’s heritage.

For future development, the university is striving create a fairer representation by promoting equality and diversity within its heritage collection.

Mappin Hall Artworks

Mappin Hall in the Mappin Building, has on display a selection of significant artworks relating to the university's benefactors and local industrial icons

Mappin Hall - Heritage Collection Artworks Download more information about the artworks on display in Mappin Hall

Textiles

The University Heritage Collection includes around 12 textile works. Some are framed decorative pieces whereas some are site-specific wall hangings displayed across the campus. 

Graduation (ID: 46) by Diana Springall has undergone conservation and restoration work and is now back on display in Western Bank Library's Main Hall. 

The three films below document the removal of the textile which took place in April 2021 through to it's return in April 2023. The films follow the conservation work and analysis of the plastics by a 4th year MChem student. Including collaboration with the Department of Chemistry, the project also participated in Festival of the Mind in 2022 working with local sculptor Anthony Bennett who created a new artwork for the Heritage Collections using waste PVC.

Click here to find out more about the 2022 Festival of the Mind project.

The films showcase this unique work of art which is a major contribution to the university's heritage. 

Medals

The University Heritage Collection holds over 150 medals. Some of these were presented to students as awards for their research and commitments. 

University Buildings and Landscape 

The University Heritage Collection holds many paintings, prints and architectural drawings depicting some of the buildings on the campus, areas in Sheffield, its surrounding districts and other areas in the UK.

Scientific and Engineering collections

The University Heritage Collection holds around 110 scientific items. The collection contains important and unique objects and specimens that reflect the eminence of the world class research carried out at the University through the ages as well as the range of scientific achievement and resources available to students, academics and researchers.

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History Student Project 2024: Civil and Structural Engineering Collection

James Macdonnell, a second year BA History student, has researched some of the objects from the Civil and Structural Engineering collection which are part of the Heritage Collections.

James has written his findings in a blog which can be downloaded here as a pdf.

Portraits

The University Heritage Collection holds around 90 portraits of imminent academics as well as prominent personalities from the city of Sheffield. Some of our most remarkable figures are Sir Harry Kroto, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1996, Henry Clifton Sorby, pioneer of microscopical petrography amongst other notable achievements and Sir Frederick Mappin, Sheffield industrialist and benefactor, and Professor Gillian Gehring, the first female professor of Physics at Sheffield to name a few. The portraits are in oil, watercolour and sketches in pastel and pencil. 

Many of the portraits are on display in university buildings associated with the sitter or in Firth Hall where they are seen by staff, students and visitors.

Paintings 

In the University Heritage Collection, we hold a vast number of paintings; oils, watercolours, abstract and conceptual works which were either commissioned, purchased or donated to the collection. These artworks are displayed across the campus, in offices, cafes, meeting rooms to fulfil a decorative function and create a vibrant sense of place. 

MA History Student Placement project 2024 : Sheffield University Fine Art Society 

In 2024, MA Student Leanne Massey carried out research about the Sheffield University Fine Art Society (SUFAS) which started exhibiting local artist's works at Western Bank Library from the 1960s. Leanne has used the University Archives to find out more about the SUFAS governance, membership and the artworks which they exhibited and then purchased. The SUFAS was disbanded in 2012 and the artworks acquired by the group was then given to the University Heritage Collection. 

Some of the artworks Leanne researched are available on the Art UK Curations webpage.

Click here to download and read Leanne's Curation. 

Click here to download and read Leanne's blog about the SUFAS.

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MA History Student Internship project 2024 : Discovering Flora and Margaret

In 2024, Millie Seller successfully completed a university internship working with the heritage collections. Millie has helped audit over 300 works of art in the collection, improving the record catalogue and identifying key artistic works. As part of her internship, Millie has focused on two female artists who have links to the university through their husbands. These are Lady Flora Masson who was married to Sir Irvin Masson, Vice-Chancellor of the university in 1938, and Margaret Shaw whose husband was Eric Mackerness and worked in the School of English for over 30 years. 

Millie has created a storyline showcasing a selection of Lady Flora and Margaret's paintings which are available on the Art UK Curations webpage.

Click here to see Millie's Art UK Curation 'Discovering Flora and Margaret'

She also installed a small display on level 5 in Western Bank Library from August to October 2024 and there is a slideshow presentation which Millie has created to complement the display which can be watched below.  

University Silver, Silverplate, and Metalware

The University Heritage Collection includes around 40 pieces of decorative artwork in silver and metalwork which is used for decoration and events. This collections also includes trophies and plaques, often dedicated to individuals associated with the University. 

 Sculpture and 3D objects

The University Heritage Collection includes around 30 works of sculpture. This collection includes portrait busts of notable academics and alumni, site-specific 3D installations of which some are associated with a department in the University and installed in and outside the department building for prosperity. Many of our sculptures are displayed in public spaces around the campus and are an important feature of the University’s urban planning and to create a vibrant sense of place on the campus.

All works of sculpture from the collection are available on the Art UK website. 

MA History student placement project : University Heritage Collections Sculpture Map

In 2022, MA History student Murray Wood, created a map of selected sculpture works displayed across campus. The map can be viewed here. 

A pdf containing all the information about the sculpture works selected for the map can be viewed and downloaded here. 

As part of the project, Murray has also written a blog about 'Ingots' by Mark Firth which is one of the sculpture works in the collection. 

Alfred Denny Museum 

The Alfred Denny Museum contains up to 6,000 high quality zoological specimens from across the globe including fossils and samples of extinct species. 

The museum was established in 1905 and named after the department's first professor of biology, Alfred Denny and the collection is regularly used by students and researchers studying towards zoological specimens. The collection includes many specimens which are extinct or are on the verge of extinction. 

This collection comes under the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences and is housed in the Alfred Denny Building on floor D.

Turner Museum of Glass  

Created in 1943 by W. E. S. Turner, the Turner Museum of Glass is one of the UK's most comprehensive collections of nineteenth and twentieth century glass, built from the personal collection of Turner.

Turner was a Professor of Glass Technology at the university, chemist and developed the Society of Glass Making which still exists. Turner's vision and commitment ensured the successful development of glass making techniques as well as a fruitful dialogue between manufacturers and researchers.

The museum is home to one of Britain’s most comprehensive collections of 19th and 20th-century glass, from drinking glasses to contemporary installations.

This collection comes under the Department of Engineering and Scientific Materials and the museum is located on floor E in the Sir Robert Hadfield Building.

Heritage Collections Advisory Panel:

Professor Mary Vincent, Vice-President for Education (Chair)

Emily Green, University Heritage Collections Manager (Secretary)

Andrew Harris, Director of Campaigns and Alumni Relations

Kate Stanford, Department of Finance

Angela Haighton, Associate Director (Cultural Collections and One University)

Kathryn McKee, Head of Special Collections, Heritage, and Archives

Daisy Watson-Rumbold, Student Union President 24-25

Kay Green, Estates, Maintenance and Facilities

Faculty representatives:

- Arts and Humanities: Dr Anna Barton

- Engineering: Professor Rob Dwyer-Joyce

- Health: Dr Simon Johnston

- Science: Dr Gavin Thomas

- Social Sciences: Professor Malcolm Tait

- Professor John Parker, Honorary Curator, Turner Museum of Glass

Heritage Collections Policies:

Heritage Collections Strategy 2019

Heritage Collections Acquisition and Disposal Policy 2020

Download pdf versions:

Heritage Collections Strategy

Heritage Collections Acquisition and Disposal Policy