The History of the Elmfield Building

Elmfield is a building on Northumberland Road, west of Sheffield. It housed the University of Sheffield’s Department of Glass Technology from 1939 until 1992. The building now houses the Department of Politics and School of Economics.

Elmfield, a home

The Elmfield building we see now was originally a family home for wealthy and esteemed families who had live-in maids, a cook and a gardener. Its owners include several notable members of the Sheffield community - two Master Cutlers, Herbert Barber and George Senior, who was also Lord Mayor in 1901. 

In 1935, the owner James Hastings, a house furnisher in Rotherham, died on the property in tragic circumstances. After his death his widow sold the house which Professor William Turner (1881 - 1963), a British Chemist and pioneer of scientific glass technology who acquired the house in order to  expand the Department of Glass Technology from 1936. 

The beginnings of the department 

The Department of Glass Technology was originally founded in 1915 to work closely with and servicing the glass industry itself, a growing industry in South Yorkshire, under the umbrella of the Glass Research Delegacy. It was unique in this way as it had a certain independence from the university, being based at Attercliffe. 

Until 1945, the department was headed by Professor William Turner, who was instrumental in the department’s success and became a widely renowned and well-respected member of the global glass industry.

Searching for new premises

The Department of Glass Technology had been housed at premises in Darnall Road since 1920. Yet, as the department and its reputation grew so did its need for a new home. Elmfield was closer to the other university buildings, important for first year students being taught at Western Bank. 

Elmfield offered a more attractive space that would reflect the pride the department felt in the importance of their work. This search for new premises was driven by Professor Turner, who acquired the 2.5 acre property of Elmfield for £2,200 in 1935. 

Opening the new department

The opening ceremony for the new buildings at Elmfield took place on 12th June 1939. Many significant members of the glass industry and Sheffield’s wider community attended. Geoffrey Pilkington, a leading glass-manufacturer, unveiled a commemorative glass tablet below the foundation stone, laid two years before. An extension to the original building had been completed which provided research laboratories required for teaching. 

Origins of the Turner Museum of Glass

Between the lecture theatre and the library on the first floor of Elmfield stood a vast space which was intended for a museum. Initially, it was a technical museum with occasional exhibitions of historical and modern glass to provide a variety of glass objects of beauty and utility. The museum and Turner’s own personal collection then became the Turner Museum of Glass in 1943 which is now situated in the Hadfield Building. 

The department’s development  

After years of the department expanding and damage incurred after the Sheffield Blitz in December 1940, it was decided to add another extension to Elmfield which was opened in 1966. This allowed Elmfield to remain a functional location for the growing department.

The new extension was built to house research facilities, whilst the older buildings were reorganised to focus on teaching. 

In 1974, the department combined disciplines to form the Department of Ceramics, Glass and Polymers. Many more changes to the department have developed overtime and the whole department was relocated in 1992 to the Hadfield Building on Portobello, and then renamed as the Department of Engineering Materials.

Elmfield’s key architectural features

A lot has changed for the Elmfield building over the past few decades but there are a number of key architectural features that remain:

The main entrance staircase features glass-panelled balustrade and a mirrored wall was designed by Mr Kenneth Cheesman, architect to Messrs. Pilkington Bros Ltd. This feature actualised Professor Turner’s hope that glass could feature heavily in the design of the extensions opened in 1939.

In Elmfield’s original hallway is a large tiled feature that names all the individuals and companies that contributed financially to the first extensions of Elmfield. The two sides of the feature depict the history of glass-making with scenes chosen by Professor Turner.

Another key feature in this area are two glass panels which were created by Helen Nairn Monro Turner (1901 - 1977), Professor Turner’s second wife. The commission was given by  the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers, to commemorate the department’s Golden Jubilee in 1966. Helen was a renowned artist and glass engraver and a leading educator at the Edinburgh College of Art. Other examples of her work can be seen on the windows of the National Library of Scotland. 

Two features which no longer exist are the lecture theatre and the Frank Wood Memorial Library. Both of these key features to the original plans for Elmfield were externally funded: the lecture theatre by ordinary members of the Society of Glass Technology and the library by the Glass Delegacy.

The foundation stone which is still in place, also contains a glass casket, intended as a time capsule which documents state was placed beneath the glass foundation stone in 1937. This apparently contains documents relating to the beginnings of the department and its work, as well as information about the new buildings at Elmfield and its donors. Its exact location is currently unknown or whether it is still in the foundations of Elmfield and so remains a mystery.

Acknowledgements: University of Sheffield Archives: Sheffield Local Studies and Archives: Professor John Parker, Honorary Curator of the Turner Museum of Glass.