Congratulations to Adam and the team at the Crow Inn, our Pub of the Month for September 2024: Adam Swithenbank, Amber Raven, Charlotte Walker, Chris Bamford, Kate Major, Lizzie Dabner and Michael Deakin.
Originally opened in 1797 as a Thomas Rawson house, 2010 saw the pub becoming a small hotel, the Sleep Inn. In June 2019, with assistance from local entrepreneur, Wendy Woodhouse, it reopened under the same management as the Rutland: this pub chain has recently expanded to include the Harlequin.
The pub logo shows a crow stealing the ‘N,’ from the Crown, the previous name of the pub.
Beer-wise, the Crow features five cask beers and 14 keg lines. The beer range is innovative, including both hard-to-find limited-edition and obscure imports, with gluten-free Abbeydale Heathen (4.3%) the only permanent resident.
Regular beer events are held: these have included hosting Cantillon Zwanze Day, a Tilquin
takeover, a Yonder meet-the-brewer and a talk about Victorian drinks maps. There is also a selection of cans and bottles, an extensive range of malt whiskies and bourbons, a selection of ports and wines and plenty of rums and gins.
Kev’s Pies are sold and there are seven comfortable en-suite hotel rooms.
Apart from the opening-out of the room on the right, the basic layout of the interior is relatively unchanged. Unusually, the off-sales was approached via the entrance to the rear yard, purchasers entering through a small door. This entrance was removed in 1972. The décor in the room on the left includes fourteen framed pieces of artwork by Lewis (Lewy) Ryan. These images were originally produced as labels for canned beers, mostly Abbeydale.
Historically, the pub was a key player in the 1840s Chartist protests. Two decades later, the Sheffield Outrages saw the murder, in the Crown, of James Linley and in the 1920s, the pub was at the heart of the Sheffield Gang Wars. In the Victorian era the area was home to many pubs: a pub on every corner, open from dawn to well beyond dusk. The 1884 Sheffield Drink Map indicates 14 licensed premises and one off-licence on Scotland Street, a concentration repeated across the city. A framed black and white copy is on display in the Crow. These maps were originally produced by temperance societies in order to guide users regarding premises it was felt they should avoid. They were also extensively used at annual meetings of local magistrates as they made decisions regarding the renewal of drinks licences.
The Crow fully deserves its place in the CAMRA national Good Beer Guide and also features in the new Sheffield Pub Heritage Walk booklet which focuses on the Little Chicago area. Congratulations to all at the Crow on achieving Pub of the Month: join us for the presentation on Tuesday 10 September and/or the heritage walk which is one of the events at the forthcoming Steel City 48 Beer & Cider Fest.