After a lengthy absence, the CAMRA national Pub Heritage website is now back on line in a much improved format.
This is the definitive guide to the nation’s most important historic pub interiors. Since the 1960s few pubs have escaped major changes but this website helps you seek out the best remaining historic examples.
This list has been compiled by CAMRA’s Pub Heritage Group and is the product of over thirty years of careful research. It identifies pubs with intact traditional interiors or which have features and rooms of national importance. They range from simple unaltered village pubs to glorious late-Victorian extravaganzas.
In addition, the third edition of the Sheffield Pub Heritage book is now available as a free download. This has expanded to 113 pages and includes new entries and almost 100 new images.
Thanks to everyone who joined one of the three Pub Heritage walks which I recently led as part of Heritage Open Days and Sheffield Walking Festival. Over fifty participants took part in one of two routes, feedback was very positive and all seemed to enjoy the experience. Thanks again to Fagan’s and the Fat Cat for hosting the start of the walks.
The next walks will take place during March 2020, as part of Sheffield Beer Week. More detail about heritage pubs in Sheffield is available in the new third edition of Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs 
The download was first available in October 2017 and was updated a year later. October 2019 brings the third edition. This 114 page book includes almost 100 new images, updated text and new entries.
From October 2018, a printed version, the second edition, was available (RRP £5.99) from selected local pubs and bookshops. The vast majority of these outlets have sold their copies, although a small number may still be available.
– Dave Pickersgill 
A planning application was recently made to demolish The Plough Inn (Sandygate Road, Crosspool). The Plough was a Tennants pub for many years. In 1962, ownership changed when Whitbread took over Sheffield-based Tennants. In 2003, Enterprise Inns (Ei) took ownership. Since then, there appears to have been no serious maintenance work. Many would claim that the pub has been left to rot.
When the pub closed in 2015, a local community group obtained ACV (Asset of Community Value) status from Sheffield City Council (SCC). Ei then leased the building to Sainsburys. Sainsburys then waited until peak holiday time before, on 2nd.August, submitting a planning application to turn the pub into a ‘convenience store.’ This application was subsequently turned down.
Both the Plough and the adjacent football ground have ACV status with the nearby, Towers Lodge, Grade II listed. The Plough was rebuilt in 1929 and is an important example of an inter war public house which, according to Historic England, are ’rare and overlooked buildings’. National planning policy recognises the importance of protecting historic assets and their ‘setting.’ This was confirmed in the decision of the local authority to refuse the application from Sainsbury’s.
The pub is adjacent to the ground of Hallam FC (the 2nd.oldest football club in the world). Hallam occupy Sandygate, the oldest football ground in the world, the site of the first football game (Hallam v Sheffield FC) as recognised by FIFA. The Plough is important in the history of football (the first inter-club game was adjacent, the rules of football written in the pub ………). This is the venue whose historical value outweighs speculative commercial development. It is a cultural icon which should be protected.
In 2017, the building was sold to Spacepad UK, which outbid the Save the Plough campaign group’s £435,000 offer made after raising thousands of pounds by selling community shares. The Plough was recently relisted as an ACV. This protects its status as a public house. This decision was based on widespread support from the community, individuals, families and local organisations.
As reported in Beer Matters, in February 2019, a planning application was made to erect a mobile phone mast close to the site. The application stated: “The NTQ (Notice to Quit) site is the Plough Inn, which has recently been bought by developers who have plans to convert the pub into residential with parking. A new site is urgently required to replace the current one.” At this point, there was no planning permission to demolish the Plough. Rightly, the application for a mobile mast was recently withdrawn.
The application to demolish the Plough does not provide any evidence to suggest that it is not viable as a public house. The developer states that no offers were received to lease the pub. This was because it was offered for a completely unrealistic rent of £50,000 pa. Average rents in this area are between £24,000 and £29,000. This planning application would see the Plough replaced by eight houses on the site, none of which would be affordable for local people.
The campaign to preserve the Plough is about more than just saving a pub. It has been about gaining wider recognition of the historic role of the area in the sporting history of Sheffield. We believe that this planning application should be rejected and the Plough allowed to return to use as a community pub.
As part of Heritage Open days 2019, I’m leading a Pub Heritage Walk on Friday 13th.September and two walks on 20th.September. These will take in some of the entries in the CAMRA ‘Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs’ book.
On Friday 13th., in this new walk, we will commence at the ‘Fat Cat’ and proceed to the ‘Gardeners’ via a short stop in the ‘Wellington.’ Along the way, we will take a circuitous route through aspects of the brewing and industrial history of Sheffield before completing the walk at the Gardeners Rest, close to the now derelict, Stones Brewery.
The following week, we will commence at ‘Fagans’ and proceed to the ‘Dog and Partridge’ via a short stop outside the ‘Grapes.’ After a refreshment break, we will proceed past the ‘Red Deer’ and ‘Bloo88,’ before completing the walk at ‘The Bath Hotel.’
En route we will pass: ‘Stanch,’ (the statue of a Pointer dog), the building with three different date stones, and the then home of the company whose claim to fame is that the owner was the first man to climb Nelson’s Column.
In both walks there will also be Victorian tilework, terrazzo flooring, art deco glasswork, a mention of long-gone Sheffield Breweries and much more ….
The 13th.September walk will take place once: 15:00. Places are limited (to 15) and may be booked via Eventbrite: http://tiny.cc/93zx7y
The 20th.September walk will take place twice: 14:30 and 17:30. Places are limited (to 15) and may also be booked via Eventbrite:
14:30 start: https://tinyurl.com/y5249v8e
17:30 start: https://tinyurl.com/y3wjsmp8
If you can’t wait until September, you could try the Sheffield Pub Heritage book:
https://sheffield.camra.org.uk/rhp. A limited number of paper copies of the book will be available at the bargain price of £5.00.
– Dave Pickersgill, Sheffield CAMRA, Pub Heritage Officer 
Originally opened as a Rawsons pub in 1797, the C20th.saw a series of changes resulting in the closure of the pub in 2010, the building becoming The Sleep Hotel. Recently, under the same management as the Rutland Arms, it reopened with the new name.
The porch has internal leaded windows and an impressive ceramic floor which features an image of a crown. Apart from the opening-out of the room on the right, the basic layout of the interior is relatively unchanged since the mid C20th. The fittings are of varying ages, with some recent renovation. Unusually, the off sales was approached via the entrance to the rear yard: purchasers entering through a small door to access the servery.
Historically, as the Crown Inn, or the Old Crown, the pub is mentioned as a key player in the 1840’s Chartist protests, the Sheffield Outrages and the 1920’s Sheffield Gang Wars. The outrages saw the 1859 murder of James Lindley: ‘saw-grinder, was sitting at the Crown Inn, Scotland Street.’ On February 17th.1925, there was a fracas outside the Crown, involving about 30 youths. A knuckleduster, a life preserver, two razors and a hammer were picked up after the incident. Bricks, cellar grates and other missiles were alleged to have been thrown. The crowd were dispersed but returned for another fight after midnight when the two lads were arrested and subsequently charged.
Thomas Rawson’s and Co. Brewery (Pond Street) was destroyed by enemy action on 12th.December 1940. The site was subsequently developed as Sheffield Polytechnic (now Sheffield Hallam University). The pub then came into the hands of Gilmours, then Tetleys. It is now an innovative, enterprising free house with an excellent range of beer – during opening week, the Corbeau Noir was not to be missed.
So far, the owners claim to have spent £735k: roof work, removal of debris round the building, removal of layers of tarmac ….. most importantly, the preservation and partial restoration of the Grade II* listed interior. The ‘Old Oak Room’ is now ready for a careful repainting of the ceiling. In addition, the upstairs room with its C17/18th. fireplace will be brought into public use when the building reopens.
Nowadays the front door leads to a small entrance lobby with 1950s tiled floor. An oak latched door to the left has ‘Public Bar’ painted in gold and on the frame above is painted the Roman numeral ‘I’. An oak latched door on the right has gold painted lettering ‘Saloon Room’ over which a metal sign ‘Lounge’ and on the frame above is the Roman numeral ‘II’. The left small Public Bar has a carpet, stone Tudor arch-style fireplace found in pre-war pubs but appears also have been added in the 1950s, and quality high-backed fitted seating on two sides of the room.
There is a quarter circle bar with a counter of wooden tongue and groove of high quality including a small linenfold section, and the bar back is of a 1950s style with adzed wood on the frame and no loss of lower shelving. The walls are of rough stone and painted white and a door at the rear leads to a short passage. There is a Roman numeral ‘I’ on the back of the door, a door on the left of the passage has the Roman numeral ‘IV’ and ‘Cellar’ painted in gold. Another door has ‘Private’ on it. Alongside is a door with ‘Gentlemen’ on it. A door on the right of the passage has the gold painted wording ‘Snug’ and ‘III’.
The right hand carpeted Lounge Bar being two rooms prior to the mid 1950s has two different ceilings – higher plain one at the front and lower ‘beamed’ one in rear part. In the front part is a curved 1950s bar counter with a small linenfold section and the bar back is 1950s style with adzed wood frame. On the front right is a different style of stone fireplace to the public bar one and seen in pre-war pubs, but appears also have been added in the 1950s, and above it is a massive plaster Coat of Arms with a dull yellow-coloured ceramic (?) decorative border. The arms belong to Rowland Eyre, a Royalist officer in the Civil War. The Eyres raised a regiment in Derbyshire and fought at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644.
There is more adzed wood above the change in ceiling height. On the front wall side is more of the high backed fitted seating, a long case clock, and the walls are of bare stone. In the rear part are more of the high backed fitted seating on the left and right and low backed bench seating on the rear wall. An oak latched door on the front right hand side leads to the kitchen and one on the rear right leads to the ladies’ toilet.
An oak latched door leads from the rear left part of the lounge to the snug at the middle rear and has the Roman numeral ‘II’ painted on it in gold. Formerly the site of the servery it is a small room with a modest counter, almost a hatch, having a 1950s frontage. There is more of the high-backed fitted seating, one low backed bench and a door leads to the passage situated at the rear left.
The gents’ toilet has a red tiled floor and inter-war style cream tiled walls to picture-frame height throughout with a row of light green tiles along the bottom and top and retains the 1950s urinal with the only change being a wooden WC door added in 2016. Added in the mid-1950s it replaced the outside gents situated on the front left of the building as detailed in the 1952 plan, which also shows the ladies was also outside on the right. The ladies are situated where the 1952 plan shows was the larder and also has inter-war style cream tiled walls to picture-frame height throughout with a row of light green tiles along the bottom and top. Again, the only changes are the wooden WC doors added in 2016.
Dave Pickersgill & Mick Slaughter 