Hillsborough Hotel
As the summer is arriving, at long lost, we are introducing Sunday Afternoon Jazz & Blues here at the Hillsborough Hotel. Initially we will be hosting these sessions once a month; ‘Blind Papa Stumblin’ will be hosting the first session on Sunday 29 May, 3 – 5pm.
Why not start the afternoon for Sunday lunch, served 12 noon – 4.00 pm, washed down with one or two of our excellent beers; our house session ales are Mojo, a 3.6% Citrus Pale from Tapped Brew Co and Barnsley Bitter, 3.8% Rich Chestnut Malty Ale from Acorn Brewery, or from the local/regional/national beers that are on the bar.
During the next month or so we are hoping to introduce a selection of Keg Beers and Lagers along with a new selection of Canned and Bottle craft beers.
Our new menu will be introduced in June with a selection of freshly made sandwiches, salads and main courses with an emphasis on using locally sourced produce.
Previously a beerhouse, the Princess Royal was re-built of stone in the mid-1920s for Duncan Gilmour (architects: Hall & Fenton, Sheffield). The current-day external footprint of the pub is identical to this rebuild. The interior was changed in ~1949 when the small servery situated just inside the pub and an off sales to the right of the porch were removed; the present centrally situated servery added; internal toilets replaced the Kitchen and Scullery and the outside toilets were demolished.
Apart from the opening-up of the smoke room on the right (in the 1980s?) the interior is little changed for over 65 years with two (was three) rooms still including an active billiard room. It has a lovely set of Gilmour’s etched and frosted exterior windows, some with their Windsor Castle symbol.
The entrance lobby has a mosaic floor and a dado of 1920s tiling in cream and green and an inner door in a good screen. Across the front of the pub is the single room originally the Lounge & Dining Room on the left and the Smoke Room on the right but a small piece of wall including the door to the smoke room has been removed (in the 1980s?). The bar counter is 1949 with a modern top and has a row of tiles at the top. The back fitting is from ~1949 with some modernisation. There is some 1920s panelling one piece of wall on the left, in the former smoke room area on the right and also on the left there is 1920s fixed seating which has been re-fitted and boxed-in, and there is a modern tiled dado in the former off sales area and to the right of the servery.
At the rear left is the billiard room now with a three-quarter sized table (presumable replacing a full sized one). The fixed seating looks to be the original from the 1920s but has been re-fitted and boxed-in. There are three good 1920s baffles by doors – two by the door to the corridor created in ~1949 leading to the toilets. There is a small counter from ~1949 with a modern top. The fireplace looks like a replacement (or is it the ~1949 one?). There is also a Club Room above the billiard room
The first mention of the name, ‘Princess Royal’ in a Directory is in 1937. Also, in that year, the building was designated as a ‘Public House,’ not, as previously, a ‘Beerhouse.’ The first mention of a phone number is in a 1954 Directory. The pub has had the same phone number since then. Gilmours were taken over by Tetleys (Leeds) in 1954 – perhaps the telephone was installed at this point?
Thanks to Tim Knebel at Sheffield Archives for assistance in sourcing original floor plans.
Dave Pickersgill 
Keith Lilley, the Sheffield University Director of estates and facilities management, said he thought the chosen architect’s design ‘really hit the spot’ by incorporating the original house.
Pamela Freeman, managing director of Henderson’s, said: “Having the chance to be part of this project and see the building that was such an important part of our company’s history preserved and brought into public use is fantastic.”
Work on removing lean-to extensions to the building have started. 
