Broom Hall

For other uses, see Broomhall.

Broom Hall is a historic house in the City of Sheffield, England that gives its name to the surrounding Broomhall district of the city. The earliest part of the house is timber-framed; it has been tree-ring dated to c1498,[1] and was built by the de Wickersley family,[2] whose ancestral home was at Wickersley.[3] The de Wickersley family descended from Richard FitzTurgis, who co-founded Roche Abbey in South Yorkshire. The de Wickersley family later dropped their Norman name (FitzTurgis) in favour of the village they controlled.

The home later fell to the Swyft (Swift) family, after Robert Swift of Broomhall married Ellen, daughter and heir of Nicholas Wickersley, son and principal heir of John Wickersley of Wickersley and Broomhall.[4]

Memorial brass of the Swift family, All Saints Church, Rotherham, later owners of Broom Hall

In the 16th century Broom Hall came into the possession of the Jessop family after marriage to a Swyft heiress. The Jessops added an extension to the house c.1614 and rebuilt sections of the house later in the 17th century. An east wing was added in 1784 for the then owner reverend James Wilkinson, vicar of Sheffield. In 1791, while James Wilkinson was still the owner, a mob rioting against the Enclosure of land act attacked the house and set it on fire.[5] The house was divided into three in the 19th century but was restored as the home and workshop of the cutlery designer David Mellor from 1973 to 1990.[6] It was further restored in 1988 and has since been converted for use as offices. It is a Grade II* listed building.[7]

  1. ^ Harman, R. & Minnis, J. (2004) Pevsner City Guides: Sheffield, pp209–216. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10585-1
  2. ^ "Broom Hall, Rotherhamweb.co.uk". Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
  3. ^ Hunter, Joseph (1819). Hallamshire. The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York, pp195–219. London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mayor & Jones. This book is out of print but can be purchased on CD-ROM Archived 22 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Swyft of Broomhall and Wickersley, wickersleyweb.co.uk Archived 11 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Price, David (2008). Sheffield Troublemakers. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-86077-569-7. OCLC 237890605.
  6. ^ "David Mellor". London: Design Museum. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  7. ^ Historic England. "Broom Hall (1271100)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 July 2019.