Treasures of the Cutlers' Hall

Most Sheffielders have heard of it, but only a small percentage of them have every set foot inside the city's magnificent Cutlers' Hall. A recent visitor was Shannon Cooke and here she tells of some of the treasures she discovered.

It is one of Sheffield’s grandest buildings, but you probably do not know it is there. Just across the road from the cathedral, stands the Cutlers’ Hall. From the outside it could be mistaken for a bank or even a solicitors, yet only the building’s elephant emblazoned door handles act as a clue to what lies inside.

Synonymous with Sheffield, steel making has been part of the city’s history for hundreds of years. Although, it is not well known for being the most luxurious of industries, Cutlers’ Hall presents you with a side of the steel world that would not look out of place on a glamourous Hollywood film set.

Home to the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire, this building is the third resurrection of the Cutlers’ Hall to be built on this site. It has over 900 pieces of the city’s finest steel on show and also has a piece of Sheffield steel for every year since 1773. Cutlers’ Hall archivist Joan Unwin kindly took us on a tour of the building to tell us more.

Our first stop was the Muniment room and it was not hard to see its centrepiece. In the corner of the room in its original glass case stands what looks like an oversized Swiss Army knife. This was the Norfolk Knife, a 74 bladed instrument made for the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London in 1851, by famed Sheffield cutler Joseph Rodgers.

It is no wonder that the knife took two years to make, as there is so much detail on every moveable part. Some of the blades feature etchings of well-known buildings and people such as Queen Victoria, the Whitehouse and Chatsworth House, but what is even more striking, is the cover that holds all of the instruments together. Plated in intricately carved pearl, the centre of the knife shows the work of a true craftsman which made this piece, “The perfect Victorian extravaganza,” according to Joan

The other display cases that lined the room contained a wide variety of blades, daggers and knives. However, the most intriguing part was the materials that some of their handles were made of. Although I expected to see ivory, tortoise shell and wood, some were made of much stranger things like a deer’s foot - complete with fur- and various other random animal bones. Joan told me that the handle material acted as “The bling of its day,” with ivory and tortoise shell showing wealth and the others showing a poorer waste not want not attitude.

Mounted on the wall in a large frame is one of Joan’s favourite pieces, “It looks nothing, but it was where it all started.” Created by Harry Brearley, a local metallurgist, this set of makeshift knives showed the progression of his experiments to stop the erosion of steel. His research saw him create numerous steel alloys by adjusting the carbon and chromium levels in the metal. He finally found the perfect mix in 1913 and created a steel that would not hold onto acidic tastes but also would not rust. This alloy became what we know as stainless steel.

Before leaving the Muniment room something caught my eye, but this time it was not made of steel. On the door side wall hung a huge turtle shell. Joan explained that it symbolised the now extinct tradition of serving turtle soup at the annual Cutlers’ feast, the shell would have been used to serve the soup in and then given as a gift to the Master Cutler or their principal guest.

 This tradition started after a Liverpool merchant sent a live turtle to the hall as a gift for trading. Confused as to what to do with it, the company gave it to a chef to make a rich turtle soup. Joan tells me an “unverified,” story about how one year the chef met his match in the form of a very snappy turtle that did not want to get in the cooking pot. It bit him in a very compromising place leaving him in agony and needing a trip to the hospital.

Before heading to the next room Joan presented us with a large, battered, leather bound book that looked like something straight out of the Harry Potter films. She explained that this was one of many of the archive books they had at the hall, with each book listing all the steelmakers in Sheffield at that time as well as their then current apprentices. Over 25,000 names were listed in the books and it helped the Cutlers' Company keep track of who was doing what in the area and also helped maintain the standards of their work – the main purpose of the company. These books were kept from the early 1600s until the 1800s, they also listed all the markings that you might find on Sheffield steel and their relevant meanings.

Leaving the room we headed up the hall’s beautiful red carpeted staircase which is enough to make anyone feel regal. The next room we entered featured several ceiling to floor cabinets each of which was full of steel in every shape and size. My favourite piece was a rather large steel elephant, one of two that call the Cutlers’ Hall their home. This Indian elephant was a gift from the Sheffield Assay Office in 2001 it was designed by Steve Gifford and features the Sheffield hallmark. This elephant, like many others scattered around the hall, signifies the use of ivory in the making of the best knife handles.

Everywhere you look there is treasures at Cutlers’ Hall, the walls, the windows and even the ceiling. Looking up in one of the hall’s vestibules there is a magnificent, yet unusual looking chandelier. This piece is from the Titanic’s sister ship, the RMS Olympic. Taken from the ship’s first class lounge, the chandelier is definitely a talking point. Intricately carved sycamore panelling from the ship is also used around Cutlers’ Hall, it was taken from the vessel’s second class library after the ship was dismantled in 1936.

As we walk towards the main hall, Joan makes one more stop to show us her favourite portrait, a painting that is on loan to the Cutlers Company. It shows Thomas Jessop: master cutler in 1863, mayor of Sheffield in 1863-64 and also a steelworks owner himself. However, Joan’s reason for stopping was because he was the founder of the first women’s hospital in Sheffield in 1878, one of few in the country at the time.  Joan joked, “It was a momentous occasion and most men thought what do women need a hospital for? They’re never ill!”

Turning away from the portrait we swing open the doors to the main hall.  This huge room hosts the annual Cutlers’ feast, which originated in 1814 as a way to spend the fines imposed on freeman for not attending company meetings. However, nowadays the feast is seen as a social event to encourage trade with the city. The high ceiling holds three chandeliers that dimly light the room highlighting the gold accents throughout. Along the walls of the hall there are several podiums, each featuring an elephants head on either side. “It’s a great thing to do when you’re bored,” explained Joan, “just count the elephants, there is 96 of them in this room.”

Downstairs on the first floor of Cutlers’ Hall lies a much smaller room, the Neil room. Beyond its doors the table is set for an evening meal for some Chinese delegates. Joan tugs at the table cloth, “You only get an uncovered table if you’re absolutely top drawer. There’s also a hierarchy of silver cutlery and only the most important people get the best.”

Beyond the table on the back wall of the room is a hand painted coat of arms from 1638. Similar to that of the London Company of Cutlers, it features two daggers to represent cutlery, and an oddly drawn elephant to represent ivory, “You can tell the people who painted this had never seen an elephant,” laughed Joan, “it looks like something straight out of a Disney film.” The coat of arms also features two wheat sheaves and some arrows to signify the origins of Sheffield. Yet, although it features a similar slogan to that of London Company, the Sheffield motto cannot be directly translated due to the added ‘Y’, however, ‘Pour y parvenir a bonne foi’ roughly translates as ‘For the attaining of good faith.’

No matter how much or how little you know about steel and the traditions of Cutlers’ Hall you will always leave with your mind full of new discoveries.  At a time when the steel industry is under great strain The Company of Cutlers’in Hallamshire is going strong with over 450 members. Each of these members pride themselves on maintaining and preserving the quality and history of Sheffield’s steel industry, as well as ensuring that the future of it is bright and sustainable one.

 Piece published in My Kind of Town - Issue 19 

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