Sheffield City Hall: Landmark concert venue with amazing secrets had troubled beginnings

Sheffield City Hall, one of the venues whose future has been affected by financial troubles at Sheffield City Trust, began life in a similar way.
By Julia Armstrong
Published 17th Mar 2022, 11:03 BST
Updated 17th Mar 2022, 11:03 BST
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Construction of the landmark building in Barker’s Pool was delayed by the financial crash of the 1920s and it finally opened in 1932.

There are three performance spaces – the main Oval Hall, the Art Deco Ballroom and the rear Memorial Hall.

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Construction under way on Sheffield City Hall in 1932, the year that it openedConstruction under way on Sheffield City Hall in 1932, the year that it opened
Construction under way on Sheffield City Hall in 1932, the year that it opened
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The building holds amazing secrets such as the Angel’s Chorus, a room above the beautiful Oval Hall ceiling with a hole in the floor that can’t be seen from below. A choir can sing in the room and the music will float down.

The two stone Assyrian lions now in the foyer once stood on the stage but famous orchestra conductor Sir Thomas Beecham hated them and they finally went in 1962. They spent years in exile before being returned in 2017 for the building’s 85th birthday celebrations.

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