Grade II listed gem in Sheffield city centre set for new future after decades empty
“The building offers a blank canvas for redevelopment, subject to listed building consent”
A Grade II-listed building in the heart of Sheffield which has been empty for decades is set to be auctioned off.
Cairns Chambers, at the corner of Church Street and Vicar Lane in the city centre, has a guide price of £550,000 in the sale by Palace Auctions London at Claridge's, Mayfair, on September 23.
It was built as offices for a law firm in 1866–67 and later became a bank but has been unoccupied for years.
In 2018, it was briefly a bar called the Cargo Hold.
Now, owner Eau De Vie Ltd has put it up for sale.
An advert on RightMove states: “Currently vacant, the building offers a blank canvas for redevelopment, subject to listed building consent within the City Centre Conservation Area.”
Cairns Chambers was designed by Charles Hadfield with decorative exterior stonework by Frank Tory.
It was built between 1894 and 1896 in Tudor Gothic style for solicitors Henry and Alfred Maxwell.
It has one of the most ornate facades of any building in Sheffield city centre and includes a 4ft statue of a bewigged and berobed judge, Baron Cairns of Garmoyle - Hugh McCalmont Cairns (1819-1885) - Lord Chancellor during the first two ministries of Benjamin Disraeli.
The Vicar Lane side was badly damaged during the war when a bomb destroyed the building across the road.
It was also home to architects Hadfield and Cawkwell, Natwest Bank, and Mundy Coutts-Wood solicitors.
It has had several other owners and been the subject of several redvelopment schemes - including offices, flats, hotel and restaurant - but none have materialised.
Church Street, originally called Church Lane, dates back to at least 1637, and features the Grade I listed Sheffield Cathedral, started in 1430, and the Cutlers' Hall, headquarters of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire, built in 1832.