Cornish Place

In the late 1990s the disused building was cleaned and converted into apartments, it is regarded as the most impressive cutlery works that still stands in Sheffield[1] and rivals the cotton mills of Lancashire and the West Riding in terms of architectural quality and heritage.

The first phase of the works were a U-shaped series of buildings which fronted onto Cornish Street and the River Don and consisted of workshops, casting shops and offices.

Around 1860, the west range was built, featuring more decorative architecture and prominently displaying the name of the works on the parapet, as it faced Green Lane.

[3] The firm reached its peak in 1914 as Dixon’s sons and grandsons expanded the business, selling goods throughout America and the Empire.

[1] Competition from Japan in the production of cutlery was also a blow to Dixons, by the 1970s the firm was making regular annual losses and by 1982 had virtually collapsed with debts of over £1,000,000.

[4] In 1998 the disused Cornish Place was converted into apartments by the Sheffield-based architects Axis Architecture with construction work done by Gleesons.