Z-Mill

Its primary function was to roll sheet nickel silver for the city's renowned cutlery and flatware trades.

They were originally laid down by Joseph Hancock in 1762-65 to produce Old Sheffield Plate - a thinner layer of silver fused onto thicker copper was then rolled into sheets - for the emerging Sheffield silverware industry.

Then the Old Park business switched to rolling nickel silver which, after manufacture, was electroplated.

Details of the Old Park Silver Mills and the silverware industry are explained in Mary Walton's book "Sheffield : its Story and its Achievements", pp116-120.

Although the book was published in 1948 by the "Sheffield Telegraph" it remains in indispensable source on the city's history.