Butchers Wheel, Industrial heritage building in Sheffield, England
Butchers Wheel is a four-storey brick factory with red walls, slate roofing, and a central courtyard anchored by a tall chimney linking to the boiler house. The 2007 restoration transformed it into residential units alongside the Academy of Makers workshops and a café space.
William Butcher founded this works in the 1820s with a crucible steel furnace for metalmaking. The operation evolved through the 1800s to specialise in cutlery and tool manufacturing.
The building tells the story of Sheffield's steel and cutlery trades through its preserved workshop spaces and industrial features. Visitors can see how craftspeople once worked in these rooms alongside the machinery that drove local production.
The building is now home to creative workshops and residential units that can be explored through public areas of the Academy of Makers and café. Keep in mind it is a working building with homes inside, so some sections are not open to visitors.
During renovation work, builders discovered an intact Bramah flush toilet and an original hand forge with anvil and bellows that had been hidden for decades. These rare artefacts offer a glimpse into daily working life and hygiene standards of the 1800s.
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