The
Albert Hall is one of Sheffield’s lost buildings. It used to stand in Barker’s Pool on the
corner of Burgess Street. Built to the
designs of architects Flockton and Abbott, it opened as a concert hall on 15
December 1873. The interior was
described as ‘opulent, with fine panels, rich tracery carving and intricate
designs of cornucopia and Doric columns’.
The hall was used for many different things including concerts, operas, brass
band competitions, minstrel and variety shows and magic lantern shows. Animated pictures were first shown at the
Albert Hall in September 1896. By 1919
it had a proscenium stage and, from around this time, became a picture house
with the occasional variety show.
Sadly,
on the night of 14 July 1937, following a showing of ‘Black Legion’ starring Humphrey
Bogart, a catastrophic fire left the building gutted. The blackened shell was left standing for a number
years, but eventually destroyed. Some
years earlier there had been talk of moving the Albert Hall’s organ into the
new City Hall which was being built opposite.
Unfortunately this was not to be as the organ was lost in the fire. In 1963 Cole Brothers (John Lewis) department
store was built on the Albert Hall site.
The
old building may be long gone, but there are plenty of surviving photographs
and archive documents showing us what the place used to be like. Of particular interest are some of the
earliest plans for the building. Until
recently, these had been inaccessible to researchers owing to the damage caused
by the very tight folds in the paper. Luckily,
we were recently awarded a national conservation grant to conserve the city’s
historic building plans to make them accessible again. Included in this project are seven plans
relating to the Albert Hall dating back to the 1890s. Mending these has been tricky affair as
Conservator, Antony Oliver notes: ‘oil based tracing papers from the nineteenth
century pose a particular problem to the Conservator because of their fragility
and as a consequence are highly susceptible to damage when being handled. These items are currently very tightly folded
in badly damaged envelopes.’
First
of all, the items must be carefully unfolded prior to conservation treatments.
Each plan is then cleaned with a dry chemical sponge to remove surface dirt. Creases and paper distortion are then relaxed
and flattened. Tears and damaged areas
are supported with a re-moistenable tissue. The adhesive on the tissue is activated using
a Japanese water brush. The conserved
plans are then encapsulated in protective polyester sleeves and housed in
bespoke four-flap enclosures for storage.
The techniques used in the conservation of these plans will ensure their
long term preservation while making them accessible and safe to handle. We are grateful to the National Manuscripts
Conservation Trust (NMCT) for the grant.
The plans are available to view at Sheffield City Archives upon request
(ref: CA206/9109).
If
you’re interested in learning more about the work of the Conservation Unit at Sheffield City
Archives don’t miss our two forthcoming events as part of the Off The Shelf festival:
Looking
after your family papers, 23 Oct 2015 (4pm), £5
Conservation
of paper manuscripts, 30 Oct 2015 (12pm), £5
For
more pictures of the Albert Hall in its heyday, see Picture Sheffield: http://tinyurl.com/q5c9uwn
Pictured above: the
conservation process involved in restoring the Albert Hall plans; Choir on
stage at the Albert Hall, Barkers Pool, Sheffield Music Festival, 1896 (Picture
Sheffield: s02183) and one of many publicity stunts devised by Reginald T. Rea,
manager of the Albert Hall, to promote films shown in the 1920s, 1928 (Picture
Sheffield: u01604) – the ‘fire’ sign is somewhat prophetic! All images © Sheffield Libraries.
