Leah's Yard
Leah's Yard is a retail and trading hub, and former collection of small industrial workshops situated on Cambridge Street in the city centre of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. The building has been designated as a Grade II* listed building and has been noted for its importance as an example of Sheffield's industrial heritage. It has recently undergone a significant restoration to bring it back into use.
History
Leah's Yard was constructed in the early part of the 19th century as a works for the manufacture of shears and other hand tools. As was typical with small works of this type. Leah's Yard had many different trade occupants and as such the building underwent many alterations and additions which are evident today. Throughout the 19th century the yard was used by a horn dealer, Sheffield platers, knife manufacturers and silver stampers. In the 1880s the building was known as the Cambridge Street Horn Works. In 1892, Henry Leah took over the building as a producer of die stamps for silverware, giving the building the name that it is known by today. Sharing the building at that time was Walter Walker & Co Ltd, who were piercers and stampers; the building was alternatively known as the Cambridge Stamping Works.At the end of the 19th century, steam power was introduced to run a grinding hull and drop hammers in a silver die stamping shop. The key to the success of buildings such as Leah's Yard was that they could be adapted to provide accommodation for a number of different metal industry trades on the same site. They provided adaptable, cheap work space by crowding buildings into a confined area. By 1905, the workshops around the courtyard of Leah's Yard were occupied by eighteen little mesters whose trades included dram flask manufacturer, hollow ware and silver buffers, palette knife makers, steel fork manufacturer, silver ferrule maker, brass and nickel silver turners, electroplate producer and a cutler.