Electro Works

3. The History of Stag Works, Portland Works & The Metal Trades in Sheffield
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Little Sheffield
Origins and Design
The Little Mesters
Decline
Heritage
Enter the Music Industry

Little Sheffield
Stag Works and its neighbouring Portland Works are located in the block of buildings bounded by John Street and Hill Street, Randall Street and Bramall Lane, within the predominantly light industrial area between London Road and Bramall Lane. This area, together with that covered by the Landsdowne flats between Cemetery Road and London Road, forms the district known on street maps as 'Little Sheffield'. Little Sheffield is the oldest part of Sharrow.

Origins and Design
Stag Works was built in 1870 for the production of high quality cutlery and silverware. Together with other nearby buildings, such as Portland Works and Kenilworth Works (both also listed), Stag Works provided a home for Sheffield's metal trades. The design of the building allowed cutlery and silverware workshops to cluster round a large central courtyard, entered through an archway, with a large number of chimneys and flues venting the hearths inside the ground floor workshops. The building is three stories tall on all four sides, with a fourth story added to the front elevation at a later date.
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The Little Mesters
The original tenants were independent artisans known as 'Little Mesters'. The Little Mester system worked in the interests of both the works owner and the Mesters. The manufacturers were able to respond quickly to specialist but perhaps short term demands without requiring major new capital investment and the craftspeople were free to work for any employer without being at the mercy of a single company's fortune. The Little Mester system also provided for maximum exploitation of the site with a number of trades within the metal industries crowded into the site using workspaces that were flexible, affordable but not necessarily safe.
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Decline
For much of the nineteenth century the skills and energies of the Little Mesters helped Sheffield to achieve global eminence for its cutlery, silverware and edge-tools, but as the mass manufacture methods took over the buildings that housed the Little Mesters became run down, unsafe and neglected. Many of them have now been knocked down and much of the City's industrial heritage has been lost. Stag Works has survived and some of the original metal trades are still in evidence there, particularly silver-smithing, pewtering and precious metal work (jewellery). However the building is now in a state of some dilapidation. There is no central heating system, the electric wiring needs replacing, toilets are mainly outside, and access around the building is severely restricted and problematic.
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Heritage
Sheffield City Council and English Heritage have listed Stag Works and neighbouring Portland Works. There is the strong likelihood that a conservation area will be set up in Little Sheffield to include Stag Works and Portland Works in the future. The building may also become the focus of a THI (Townscape Heritage Initiative) which would bring in the Heritage Lottery Fund as an important source of match funding for the refurbishment of Stag Works and for some of the development and programme support within the overall Electro Works Project.
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Enter the Music Industry
As the traditional industries declined in Stag Works the workshops have been progressively re-occupied by people working in the music industry, mainly drawn there by its cheap rents, flexible tenancies, character, location and history.

The current owner, Mr. Donald Peace of Sterling Stag Silver Ltd., purchased the building in 1962, and from the mid-1960's onwards has provided, and encouraged, music rehearsal and studio space for a stream of bands and artists. Many of these bands have gone on to become music industry success stories and represent a vital part of the city's contemporary music heritage, including Def Leppard, Pulp, Babybird, The All Seeing I, Speedy and Blameless.

The building now has the highest concentration of music activities in the region, and is unique in the way these work alongside the remaining small businesses in the metal and engineering trades. The resulting mix and creative atmosphere is rare and exciting. Existing music based tenants include the JuJu Club, Headcharge, Bok Studios, 2 Fly Studios, Ubishi Records, Crecle Records, Knuckle Productions, Sandman Magazine, The Axis and Heim.

Despite the lack of mod cons and the dilapidation and disrepair the accommodation provided by Stag Works is still very much in demand. It is used and sought after by existing micro businesses, start ups, sole traders and freelancers specialising in various aspects of the local music industry, others in the creative industries along with the few small businesses remaining in the traditional metal and engineering trades.

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