Old Coroner's Court: Historic Sheffield building set to be replaced with 'unattractive' flats goes up for sale

The Old Coroner’s Court on Nursery Street, overlooking the River Don, dates back to 1913 and the building features a coroners’ court, mortuary, post mortem rooms and viewing chapel.

Plans to demolish the building, just outside Sheffield city centre, near the Wicker and a short walk from Kelham Island, were initially rejected in 2019 by Sheffield Council’s planning committee, which called the proposed block of 77 flats set to replace it ‘plain’, ‘unattractive’ and out of keeping with the area’s heritage.

But the council was overruled the following year by a planning inspector, who said the proposed apartment block would ‘contribute favourably towards the character and appearance of the area’, following an appeal by the developer Firestone. That was despite a campaign to save the building led by Hallamshire Historic Buildings and Councillor Douglas Johnson.

Three years later, the distinctive building is still standing empty and dilapidated, with its windows boarded up and tiles missing from the roof, after the developer went out of business.

The building has now gone on the market, with the sales brochure describing how consent has been granted for a mixed use redevelopment up to seven storeys tall on the 0.36 acre site. It is marketed as being ‘just a stone's throw from Kelham Island, a dynamic area teeming with creative enterprises, office employees, and local people’.

No asking price is given for the property, with the brochure stating that prospective buyers can find out the price on application.