New Barrack Tavern, Sheffield: North

A Duncan Gilmour’s pub which in 1936 was re-built when the original stone built corner terrace pub was demolished and the footprint extended into the next-door cottage, resulting in a larger building which continued to utilise the original cellar. It has a striking exterior of red brick and yellow terracotta with a brown glazed stone dado (the Rutland Arms in Sheffield has a similar exterior). There are a number of original (or good copies) of Gilmour’s exterior windows including ‘Gilmour’s Windsor’ and ‘Billiard Room’. A three-quarter sized snooker table was removed about ten years ago. The floor plan is little altered as can be confirmed by the original plans in a frame on the wall of the smoke room.

On the staircase to the front door there is a ‘Gilmour’s’ step. The lobby has a terrazzo floor and wall tiling to two-thirds height in mainly a cream colour. A door on the left leads to the pubic bar which has a terrazzo floor, inter-war fixed seating. The bar counter is original 1936 one but has been moved slightly back as indicated by where the terrazzo floor stops short of it and some new tiled floor. The bar back fitting is more modern.

The lobby bar has the original curved bar and a terrazzo floor which extends into the far left room. Until the summer of 2018, the latter was a kitchen. It is now a sympathetically converted drinking area and bottle-shop. The bar area includes the remnants of an off-sales hatch - the off sales door with its ‘Off Sales’ etched window is situated in High House Terrace. It is currently covered by an advertising board.

With the exception of the, now demolished, outside toilets, the 1936 floor plan remains: the public bar, with original bench seating, the corridor bar, a large concert room and a smaller back room. Contrary to many assumptions, the rear right room (now the pool room) despite having two ceiling heights was part of the 1936 rebuild (the ‘Smoke Room’) and is not a later addition.

To the rear was originally a yard which included outside toilets. The only internal change of use is that the scullery has become the men’s toilet, with the ladies a 2002 addition at the rear of the property.

The yard has become an attractive award-winning beer garden which has further extended into the yard of the adjoining building. Until the early 1990’s, this neighbouring building included a shop which extended outwards. This extension was demolished when Penistone Road was widened. At that time, it was ‘Carter’s Sandwich Shop.’

The lounge displays some original plans and various photographs. 2015 saw an extension, into what was originally the neighbouring shop, and the creation of a new function room with its own bar and toilets. This utilises floorboards from an upstairs room to create the bar front. The remainder of the building is used for storage.

The pub name refers to the nearby Hillsborough Barracks which date from 1848, replacing an inadequate barracks at Hillfoot. In 1932, the complex was sold to Burdall’s Ltd, a manufacturing chemist noted for its gravy salt.