Sheffield retro: 18 photos showing forgotten treasure trove market hall replaced by Wilko building

It is part of the Norfolk Market Hall building, named after the famous premises which it replaced.

Norfolk Market Hall was built in 1851 on the site of the old Tontine Inn. The elegant, cavernous brick building survived for more than a century before being demolished in 1959 and replaced with the property which stands there today.

The old market hall was divided into four avenues, with double ranges of stalls running down the centre, and the sides and ends being divided into about 50 shops.

In the centre stood a fountain made of Green Moor stone.

These photos show inside the incredible lost space, including some of the traders who operated there, and how different the area looked back then.

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The images include an early Marks and Spencer stall, the hall decked out for a royal wedding in 1893, and what is believed to have been one of the first stalls to sell records. With more than six decades having passed since the demise of Norfolk Market Hall, it does not hold the same memories for most Sheffielders as the old Castle Market, which stood across the street, where the castle remains are currently being excavated before the site is turned into a new riverside park.

But these photos will help bring it back to life for those few who do remember it and offer a fascinating glimpse into a lost part of Sheffied’s heritage for everyone else.

The images are shared courtesy of Picture Sheffield.