Our Story

The Sheffield Tap is housed within the former Edwardian Refreshment Room & Dining Rooms of Sheffield Station. The condition you see today is testament to the hard work of Jamie Hawksworth, Jon Holdsworth & team who have spent two years ‘cutting through the red tape’ and bringing considerable investment to enable the rooms to be restored to their original condition.

The rooms became disused in the 1960’s, with final blow being dealt by British Rail in the 1970’s when the Refreshment Room was converted into a waiting room. The original mahogany bar top was removed and the damaged front bar pushed to the rear of the room beneath the back bar, and the ornate fireplace and features taken from the building. Over a matter of months the Grade 2 listed interior was vandalised and eventually locked-up in 1976. Since then, the interior had been left to decay with the original ornate plaster ceiling suffering partial collapse due to the leaking roof. In 2008 we were finally able to access the derelict rooms and begin our restoration.

With private investment and grant assistance from The Railway Heritage Trust, we have been able to correct the damage caused by years of abuse. Our foresight was to repair where possible and replicate as required. The ornate barrel plaster ceiling is a complete replica of the previous feature, taken from moulds of the original and handmade by a local contractor. The existing mahogany bar was salvaged from pieces of the original, being rebuilt and polished to the finest detail we could achieve. It is important to note that we are only the caretakers of this building as it is Grade 2 listed and publicly owned, yet we all feel tremendously proud of our personal investment and delighted that it is once again a “very” operational building!