College History
With it's seven hills rich in iron and coal, and five mighty rivers to power grinding mills, the 'Sheffield' hallmark was a readily-understood shorthand for quality in metalwork in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
By the time of Elizabeth Gaskill's North and South (1855), inventor-entrepreneurs had alloyed this craft tradition with new technologies of mass-production to forge one of the world's first industrial cities.
The Butcher Works in Arundel Street were established by brothers William and Samuel in 1835, largely to meet demand for hoes, chisels, saws and hammers from pioneers settling the American Midwest.
The neighbouring Sterling Works opened its doors fifteen years later, in workshops previously used for cutlery manufacture. For a hundred years, such factories helped maintain Sheffield as the furnace of the British Empire.
In the late twentieth century, however, recession, globalisation and automation cut swathes through Yorkshire's mining and steel industries. Both Sterling and Butcher found themselves surplus to requirements until purchased by RMET in 2005.
The Butcher Works in Arundel Street were established by brothers William and Samuel in 1835, largely to meet demand for hoes, chisels, saws and hammers from pioneers settling the American Midwest.
The neighbouring Sterling Works opened its doors fifteen years later, in workshops previously used for cutlery manufacture. For a hundred years, such factories helped maintain Sheffield as the furnace of the British Empire.
In the late twentieth century, however, recession, globalisation and automation cut swathes through Yorkshire's mining and steel industries. Both Sterling and Butcher found themselves surplus to requirements until purchased by RMET in 2005.
