- Joined
- Jan 6, 2013
- Messages
- 5,571
- Reaction score
- 11,207
1. The History
The site, known as Storr’s Bridge Works, was last occupied by Hepworth Refractories, a former brick factory located, in the Loxley valley, north-east of Sheffield. It also home to Carblox in the 70s, part of the Marshalls group, who made carbon blocks of different sizes for steel furnaces.
The site has been an area for industry since the 17th century. Initially home to Loxley Steel works, the Green Wheel Steel works and two rolling mills – the Green Wheel and Olive rolling mills, the valley was totally decimated by the Great Flood of 1864. Now only the mill pond areas remain. The area has been a source of ganister (a type of sandstone which was prevalent in the Loxley area) since Victorian times. It was a key material in the manufacture of ‘hollow refractories’ - bricks that were used to line the walls of furnaces in the production of steel. Mining and the production of refractory bricks began in the late 1800s. In the 1930s there were a total of three firms in the Loxley Valley (Dysons, Thomas Marshall’s and Thomas Wragg and Sons) producing hollow refractories and, between them, they supplied 95% of all the hollow refractories produced in Great Britain.
When war broke out in 1939, the industry became vital to the war effort, and if the Germans had bombed the Loxley Valley successfully, the war would have been over very quickly. As a consequence, there was a gun site on Wood Lane, Stannington, which shot down several Luftwaffe planes during the Sheffield Blitz.
View of the River Loxley at Storrs Bridge Works in the 1960s:
River Loxley at Storrs Bridge Works, Loxley nr Sheffield (1960s).
Hepworth’s closed in the 1990s and the site fell into abandonment. However, in 2006 the site was bought by Bovis Homes with a view to building 500 new homes on the site. That was then defeated by local opposition, who objected on the grounds that the local area’s infrastructure could not support this level of development. During this period, Bovis beefed up the security on the site with a solar-powered CCTV and a speaker system along with a resident guard. In 2018 URBED were appointed by landowners Patrick Properties Ltd to help prepare a scheme that is “not a bog-standard housing development” as this is more likely to get past Sheffield City Councils planning requirements.
2. The Explore
A post-first lock down revisit. A massive industrial behemoth of the Loxley river five or six miles north west of Sheffield that often gets overlooked by a lot of explorers. The series of factories are trashed and derped but still fascinating in a derpy kind of way. Long gone are the live secca while Bovis Housing had an interest in the site. Hence currently it’s an easy in and there’s the added bonus of a number of nice pieces of graff that have appeared. The weather was nice, and I think I managed to get a better set of pictures than I did first time around.
3. The Pictures
Let’s start off with the locker rooms at the far north-west:
Loxley 01 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 02 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 04 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 13 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 11 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 10 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 09 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 08 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 07 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 06 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 05 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Let’s move on the main Hepworth factories. This is where all the best graff is and this old chimney:
img6137 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6138 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 18 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 17 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 16 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 15 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6126 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6127 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6134 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Some lovely Brayk pieces:
img6119 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6123 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6135 by HughieDW, on Flickr
New MARRS piece, loving the DD and Mutley vibe here:
img6117 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6124 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6121 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6125 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Across the way in this aircraft-hanger like building full of broken up rubble:
img6133 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6131 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Finally, it’s on a little way down river to the kiln’s part:
img6161 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6156 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6155 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6149 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6153 by HughieDW, on Flickr
More MARRS:
img6157 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6158 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6159 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6160 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6162 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6164 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6165 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6167 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6168 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6169 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6170 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6171 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6172 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6175 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6176 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 20 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 23 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 24 by HughieDW, on Flickr
There’s even an old WWII Air-raid shelter here:
Loxley 19 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And finally – the reason why all of this is here in the first place…the River Loxley:
img6181 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The site, known as Storr’s Bridge Works, was last occupied by Hepworth Refractories, a former brick factory located, in the Loxley valley, north-east of Sheffield. It also home to Carblox in the 70s, part of the Marshalls group, who made carbon blocks of different sizes for steel furnaces.
The site has been an area for industry since the 17th century. Initially home to Loxley Steel works, the Green Wheel Steel works and two rolling mills – the Green Wheel and Olive rolling mills, the valley was totally decimated by the Great Flood of 1864. Now only the mill pond areas remain. The area has been a source of ganister (a type of sandstone which was prevalent in the Loxley area) since Victorian times. It was a key material in the manufacture of ‘hollow refractories’ - bricks that were used to line the walls of furnaces in the production of steel. Mining and the production of refractory bricks began in the late 1800s. In the 1930s there were a total of three firms in the Loxley Valley (Dysons, Thomas Marshall’s and Thomas Wragg and Sons) producing hollow refractories and, between them, they supplied 95% of all the hollow refractories produced in Great Britain.
When war broke out in 1939, the industry became vital to the war effort, and if the Germans had bombed the Loxley Valley successfully, the war would have been over very quickly. As a consequence, there was a gun site on Wood Lane, Stannington, which shot down several Luftwaffe planes during the Sheffield Blitz.
View of the River Loxley at Storrs Bridge Works in the 1960s:
River Loxley at Storrs Bridge Works, Loxley nr Sheffield (1960s).
Hepworth’s closed in the 1990s and the site fell into abandonment. However, in 2006 the site was bought by Bovis Homes with a view to building 500 new homes on the site. That was then defeated by local opposition, who objected on the grounds that the local area’s infrastructure could not support this level of development. During this period, Bovis beefed up the security on the site with a solar-powered CCTV and a speaker system along with a resident guard. In 2018 URBED were appointed by landowners Patrick Properties Ltd to help prepare a scheme that is “not a bog-standard housing development” as this is more likely to get past Sheffield City Councils planning requirements.
2. The Explore
A post-first lock down revisit. A massive industrial behemoth of the Loxley river five or six miles north west of Sheffield that often gets overlooked by a lot of explorers. The series of factories are trashed and derped but still fascinating in a derpy kind of way. Long gone are the live secca while Bovis Housing had an interest in the site. Hence currently it’s an easy in and there’s the added bonus of a number of nice pieces of graff that have appeared. The weather was nice, and I think I managed to get a better set of pictures than I did first time around.
3. The Pictures
Let’s start off with the locker rooms at the far north-west:
Loxley 01 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 02 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 04 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 13 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 11 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 10 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 09 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 08 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 07 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 06 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 05 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Let’s move on the main Hepworth factories. This is where all the best graff is and this old chimney:
img6137 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6138 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 18 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 17 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 16 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 15 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6126 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6127 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6134 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Some lovely Brayk pieces:
img6119 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6123 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6135 by HughieDW, on Flickr
New MARRS piece, loving the DD and Mutley vibe here:
img6117 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6124 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6121 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6125 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Across the way in this aircraft-hanger like building full of broken up rubble:
img6133 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6131 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Finally, it’s on a little way down river to the kiln’s part:
img6161 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6156 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6155 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6149 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6153 by HughieDW, on Flickr
More MARRS:
img6157 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6158 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6159 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6160 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6162 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6164 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6165 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6167 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6168 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6169 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6170 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6171 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6172 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6175 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6176 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 20 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 23 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Loxley 24 by HughieDW, on Flickr
There’s even an old WWII Air-raid shelter here:
Loxley 19 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And finally – the reason why all of this is here in the first place…the River Loxley:
img6181 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Last edited: