Abbey House Museum 2025
Yorkshire
Cementation Furnace 2025
The furnace is a Grade II Listed building, and is the only example of this type of steel making furnace to survive intact in Great Britain. The furnace is surrounded by low fencing and a locked gate with the key being available from the curator at the nearby Kelham Island Museum.
Contacts
Address: Doncaster Street St Vincent's Quarter Sheffield Yorkshire S3 7EW
- Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
- Website: View website
Open Days & Times
Visible at all times. Key available from Kelham Island Museum when open.
Travel
- By Bus: various
- By Rail: Sheffield / 1 mile
The furnace was built in 1848 to produce steel by the cementation process by the local steel firm of Daniel Doncasters and Sons, a firm which had been established in Sheffield in 1778. By 1860 there were 250 cementation furnaces in Sheffield capable of producing 80,000 tons of blister steel and the large conical structures were a characteristic feature of the city‘s industrial landscape. The furnace on Doncaster Street is the only remaining example which is undamaged although there are two other sites in the immediate area which have examples which are partially intact, these being at Bower Spring and Millsands. The Doncaster Street furnace operated throughout WW2 and a blackout cover was fitted to the furnace outlet as a precaution during air raids, this is still in place today (painted white). The furnace ceased operation in 1951.
