Our Building

350 years ago in 1660 our forebears following the Reverend James Fisher, the vicar of Sheffield, broke away from Sheffield Parish Church (now Sheffield Anglican Cathedral) to form the beginnings of Congregationalism. 

The congregation met in rooms that were connected with the workhouse then at a building called the New Hall on Bridge Street, at the foot of Snig Hill, where the Hollis Hospital later had it's site.

In 1700 site was rented on Norfolk Street called the New Chapel but all was not well with the congregation.

300 years ago in 1714 a plot of land was purchased for £60 in the garden of John Tooker (a Master Cutler) lower down Norfolk Street and a Chapel was built and so the split between the the New Chapel now called the "Upper" chapel and the "Lower" site was complete.  This became the first chapel to occupy our current site.   It was known as Nether Chapel. The front of the building was on Tucker or  Tooker Alley, which subsequently became known as Chapel Walk, and set back from what is now Norfolk Street.

In 1828 a new Nether Chapel was opened (see left) and some additional land bought from Dr Thomas Young at a cost of £700 that led on to Alsop Fields.  From this three more congregations grew at Burngreave, Wicker, and Queen Street (see below). 

These four subsequently rejoined to form a new church built on the site of Nether and opened in 1971 as Central Congregational Church.

When the United Reformed Church was formed in 1972 from Congregational and Presbyterian denominations the Church became Central United Reformed Church.