Iconic 19th century Sheffield landmark featured in an Arctic Monkeys song gets repaired

The wooden gate of the centuries-old Hunter’s Bar toll gate has been repaired and it is now back in its place in the middle of the roundabout on Ecclesall Road.

The said wooden gate, which is in-between the two original stone toll pillars, had rotted away and fallen apart but it is now brand new, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) was told.

Upon seeing the state of the bar, Cllr Peter Gilbert, a ward council member from Ecclesall, told the LDRS that he wanted to do something about it – and he knew that it had such an interesting history to it.

He said: “Thousands of people go past this toll gate every day, not everybody would notice it but many people do.

“It’s what Hunter’s Bar got its name from.”

Interesting note but Hunter’s Bar was made world famous in the Arctic Monkeys song “Fake Tales of San Francisco”.

Cllr Gilbert added the toll gate was in place in the nineteenth century – it was set up in cca 1810 – to charge people for going along the roads, with the fees used for their upkeep.

The gate would only be opened when the fee was paid.

He said the toll gate originally was a few yards from its current place but when the roundabout was created in the 1950s they put it in the middle of it.

“It’s really interesting how things change, nothing stays the same forever,” he added.

Cllr Gilbert said when he was elected in May one of the first things he did was to notice that the wood (the bar) was completely rotten and it completely collapsed, it was on the floor.

“It was looking dingy and dark, it was rotten through,” he added.

He had gotten in touch with the council and officers told him repair was covered in the Streets Ahead contract with Amey and the company got it restored.

Cllr Gilbert said: “It’s looking bright and I hope now people will appreciate it, and I want people to know the story of Hunter’s Bar as it’s really beautiful to think about how history and we’re connected with our sense of place.

“It gives us our identity.”