While walking around the eerily empty town centre a couple of weeks back, my route took me behing the town hall building. There I noticed a door which looked like it might make for an interesting photograph. The door itself is labled “Town Hall” via a plaque afixed to the wood, but carved into the masonery on the lintel above the entrance is the word “Disinfectants”. In all my years of living here in Sheffield, I’ve never noticed this before.
A quick bit of searching online reveals that this dates back to the Victorian period and formed part of a strategy to rid the city of the disease and vermin which would have been rife in some of the slum conditions that existed at the time in industrial cities. As the poorest members of society would not be able to afford the cost of purchasing disinfectants themselves, these would be given out by the local authority via this entrance to the town hall building.
Olympus OM-1, F-Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10 mins @ 20°.
Taken on 14 June 2020
Steel City Snapper photography 
Interesting
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes very interesting. We don’t know enough about our public health history.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s so much of it all around us and we walk right on by without realising a lot of the time.
LikeLike
I must’ve walked past this door a thousand times and never noticed it! How interesting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Likewise. It was only because I thought the door looked like it would make an interesting photo that I noticed the old sign.
LikeLike
A hidden gem!
LikeLike
History repeats itself . . .
LikeLike