St George's Church, Portobello

St George’s Church stands in Portobello, a district of Sheffield in South Yorkshire. Built in the early 19th century, it is a Gothic Revival church designed by Woodhead and Hurst in the Perpendicular style. The building is 37 metres long and 20 metres wide, with a tall tower rising 43 metres above the ground. Inside, a flat-ceilinged nave with six bays leads to a single-bay chancel, and galleries once lined the north, south and west walls. When completed in 1825 it could seat 380 people and cost £15,181, entirely funded by the Church Building Commission. The church was closed in 1981 and stood empty until the University of Sheffield bought it in 1994. The university converted the interior into a lecture theatre and student housing while preserving the exterior. Before its conversion it was the last of Sheffield’s Commissioners’ churches to remain in its original form. The building is now a Grade II listed structure, recognised for its architectural importance. Above the rooftop a nest-box installed in 2010 now shelters a breeding pair of peregrine falcons. Their presence can be watched through a live-stream webcam, adding a natural element to the urban setting. The tower and walls still rise as they did when the church first opened in 1825, linking past and present on the Sheffield skyline.