Taylor Eye Witness & Beehive Works

The Cutlers' Hall was built in 1832 by Samuel Worth and Benjamin Broomhead Taylor. Since 1820 Mr John Taylor made pen and pocket knives in a workshop near the top of St. Philips Road, Sheffield. In 1838 he registered the trade mark "Eye Witness" at the Cutlers Hall which was also the headquarters of the "Company of Cutlers" in Hallamshire started by Joseph Mathewman who was a master cutler. He chose the "Eye Witness" trademark for his goods.

Upon the death of John Taylor in 1854 the firm passed to his daughter Sarah who had married into the Needham family who were also knife producers and inherited the "Eye Witness" mark as they continued on St.Philips Road for several years as "Thomas Needham Cutlery".

By 1868, changed name briefly to "Exchange Works" on Headford Street. James Veall joined the firm and had another name change to "Needham & Veall Cutlery Manufacturers". In 1879 Walter Tyzack (Tyzack Sons & Turner) became a partner and the firm took yet another the title change to "Needham-Veall & Tyzack". Currently seventy-five types of pen knives and thirty kinds of sports knives are in their catalogues. Before Walter Tyzack died in 1925 they connected with several other Sheffield firms in 1919:

*Southern & Richardson
*Lockwood Brothers
*Joseph Elliot
*Thomas Turner

From 1926 the directors in charge of day to day management were from Southern & Richardson. Mr. Samuel Richardson died 1934. W.C. Veall remained a director until his death on 23 February 1941, The factory was damaged by bombs during WW2 so the Thomas Street end had to be rebuilt. Today, production of all types of knives is carried out here and also the scissor production is in "Ceylon Works". The rights to the marks of Saynor ,Cooke & Ridal were purchased in 1948 by Needham Veall & Tyzack and a line of horticultural knives was started. W. Saynor's Cutlery was originally established in 1865. Needham Veall & Tyzack aquired other firms:

*Michael Hunter
*Parkin & Marshall
*Abram Brooksbank
* Joseph Haywood
*Nixon & Winterbottom
*Wheatley Bros
*J. Blackwell
* W. Hawcroft

Since 1975 company is part of the Harrison Fisher Group with the 1965 name "Taylor's Eye Witness Limited". The present workforce is about 200 but there is still a lot of handwork involved in the production. The patterns produced number many less than the 19th Century but the emphasis is still on high quality. The knives are exported to many overseas countries particularly Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada. Mainly concentrating on the manufacture of quality kitchen knives for U.K. multiple retailers, but still maintains a department dedicated to the production of pocketknives; mainly single bladed farmers lambfoot for the U.K. market, but also 2 and 3 piece stock knives for the Aussie market.

The Beehive Works is located on Milton Street in the Devonshire Quarter area of Sheffield city centre. The works were built in stages in the second half of the 19th century and are of special architectural and historic interest being associated with Sheffield's metal manufacturing and metal working trades. It is attached adjacent to the Taylor's Eye Witness Works. Currently owned by GREGORY FENTON LIMITED since 1962 which is an amalgamation of the Gregory Bros. and Joseph Fenton firms.

 Brian Trevor Jay is the company director of Gregory Fenton Limited. He started there in 1991 at 55 years of age. Beehive Works initially known as the Milton Works in 1749 with Joseph Mathewman being the master cutler giving apprenticeship to locals. The works frontage stretching along Milton Street is eighteen bays long and three storys high with some cellars beneath street level. Constructed from red brick with ashlars dressing and a slate roof the windows are twelve pane sash type. There is a painted sign reading "Beehive brand - Gregory Fenton Ltd. Knives and Tools" on Headford Street reading, "Gregory Fenton Ltd. / Beehive Works". An arched doubled door cart entrance with the words “Beehive Works” above leads off Milton Street into the internal courtyards. The courtyards include four and three story workshop ranges with large casement windows on the lower floors. Steps from the courtyard give separate access to the first floor workshops and indicates that they were intended for use by a number of "little mesters" by Joseph Mathewman. During the 1880s added more grinding wheels, forges, and a larger steam power plant. By 1888 the Atkinson Brothers had taken over the works as manufacturers of steel, cutlery, files and electro plate products.


ATKINSON BROTHERS - 1879

*Milton Works/Lion Works
* In Mind
* Brillo
* Bedfords (1937)

They exhibited at the 1894 Antwerp World's fair, becoming a registered company on the stock exchange in 1897. In a much reduced capacity these days having only ten employees and dividing up the factory into small offices, workshops and storage areas which are rented out to P. Hobson Ltd (metal finishing services) and other locals.