Assay Office marks its 240th year in Sheffield
THE historic Sheffield Assay Office is celebrating its 240th anniversary in the city.
Established in September 1773 after an Act of Parliament granted Sheffield the right to assess and hallmark silver, the Sheffield Assay Office is now one of only four remaining assaying organisations in the UK and it continues to assess thousands of items of precious metals each year.
Current Assay Master Ashley Carson, who has held the position since 1993, believes that the continued success and longevity of the office has been down to its commitment to “keeping Sheffield at the forefront of the hallmarking industry” and its dedication to “preserving the steel city’s unrivalled reputation for metal work.”
He said: “Sheffield is internally renowned for its metallurgy and steel-making quality with pioneers such as Benjamin Huntsman, Thomas Boulsover and of course Harry Brearley putting Sheffield on the map with their ingenuity and advancements in technology.
“The Sheffield Assay Office is now been part of this illustrious history for 240 years and the Sheffield hallmark has been applied to items from all over the world. It is the work of this office that has really helped to spread the city’s reputation for integrity and quality on an international scale.”
The Assay Office, currently based in Hillsborough, continues to work closely at the core of Sheffield’s metalwork production industry with ongoing investment in research and development helping the organisation move into advanced analytical services – with clients that range from high street retailers of fashion jewellery to international healthcare companies.
Mr Carson said: “Any organisation that makes it the ripe old age of 240 has done so by moving with the times and developing its expertise along the way. The Sheffield Assay Office has come a long since its first Assay Master was working to assess those initial few items of silver from his office in a rented house on Norfolk Street.
“Our ethos at the Assay Office is to not only protect and maintain Sheffield’s fantastic reputation and heritage but also to help it continue to grow and we are a big supporter of metal craftsmanship in the region with initiatives in place to develop new silversmithing talent and support the next generation of creativity and metalworking expertise.”
