In the Shadow of Sheffield Hallam University, the Cossack has the appearance of a Porta-cabin. It is however a very old building, being a beer house in around 1795.
Up to the start of World War 2 it was a two storey Gilmour's house in the shadow of Rawson's Pond Street Brewery. This all changed on December 12th 1940, when a German bomb blew the brewery to bits, it also badly damage the Cossack. Like several other Sheffield pubs it was re-opened as a single story "bungalow pub". Others of note were the Black Swan, the Bulldog and the Montgomery. Unlike the others the Cossack was never rebuilt when materials were once again available.