One of the strangest pubs in Sheffield, it is built on church land and has a graveyard in the back garden.
The site dates from before 1250, but little of the original buildings can be identified. The original pub is the centre building. This was a church wardens house but was sold in 1800 for £43, and obtained a £2 licence under the Beer House Act in 1804. The left hand building was added as living accomodation in Victorian times.
Under the pub is a maze of tunnels dating from its time as a chuch property. One ran under the road to Hansworth Hall, another is said to run to Manor Lodge.
After brewing its own beer for almost 100 years the Cross keys fell first into the hands of Brunswick's Wath Brewery, and then to Mappins of Masborough. Mappins sold out to Stones in 1954, who in turn fell to Bass in 1968.