The Marples has gone down in folk law as the pub where many people were killed during The Sheffield Blitz. The pub was actually called the London Mart at the time.
The site was occupied during the 1870s by the Wine and Spirit Commercial Hotel. By the late 1880s it was known as Market Street Wine Vaults and was owned by a John Marples, and the licence held in the name of Edward Marples.
Despite a further change of name to the London Mart, regulars always refered to it as Marple's.
The first heavy attack on Sheffield occured on December 12th 1940. 77 people had taken shelter in the cellars of the Marples, which took a direct hit. 70 were killed.
The site lay derelict for 19 years until a new pub was built by John Smith's. When it re-opened in 1959, it was for the first time officially known as Marples.