Originally the former steelworkers’ pub ‘Robin Hood’, La Chambre opened in 1998 by married couple Barry and Maria Calvert as the premier destination for open minded couples to engage in their lascivious activities. Situated in the heart of Sheffield’s Red Light District, it featured a Steam Room, Sauna, Roman Pool, Peep Show, Glory Holes, 4 Bedrooms of differing themes (complete with voyeur windows) and a bondage themed basement for BDSM activities. As well as this, the usual Bar and Reception area sat at the main entrance with a strippers pole and DJ Booth.
It was a popular destination for those interested in swinging, and boasted around 25,000 members by it’s time of closure. A Las Vegas newspaper once rated the club as ‘the third-best visitor attraction in the world’, with number one being the Grand Canyon.
However, the seedy venue has hit the headlines many times over the years. In 2014, 45 year old cabaret performer Jeremy Frazier Newsome Smith, dressed as Herman Munster (one of Frankenstein’s monsters) raped a 22 year old woman inside the club. The victim told the court she endured the sex attack in a room lined with mirrors, so that no matter where she looked she was witnessing her own rape. Smith, a married father-of-two, was found guilty of rape by a jury at Sheffield Crown Court following a nine-day trial, and was sentenced to five years in prison.
In 2018, 25 year old Tekosh Mahmood raped a 30 year old woman in La Chambre. The charges were later dropped.
The Covid-19 pandemic forced the closure of La Chambre, and despite the owners planning to re-open, local councillors will not renew their license for want of redeveloping the area as part of the Attercliffe Waterside project. Ultimately, Barry and Maria decided to retire, and the building has been left in a state of disrepair.
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Our second proper brothel-type explore after City Sauna, and funnily enough they’re both located in Sheffield! Naturally, it’s a very intriguing and thought provoking place, and the murals on the walls leave little to the imagination of what went down here. Another epic Sheffield explore!
