Everything about Sheffield Manor totally explained
Sheffield Manor, also known as the
Manor Lodge or
Manor Castle, is a lodge built about
1510 in what then was a large
deer park east of
Sheffield,
South Yorkshire,
UK, to provide a country retreat for the fourth
Earl of Shrewsbury. The remnant of this is now known as
Norfolk Park.
The remains of Sheffield Manor include parts of the
kitchens,
long gallery, and the
Grade II* listed Turret House, which contains fine seventeenth-century ceilings.
Mary, Queen of Scots was held prisoner by the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury at both Sheffield Manor and
Sheffield Castle (her
ghost is said by some to haunt the Turret House building). Wolsey’s Tower was built to accommodate
Cardinal Wolsey, who then died after travelling on to
Leicester.
Mary escaped to England in 1568 seeking the support of the Catholic nobility. Mary's freedom was restricted after her cousin Elizabeth was advised of the threat that Mary posed to her own crown.
She was handed over to the custody of
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury on 4 February 1569. She wasn't closely guarded, however, and was able, with the help of the
Duke of Norfolk and others of the Catholic nobility, to plot against Elizabeth. Several times Mary had to be moved to places of greater safety and stricter control.
On
28 November 1570 she was taken to the Earl of Shrewsbury's castle, where, apart from a few breaks at
Chatsworth and
Buxton, and more regular visits to the Manor House, she remained for 14 years.
Despite Mary's actions, Elizabeth still seemed to support her cousin's claim to the
Scottish throne, and Mary wrote regularly to her supporters in Scotland asking them to be faithful and to await the help she believed Elizabeth would provide. Two letters containing her writing are preserved in the
Sheffield Archives.
The Duke of Norfolk, not long released from the
Tower of London, was caught in collusion with the papal agent
Roberto di Ridolfi plotting to bring about a Catholic uprising in England. Parliament demanded the execution of both Mary Stuart and Norfolk. At this stage no action was taken against Mary, but the Duke of Norfolk was beheaded in 1572.
In 1582, while Mary was still being held at Sheffield, an inventory of all the household goods and furniture belonging to George, Earl of Shrewsbury was made. The inventory describes the castle and contents and gives an idea of the types of rooms in the castle at this date. These included a
chapel, a
porch going into the
great hall from the
great chamber (which was probably the large dining room), a
wardrobe, the Lord's chamber and outer chamber, the Lady's chamber, a
bakehouse,
brewhouse,
pantry,
washhouse and low washhouse, a
round tower, a square tower and a
turret, round towers on either side of the
gatehouse and walls running along the waterside, a porter's lodge, a
dungeon, a square room, little
kitchen, old kitchen, a
kennel and a range of
stables.
Also included in the inventory is the "stuff" of the "Queen of Scots and her people". Mary had with her a large entourage, which varied over time, made up of Scots, French and English friends and servants. The list of rooms for "her people" includes those of the Master of the "quences howsholde", a Mr Burgon as her doctor and a Mr Jarvys as her "surgion".
The 1582 survey also lists the furnishings "in the hawle at the Poandes", now known as the
Old Queen's Head.
In August 1584 Queen Elizabeth finally agreed to Earl George's petition releasing him from his duty of Mary's care—a task which had broken his marriage, his health and his chances of further political advancement. After leaving Sheffield, Mary was taken to
Wingfield Manor in Derbyshire by her new gaoler, Sir
Ralph Sadler, and then to
Tutbury. From there she went to
Chartley Castle in Staffordshire, where she became involved in the
Babington Plot.
After Sheffield Manor fell into the hands of the Duke of Norfolk, it was neglected, sold to tenant farmers, and largely dismantled in 1706. Some remaining walls and a window were removed to the grounds of
Queen's Tower in
Norfolk Park by
Robert Marnock in 1839. In 1953 the Duke of Norfolk Estate leased the site to
Sheffield City Council for 999 years.
In 2004, the building featured on the
BBC TV programme
Restoration and was the subject of a National Lottery funding bid to convert it to a
heritage centre and traditional
farm. The housing estate of
Manor is named after Sheffield Manor. Green Estate, which was established by the Manor and Castle Development Trust and Sheffield Wildlife Trust, has received £1.25 million from the
Heritage Lottery Fund to develop the site as a visitor attraction.
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