An Industrial Hamlet
By the beginning of the 19th century there was little to remind people of the former grandeur of the Manor Lodge. Local farmers, cutlers and coal miners had transformed it into a self-contained hamlet, remote from the rest of Sheffield, with shops, a chapel and a beer house.
Coal Mining Innovations
Coal had been mined in Sheffield Park since Tudor times. An account book entry for 1579 notes that 1,200 tons were extracted. During the 18th century the park was transformed by the Duke’s mining operations. By 1777 the Manor Colliery was in operation close to the ruins and the Duke of Norfolk appointed mining engineer John Curr to manage his pits. Curr was an important figure in improving mining technology. He developed some of the first tramways and wagons. These linked the pits to the Duke’s coal yard in the town. He also built some of the first housing specifically for miners and their families in the country. Some of these back-to-back cottages survived here until the 1970s.
Map, 1855
Prints 1833
Pitmen painting
Copy of front of Curr’s book etc.
A Village Evangelist
Around the pithead and within the ruins a rough and ready community of miners grew up. The living and working conditions were basic and harsh. The Manor cock-pit drew gamblers from far and wide. One of the cottages was made into a beer house known appropriately as The Norfolk Arms.
At the beginning of the 19th century a blade forger, William Cowlishaw, underwent a religious conversion, mended his ways, and set out to reform the sinners of the Manor. He began by using his house for prayer meetings but by 1814 he had opened a Weslyan Chapel and Sunday School in a building on the ruins of the 6th Earl’s grand gatehouse. This became a focus for the community, which became known as Manor Castle Village. The Cowlishaw family continued as trustees of the chapel when it was rebuilt across the road in 1904. Members of the family still today maintain their association with the local chapel.
Photos of site showing chapel
Print of William Cowlishaw.
Photo of Weslyan gathering outside lodge
The Turret House Restored
The Turret House, which survived when the rest of the Manor was demolished, was being used as part of the farm. In 1870s the building was ‘rediscovered’ when the 15th Duke of Norfolk commissioned his architect Charles Hadfield to restore it. This involved removing the surrounding farm buildings and renovating the House. The stained glass windows on the upper floors date from this Victorian restoration. The buildings were subsequently lived in until the 1950s by a series of families who acted as caretakers. Older local residents still remember Maggie Lester and her fierce little dogs!
By the 1890s the cottages had fallen into ruins, and the tenants had gone. The colliery closed in 1896 and the miners of the Manor Castle Village moved to the larger Nunnery Colliery lower down the hill, which opened in 1870. Shortly after 1900 and all the post 16th century buildings were demolished and the site cleared. Photographs taken at the time show that unfortunately some of the original fabric of the buildings was also swept away.
Photos of site and miners
Prints of restoration of turret house
