Milestones in the History of Sheffield Manor Lodge
Milestones in the story of Sheffield Manor Lodge
3 main stages:-
Hunting Lodge : 15th Century to early 16th Century
Manor House : c1525 to 1708
Industrial Hamlet : 1708 to early 20th Century
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEER PARK
1066 Rights to the deer park are claimed by the Medieval Lords of Sheffield
1270 Thomas de Furnivall built Sheffield Castle – a mote castle on the present Castle Market site
1297 Charter accepting the claim in 1281 by Thomas 5th Lord de Furnival of ‘Ancient hunting rights’ in Sheffield. Sheffield Manor Lodge site was included in the area claimed by the medieval Lords of Sheffield as a hunting park
1300s First hunting lodge built on the site
1332 Mention of a deer park in Thomas de Furnivall’s post mortem
1406 John Talbot (1st Earl of Shrewsbury) acquired Sheffield Castle and its estates including the 2,500 acre deer park and Hunting lodge- The footings to this 15th century building were uncovered during archaeological excavations that took place between 1972and 1974
1479-80 Repairs to the lodge
TUDOR MANOR HOUSE
1516 The 6th Earl of Shrewsbury (George Talbot) made Sheffield his home and built a grand house on the site including on of the first long galleries in England. LONG GALLERY – indoor recreational space would have had oak panel walls with tapestries and paintings . The outer wall was of stone but the inner- facing onto the inner courtyard would have been made of timber – some parts of this timer façade were still remaining up to the 1940’s. 1530 Cardinal Wolsey stayed here for 18 days on his journey to the Tower of London shortly after his stay he became ill and died there is a story that he may have caught dysentery in Sheffield from the poor sanitation at the Lodge (Wolsey’s Tower). The Garderobe can still be seen in the tower. 1567 George Talbot marries Bess of Hardwick
1570s This house was partly demolished be the 6th Earl to make way for an even grander residence reputed to be amongst the finest in the land. The entrance to the manor house was framed by 2 octagonal red brick towers which would have been much like the ones still in place at Hampton Court Palace. The last remaining tower blew down in 1793 and the brick was used in the cutlery industry.
1574 The Turret House (now Grade II listed) was built as a gate house and hunting tower
1570 to 1584 Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned at Sheffield Castle and at Sheffield Manor Lodge with George Talbot as her jailer
1587 Mary is beheaded – the toll of her stay in Sheffield greatly affected George and Bess’s marriage and she retreated to Hardwick
1590 George (6th Earl of Shrewsbury) died at Sheffield Manor and his second son Gilbert became 7th Earl. He spent a lot of his time in Sheffield and played an active role in the growing industrialisation of the town
1597 1,200 tons of coal excavated in Sheffield Park, Some from opposite the lodge
1616 The 7th Earl dies and his younger brother took the title but died within the year. Neither had a male heir so the estates where shared between gilberts 3 daughters. Sheffield manor passed to his youngest daughter Aletheia the wife of Thomas Howard
THE DUKES OF NORFOLK BECOME LORDS OF THE MANOR
1616-50 The Howard family (The Dukes of Norfolk) lived elsewhere and employed stewards to take care of the site. As a result Sheffield Manor came to be seen as far from the centre of things and if fell into increasing disrepair
1642- 51 English Civil War – Sheffield Manor largely untouched but Sheffield Castle destroyed
1692 The deer park now had a circumference of one 3 miles and this land was divided up into farms (Manor Oaks and the ‘cruck barn’ probably built with materials from the old Manor house)
1708 Part of the Lodge was demolished (by 8th Duke of Norfolk) and the stone and timber sold and the site let to a number of craftsmen and trades people
1710 John Fox (1682-1738) a local potter with family connections to the glass works at Bolsterstone set up a kiln in Wolsey’s tower and made what is none as ‘Manor Wear’ very distinctive pottery for its time and of national historic importance. His kiln had eight flues and was 4.5 meters wide it was one of the first to produce pottery on an industrial scale one the only one to have been excavated in Sheffield
1778 The Manor Castle Colliery was sunk to 142 metres near the ruins. The ruins themselves were adapted into a huddled and unsanitary collection of workers cottages within the south wing and against the long gallery wall. This included a pub called the Norfolk Arms. John Curr was employed by the Duke of Norfolk as a mining engineer and during his time here he developed several important technologies including the first metal tramway, he was the first to invent iron track. The Norfolk arms opened on the site within the ruins of the south wing.
1793 Gale force winds destroy the entrance towers 1801 John Curr dismissed as the price of coal had dropped due to Curr's inventions
1814 Wesleyan Methodist Chapel built within the ruins of the Lodge
1860 Small scale farming continues on site with the turret house used as the farm house with 12 acres being managed by one man and two labourers.
1874 The Turret House was restored
1895 Manor Castle colliery closes
1907 The 15th Duke of Norfolk (who became Sheffield 1st Lord Mayor) recognised the importance of the site and in an attempt to improve the environment of Sheffield and demolished much of the post 16th century buildings and many of the residents were removed
1907-1953 Private housing grew up along Manor Lane and the land was gradually sold off by the Norfolk estate
1953 The Norfolk family grant a 999 year leased of the site to the council and the site is cleaned and cleared.
2004 Green Estate Ltd acquired lease on the whole site and began the major restoration and development programme.
