This summer, step back into the drama and intrigue of Tudor England with a visit to Sheffield Manor Lodge, the city’s most arresting visitor attraction.
Once part of a grand estate where Mary, Queen of Scots and Cardinal Wolsey were held prisoner in the 16th century, the historic site makes for a memorable day out for all the family.
Alongside the now-lost Sheffield Castle, the Manor Lodge formed a network of residences used by the wealthy Talbot family, the Earls of Shrewsbury, as custodians of the captive queen and clergy.
While the Castle’s archaeological remains lie beneath the city centre, parts of the Manor Lodge still stand proudly on its hill, juxtaposed against the neighbouring Manor housing estate.
Its history is a fascinating mix of monarchs and miners, having been commandeered by local colliers who built a mining village amongst the ruins in the 1800s.
Today, the site is managed by The Green Estate, a Sheffield-based community interest company that has spent more than 20 years preserving the site’s heritage and natural beauty.
Visitors can retrace the steps of the ill-fated Mary and Wolsey, take part in family-friendly activities, and enjoy a picnic in the tranquil gardens that have been cultivated around the historic ruins.
Sheffield Manor Lodge sits in the centre of ‘Ye Greate Parke’, a former deer park that was one of the oldest and largest in the country. It covered an area of almost 2,500 acres, from the Cathedral to Darnall and Handsworth, and was said to have had 3,000 deer at its peak.
To own a deer park in medieval times was the ultimate status symbol. Owners needed royal consent, land, and money. And the Talbots weren’t short of a bob or two. They were one of the richest families in England, not many shillings behind the monarchy.
As descendants of Thomas de Furnival, who rebuilt Sheffield Castle in 1270, the Talbots controlled the manor of Hallamshire and resided at the castle.
To better house his growing family, George Talbot, the 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, had the Manor Lodge built in 1516. The castle served as a defensive stronghold and administrative centre, while the Manor Lodge became a semi-rural domestic retreat. Later, the Manor Lodge became the marital home to the already wealthy Elizabeth Hardwick.
There was once a two-mile private road lined with walnut trees that connected the two lodgings and it is claimed the Earl and Countess could ride all the way on a rainy day without getting wet.
The Manor Lodge would have been a grand affair with no expense spared. There was a great hall and servants’ quarters to the south range, with a bake house, wash house, brewhouse and tradesmen’s entrance. Ruins of the south range walls and double-height fireplaces still remain.
There was also a long gallery, one of the first outside of southeast England, thought to have inspired the long gallery at Haddon Hall. Part of the long gallery’s high wall remains, and you can just imagine Mary Queen of Scots and her guardian, the formidable Bess of Hardwick, sewing, embroidering, and reading together in there.
Mary was handed over to the 6th Earl, George Talbot and his second wife, Bess, in 1569 following an unsuccessful attempt to regain the Scottish throne. Her cousin, Elizabeth I, saw her as a threat and had her confined for almost a third of her life before she was executed for treason at Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire in 1587.
When Mary arrived in Sheffield, she was initially held at the castle, but complained about the conditions so was moved to the lodge which was much more befitting a captive Queen.
George added an extension, erecting two octagonal towers to the entrance clad in red brick, said to have been inspired by Hampton Court Palace. This was yet another show of their wealth and status, but both had collapsed by the end of the 1700s.
While little remains of the old manor house, visitors can explore the in-tact Turret House which dates back to 1574.
Last year, the three-storey Turret House was reinterpreted thanks to funding from the Friends of Sheffield Manor Lodge group. There is a rich interpretation of Tudor life, Mary’s stay, and Bess of Hardwick’s influence.
Each creaking floorboard, weathered beam and decorative fireplace of the old gatehouse offers a tangible link to a time of intrigue and infamy.
Have your photo taken like a Tudor portrait, with costumes for children and adults all handsewn by volunteers.
Head up the winding stone staircase and you’ll find the relationship room, looking at speculative fall out between Mary and her keepers.
Try and crack the code of Mary’s letters to the French ambassador in the plots and intrigues room. Or take a seat at the table for a traditional Tudor banquet fit for a queen. Did you know Mary brought her private chefs to Sheffield who served her meals on silver platters?
In the banquet room, you’ll find tapestries and portraits hanging on the wall, and the famed family crest featuring two Talbot dogs – now-extinct white bloodhounds – is embossed into the wall above an original fireplace. The ornate ceiling is said to have been inspired by Mary, featuring thistles, fleur de Lys, and marigolds.
During her 15 years with George and Bess between 1569 and 1584, Mary spent time between their many residences, including Tutbury, Chatsworth and Wingfield Manor. This was supposedly to manage the burden of security, costs, and surveillance, but she brought an entourage of 16 staff and 30 carts of all her belongings.
It’s not known which part of Manor Lodge she would have resided in – she didn’t write ‘Mary woz ere’ on the walls – but it’s thought she would have had one of the better rooms with tapestries, daily linen changes and a good view. Sheffield Manor Lodge offered more comfortable accommodation than at the Castle and was used more frequently in her later years as her health deteriorated.
However, Mary wasn’t the first person to be held captive at Sheffield Manor Lodge. In 1530, the Talbots welcomed their first incarcerated house guest in the form of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the Archbishop of York and King Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor.
Wolsey’s downfall came after he failed to persuade the Pope to grant the king an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could instead marry Anne Boleyn. He was accused of treason and was to stand trial in London.
On his way south from York, he stayed in Sheffield under the watchful eye of the 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, a Chamberlain of the Exchequer. Wolsey stayed in a newly built tower for 18 days, closely watched by a guard, before heading on to London.
He allegedly contracted dysentery from a toilet at the Lodge which proved fatal. He died in Leicester three days after leaving Sheffield; had he made it to London, he’d likely have faced a harsh fate anyway.
Visitors can see the remains of this infamous ‘garderobe’ thought to be the oldest toilet in Sheffield. In those times, as well as a place to do your business, clothes would have been hung up as the smell kept the moths away – it’s where we get the word wardrobe from.
In the 1700s, the tower’s remains were used by potter John Fox who made his Manor tableware, the first yellow-brown glazed pottery in Yorkshire.
By this time, the estate had been inherited by the Dukes of Norfolk. In 1709, the main hall had been partially demolished after the loss of the second entrance tower, but the Turret House survived. It was leased to farmers and had a resident right up until the 1960s.
In the 1840s, a mine shaft was sunk behind Wolsey’s Tower and the site was taken over by miners from nearby Manor Colliery. They built a methodist chapel, a pub called the Norfolk Arms and miners’ cottages butting up to the old long gallery. You can still see the outline of them on the remaining long gallery walls.
On a visit to Manor Lodge, the Duke of Norfolk was said to have been dumbstruck to find a self-contained hamlet had been built amongst the ruins.
After the mine closed in 1896, the miners moved to a larger colliery at nearby Nunnery. The surrounding landscape changed amidst the Industrial Revolution, with housing estates built at Manor, Castle and Wybourn in the 1920s and ‘30s.
The area had developed a bad reputation over the 20th century. However, since its formation in 2003, The Green Estate has sought to bring back a sense of pride, resilience and community with various projects.
Along with being custodians of the Manor Lodge, they have turned 42 hectares of derelict land blighted by burnt-out cars and anti-social behaviour into a Green Flag winning, sustainable park at Manor Fields.
They’ve worked on the Park Hill project, grown flowers for the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations in London, and developed their own Pictorial Meadows seed mixes they sell specifically for urban areas.
At Manor Lodge, the community rangers and volunteer gardeners have grown a lavender labyrinth by the long gallery ruins, a perennial pictorial meadow overlooking the Turret House, and an apothecary garden in the south range with herbs used in Tudor medicines.
Their heritage team have also created a calendar of activities that run throughout the year, from medieval festivals and Easter hunts to history and botany tours.
During the summer holidays, Manor Lodge will be free to visit Sunday to Thursday and there will be weekly themed children’s craft activity and trail that visitors can do for £5.
The team is also planning their annual History Through the Ages event on Sunday 7th September, along with their Become a Tudor Doctor event on Sunday 21st September.
Sheffield Manor Lodge is open every Sunday until September. From 21st July, the site will also be open Monday to Thursday 10am until 4pm.
197 Manor Lane, Sheffield S2 1UJ. Free parking and entry but a donation of £2 per adult is encouraged for the upkeep of the ruins. Dogs are only permitted one Sunday a month so please check before visiting.
To find out more, visit www.sheffieldmanorlodge.org
