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Built
in the 16th century, the Lodge is a scheduled ancient monument and
boasts three listed buildings, but, despite this, is little known
by the majority of Sheffield's population.
Mary Queen of Scots to the Industrial Revolution
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| Detail
from the Lodge's ceiling |
Manor
Lodge and the characters associated with it have played leading roles
not only in Sheffield life, but also on the national stage.
Fourteen of the years Mary Queen of Scots spent in captivity plotting
to take her cousin Queen Elizabeth's place were spent in Sheffield,
and a good deal of that time at the Lodge.
That same period of Sheffield Park's history saw the beginnings of
industrialisation under the hand of Mary's jailor, the Earl of Shrewsbury.
Two centuries later, the Shrewsbury family successors, the Norfolks,
were employing one of the country's leading mining engineers, John
Curr, to spearhead another step change in mining development and this
was to lead to the invention of the railway track.
Manor
Lodge was key to Sheffield's development in many ways, linked with
the industrialisation of the cutlery industry through the manorial
lords, the exploitation of the open countryside for its raw materials
and the mechanisation of the mining industry which was to revolutionise
the means of production and put Sheffield in front of its rivals
for most of the 19th century.
Decline
of the Lodge
However, after the estate passed to the Duke of Norfolk in the early
17th century Manor Lodge itself began a steady decline. Much of
the lodge building was dismantled in the early 18th century as parkland
was discarded in favour of the Norfolk's farming and mining interests.
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| Ruins
on the site of Sheffield Manor Lodge |
Manor
Oaks and Manor Cottage Farms were constructed adjacent to the Lodge
- perhaps constructed from reclaimed stone from the lodge. A mine
was sunk immediately behind the Lodge and a mining and farming community
sprang up inside and adjacent to the ruins. The Turret House (otherwise
known as Manor Lodge) became an elegant farmhouse.
Handed
to the City
In 1953 The Norfolk estate granted a 999 year lease of the site
to the City of Sheffield.
Archaeological digs were carried out by the City Museum over the
60s and 70s to uncover more of the sites history.
However, a lack of funding eventually meant that it was no longer
possible to open the Turret House as a museum and the site remained
closed to the general public for a number of years.
Where we are now
In 1995 the Friends of Manor 'Castle' group was formed. (Manor Lodge
is known affectionately as the 'castle' to residents on the Manor.)
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| View
from the roof of Sheffield Manor Lodge |
The
group aimed to generate support for restoration work, to develop
visitor facilities and manage activities on the site. In 2001 Sheffield
Wildlife Trust and Manor and Castle Development Trust (MCDT) joined
forces with the Friends of Manor 'Castle' to promote a whole site
project incorporating Manor Lodge and the two adjacent farms, Manor
Oaks and Manor Cottages, creating a total area of 14 hectares.
In
2003 the Manor Lodge Project Manager was employed to take forward
this project and the two farms adjoining the Lodge were purchased
by MCDT.
Now energies are focussed on obtaining funding from a range of sources
to restore and regenerate the site.
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