Room in Sheffield Manor, Said to Have Been the Prison of Mary Queen of Scots. Source: The Graphic 10 (28 November 1874): 521. Initials “HWB” in lower left corner. Click on image to enlarge it.
“Perhaps the most interesting event in the history of Sheffield is the imprisonment of Mary, Queen of Scots, in its Castle for a period of twelve years, during which time George, the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury, was Her Majesty's custodian. The beautiful but unfortunate Queen made a will, dated August, 1577, during a short stay at the Manor, whither she had been removed while the Castle was being cleansed. On September 3, 1584, the unhappy Mary left Sheffield, and three years later her chequered career was terminated by the executioner's axe at Fotheringay. During the civil wars the estates, through the extinction of the male branch of the Shrewsbury family, became by marriage the property of the House of Howard, in whose possession they remain. The Duke of Norfolk, the present owner, is Premier Earl of Great Britain. Sheffield and Rotherham were sacked by the Royalist Earl of Newcastle in 1643; the following year the Castle was attacked by the Parliamentarians, under Major-General Crawford. After a stubborn resistance the garrison, commanded by Major Beau mont, surrendered, and were allowed to march out with all the honours of war. The fortress was destroyed in 1648, and not even a ruin now remains.
“The Manor, a room in which is shown in our sketch, was built in the reign of Henry VIII. It was dismantled in 1706. Only one of the outer walls of what must have been a very handsome mansion is now to be seen, with the stone framework of two fine old windows and a handsome chimney” (522).
Related Material on Pre-Victorian Buildings in or around Sheffield
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Bibliography
“Buildings and Industries of Sheffield.” The Graphic 10 (28 November 1874): 520-22. Hathi Trust online version of a copy in the New York Public Library. Web. 2 July 2021
Last modified 2 July 2021