Sheffield Manor Lodge

Windows in the Turret House

The bus that I took from Sheffield Interchange to Sheffield Manor Lodge wound its way up the escarpment of Parkgate Rock, which rises up from a relatively low lying area where Sheffield castle was once located, and when alighting in the Manor Housing Estate, there was nothing to indicate the presence of an ancient monument here.

A view of the Turret House at Sheffield Manor Lodge

Having had to ask for directions a couple of times, my first glimpse of the Turret House came as a real surprise – seen through the gap between two 1930's council houses – but once orientating myself, I soon found the ruins of the manor house, built by the 4th Earl of Shrewsbury.

A general view of the South Range

The geological map of the area shows that it lies just above the Parkgate Rock, with the Turret House occupying relatively flat ground – comprising shale/siltstone - and the old manor house being set on a slightly higher outcrop of sandstone.

A general view of the old manor house

An old map shows that several quarries once existed in the vicinity and, judging by its name, it would appear that the Manor Quarry – excavated into the Parkgate Rock – was the main source of the stone used to construct its principal buildings.

An old map of Sheffield Manor

I haven't yet seen a natural or quarried exposure of Parkgate Rock but, looking at the remains of this once extensive structure, there is a familiar pattern of roughly coursed blocks of poor quality, fine grained sandstone used for general walling - with massive, coarse grained stone used for quoins and other dressings.

An old fireplace in the South Range

Whilst surveying some of the old villages in Rotherham, and their mediaeval churches, I haven't yet encountered any 16th century stone buildings and I was therefore very interested to see how its austere Tudor windows have weathered, compared to the various elaborate Gothic styles that I had previously seen.

The Turret House