Bishops' House is a

half-timbered house Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

in the

Norton Lees Norton Lees () is a residential suburb in the Graves Park ward of the City of Sheffield, England located to the east of Woodseats. History Notable buildings in Norton Lees include Bishops' House—a half-timbered house that was built c. 1 ...

district of the

City of Sheffield The City of Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Sheffield, the town of Stocksbridge and larger village of Chapeltown and part of the Peak ...

, England. It was built and is located on the southern tip of

Meersbrook Park Meersbrook Park is set on a steep hillside in Meersbrook, Sheffield, England, offering panoramic views over central Sheffield to the north. Within the park are two historic buildings: Bishops' House and Meersbrook Hall. The Bishops' House On ...

. It is one of the three surviving timber-framed houses in the city (the others being the

Old Queen's Head The Old Queen's Head is a pub at 14 Pond Hill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is a 15th-century Timber framing, timber framed building and the oldest surviving domestic building in Sheffield. It is now Listed building#Categories of lis ...

and

Broom Hall Broom Hall is a historic house in the City of Sheffield, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the C ...

). It is known as Bishops' House because it was said to have been built for two brothers,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and

Geoffrey Blythe Geoffrey Blythe (died c. 1530) was the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. Blythe was born at Norton in Derbyshire (now part of Sheffield) to William Blythe and a sister of Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York. He was schooled at Eton and then ...

, both of whom became Bishops. There is, however, no evidence that they ever lived in this house—the first known resident is William Blythe, a farmer and

scythe A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor m ...

manufacturer, who was living here in 1627. Samuel Blyth was the last of the family to live in the house, dying in 1753, after which his sons sold the house to a William Shore. The Blyth family subsequently moved to Birmingham.Blyth, E.L.I. 1893, The family of Blythe or Blyth of Norton and Birchet Notable descendants were

Benjamin Blyth Benjamin Hall Blyth (14 July 1819 – 21 August 1866) was a Scottish civil engineer. Life Blyth was born at 26 Minto St in Newington, Edinburgh, the son of Robert Brittain Blyth, an iron merchant, and his wife, Barbara Cooper. He was their th ...

, Sir

Arthur Blyth Sir Arthur Blyth (19 March 1823 – 7 December 1891) was Premier of South Australia three times; 1864–65, 1871–72 and 1873–75. Early life The son of William Blyth and his wife, Sarah Wilkins, he was born at Birmingham, England on 21 ...

and

Benjamin Blyth II Benjamin Hall Blyth FRSE (25 May 1849 – 13 May 1917), often called Benjamin Blyth II, was a Scottish civil engineer. Family Blyth, who was born at 36 Minto Street, Edinburgh, was the eldest of the nine children of Mary Dudgeon Wright and ...

. The house was subsequently let to a tenant farmer and his labourer, at which point the house was sub-divided into two dwellings. In 1886 ownership passed to the Corporation (

Sheffield City Council Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Contr ...

) and various recreation department employees lived in the house until 1974. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and has been open as a museum since 1976, following a renovation funded by English Heritage and Sheffield City Council. The

Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust, known as Museums Sheffield is a charity created in 1998 to run Sheffield City Council’s non-industrial museums and galleries. Museums Sheffield currently manages three sites in the city: Graves Art Galle ...

managed the building for some years until April 2011, when management of public opening, on behalf of the building's owner Sheffield City Council, was conferred to the Friends of Bishops' House. The building is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays between 10am and 4pm. In April 2012 Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust stopped providing educational visits and the Friends of Bishops' House began opening the house to schools also. The displays in the house have had some recent small changes but are still curated by Museums Sheffield. The Friends of Bishops' House is a registered charity and limited company, run entirely by volunteers. The house contains exhibitions on life in the 16th and 17th centuries with two rooms decorated in Jacobean style. The building is featured on the cover of local band

Monkey Swallows the Universe Monkey Swallows the Universe (MSTU) were an acoustic/indie band from Sheffield, England. Their sound has been described as " folk tinged" and "twee." MSTU were active from 2004 to 2008. They took their name from an episode of the Japanese TV ...

's second album ''The Casket Letters''.

References

External links

Friends of Bishops' House
{{Listed buildings in Sheffield Houses completed in 1500 Museums established in 1976 Grade II* listed buildings in Sheffield Country houses in South Yorkshire Museums in Sheffield Historic house museums in South Yorkshire Timber framed buildings in Yorkshire

See also

References

External links