Meersbrook Park is set on a steep hillside in

Meersbrook Meersbrook () is a suburban district in the south-west of Sheffield, England bordered by Nether Edge to the west, Norton Lees to the south, Heeley to the north and the Meersbrook allotment site (the largest allotment site in Europe) to the ea ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, 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

One of the oldest buildings in Sheffield, is a timber-framed building built around 1580. Originally owned by the Blythe family, it passed out of Blythe ownership in the 18th century, probably into the hands of

Benjamin Roebuck Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...

, and the house and fields were let out to tenant farmers. The house was included in the sale of the Meersbrook estate to Sheffield Corporation in 1885. The Parks Authority continued to use Bishops House as a dwelling house following the purchase, housing 2 separate families of park employees until the 1970s. It is a Grade II* listed building and has been open as a museum since 1976. In April 2011 a voluntary organisation
Friends of Bishops' House
took over management of public opening of the house on behalf of Sheffield City Council who have continued to maintain the building. It now hosts community events and is a licensed wedding venue.

Meersbrook Hall

Was built in 1780 by

. The property included a walled kitchen garden and house's estate extended to

Meers Brook The Meers Brook is a stream in Sheffield, England and one of the main tributaries of the River Sheaf. The Meers Brook originates in Gleadless and flows downhill through Gleadless Valley and Meersbrook then, culverted, continues underneath Heel ...

. The house was the home of the Ruskin Museum until 1950.

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...

originally set up his museum as the ''Museum of St George'' in 1871 at a small cottage in

Walkley Walkley is a suburb of Sheffield, England, west of Burngreave, south of Hillsborough and north-east of Crookes. The area consists mainly of Victorian stone-fronted terraced housing and has a relatively high student population. It also has a ...

, but it was renamed and moved to Meersbrook House in 1890. The Ruskin collection can now be seen in Sheffield's

Millennium Galleries The Millennium Gallery is an art gallery and museum in the centre of Sheffield, England. Opened in April 2001 as part of Sheffield's Heart of the City project, it is located in the city centre close to the mainline station, the Central Library ...

. Although the area was still in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, the councillors in Sheffield were already looking over the border for amenity facilities for their citizens. In January 1885,

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 ...

bought both the house and the land as a public park or

pleasure ground In English gardening history, the pleasure ground or pleasure garden was the parts of a large garden designed for the use of the owners, as opposed to the kitchen garden and the wider park. It normally included flower gardens, typically direct ...

. The house is now 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 ...

. Meersbrook Hall was used as council offices for several years until 2016, when it was taken over b
the Heeley Trust
in partnership wit
Friends of Meersbrook Hall
It now host
Sheffield Online
and various community projects and events including Adult Learning and Wellbeing Classes.

References

Parks in Sheffield {{SouthYorkshire-geo-stub