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 district of the City of Sheffield, England. It was built and is located on the southern tip of Meersbrook Park. It is one of the three surviving timber-framed houses in the city (the others being the Old Queen's Head and Broom Hall). It is known as Bishops' House because it was said to have been built for two brothers, John 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 en ...

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

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