Mylnhurst is a small

English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

on Button Hill in the

Ecclesall Ecclesall Ward—which includes the neighbourhoods of Banner Cross, Bents Green, Carterknowle, Ecclesall, Greystones, Millhouses, and Ringinglow—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the southwester ...

area of

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. The house was previously a private residence, it now serves as a

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

. The house along with the attached stables and lodge are Grade II listed buildings.

History

Private house

Mylnhurst was built in 1883 for Major William Greaves Blake. Blake had served in the

6th Dragoon Guards The Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1685 as the Lord Lumley's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as His Majesty's 1st Regiment of Carabiniers in 1740, the 3rd Regiment of Horse (Carabi ...

and as a lieutenant had been awarded the

Indian Mutiny Medal __NOTOC__ The Indian Mutiny Medal was a campaign medal approved in August 1858, for officers and men of British and Indian units who served in operations in suppression of the Indian Mutiny. The medal was initially sanctioned for award to troops ...

for his part in suppressing that uprising in 1857. British Medals
Gives details of Indian Mutiny medal. When Mylnhurst was constructed it stood in an isolated rural situation consisting of open farmland interspersed with pockets of woodland. The Greaves Blake's nearest neighbour was Henry Vickers, the Lord Mayor of Sheffield in 1860, who lived at Holmwood 500 metres to the SW overlooking

Ecclesall Woods Ecclesall Woods is an area of woodland in south-west Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, between Abbeydale Road South and Ecclesall. It covers approximately of mature semi-natural deciduous woodland which was previously used for timber and cha ...

. After the death of his first wife, William Greaves Blake married Rebecca Jessop in 1869, the daughter of

Thomas Jessop Thomas Jessop (31 January 1804, in Sheffield – 30 November 1887) was a steelmaker who became Mayor of Sheffield (1863-1864) and Master Cutler (1863). As Mayor, he had to deal with the Great Sheffield Flood of 1864. Family Thomas Jessop was ...

steel maker and founder of

Jessop Hospital __NOTOC__ The Jessop Hospital for Women was a hospital in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. At the time of its closure in 2001, it was managed by the Central Sheffield University Hospitals NHS Trust. History Early history Following a large ...

and they moved into Mylnhurst in 1883. Jane's Genealogy Pages
Gives details of Jessop family. Mylnhurst was constructed in the neo gothic style, it cost £14,000, a considerable amount at the time, the house was large for a family home, but the Greaves Blakes needed the space as they had twelve children. Mylnhurst was renowned for its large beautiful gardens, with lake,

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

s and vinery. The early part of the 1900s saw a considerable parcel of land sold off to create the housing on Button Hill and Millhouses Lane, the lake was filled in at this time. In 1908 Major Greaves Blake's son Philip married Dorothy Barbour and they were given a piece of Mylnhurst land to construct their own home, known as Button Hill House at 1 Woodholm Road.''"Ecclesall – Pocket Images"'', Ecclesall Local History Society, Nonsuch Publishing Ltd, , Page 56 Gives history of Mylnhurst, Button Hill House and school. Major Greaves Blake died in 1904 but his widow Rebecca continued living at Mylnhurst until her death in 1920 when the house was sold to W.J. Walsh owner of the John Walsh

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

on High Street in central Sheffield. Mylnhurst Lodge

Catholic school

When the Walsh family moved to a house at Ranmoor in 1933 Mylnhurst was sold to the Sisters of Mercy for use as a school to cater for the Catholic community of Ecclesall. The adjacent Button Hill House was sold to the Sisters in 1936 and was used as a boarding house for Mylnhurst pupils, it later became known as St Gerards and housed

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

s, afterwards it was used as university lodgings before being demolished to make way for bungalows on Woodholm Road. The school began with seven pupils when it first opened and was known as Mylnhurst High School, changing later to Mylnhurst Convent School. By 1935 there were 96 pupils including 10 boarders and the old billiards room had been converted into a dining room.''"Sheffield's Remarkable Houses"'', Roger Redfern, The Cottage Press, , Page 41 Gives general history of house.

New chapel added

In June 1962 a chapel was added to the building, designed by local architect John Rochford and opened by Bishop

George Dwyer George Patrick Dwyer (25 September 1908 – 17 September 1987) was an English prelate and the Archbishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, England. Dwyer served as the sixth Archbishop of Birmingham from 1965 to 1981, su ...

Architecture

Mylnhurst is constructed from course squared stone with a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof which has multiple ridge stacks upon it, however the very tall chimney stacks were removed after being damaged in a gale in 1962. The house has much ornate stonework including elaborately carved pillars which support an

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window is most commonly found pro ...

on the south front of the house. There is a castellated tower integrated into the building on the north side. The two storey stable block on the north side has an archway and oriel window. The highlight of the interior is the ground floor front room which has a cross beam ceiling, moulded cornice, wooden fireplace and

overdoor An "overdoor" (or "Supraporte" as in German, or "sopraporte" as in Italian) is a painting, bas-relief or decorative panel, generally in a horizontal format, that is set, typically within ornamental mouldings, over a door, or was originally intend ...

dating from around 1900. Images Of England
Gives details of architecture.

Present day

Today the building houses the Mylnhurst Preparatory School and Nursery, although it is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Foundation it welcomes all faiths. The grounds have been utilised for school use and include facilities such as an indoor sports hall, dance studio, 25 metre swimming pool, outdoor sports fields and play areas. Mylnhurst School website
Gives details of present day.

References

{{SheffieldStructures Houses in Sheffield History of Sheffield Buildings and structures completed in 1883 Grade II listed buildings in Sheffield Sisters of Mercy schools