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The Duke of Norfolk and Mary in a 1967 ´óÏó´«Ã½ drama

In the 1500s, Sheffield Castle and Manor Lodge were the two grandest buildings in Sheffield. Both were owned by the successive Earls of Shrewsbury. The stone-built castle was a large defensive structure that dominated the town and the Manor Lodge was built in 1510 originally as a hunting lodge in the Earl's deer park, but by the 1570s it had been rebuilt into a large and impressive manor house.

Sheffield Manor Lodge, © Mike Williams

Little is known about the Manor by most people in Sheffield but in fact Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned there in the 1500s. You can read more about the archaeological dig at the Manor by clicking on the link below.

Mary abdicated the Scottish throne and fled to England in 1568, but she was considered a threat to Queen Elizabeth I of England, and locked up for 19 years until her execution in 1587.

The Scottish Queen wasn't thrown into a gloomy cell though – she resided in Sheffield for much of her imprisonment under the care of George Talbot, sixth Earl of Shrewsbury.

You may recognise some of the names in this historical story - Talbot (Street), Norfolk (Park), Shrewsbury (Road) –yes, they come from the names of the royalty and nobility in the history of Mary & co.

The Scottish Queen pub, Park Hill c.2007

It's also probably why there used to be a pub on the Park Hill estate called the Scottish Queen. Its location was between where Sheffield Castle would have been (now Castle Market) and where the remains of Sheffield Manor Lodge now stand, just off City Road.

Why was Mary imprisoned?

Queen Elizabeth I of England had changed England from being a Catholic country, back to being Protestant again - and as a result she had many enemies.

Mary, Queen of Scots was born a Catholic in Scotland in 1542. Her father was James VÌý of Scotland, who died six days after Mary was born.

Queen Elizabeth I, National Portrait Gallery

England remained a Protestant country but Mary had a strong claim to the English throne and therefore posed a threat to Queen Elizabeth I because of the marriage Elizabeth's father Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn - which was viewed by Catholics as illegal).

Scotland was a different story, though. While Mary had been spending her young life in France, Scotland had become a Protestant country again.

Mary, Queen of Scots c 1558 (age 16)

So being Catholic, Mary wasn't popular with the Scots. They especially turned against her when she married Lord Bothwell who had been the chief suspect in the murder of her previous (second) husband Lord Darnley.

Read more about Mary's life and marriages by clicking on the link below.

It was at this point - in around 1569 - that Mary fled Scotland for England, hoping to get help and support from her cousin Queen Elizabeth I.

But Elizabeth was worried that Mary would raise Catholic support and take the throne, so she put Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots under lock and key for the next 19 years. She was placed under the care of George Talbot, the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury.

Sheffield Manor Lodge, on Sheffield's Manor estate

Sheffield Castle and Manor

This is where Sheffield comes in. Much of Mary's imprisonment was spent at Sheffield Castle and Manor Lodge under the care of the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife Bess of Hardwick (aka Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury).

Castle Market, Sheffield, 2008

Sheffield Castle no longer exists (Castle Market stands on its remains) but Manor Lodge turret house and other ruins still stand just off City Road in Sheffield, in the middle of the Manor estate. You can go and see it any time you like.

Treasures from the V&A

When the Treasures of the V&A exhibition came to Sheffield's Millennium Gallery in 2009, some important pieces of Sheffield's history were put on show.

They included embroideries by Mary and Bess Hardwick, and several letters from Mary.

One of the letters was loaned to the Millennium Gallery from a private collection; two from Sheffield Archives and one from the Lambeth Palace Archives.

The embroideries by Mary, her servants and Bess of Hardwick were on loan from the V&A in London. Take a closer look at them by clicking on the link below.

Letter from Mary, Queen of Scots, 1571

Letters

Mary was determined to be freed from her captivity in Sheffield on the grounds that as a Queen she was wrongfully imprisoned and no threat to the rule of Queen Elizabeth in England so she wrote to friends, supporters, nobility, kings and queens during her 19 years captivity to try and gain support for her release.

Two of the letters which went on show at Treasures from the V&A, usually held by Sheffield Archives, were written to the Laird of Barnbarroch in April and May 1571. The third letter to Lord Burghley, dated 1572, was on loan from a private collection.

In a separate letter from the Earl of Shrewsbury to William Cecil (Baron Burghley) dated September 24th 1572, the Earl writes:

"These are to advertise you that this Queen remains still within the four walls in sure keeping, and these persons continue very quiet, thanks be to God. She is much offended at my restraint from her walking without this castle, but for all her anger, I will not suffer her to pass out of these gates."

Lord Burghley was responsible for Mary's execution

:: Baron Burghley Letter

Baron William Cecil Burghley organized a spy system in 1570 and in fact it was he who eventually took responsibility for Mary's execution in 1587. Burghley was Queen Elizabeth's secretary and the Treasurer of England.

Mary wrote the letter to Burghley while imprisoned in Sheffield. In it she thanks him for allowing her to receive a gift from her grandmother, Duchess Antoinette of Guise. Mary's grandmother had played an important part in her young life in the French Court.

It reads:

Mary, Queen of Scots c 1558, age 13-14

To My Lord of Bourghly great Tresurare [Treasurer] of England My Lord. We have receaved a box with some tokens, sent from My Lady oure Grandmother by the earle of Shrewisbery, which he said come throu your meanse. Wherof we give you hartey thankes. And we have delyvered agane one other herewith, containing a token of our work to oure said Grandmother which we praye you to cause delyvere furely in Monsr. de la Mothe, the king oure good brother's ambassadoures hands, with oure lettre to accompany the same. And if you suspect any other thing you may oppen them. We have writen a lettre, to the quene, oure good sister, whereunto we praye you also to J oyne youre favorable suite in oure behalf, con forme to that, which we have written more amply to the said Ambassador, whereof we are sure you wilbe made participant. God almightie preserve you. From Shefelde castell the 17th daye of Januarie 1572 Your veri good frind Marie R.

The 'token of our work to our said grandmother' referred to in the letter was presumably a small embroidery made by Mary.

'Eape' by Mary, Queen of Scots

She passed a lot of time during her imprisonment embroidering with her host Bess of Hardwick, who was an accomplished needlewoman. Many of Bess's embroideries are still on show at Hardwick House in Derbyshire.

In another letter from Queen Elizabeth to the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury, dated, Queen Elizabeth informs the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Countess how grateful she is to them for guarding Mary.

She says that the debt she owes them is "as great as a sovereign can owe to a subject", and that the peace of the realm is maintained by keeping Mary in prison.

'Jupiter' embroidery by Mary, Queen of Scots

:: Embroideries

One of the pieces which was on show at Sheffield Millennium Gallery (on loan from the V&A, London) was of a monkey, or 'an eape.' Mary and Bess often used pictures from books as inspiration for their needlework.

The monkey is embroidered in linen, silk and gold tissue on velvet, and it was based on a woodcut from Historiae Animalium (1560) by Conrad Gesner. Mary's initials, MR, are embroidered under the monkey's table.

Another of the pieces shows Mary's pet dog Jupiter. Others include symbolic messages that reflected how she felt about her captivity in Sheffield.

:: Miniature portrait by Hilliard

Nicholas Hilliard painted this miniature portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots which was put on show at the Treasures from the V&A exhibition at the Millennium Galleries - on loan from the V&A.

Hilliard was a well-known goldsmith and miniaturist and the portrait was paintedÌýduring Mary's imprisonment at Sheffield Castle. It's not known however whether he visited Mary in captivity.

The end for Mary

The Duke of Norfolk (hence Norfolk Park in Sheffield) was an admirer of Mary, Queen of Scots and planned to marry her, but Queen Elizabeth I of England would have had to approve, and she didn’t.

The Duke of Norfolk and Mary in a 1967 ´óÏó´«Ã½ drama

The Duke of Norfolk still kept up his contact with Mary though. It was with his help, and others of the Catholic nobility, that Mary was able to plot against Elizabeth while she was not being too closely guarded in Sheffield.

Eventually a letter from Mary to Thomas Babington was intercepted. It implicated her in a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Some say that Mary was set up, others think she was at the heart of the plot to take the English throne from Elizabeth.

Whatever the true version of events, Mary was beheaded for treason and it was Lord Burghley (see the letter above) who was responsible for her execution.

Antony Babington and accomplices

What happened to the Manor next?

In the years after Mary had left Sheffield Manor, the Earl of Shrewsbury passed it into the hands of the Duke of Norfolk, and in the early 17th century the building began to fall into disrepair.

Click on the link below to find out more about Sheffield Manor Lodge and the archaeological excavations which took place there from June 2009.

What do you think of the Manor Lodge off City Road in Sheffield? Have your say at the bottom of the page.

Clemence Poesy as Mary in a ´óÏó´«Ã½ drama, 2004

Dramatising the story

The royal story of Mary has always been one cloaked in mystery, scandal, intrigue and drama. Understnadably, it's been dramatised and adapted many times over for TV, film and radio.

The Queen's Traitor (pictured above) was a 1967 ´óÏó´«Ã½ drama starring Stephanie Beacham as Mary and Conrad Phillips as the Duke of Norfolk.

In 2004 Jimmy McGovern produced Gunpowder, Treason and Plot, another ´óÏó´«Ã½ drama inspired by the turbulent and bloody reigns of Mary and her son James VI of Scotland/I of England.ÌýMary was played by Clemence Posey.

The Queen's Traitor, ´óÏó´«Ã½, 1967

:: Thanks to Sheffield Museums, Sheffield Archives, the V&A in London, private owner of the letters and the Lambeth Palace Archives for much of the information in this article.