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The vision
for the site is to bring about the transformation of Sheffield Manor
Lodge and its adjacent historical land and buildings.
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Clare,
in front of a Manor Lodge fireplace |
We want
to create a new park, an eight-century story of Sheffield, engaging
new audiences in their heritage and substantially contributing to
the regeneration of the Manor and Castle estates.
The
scheduled ancient monument would be conserved and interpretation
would be developed to bring the history of the site to life.
Currently the Turret House (known as the Lodge or Manor 'Castle')
is fairly bare and there is no interpretation within the ruins.
The project also aims to carry out the necessary repairs on the
Turret House and ruins.
We want to decorate and furnish the Turret House as it would have
been when it was originally constructed in 1574, to use a variety
of interpretation techniques within the ruins to enable visitors
to interpret their significance.
For example, a high level walkway would be built behind the long
gallery to facilitate greater views across the site and across the
city of Sheffield.
Manor
Oaks Farm
Restored farm buildings will be used to house an education centre
and a heritage skills training centre. There is a national shortage
of crafts people with the heritage skills needed to conserve historic
buildings such as Sheffield Manor Lodge.
A centre of regional excellence will be established at Manor Oaks
Farm to provide training to address this skills gap. Accredited
training courses will be provided for craftspeople, apprentices
and the general public.
Farmlands
Part of the surrounding farmlands will be landscaped to create an
attractive and interesting district park for recreational use. The
rest of the farmlands will be brought back in to agricultural usage
through traditional practices and machinery.
Sustainability
Income to maintain the restored Sheffield Manor Lodge site will
be generated by the heritage skills training centre and through
a range of small, local enterprises that will be established within
the Manor Oaks Farm complex. Access to most if not all of the site
will be free and therefore the site will not be relying on visitor
numbers to achieve its income.
If
Sheffield Manor Lodge Won 'Restoration' The
prize money would be used to carry out urgent repairs on the Turret
House and the ruins. Whilst the Turret House is currently in fairly
good condition it is starting to decline and is currently on English
Heritage's buildings at risk register.
The prize money would allow the Lodge to be conserved. It would
help our work to bring the history of the site to life.
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