*** Note: this page was part of the AQA Historic Environment topic for 2023. See Drake and the Circumnavigation for 2024. ***

Reason 1. To make it fit for a queen

What evidence do we have?

•Mary had her own court of 50 courtiers.
•She sat under a cloth of state [grand wall hanging] & took her meals in the formal royal manner (16 dishes!)
•She ate from silver plates & slept on fine linen sheets.
•Turkish carpets covered the floors of her two rooms, gold-leafed chandeliers lit them, and her chairs were upholstered in crimson and cloth of gold.
•The Earl may have sought her advice on her royal emblems in the ceiling of the Turret House.

Reason 2. To make it a secure place to keep Mary captive

What evidence do we have?

•The Turret House was completed in 1574 and its main purpose was to guard the gate and provide lodgings for the sentries. Walls adjoining the Turret House surrounded the entire lodge.
•There was also a second gatehouse at the entrance to the main lodge with two red brick octagonal towers either side.
•The Earl increased the size of his household to over a 1000, which included up to 70 guards to keep Mary secure.

Reason 3. For the Earl of Shrewsbury to prove his loyalty to Elizabeth I

What evidence do we have?

•Although he requested more money from the Queen, in the end, he paid for the improvements and most of the costs of keeping Mary captive himself.
•He followed the instructions he was given by William Cecil on behalf of the Queen to strike the right balance between keeping her secure and away from plotters, but also ensuring she was treated like royalty.
•He took on the role, even though he didn’t want to, out of loyalty to his Queen.

Reason 4. To show off wealth and status

What evidence do we have?

•Use of expensive glass, including stained glass emblems from his coat of arms.
•Including fashionable influences from the Italian Renaissance, such as decorated ceiling plaster and the use of symmetry e.g. two octagonal towers either side of the gatehouse & a formal garden with fountains.
•Large sculpture of his coat of arms above the fire place in the Turret House & his suits of armour in the Long Gallery.

Reason 5. For comfort and pleasure

What evidence do we have?

It was originally built as a Medieval hunting lodge in a large deer park and in Elizabethan times Mary Q of Scots was able to go riding most days in the deer park.

She was able to hold banquets for guests in the Great Hall and the Long Gallery had fine furnishings, tapestries and paintings.

She spent time creating over 100 panels of embroidery with the Countess of Shrewsbury, as well as reading, studying religious texts and being entertained by pet birds in cages and her lap dogs.

There were gardens & fountains, inspired by the Italian Renaissance e.g. symmetrical in design

The lodge would have been much more comfortable than the nearby large and draughty Sheffield Castle, where she was also kept captive.

Extra accommodation was built by the Earl to house Mary’s large retinue of servants, to meet her every need.

Often, she was moved between the two properties so one could be ‘sweetened’ [latrines cleaned].

GCSE Elizabethan England 1568-1603 AQA

Why were changes made to Sheffield Manor Lodge in the Elizabethan period?