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Were you taught about Mary Queen of Scots being in Sheffield at School

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I went to school in the 50's & 60's in Sheffield and I loved history, but it wasn't until I read Jean Plaidys' book The Captive Queen in my early twenties that I was made aware of her imprisonment in Sheffield Castle!

It seems to me in fact, that my generation at least, were deliberately kept ignorant of the rich history of our immediate surroundings. This is not to say that we didn't get a good grounding in the subject - we did - the kings, queens, wars, battles, dissolution of the monastries, the industrial revolution and of course the mining and steel industries were well drummed home as well as the many tales of Empire, but I personally left school at 15 with no idea of the history of my own city and I just wondered if anyone else felt the same?

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Guess it's a result of being a Wybourner born and bred, but i've always known Mary was imprisoned up here at Manor lodge, and Sheffield castle. Though "imprisoned" is too harsh a word really, she had free run of Sheffield in reality, and was always treated as as a queen in real terms. She could well have taken up the throne if things had worked out different, so you wouldn't want to be in her memories as someone who treated her ill.

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My father loved local history and talked about Mary being imprisoned.

Sheffield, the name comes from, I am led to believe, from SHEAF FIELD.

And LADY'S BRIDGE is the area where the bridge was and where Mary crossed over from the castle.

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I know this is kinda OT, but let's not forget Sheffield has history of settlement going back at least 8500 years before any castle, or historical queen. There's evidence of this stored in the museums vaults, though you're only allowed access to this if you have a degree in archaeology and are attached to some authoritative body such as the uni. It's rarely mentioned. :)

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She lived on Queen Mary Road and did her shopping at the Castle Market.

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It was mentioned in passing, but not as in-depth as I think it ought to have been.

 

MQoS would have had pretty much a full retinue of staff, as befitted an anointed queen. She would have had a large complement of attendants, even though as time passed she had fewer and fewer of her faithful retainers, as the staff were replaced with those faithful to the Protestant court of Elizabeth.

 

She was held in Sheffield and other castles/ homes like Chatsworth, and hardwick hall, which were owned by the talbots, (her gaoler was George Talbot, husband of bess of Hardwick, whose ornate tombs are actually in the cathedral in Sheffield)

 

Being MQoS gaoler practically bankrupted the talbots.

 

It was only when I got older I cottoned on to the links with MQoS, and the Tudor court... and the names of roads in Sheffield, not just Surrey st, norfork st, talbot Shrewsbury, etc, etc, (being the names/titles of the talbots) queen Mary road, paulet Guildford, babington, smeaton, kenninghall, Cary, and so on.

There were two pubs in park/Arbourthorne area named for her:-the Scottish queen, on Park hill, and the captive queen on the Norfolk park, and the legend (whether true or no, is most intriguing!) that Arbourthorne was named for MQoS 'arbour' of 'thorns' attached to the manor, and where she would ride out to hunt.

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I went to school in the 50's & 60's in Sheffield and I loved history, but it wasn't until I read Jean Plaidys' book The Captive Queen in my early twenties that I was made aware of her imprisonment in Sheffield Castle!

It seems to me in fact, that my generation at least, were deliberately kept ignorant of the rich history of our immediate surroundings. This is not to say that we didn't get a good grounding in the subject - we did - the kings, queens, wars, battles, dissolution of the monastries, the industrial revolution and of course the mining and steel industries were well drummed home as well as the many tales of Empire, but I personally left school at 15 with no idea of the history of my own city and I just wondered if anyone else felt the same?

 

What makes you think it was somehow deliberate? Rather than it just being the case that the curriculum didn't include it.

 

---------- Post added 14-07-2014 at 11:13 ----------

 

I know this is kinda OT, but let's not forget Sheffield has history of settlement going back at least 8500 years before any castle, or historical queen. There's evidence of this stored in the museums vaults, though you're only allowed access to this if you have a degree in archaeology and are attached to some authoritative body such as the uni. It's rarely mentioned. :)

 

Presumably the case for much of the UK?

 

The national history museum is running a "million years of history" exhibit at the moment. I've not been in, but I expect it includes some information about early occupation of this island.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creswell_Crags

 

Creswell Crags were apparently occupied up to 43 thousand years ago!

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We learned about it from "Maggie", the lodge was known locally as Maggies Castle,she lived in what we now know as Manor Lodge.

As kids we played in the ruins and occasionally she would set her little black dog on us but we used to knock on her door and ask to look round and if we caught her in a good mood she would take us in and tell us a potted history of the "Castle", it was known also as Manor Castle never lodge.

Sometimes she would let a classroom of kids from our school visit and she took great delight in the fact that we all showed good manners ... we had been warned that we must do beforehand:D.

 

It's wonderful what has been done but I'll always remember it as being our playground and Maggies stories about how we should never go after dark because of the ghosts, her way of not getting bothered by kids of an evening:)

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yes we were taught about mary but not very much, we were old how she was held captive at manor castle then at haddon hall to her final place at fotheringham palace. there was a big difference as to how they were treated in those days they had a free run of the houses, were able to go hunting a pretty easy life even down to having their own servants and chefs x

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there was a big difference as to how they were treated in those days they had a free run of the houses, were able to go hunting a pretty easy life even down to having their own servants and chefs x

 

... and executioner.

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Guess it's a result of being a Wybourner born and bred, but i've always known Mary was imprisoned up here at Manor lodge, and Sheffield castle. Though "imprisoned" is too harsh a word really, she had free run of Sheffield in reality, and was always treated as as a queen in real terms. She could well have taken up the throne if things had worked out different, so you wouldn't want to be in her memories as someone who treated her ill.

 

Good point.

 

The center of power changed so often in those days, you could be a prisoner one day and Queen after the next uprising.

 

The jailers knew they the could be the prisoners next week, so they developed an "understanding" of how they were to treat each other.

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Growing up in Scotland we knew all about Mary She was first imprisoned in Loch Leven castle, Loch Leven was in Kinross where I lived, and we quite often used to visit the castle by rowing boat. We learnt all about her in school.

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