Bishops' House

Bishops’ House is a half-timbered building in Norton Lees, a suburb of Sheffield. It stands at the southern edge of Meersbrook Park, surrounded by green space. Built around 1500, it is one of only three timber-framed houses left in the city. The others are the Old Queen’s Head and Broom Hall. The house is linked to the Blythe family, who gave it its name. Two brothers, John and Geoffrey Blythe, later became bishops, though they never lived here. The first known resident was William Blythe, a farmer and scythe maker, who lived in the house in 1627. Samuel Blyth, the last family member to live there, died in 1753. After that, the house was divided into two homes for a tenant farmer and his labourer. In 1886 the city council took ownership, and staff lived there until 1974. It became a Grade II* listed building and opened as a museum in 1976. Inside, visitors find rooms furnished in Jacobean style to show life in the 16th and 17th centuries. Exhibitions focus on daily life during that period. The Friends of Bishops’ House, a volunteer-run charity, now manages public opening. The building also appears on the cover of a local band’s album.