Duff's Castle (Castle At Pitsmoor ) Tower Hill /pitsmoor Road .1940's/1950's.

[castle boy]

Duff's Castle ( Castle at Pitsmoor ) Tower Hill / Pitsmoor Road .1940's / 1950's .

Now that neddy has established for me Duff's Castle / Tower Hill I can now

explain my connection . During the late 1940's/ 1950 's as a small boy I played

around my birthplace 4 court 1 house and a few yards away Duff's Castle /Tower Hill and around the complex . Local people knew the Duff's house as Duff's Castle .

I was friendly with the Duff's and had been to their house a few times .Mrs Duff had

shown me around the house .She showed me a bedroom , it was facing away from

Pitsmoor Road , this bedroom was very unusual as it was halfway underground.

About halfway up the wall was a very small window - - - the size would be

15 inches long × 10 inches depth , and lengthways in the centre was a steel bar

running the length of the window .This window was at ground level and quite

unusual for a bedroom , as you looked out there was a grassed area at head height.I haven't seen anything like it since .

At the opposite side of the house there was a room facing Pitsmoor Road ,

Mrs Duff said to me quite clearly " behind this wall you can hear soldiers marching" . When she opened the door a large opening appeared , a tunnel .

She said this tunnel goes down under Pitsmoor Road down to Lady 's Bridge and

then tunnels up to Manor Castle .

.

[Waterside Echo]

Is this it? W/E. [Courtesy Keith Farnsworth.

Duff's Castle ( Castle at Pitsmoor ) Tower Hill / Pitsmoor Road .1940's / 1950's .
Now that neddy has established for me Duff's Castle / Tower Hill I can now
explain my connection . During the late 1940's/ 1950 's as a small boy I played
around my birthplace 4 court 1 house and a few yards away Duff's Castle /Tower Hill and around the complex . Local people knew the Duff's house as Duff's Castle .
I was friendly with the Duff's and had been to their house a few times .Mrs Duff had
shown me around the house .She showed me a bedroom , it was facing away from
Pitsmoor Road , this bedroom was very unusual as it was halfway underground.
About halfway up the wall was a very small window - - - the size would be
15 inches long × 10 inches depth , and lengthways in the centre was a steel bar
running the length of the window .This window was at ground level and quite
unusual for a bedroom , as you looked out there was a grassed area at head height.I haven't seen anything like it since .
At the opposite side of the house there was a room facing Pitsmoor Road ,
Mrs Duff said to me quite clearly " behind this wall you can hear soldiers marching" . When she opened the door a large opening appeared , a tunnel .
She said this tunnel goes down under Pitsmoor Road down to Lady 's Bridge and
then tunnels up to Manor Castle .

.

[castle boy]

The photograph posted by Waterside Echo is not Duff's Castle .

This appears to be a photograph of Tower House .

Tower House is to the rear of Duff's Castle .

[Waterside Echo]

The photograph posted by Waterside Echo is not Duff's Castle .

This appears to be a photograph of Tower House .

Tower House is to the rear of Duff's Castle .

I will just have to keep trying. W/E.

[Guest Coldstreamer]

I was born in 1947 and brought up on Rock Street. If you went up Fox Hill (off Rock Street} you came to where Fox Street and Gray Street met. and there on a grassy hill was a tower and very old stone house(s). I went to Pye Bank Infant School with a lad who lived in that house, but I don't recall him having the name Duff - could be my memory. He showed me what appeared to be a door that had been wallpapered over and told me it led to a tunnel to Manor Castle. Have I got the same building in mind?

[castle boy]

neddy , could you please do a little more research for me .

When was Tower House demolished exactly ?

Also when were the houses you researched for me demolished

ie 1-----10 Tower Hill

118 Pye bank

120 --122 Pye bank

1h court 4

160 Pye bank

114---116 Pye bank

I do know Tower House and Tower Hill complex were

demolished separately and would like to know the years .

[Waterside Echo]

Was it anywhere near this? From "The Star" year unknown. W/E.

The photograph posted by Waterside Echo is not Duff's Castle .
This appears to be a photograph of Tower House .
Tower House is to the rear of Duff's Castle .

[castle boy]

W/E the old school hall /Burngreave Congregational Church was roughly about 250 yards

uphill from Tower Hill .

Appreciate your input W / E . Be lovely if you came up with some Tower Hill photos .

Keep searching .

[castle boy]

Hiya Coldstreamer an interesting post you made about the house the lad you went to school with

lived in .The lad would have been absolutely correct in that a door had been wallpapered over and

that it led to a tunnel to Manor Castle .

That all confirms everything I have posted in these forums . About the building , well we differ .

You appear to be thinking it was Tower House , it wasn't .

If you go to the topic Tower House there is an 1890 plan (houses shaded pale pink ) ,

In the centre taking an aerial view there is a building (house ) looking like a castle .

Well that is the house you went into and saw what you described .

I know because I have been in the house ( Castle ) a number of times , and it is the exact house

we both went into and described everything .

I was born in 1938 at 4 court 1 house Tower Hill/Pitsmoor Road just a few yards

from the house I've just described Duff's Castle .

[castle boy]

My mum had four sisters when living on Pitsmoor Rd and all went to Pye Bank school .One of my

aunties said during their schooldays they would sometimes talk about Mary Queen of Scots

and the tunnel and Manor Castle .

Some locals in the 1940's have spoken about Duff's Castle having been built on the

Pitsmoor Castle site , but for many years I have researched about it , but haven't found anything

at all to substantiate it . Would be nice if someone could connect them .

On one of my previous posts I mentioned Mrs Duff telling me

" behind this wall you can hear soldiers marching " , then she opened the door to reveal

a large tunnel .Well, the soldiers marching were actually echoes from people walking

just above where the tunnel became adjacent to Pitsmoor Rd .The echoes came back

to the room at Duff's Castle .

[duckweed]

While I don't doubt there was a tunnel of some sort I doubt that it would be built in Tudor times. It makes no strategic sense to make a tunnel that Mary's supporters could use to storm Manor Lodge without being seen. More likely to have some industrial history to it. The whole area is one of quarrying and mining. There is a rich coal seam in the area and I believe there was mining there in 1890?

[duckweed]

If you look up the older maps you can see the quarries all around as well as mentions of the mine shafts in the area.

[castle boy]

Welcome duckweed to the topic Duff's Castle .There was a tunnel at Duff's Castle I can assure you

having witnessed it with my very own eyes on a few occasions .

I feel extremely grateful also to Coldstreamer who also witnessed and confirmed the tunnel .

About a tunnel that Mary's supporters could have used to storm Manor Lodge without being seen

could have been the very reason for a tunnel to have finished anywhere around Manor Lodge grounds ,

thus giving a surprise attack for her supporters .

Pitsmoor boy posted nine years ago on one of these forums saying he was told there were tunnels running from Pye Bank to Sheffield Castle or Manor Castle . When i was a child i became fully aware by my grandma about the origins of Pitsmoor , its quarrying and mining and mine shafts ,

thus getting its name .

You know the tunnel in Duff's Castle I wondered with the house being partly built underground

if you duckweed could give me your explanation why the tunnel should come right into the house .

I'd be very Interested .

In my opinion it would have nothing to do with mining ( not in someones dwelling ) .

The house must have been built with the tunnel for some specific importance , as traditional

housing is built at ground level .

I welcome your input duckweed very much and look forward to your expert opinion

because I've lived all my life connected with Duff's Castle and the tunnel , having been

born only a few yards away in the Tower Hill complex .It means so much to me .

I've got many happy memories of Tower Hill and the castle .

You know

[castle boy]

Does anyone have any memories of Tower Hill on Pitsmoor Rd / Marshall St junction / Reginald St

down to Rock St and Chatham St? Did anyone live in this area or did you know of anyone who

had lived in this area ?

[ukelele lady]

I've been reading these posts with interest to see if I could make any connection with my own ancestors

as on their census in the late 1800s they are down as living at number 3 Pye Bank.

I'm still not sure of the exact spot with part of it being changed to Pitsmoor road in later years.

[castle boy]

Over different periods of time Pitsmoor Rd has changed to Pye Bank and then back again to Pitsmoor Rd

and so on. Now then ukelele lady , the person to find where number 3 Pye Bank is, is neddy , when neddy

reads this I am sure he will come to assist and get the exact spot you require.neddy found my birthplace

I required in Tower Hill , he also found Duff's Castle for me.Number 3 Pye Bank could be say coming away

from town at the bottom of Pitsmoor Rd on the left with even numbers on the right , 3 being second house

up.

Having said that , neddy did a lot of research for me and got me a lot of addresses i required.

Now Tower Hill is given Pitsmoor Rd also Pye Bank in the Tower Hill complex .In Tower Hill there are

numbers 1--------10.( My feeling your ancestors lived in Tower Hill/Pye Bank).

So you have two positions , but neddy I'm sure will find you number 3 Pye Bank.He's brilliant.

Hope this has been of some help to you ukelele lady.

Nice of you to have shown some interest in my posts.

[castle boy]

I am trying to get some Information about my mam. Only yesterday did l happen to find out my mam

lived at 6 ct 5 house Brunswick Rd with her mam and dad, sisters and brother in the 1911 census.

What I would like to know is did they still live there at the 1921 census and the 1931 census.

Also I would like to know when Brunswick Rd was demolished for slum clearance.

The family name is Fisher.Someone please help.

Does anyone happen to have some photos of Brunswick Rd, as having never seen where my mam

was brought up, it would be very nice see some.

[duckweed]

There are lots of reasons for tunnels. There are drains, food stores, culverted rivers, wine cellars, bank vaults, air raid shelters, ventilation shafts as well as mines and houses built into the rock. Quarrying was often done by digging long galleries or tunnels. There are still good examples of that in Cumbria and South Wales. Putting a house there would give the equivalent of a refrigerated room. The House presumaly is called Rock house because it was built into the rock? Plenty of examples of those in Matlock and in Staffordshire. The amount of time and gunpowder and timber props it would take to build a tunnel to the Manor and the years to do so plus the fact that Shrewsbury was constantly on his guard seems very unlikely especially as they would be digging on his land to do it and what tenant would dare allow that. I am not doubting there was a tunnel only the length and use. My husband says that geologically speaking it would be impossible to dig to the Manor and we know from contemporary accounts re trying to dig under the Don to the Castle that couldn't go there either.

[Waterside Echo]

Where would Duff's Castle be on the 1851 map of Pye Bank? W/E.

[SteveHB]

Where would Duff's Castle be on the 1851 map of Pye Bank? W/E.

Does this cover the area ... '>

http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic/5674-tower-house/#entry35648

[Waterside Echo]

Does this cover the area ... '>

http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic/5674-tower-house/#entry35648

Spot on, thankyou. W/E.