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Thrift House


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THRIFT HOUSE

This historic residence, situate on what was once the edge of the Ringinglow Moors, was erected before enclosure acts were heard of, at a time when the moors and wastes thereabouts were open common. There was a pack road communicating with Sheffield in an easterly direction, with Dore in a southerly direction, and with Castleton to the west. Turnpike roads were not then thought of.

The history of Thrift House and its owners [1] is somewhat complicated, because the present `estate' represents the merging of four or five properties, each having separate title deeds, and still more because the name "Thrift House" appears to be applied in old documents, sometimes to the chief residence and sometimes to a smaller messuage adjoining. The state of things to-day, when we see the farmhouse of Lees contiguous to the mansion, perpetuates, I think, the ancient arrangement. It is only on such a supposition that it becomes possible to get an intelligible account of the devolution of the properties.

In the earlier deeds we meet with the names of the opulent families of the neighbourhood. Dales and Ashtons of Whiteley Wood, the Brights of Whirlow and their descendants of Greystones and Carbrook; and yeomen like the Offertons of Parkhead, one of whom named Richard married in 1611 the widow of a "Whirlow" Bright.

The year 1504 has been given as marking the first mention of Thrift House, a deed of that year by which Roger Steel of Chalfield,[1] leased for three years Thrift House to Roger Eyre of Holme Hall near Chesterfield, a descendant of the Eyres of Padley [2]

Very much later (in 1618) another Eyre, Walter, of Armitage in County Stafford, Gentleman, is found conveying to Thomas Bright of Ecclesall Hall, afterwards of Greystones, "a messuage at Bents" in the tenure of Robert Offerton, together with two cottages and three closes of land called "the overfield," the well field, and the horse meadow.

There were exchanges of land in 1677 and 1686 between the Brights and the Offertons of the period, and the second of these is worth noting, because it related to a "garden stead" walled about, at Thrift House, in the occupation of Thomas Lee.

The Lee family is found established in this neighbourhood for more than a century before this Thomas Lee appears. There are records showing them to be connected with the purchase or sale of houses and lands in Ecclesall : Le park hed, Bentyhaugh, &c., John Lee, Junr., and Margery his wife in 1550, John Lee and Margery in 1556 and 1559, Thomas Lee in 1556, Roger Lee in 1576 and 1594, the last-named Roger recurring again some hundred years later, among the well known family of the Lees of Little Sheffield suggests some descent from or connection with the Lees of Bents.

The Thomas Lee of 1686 named above was described as of Ecclesall when in 1664 he was bound apprentice to Napthali Chapman of Sheffield, baker. In 1674-5 we find him described as of Thrift House when first mortgaging and then selling to William Stone of Bents, Joiner, Birley Field House or Birley House (now Plumpton Cottages).

The exchange of lands between the Brights and the Offertons in 1677 and 1618 was followed in 1704 by Richard Offerton, then of Masborough, yeoman, mortgaging premises in Bents, &c., to John Fowler of Sheffield, Cutler, and two years later (1706) Robert Offerton, Richard's brother, conveyed to Thomas Marshall of Hallam, Cutler, "Thrift House, at or near a certain place called Bents, wherein Robert Hoyland did then inhabit or dwell."

Marshall also, acquired from Fowler the mortgage "a half part of a barn at Bents formerly a dwelling-house" and certain lands.

My suggested interpretation of what has now been said is, that Thrift House proper may have been occupied or owned (1504) by Roger Eyre, in 1618 by Thomas Bright, from whom it passed to the Offertons, circa 1677- 1686, and from them in 1706 (when Robert Hoyland was tenant) to Thomas Marshall. Also that during this time the description of Thomas Lee as of "Thrift House" means that he was not residing in the main house, but in a small one adjoining.

It has been suggested that the presence of a baker, with his ovens and so forth, in so remote a place is to be explained by the custom provided by the large houses of the neighbourhood, the Brights of Whirlow, BannerCross &c., the Ashtons of Whiteley Wood Hall and others, but still more that it was a convenient place at which the pack horse trains could stop to take in supplies before addressing themselves to their journey across the bleak moors. The latter suggestion at least does not seem unreasonable, as the mules would be saved from the burden of carrying bread up the hill from Sheffield.

[1] Communicated by the late Mr. R. E. Leader, B.A.

[2] 1504, March 25th, Lease Roger Steel of Cheffeld to Roger Eyre of Holme„ Esquire, of a tenement called Thrift House in the Byelawe of Eklysall with lands, &c., and a close called Nedernyefield except &c., house and a little croft that John Alwyn then dwelt in.

 
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Just popped in to say that our family lived in Thryft House from about 1956 to 1965.

If anyone is still monitoring this page I have lots of pics and interesting stories of life there and then.

John Birkett

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Welcome to the site John, we are always interested in new information and photographs on any of our posts.

If you could give us any more details of Thryft House and especially photographs it would be appreciated.

Thanks again please keep in touch.

UKL

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According to the Descriptive Catalogue of the Jackson Collection, the original vellum had the inscription (made at some later date) "Storkes Farmes". Thomas Storkes, yeoman may be related to this farm - he was given power of attorney in a Deed of Bargain and Sale in 1571 when Lyme Crofte, Turne Croft and Hollens were transferred from Robert Modyclyffe of Whytley Wood to Edward Hall of Fulwood.

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Recently added to Picture Sheffield: Thryft House

and their comments:

Thrift House (also known as Thryft House), on a lane off Ringinglow Road, Ecclesall. Built in 1686 by Robert and Richard Offerton. This was rebuilt in 1840 and enlarged in 1883.

Robert and Richard Offerton erected a substantial home in 1686.This house was rebuilt in 1840 and enlarged in 1883.An architect, at this time, noted that the extremely thick walls in the middle of the house were dated from a period much earlier than the rest of the house. When the pack horse trains travelled along Ringinglow they would buy their bread supplies from the bakery, which was at the house.

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Welcome to the site John, we are always interested in new information and photographs on any of our posts.

If you could give us any more details of Thryft House and especially photographs it would be appreciated.

Thanks again please keep in touch.

UKL

I have a whole load of stuff. Lots of photos of the buildings, plus lots of family photos on the tennis court etc. Plus my mothers wrtings done in the early 60's about life at Thryft House. Then there are newspaper articles about the sale of the house and about the historic Ewe tree in the garden etc etc.

We used to hold big parties at Bonfire night and at Christamas, where many of the Bents Green village residents would attend.

Here is just a "taster" in the form of a link to some of them in my Dropbox.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rozcq0xhsfxaw2i/AACPkJ8d4TzrBDgs3en_HMApa/General%20house%20and%20garden%20shots%201960%27s

If you wish, I can send you, via PM, a link to all of it and you can sift through and post here anything from it you wish.

Regards to all,

John Birkett

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Hi John, thanks for all the fascinating photos. Is the yew tree the one supposed to have been planted by the monks from Beauchief as one of a number marking their route from the Abbey to ?Ecclesall? And do you know whether it's still standing? If it's the one I'm thinking about it's supposed to be theonly one left.

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Not sure about the provenance of the tree. I usually go back at least once a year but I have to say, I have not been back for around two years at present. It was certainly still there last time I went "home". (I live in N. Shropshire now in a small village named Malpas).

ukelele lady (admin) may want to go through all the other pics, newspaper cuttings and other writings to archive / publish some of it, or I could just post the link (to Dropbox) here for all to use. No doubt she will let me know.

John Birkett

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I have no knowledge regarding this place; here is the information from SheffieldIndexers and Sheffield Records Online, just for information, I can't vouch for any of it, could be multiple buildings/occupants etc - hopefully someone will understand.

J. Lee Farmer Thrift House, Ecclesall Bierlow White's 1833
John Lee House and Land Thrift Houses, Ecclesall Bierlow Burgess Rolls 1843-44
John Lee Farmer Thrift House, Ecclesall Bierlow White's 1849
John Lee Farmer Thrift House, Ecclesall Bierlow White's 1852
John Lee House Thrift Houses, Ecclesall Burgess Rolls 1855
John Lee House and Land Thrift Houses, Ecclesall Burgess Rolls 1864-65
Blakelock Smith House Thrift House, Ecclesall Burgess Rolls 1864-65
John Lee Farmers Thrift House Farm, Bents Green, Ecclesall Bierlow White's 1871
Ralph Blakeloock Smith (Esq.) Solicitor Thrift House, Bents Green, Ecclesall Bierlow White's 1871 Died 1880, aged 56.
John Lee Farmer Thrift Farm, Bents Green Kelly's 1893
Branson Firth Thrift House, Bent's Green Kelly's 1893
John Lee Farmer Thrift House, Ringinglowe Road White's 1911
John Lee Farmer Thrift House Farm, Ringinglow Road, Ecclesall White's 1919
Geoffrey T Unwin Thrift House, Ringinglow Road, Ecclesall White's 1919
John A E Wells Foundry manager (Edgar Allen Ltd.) Thrift House, Ringinglow Road, Ecclesall Kelly's 1925
John Lee Farmer Thrift House Farm, Riginglow Road, Ecclesall Kelly's 1925
John Lee Farmers Thrift House Farm, Ringinglow Road, Ecclesall Kelly's 1925

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Hi John

If you could post the link it would make it easier all round then any one who is interested can view the

pictures and newspaper cuttings etc at their leisure.

I'm sure there will be many viewers, keep up the good work.

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OK, here we go, a link to everything I have re Thryft House.

= https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rozcq0xhsfxaw2i/AACPDlJIXnSOseHewHYLvYeJa

Note = it is best to download these to your computer rather than view them via the Dropbox viewer ;)

Oh, and the kids in the "Family Shots" are my brother and I :rolleyes:

Also, in the "General house and garden shots 1960's" note in the first, rather fuzzy picture, the bell. This was used to call in the workers for mealtimes. Later my Mum used to use it to call us kids in from the fields for either meals, or bedtime. The last time I visited the house, the bell had gone :(

Enjoy :)

John Birkett

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On the by 1795 map of Sheffield by Wm. Fairbank and Son, its marked as Thrift House rather than Thryft House. I saw the name on the map and Google lead me to here, I was wondering if it was a poor house or almshouse.

Checking other maps, here https://maps.nls.uk/view/125651281#zoom=6&lat=2470&lon=6395&layers=BT On the 1902 map the names shown are Thrift House and Thrift House Farm, but by the 1960's https://maps.nls.uk/view/189227454#zoom=5&lat=7979&lon=2582&layers=BT this was now Thryft House and Thrift House Farm.

The cynic in me is saying someone renamed the house in the 1950/60's to make it look more Ye Olde Worlde and avoid the connotation of charity the name implies.

From "An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, 1818": Thrytft: To thrive, prosperity

Modern meaning; Thrift: the quality of using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully.

Karl.

 

 

thrifthouse.png

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On 03/12/2018 at 18:31, John Birkett said:

Just an update to my collection of Thryft House pictures etc etc = Link here

Hi John

I now live at Thryft House (The Yews) and I’ve found your photos and your mum’s writing fascinating. If you still visit on a regular basis please stop by to say hello. I’d love to have a chat with you about how things were when you lived here.

Regards

Rosie

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Hello Rosie !!

I was so pleased to read your message and I'm glad you enjoyed the photographs etc.

I have not been to Thryft House since last summer, but would normally I visit around 4 times a year.

I usually just drive around the lane and park in the little car park and look out over the gardens, reminiscing, so the idea of meeting you and maybe having a proper look at the garden and the pond (is the pond still there I wonder?) would be really great. I have so many memories of playing in the fields, and going on our ponies to Whirlow Brook, Forge Dam and Ringinglow etc. 

When we lived there as children, the house was split into 2 parts, the part with the yard and the farm outbuildings, plus the house at the other end of the buildings. Is it still 2 houses, if "yes", which one do you live in ?  When all this damn virus thing has sorted it self out, I would LOVE to come and meet you!

Oh, and you mention the name of the house has changed, I would be interested to know about that?

Best regards,

John Birkett

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Hi John

Great to hear from you and yes definitely call when you are next in Sheffield!

Yes the pond is still there. When we moved in it was completely silted up and that part of the garden was really overgrown and a bit of a wilderness. We have dredged and desisted the pond and planted a wildflower meadow down there - I’ve attached a couple of photos.

The original Thryft House is still two houses, I live in the first one as you come round the corner of the lane.

Really look forward to meeting you!

Rosie

BD618EC9-72BD-4E4E-AAD1-6EAE5E8D1E04.jpeg

BAA3A544-5D06-459E-BA9C-0E8B09707A68.jpeg

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Hello, can anyone shed any light on a LD Harrison my friend has a photo by him and his address is listed as this house, Sheffield. S11. Quite an old photo. Tia 

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Leonard Douglas Harrison was the founder of Plantools Ltd and L.D.Harrison Ltd. He was born on 2nd December 1898, son of Police Superintendent Frederick Harrison, and attended Hunters Bar Infant School, while living at 363 Sharrow Vale Road. By 1911 the family had moved to Peveril Road Greystones. He suffered from rheumatic fever when 10 years old, and this was possibly a cause of spine curvature problems which led to his discharge from the Royal Engineers in 1919. He had spent 120 days in the Northern General hospital with influenza (Sept 1917 to Jan 1918). He had trained as a draughtsman before being called up in 1917, but when examined had false teeth, flat feet, curvature of the spine and arthritis in his shoulder, though was still accepted into the forces. In 1939 he was a director and general manager of a tool firm, living at 32 Meadow Bank Avenue with his wife Florence (married in 1921 at Broomhill) and son Keith. He died aged 51 residence Thryft House, on 19th July 1950 at the Royal Infirmary and left £11,939 18s in his will.

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Published in Kelly's directories, 1957 and 1965


L D Harrison Ltd., tool manufacturers, (Thryft works), Solly Street, S1


Plantools Ltd., tool manufacturers, (Thryft works), Solly Street, S1

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