Bishopscourt has served as the Episcopal residence for the Diocese of Sodor and Man for centuries, with its oldest surviving fabric, a defensive tower, dating from the late 14th century; documentary evidence places bishops here from at least 1315, and the death of Bishop Simon nearby in 1247 hints the site may have been in use even earlier. Bishop Wilson found the property largely ruinous on his arrival in 1698 and rebuilt it, and further repairs followed under Bishop Crigan a century later. Bishop Murray brought in architect Thomas Brine in the early 19th century to remodel the kitchen, restore the battlements and add a Georgian Gothic chapel, which Bishop Powys then replaced with a Victorian chapel in 1858; a serious fire in 1893 destroyed the central range, which Bishop Straton had rebuilt into essentially the house seen today. The chapel served as the diocese's pro-cathedral from 1895 until the estate was sold out of church ownership in 1979, ending over seven centuries of episcopal association, and it remains in private hands.