Historic residence of the Bishops of Sodor and Man, in the west of the Isle of Man.

Bishopscourt appears repeatedly in nineteenth-century government and ecclesiastical correspondence as the working residence of the Bishop. In March 1825 Bishop George Murray wrote from Bishopscourt in connection with affidavits surrounding the long-running disputes of his episcopate. Later that year, during the disturbances over the potato tithe, he again wrote from Bishopscourt to warn that the laws were being set aside and that the military force of seventy men was insufficient to preserve the peace.

The house also received official and clerical visitors. In September 1823 the Bishop of Chester and Dr Gardner were making a tour of the Island and were due to dine at Bishopscourt before leaving the following day.

Bishop Murray’s successor, Bishop William Ward, wrote from Bishopscourt in November 1828 after his first weeks on the Island. His correspondence criticised the Duke of Atholl’s seizure of tithes and commented on drunkenness among the population.

Older tradition attached the central tower of Bishopscourt to King Orry. By the late nineteenth century that identification was already being treated cautiously. Spencer Walpole noted that the tower was called King Orry’s Tower, but also observed that modern criticism had thrown doubt on several places traditionally connected with Godred Crovan.

Bishopscourt was also used for ecclesiastical hearings. During Bishop Thomas Wilson’s episcopate a dispute involving Mrs Puller and Archdeacon Horrobin was formally heard there after she had been refused Communion.