A Latin charter and English translation documenting Bishop Nicholas of Sodor's receipt and acknowledgement of ecclesiastical vestments, liturgical items, and books bequeathed by his predecessor Bishop Michael, transmitted through Furness Abbey. The document exemplifies medieval episcopal administration and the religious links between the Isle of Man and English monastic foundations.

Richard Richmond, Bishop of Sodor and Man in the 1770s, and the least liked of the eighteenth-century bishops. A. W. Moore, who had little to say against most of them, calls him a haughty and overbearing man, much disliked by his clergy. He was installed about 1772, the last bishop to be installed in the old chancel of the ancient church, which went completely to ruin afterwards, unroofed and stripped of its door and windows. He changed the way the tithes were gathered. Until he came they had been let to the clergy of the respective parishes. Under the new method they were let to the highest bidder at public auction, and the buyer then held sub-auctions to re-let them, so that they sold for a good deal more than their value, and the proctors who had done the work before lost their fees. He fought the Methodists and lost. In July 1776 he issued a pastoral letter to his clergy against several unordained, unauthorised and unqualified persons from other countries who had for some time past presumed to preach and teach publicly in the Island. Moore describes the letter as intolerant and violent. After Richmond's time the Church and the Methodists on the Island worked together on the whole amicably, and went on doing so long after the two had fallen out in England. He quarrelled with Philip Moore as well. When John Kelly, the ablest of Philip Moore's pupils and afterwards a translator of the Manx scriptures, came to be ordained, either the Bishop would not ordain him or his master would not let him seek ordination from that Bishop. Kelly went to Carlisle for his orders instead. Not all his business was contentious. He undertook the charge of distributing what remained of the Manx Bibles and prayer books, and lists of the books left in the clergy's hands were to be delivered to him. In December 1779 John Quayle, Clerk of the Rolls, wrote to him about the Island's contribution to the general defence, referring to the Lieutenant-Governor's requisitions to his Lordship, or to his commissioners in his absence.

Letter from Bishop Richmond of Sodor and Man to the Duke of Atholl dated 12 August 1776, discussing the recent establishment of a clear legislative process for the Isle of Man following the 1765 Revestment. The Bishop reports on Major Dawson's direction to the 24 Keys to propose necessary laws, which were approved and received Royal Assent, establishing a secured mode of legislation for the Island. Also includes personal remarks on the public reception of these measures.

Letter from Bishop Richmond (of Sodor & Man) to the Duke of Atholl dated August 1776, discussing the resolution of legislative uncertainty following the 1765 Revestment. The Bishop reports that Major Dawson (Lieutenant Governor) has directed the 24 Keys to propose necessary laws, which have been approved and returned with Royal Assent, then proclaimed on Tynwald Hill. The letter reflects on public reaction and Manx constitutional settlement in the decade following the British Parliament's purchase of sovereignty.

Letter from Bishop Ward of Sodor and Mann to Home Secretary Henry Goulburn requesting restoration of impropriate tithes to support impoverished parish vicars. Details the financial hardship of clergy in major parishes (Rushen, Malew, Lezayre) and proposes that Crown-held tithes be returned to the Church. Relevant to post-Revestment ecclesiastical administration and the Crown's role in Island governance.

Bishop William Ward of Sodor and Mann writes to Home Secretary Henry Goulburn requesting Crown restoration of impropriate tithes to parish vicars in the Isle of Man. The letter documents the poverty of the Manx clergy despite possessing one of the most extensive dioceses, caused by the Lords of Man having sold most tithes to the Crown. The letter discusses specific parishes (Rushen, Malew, Lezayre) and mentions King William's College endowments.

A badly worn carved slab which was once used as a door lintel at Bishopscourt. Each face is decorated with an inscribed shafted wheel-headed cross, one with a dog and interlace pattern. It was found in 1893 and measures 190 centimetres by 58 centimetres and is 14 centimetres thick. It is numbered as Manx Cross No. 94.  It has been said to include a runic inscription, but modern authorities doubt this. See also Manx Cross 94.

The site of a Bronze Age burial discovered in 1888.  It was excavated by Miss A.M. Crellin and reported in 1894. The site was re-excavated by Dr Larch S. Garrad in 1986.  A skeleton was found within a stone cist. An Ordnance Survey recorded noted in 1955 that on the top of a large, apparently natural mound, was a prostrate stone slab orientated east-west which may be a burial cist. The stone measures 1.0 metre by 0.6 metres by 0.1 metres with minor depressions around the sides perhaps indicating subsidence. It is partly grass covered. It is not clear which cist of two cists (0408.20 and 0408.30) this refers to.

The site of a burial cist excavated by Dr Larch S. Garrad in 1986.  The cist with an extended inhumation burial and a Food-Vessel by the side of a skeleton situated about twenty-four metres south of a standing stone (0408.00) was found in 1888. The food-vessel is in the Manx Museum, Accession No. 1954-0995, donated by Bishop Bardsley.

A mound of angular burnt slate and dark soil thought to be a prehistoric burnt mound.

A crop mark of unknown significance seen on aerial photographs.

A crop mark of unknown significance seen on aerial photographs.

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.

Medieval towerhouse. The site may have been the seat of the bishops of Sodor and Man from as early as the 13th century, though no physical evidence from this period has been identified. Bishop Simon died at the nearby church of St Michael in 1247. The earliest structural evidence is the 14th century towerhouse, which has been ascribed to Bishop Duncan. A fortified residence would have been appropriate at the time, as the Island was a target for Scottish raiding. In its original form, it seems likely that the tower comprised a basement, perhaps two residential storeys, and a defensible fighting top.

Bishop's palace. The earliest structural evidence is the 14th century towerhouse, which has been ascribed to Bishop Duncan. A series of detailed sketches made in the mid-17th century by a skilled landscape artist show that by this time the bishop's tower house had been extended by the addition of a medieval chapel to the north-east and a sizeable hall of four bays to the south-west. The grounds were also laid out as formal gardens. Further alterations to the house followed at the hands of a succession of bishops. Bishop Wilson remodelled and extended the hall c. 1700, Bishop Crigan renovated the towerhouse in the 1790s, Bishop Murray altered the hall and replaced the chapel from 1814 and Bishop Powys rebuilt the chapel again in 1858; a fire in 1893 occasioned further rebuilding.

17th century Civil War earthwork fortification. The see fell vacant in 1643 upon the death of Bishop Parr, and the site was occupied until 1651 by James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby and Lord of Man. The earl constructed a sub-rectangular earthen fort around the house, consisting of a rampart and ditch with a bastion at each corner. The fort is slightly assymmetrical, with maximum dimensions of 160m. The fort still survives in a substantially intact condition on the north-east and north-west sides, but is less obvious to the south where the creation of a road and landscaping within the gardens have masked the earthworks.

Medieval carved stone cross slab. Following a fire at Bishopscourt in 1893, rebuilding works led to the discovery of Manx Cross 94, found re-used as a lintel over a doorway.

Medieval carved stone cross slab. Repair works to a 19th century part of Bishops court in 1990 resulted in the discovery of a large and worn fragment of a slab (Manx Cross 194) in use as a lintel.

This has been suggested to be the site of a possible burial cist, where the remains of a cist constructed of quartz boulders has been reported. No stones or traces of such a cist have been noted in the area in modern times.

The site of a post-medieval chapel at Bishopscourt. Bishopscourt, the historic residence of the Bishop of Sodor and Man, was possibly founded by Bishop Simon (d. 1247); its earliest surviving structure is a tower dating from the late 14th century. By the 17th century the complex included a chapel straddling the parish boundary between Ballaugh and Michael, alongside a hall. James, 7th Earl of Derby, fortified the house and used it as a summer residence between 1643 and 1651. Bishop Wilson found the buildings largely ruined in 1698 and undertook major restoration. Bishop Murray employed architect Thomas Brine to build a new Georgian Gothic chapel between 1814 and 1828; this was demolished and replaced by a Victorian chapel under Bishop Powys in 1858. A major fire in 1893 destroyed the central portion of the house, prompting reconstruction under Bishop Straton, and in 1895 the chapel became a pro-Cathedral with stalls for the Cathedral Chapter. Diocesan association with the site ended when Bishopscourt was sold into private ownership in 1979.

The site of an unspecified cropmark.

The site of an unspecified cropmark.

The site of an unspecified cropmark.

The site at which a medieval cross formerly stood. It was of 10th or 11th century date and bore a runic inscription. It is thought to now be kept with the collection of crosses at St Michael's church, Kirk Michael.  The site where it is thought to have stood is now covered by a lawn and it has not been confirmed that the cross formerly stood there. At St Michael's Church, the stone is numbered 94 by a bronze plaque and interpreted as having served as a door lintel at Bishop's Court during the 19th century.

This large and worn fragment of a slab was found at Bishopscourt (IOMHER 0423.00) in 1990 used as a lintel in a 19th century part of the house. It is carved with spirals and would appear to have formed a panel to the side of the cross shaft.