George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury

Titles: 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, 6th Earl of Waterford, 12th Baron Talbot

Born: circa 1528

Died: 18 November 1590

Buried: The Shrewsbury Chapel, Sheffield Cathedral

George Talbot was a Tudor nobleman and the eldest son of the 5th Earl of Shrewsbury. Later in his career, he also became Earl Marshal of England, following the Duke of Norfolk’s involvement in the Ridolfi plot, for which the latter was subsequently executed.

Talbot became prominent during the Elizabethan age and is most noted for his marriage to the formidable Bess of Hardwick and as gaoler of Mary, Queen of Scots. 

Mary remained under the custody of Talbot for nearly 15 years, from 1568-1584. During that time, she was held at Shrewsbury’s principal residences of Sheffield Castle, Wingfield Hall, Tutbury Castle, Hardwick Old Hall, Chatsworth, Buxton and Sheffield Manor Lodge. 

By 1580, the Shrewsburys’ marriage was breaking down. A complex set of circumstances, including a deterioration in Shrewsbury’s mental state, were to blame. Bess and Talbot were separated during the final few years of the Earl’s life, with Talbot taking his housekeeper as his mistress and companion. He blamed Bess for their differences and wrote with vitriol that she was his ‘wicked and malicious wife’ and ‘my professed’ enemy.

Having acted as her gaoler for many years, Shrewsbury was one of two nobles sent to inform Mary Stuart of her impended execution on the evening before her death. In a drawing that captured the beheading of Mary in the Great Hall at Fotheringhay Castle, the Earl is seen sitting upon the scaffold as an official witness to her execution.

George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, died in Sheffield in 1590, leaving Bess an extremely wealthy widow.

Visitor Information:

The funerary monument to the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury is located in the Shrewsbury Chapel within Sheffield Cathedral. 

The cathedral is a building of three distinct phases: a medieval part, which dates from the 1400s and includes the chancel, the sanctuary at the east end, the tower, spire and the Shrewsbury Chapel; a central Victorian nave and a modern section at the cathedral’s west end. 

To find the cathedral, you must head to Sheffield city centre. It is a 12-minute walk from the main railway station and, if you are arriving by car, there are two car parks within a 5-minute walk: ‘NCP Campo Lane’ and ‘NCP Harsthead Square’.

From the outside, the cathedral is uninspiring and could be easily mistaken as only possessing a blend of Victorian and modern architecture. However, the inside is delightfully attractive, not only because it feels warm and welcoming, but because of its quirky layout and the aforementioned Tudor chapel. 

The Shrewsbury Chapel

The Shrewsbury Chapel can be found at the east end of the church to the right of the high altar. It was added to the then parish church in 1520 by the 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, George’s grandfather. The two Earls lie entombed opposite one another, although the vault intended to take their bodies lies beneath the floor, accessed by a set of ‘eight or nine’ steps, buried just in front of the chapel. 

There is a fascinating, early nineteenth-century account of the opening of this tomb in Hallamshire: The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York by Joseph Hunter, which can be found here. All except two bodies of the Shrewsbury clan, who had been recorded as being buried in the vault, were found. It was surmised that the remaining 17 were behind another bricked-up, and inaccessible part of the vault, possibly located beneath the founder’s tomb. This includes the body of the 6th Earl.

The tomb is of typical late Elizabethan design, blending classical architecture with early English sepulchral elements. Unsurprisingly, given his paranoid and caustic state of mind towards the end of his life, Talbot took full control of the appearance of the tomb; he was distrustful that his executors would carry out his wishes. The most eye-catching of all is Talbot’s marble effigy. The earl is recumbent in a full suit of armour with his helmet placed close to his head. Also on the tomb are two ancient helmets, which were born atop the Earl’s coffin during his funeral service. Finally, sited centrally, above his marble effigy, is a marble tablet engraved with a long, Latin inscription…

Notice there is no mention of Bess of Hardwick! 

The whole chapel, including both tombs, was restored in 2013. This accounts for the pristine appearance of the 6th and the 4th Earl’s monuments. During the works, workmen lifting the chancel floor accidentally rediscovered the entrance to the vault, thus reopening it for the first time following Hunter’s adventures of 1819. Unsurprisingly, the bodies of those recorded to have been buried there were still missing!

Other Tudor Places Nearby:

• The Tomb of George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury: Also in the Shrewsbury Chapel in Sheffield Cathedral.
• Sheffield Manor Lodge: (3 Miles) Once one of the principal homes of the Earls of Shrewsbury. It was also one of the locations where Mary, Queen of Scots, was held as a prisoner, and Thomas Wolsey was taken ill following his arrest at Cawood Castle. If you want to learn more about the Lodge and, in particular, Wolsey’s stay there, check out my blog: Sheffield Manor: Wolsey and the Spectre of Death.
• Hardwick Hall: (26 Miles) One of England’s finest and most celebrated prodigy houses built the formidable Bess of Hardwick. You can read about Bess’ tomb here, or if you are a Road Trip Traveller member of this site, you can read about it as part of my itinerary for a long weekend away in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.
• Haddon Hall: (19 Miles) Largely abandoned as a home by the Dukes of Rutland in the seventeenth century, Haddon Hall has been preserved as a shining example of largely untouched late medieval and Tudor architecture. Its medieval kitchens, hall, and Long Gallery are among the highlights. The latter is my favourite Long Gallery in England. You will no doubt recognise it as it has featured in many a period drama. If you are a Road Trip Traveller member of this site, you can read about it as part of my itinerary for a long weekend away in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.