What was Derbyshire like during the Middle Ages period?

It’s a pleasure to begin this series of six articles covering the story of Derbyshire, its people, places and events – from the Middle Ages through to the 20th century.

I shall examine all the eras and in the correct order too, so not like Eric Morecambe in his iconic André Previn sketch.

We start with Medieval Derbyshire, or the Middle Ages, as it’s also known.

As for when Medieval times occurred, I’m plumping for the Norman Conquest (1066) to the ‘Car Park King’ (Richard III) becoming the last English king to expire in battle (1485).

It’s a rollicking period then of just over four centuries.

I may have to cut my cloth (apt considering the Medieval cloth trade) as four centuries is a lot to cover, so please don’t assail me with a poleaxe if I omit your favourite medieval villain.

When it featured in the Domesday Book of 1086, Derby was a town of around 2,000 inhabitants, with 14 mills and six churches.

Its first market charter came in 1154 from Henry II, the father of the Lionheart and King John.

Derby’s oldest church, meanwhile, is not its cathedral as you might logically expect, but St Peter’s, which is largely 14th century, but with Norman bits and can be found in the heart of the city centre.

The Domesday Book also helpfully and interestingly listed the tenants-in-chief of lands in Derbyshire at the time. There were 17 in total, including William the Conqueror and William Peveril, of whom we shall be hearing more.

From the Conquest, the Royal Forest of Peak was established as a royal hunting ground, the Normans love of the hunt being well attested. It was a large area, extending to around 100 square miles, and was administered at one time by Peveril.

The Normans began their castle building in this country as the Conqueror determined the defeated English should stay firmly in their place.

Bolsover Castle stands above its town like a brooding menace, the original built by Peveril, an illegitimate son of the Conqueror, although what we see today is more modern, albeit with faux battlements and turrets.

The Parish Church of St Mary is worth a gander too. Although it was later gutted by fire and reconstructed, it still has its 13th century greystone tower, while inside is a large relief sculpture of the Nativity which is of the same century.

Peveril Castle has commanded the skyline above Castleton for centuries (Image: Getty) Peveril was also busy at Castleton where he built Peveril Castle high above the village, later immortalised in a Walter Scott story. The impressive keep came around a century later, courtesy of Henry II in 1176.

Castleton also has a church of Norman foundation, St Edmund’s, however, the pesky Victorian restorers left us with just a fine chancel arch to admire.

Near to Codnor was once one of Derbyshire’s most important castles; dating from the early-13th century, it replaced an earlier Peveril one. Its remains can still be viewed today.

Haddon Hall may be of more recent construct but it’s another with an 11th century predecessor, courtesy of that prolific fortress builder, Peveril.

Wingfield Manor House was built by Ralph, Lord Cromwell, in 1440, a manor house that was once larger than Haddon, its tall ruins including a main tower over 70 feet high.

Ashbourne’s St Oswald’s, with its 215ft spire, was consecrated in 1241 during the long, unstable reign of Henry III. It has some of its original stained glass in its 14th century great east window, whilst its font is even older, being 13th century.

Three miles north is Fenny Bentley, which has its curio monument in St Edmund’s, the shrouded figures of Thomas Beresford, his wife Agnes, and all 21 children, carved in alabaster. Beresford died in 1473 during the fractious Wars of the Roses.

Ashover has a 14th century church with one of England’s few remaining Norman lead fonts.

The view from the top of Bakewell’s imposing Church of All Saints (Image: Getty) Bakewell’s Church of All Saints has 12th century bits, although there is evidence of an even older, Anglo Saxon, church whilst the 13th century bridge over the Wye is one of England’s oldest.

Chapel-en-le-Frith has an early 14th century church, however it’s dedicated to Thomas á Becket, pointing to an even earlier foundation.

Chesterfield’s St Mary and All Saints’ Church has its famous crooked spire, of course, but the building is also a fine example of a beautifully proportioned 14th century church.

Crich has a Norman church with a rare stone Bible rest, while Ilkeston’s oldest building is St Mary’s, originally Norman, with an unusual 14th century stone screen and a Crusader’s tomb.

St Michael’s, Melbourne, is one of the country’s most impressive Norman churches with a fine crossing tower, two unusual pyramid-roofed towers at its western end, and huge Norman pillars decorating its nave.

Inside Tideswell’s impressive ‘Cathedral of the Peak’  (Image: Gary Wallis) At Tideswell, the so-called ‘Cathedral of the Peak’, the Church of St John the Baptist, dominates its small town.

It has one of the earliest Perpendicular towers in England, a lofty eight-pinnacle affair that adds lustre to a church built during the 14th century and containing a fine assemblage of pre-Reformation monuments, including one to John Foljambe who died in 1383 early on in Richard II’s ill-fated reign; it’s quite simply the best monumental brass in Derbyshire.

Youlgreave also has an imposing church, another that seems overlarge for its small town. It’s blessed with a tall, impressive square tower topped with pinnacles.

Much of the building is Norman and its unusual dual-basin font is also Norman, as is a sculpture of a man in a long frock.

There are other fascinating monuments from the 14th and 15th centuries.

Of all these medieval churches, I’ve perhaps left Derbyshire’s best until last, the one Pevsner described as ‘the richest example of Norman architecture in Derbyshire’. All Saints Chapel, Steetley, is miniscule really, just 52 feet by 15 but the lavish 12th century decoration of its interior stonework is a sight.

As well as churches there were also monasteries.

Apparently, a Derby baker saw a vision of the Virgin, crossed the Derwent and adopted a hermit’s life in the sandstone cliffs of Deepdale – or Depedale.

Dale Abbey would later emerge on the site but only the arch of the east window remains. The hermitage can still be seen, as can the village church – one of England’s smallest at just 25ft square (nave and chancel). It comes replete with Norman masonry and 13th century wall paintings.

The remains of Dale Abbey (Image: Tom Herbert, Flickr) Darley Dale has a fine church of the 13th century with a Norman font, while Morley’s St Matthew’s has excellent stained glass, much of it rescued from Darley Abbey at the time of the Dissolution; there’s also Norman arcades, a 13th century tower and spire, and other bits of the 14th century.

Repton has Anglo-Saxon religious antecedents, but near its old church was a 12th century priory which also fell into ruin after the Dissolution, its remains incorporated into Repton School.

Of course, the Middle Ages was not just a roll call of castles, churches and monasteries. There were other more than useful structures too.

Swarkestone Bridge (Image: Gary Wallis) At Swarkestone is a fine bridge over the Trent which is arguably this small village’s main draw. It was built in the 13th and 14th centuries so merits its inclusion here, despite the restoration work carried out around 1800. It has 17 stout old arches whilst its causeways extend for three-quarters of a mile.

There were also customs emerging as well as causeways at this juncture in history.

Tissington is believed to be where the Derbyshire tradition of well dressing began, possibly as long ago as 1350 during Edward III’s reign.

The church here still betrays traces of its Norman origin and contains a highly irregular Norman tub font embellished with carvings of animals and snake.