Eckington
ECKINGTON, in the hundred of Scarsdale and deanery of Chesterfield,
lies about seven miles from Chesterfield. The parish is divided into four
quarters; Eckington, Mossborough, Renishaw, Ridgway, and Troway.
Each of these has its overseer and churchwarden. The principal villages
or hamlets are, Bole-hill, Bramley, Ford, and High-lane.
The manor of Eckington was given by Wulfric Sprott, in the reign of
King Ethelred, to Burton-Abbey. (fn. 1) The Survey of Domesday describes it
as belonging to Ralph Fitzhubert. The Stotevilles inherited half the barony
of Fitzhubert, of which half this manor was part. (fn. 2) Sir John Darcy, to whom
it had been granted in 1340, on the forfeiture of Sir John Stoteville, died
seised of it in 1344. The coheiresses of Lord Darcy, in the reign of
Henry VI., married Strangeways and Conyers. In or about the year 1540,
Sir James Strangeways conveyed this manor to William Lord Dacre. On
the attainder of Leonard Dacre it became forfeited to the crown; and was
leased, in 1570, to Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon. This manor continued on
lease to the Carey family till after the death of Robert Carey, Earl of Monmouth, in 1639. During the interregnum, it was seized as crown property.
King Charles II., in 1675, granted a beneficial lease to the loyal Lord
Frecheville, for 99 years, which expired in 1774. A new lease, for 28 years
from that period, was granted to Andrew Wilkinson and others: the term was
in 1783 enlarged for 11 years further, commencing in 1802. This estate
was assigned by the lessees, in 1804, to Sitwell Sitwell, Esq., afterwards
Sir Sitweli Sitwell, Bart.; and the lease is now vested in his son, Sir
George Sitwell, Bart.
In the parish church are monuments of the Sitwell family (fn. 3) ; the families
of Wigfall, and Newton of Renishaw (fn. 4) ; Francis Stringer, Esq., of Stoke,
in the High-Peak, 1727; and the Lady of Sir William Wake, Bart., who
died in 1791. There are some memorials also of the family of Stones, of
Mossborough. (fn. 5)
The King is patron of the rectory of Eckington, with the chapel of Killamarsh. The advowson was in the Rolleston family in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth. (fn. 6)
The Wesleyan Methodists have two meeting-houses in this parish; and
there is a Roman Catholic chapel.
The free-school at Eckington appears to have been founded by Mr.
Thomas Cam, at the beginning of the last century (fn. 7) ; and endowed with
lands let at 19l. per annum about the year 1787, when a return of charitable donations was made to the House of Commons. George Sitwell,
Esq., in 1717, gave the school-house and a close; Lady Frecheville, in
1719, the sum of 100l. The present revenue of this school is about 70l.
per annum.
Mossborough seems to have been purchased of the Burtons about the
year 1671, by the family of the Stones, who possessed the hall, and resided
there for several generations. It is now the property and occasional residence of Mrs. Elizabeth Poynton, widow, sister and devisee of the late
Samuel Staniforth, Esq., of Mossborough-hall.
Mr. Joseph Stones, in 1680, gave lands, let about thirty years ago at 61.
per annum, for teaching 15 children at Mossborough. Anne Stones, in
1702, gave 2l. 10s. per annum to this school, which, in the return of charitable donations, is spoken of as supposed to be lost. The present value
of its endowment is under 20l. per annum.
Mr. Thomas Rotheram, in 1706; and Mr. William Rotheram, in 1711,
gave small benefactions for teaching children at Ridgway. The income of
the Ridgway school is now about 13l. per annum.
Renishaw-hall and estate belonged for some generations to the family of
Wigfall. It was purchased by Francis Sitwell, Esq., of Eckington, who
dying without issue in 1753, it devolved by bequest to Francis Hurt, Esq.,
his cousin, who took the name of Sitwell, and was father of Sitwell Sitwell,
Esq., created a Baronet in 1808. Sir Sitwell died in 1811, and was succeeded in title and estate by his son, now Sir George Sitwell, Bart. Renishaw-hall was enlarged and altered by the late baronet.
Killamarsh, a parochial chapelry, lies about three miles from Eckington
and ten from Chesterfield. Killamarsh, is described in the record of
Domesday by the name of Chinewoldemaresc, as having two manors; one
of them belonging to Ascoit Musard, the other to the King's Thanes. We
have not been able to trace both these manors. We find that Philip
de Dovecote held a manor in Killamarsh in the reign of King John;
Cecily Meynell, in the succeeding reign; and in that of Edward II. Hugh,
son of William de Kinwaldmarsh: but at a later period, we find no record
of any other manor of Killamarsh, than that which was held in the reign of
Henry II. by the family of Hathersage, and passed in moieties to the
Longfords and Goushills, as representatives of that family. Sir Ralph
Longford died seised of a moiety of this manor in 1513. Sir William
Holies died seised of the other moiety in 1542. In 1551, the last-mentioned
moiety was sold by Sir Thomas Hoiks to Sir Richard Pype and George
Basford: Sir Richard died seised of it in 1587. It is now the property
of Sir George Sitwell, Bart. The Hewets had considerable property in this
parish, which passed by marriage to the Osbornes, but whether they were
possessed of the manor, we have not been able to ascertain.
The manor of Killamarsh was held by the tenure of providing for the
King's army in Wales, a horse of the value of 5s., with a sack and a (fn. 8) spur,
for four days.
The following inscription is on a tablet affixed to the outside of Killamarsh chapel. "To the memory of John Wright, a pauper of this parish,
who died May 4th, 1797, in the hundred and third year of his age. He
was of a middle size, temperate and cheerful, and in the trying situation of
darkness, poverty, and old age, bore his infirmities with such Christian
meekness as excited the benevolence of good men, and is here recorded as
an instructive lesson to others. Rev. C. Alderson, B.D., P. P. P., anno
D˜ni 1797."
The chapel of Killamarsh is united to the rectory of Eckington, and is
served by the Rector or his Curate.
In the year 1720, Robert Turie of Sheffield, clerk, gave a house, then
valued at 2l. 7s. 6d. per annum, for the purpose of instructing six children.
John Kay gave a school-house. In 1747, Mrs. Sarah Pool gave 30l. to this
school; Philip Butcher the same sum in 1749; and in 1752, Mrs. Margaret
and Mrs. Mary Pole, a house and some land, le in 1786, at 5l. 8s. per
annum. The whole endowment is now between 12l. and 13l. per
annum.
Edensor
EDENSOR, in the hundred and deanery of the High-Peak, lies about ten
miles west from Chesterfield, and about three from Bakewell, which is
the post-town. This parish contains the townships of Edensor and
Pilsley.
The manor of Edensor (Ednesoare) was in the reign of Edward the
Confessor the joint property of Levenot and Chetel; when the Survey of
Domesday was taken it belonged to Henry de F rrars. The mesne signiory
was for several generations, at a remote period, vested in the ancestors of
the Shirley family. The immediate possession appears to have been in the
Foljambes, whose heiress brought Edonsor to Sir Robert plumpton. Sir
William Plumpton, grandson of Sir Robert, died seised of it in 1480. His
daughters and coheirs married Sotehill and Rocliffe, A moiety of this
manor passed by marriage to the Cliffords, and was sold by George Clifford,
Earl of Cumberland, to the Countess of Shrewsbury. Sir Ralph Langford,
who it is probable purchased of the Sotehills or their heirs, died seised of
the other moiety in 1513. (fn. 9) The whole is now the property of the Duke of
Devonshire. The manor of Pilsley has passed with that of Edensor.
In the parish church are the monuments of Henry Cavendish, Esq. (fn. 10) , of
Chatsworth, who died in 1616; his younger brother William, the first Earl
of Devonshire, who died in 1625; and John Beton, an attendant on Mary
Queen of Scots, who was employed by the Royal captive in various negotiations: he died at Chatsworth in 1570. (fn. 11)
The church of Edensor was given by Fulcher, son of Fulcher, ancestor of
the Shirleys, to the monastery of Rocester in Staffordshire. The Duke of
Devonshire is impropriator of the tithes, and patron of the donative.
There is a school at Edensor, founded, in 1734, by Mr. John Philip,
for poor children of Edensor, Pilsley, and Beeley; and endowed with
a moiety of the rent of land directed to be purchased with the sum of 100l.
The present amount of this moiety is 2l. per annum: the other moiety goes
to the school at Hardwicke. The schoolmaster receives also 30l. per annum
from hie Grace the Duke of Devonshire. (fn. 12)
Adjoining to Edcnsur, is the extra-parochial hamlet of Chatsworth, well
known as having been long the chief country seat of the noble family of
Cavendish. Chatsworth is written in the Domesday Survey Chetesvorde,
it would have been more properly Chetelsvorde, as no doubt it took its
name from Chetel, one of its Saxon owners, mentioned in that survey. William Peverel held it for the King, when the Survey was taken. The manor
of Chatsworth was for several generations in the family of Leche or Leech.
John Leche, Esq., one of the King's surgeons, was of Chatsworth, in the
reign of Edward III. This family became extinct about the middle of tlre
sixteenth century. Chatsworth was sold by Francis Leche, who died in or
about the year 1550, to the family of Agard, of whom it was purchased by
Sir William Cavendish.
Sir William Cavendish, who may be said to have been the founder of
the two noble houses of Newcastle and Devonshire, was son of Thomas
Cavendish, who held an office in the Court of Exchequer. Here, it is
probable, he attained that knowledge which qualified him to be an useful
instrument in the Reformation. The eminent talents and zeal which he
displayed in this important work appear to have gained him the favour of
his Sovereign, and to have raised him to considerable honours and preferments. (fn. 13) In 1530, he was made one of the commissioners for visiting
religious houses; and in 1539, one of the auditors of the newly erected Court
of Augmentations: as a reward for his good services to the crown, in these
employments, besides some valuable grants of abbey lands, he was, in 1546,
made Treasurer of the Chamber, was knighted, and admitted of the Privy
Council. Sir William Cavendish died in 1557. It is well known, that his
last wife, (the heiress of Hardwicke) and widow of Robert Barley, Esq.,
became eventually Countess of Shrewsbury; William, his second son, by
this lady, who, on the death of his elder brother, in 1616, inherited the bulk
of his large estates, had previously, (in 1605) through the interest of his
niece, Arabella Stuart, been created Baron Cavendish of Hardwicke; in
1618, he was created Earl of Devonshire. William, the third Earl, was, in
the reign of Charles I., a zealous royalist; his younger brother Charles was
much distinguished in the field, and lost his life in the royal cause; William,
the fourth Earl, inherited his family's attachment to the house of Stuart, but
when the conduct of James II. was such as brought the Protestant religion,
and the liberty of his subjects in the free exercise of it, in danger, he was
one of the first to project, and the most zealous to promote, the measures,
which happily ended in his abdication, and the peaceable accession of the
Prince of Orange to the throne of these realms. In 1694, he was created
Marquis of Hartington and Duke of Devonshire. This noble Duke and
his successors have held high offices in the state, and have been successively
Lord-Lieutenants of this county. William, the third Duke, who, in addition to other high offices which he bore, had been Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, spent the latter part of his life in retirement at Chatsworth, and died
there in 1755. Chatsworth is now the property and chief country residence
of his great-grandson, William Spencer, the sixth Duke and ninth Earl of
Devonshire of this noble family.
The Leches had a respectable mansion at Chatsworth, with a park. Sir
William Cavendish, soon after his purchase of the estate, pulled down the old
hall, and began the building of, what Camden calls, a spacious elegant house,
which was left unfinished at his death, and completed by his widow. This
mansion, which appears to have been a quadrangular building, with turrets,
was the occasional residence of Sir William Cavendish's widow, during her
union with her fourth husband, George Earl of Shrewsbury. This Earl having
been entrusted with the custody of Mary Queen of Scots, Chatsworth-hall
acquired a more than common interest, as having been one of the prisons of
that unfortunate Princess. She appears to have been resident at Chatsworth
for some months in 1570, having been removed thither from Winfield-Manor.
In the month of October this year, Lord Burleigh (then Sir William Cecil)
and Sir Walter Mildmay, being then engaged in the preliminaries of a negotiation between Queen Elizabeth and her royal Prisoner, remained for
twenty days at Chatsworth. (fn. 14) Sir William Cecil, writing to the Earl after
his return to Court, thanks him for " his chargeable and lovyng interteynment of them." In this letter, he says, "the Q's Maty is pleased yt your L.
shall, when yow see tymes mete, suffer yt Quene to take ye ayre about your
howss on horsebacke, so your L. be in co[m]pany; and not to pass fro[m] your
howss above one or twoo myle except it be on ye moores." (fn. 15) Soon after this
the Queen of Scots was removed to Sheffield Castle, which was her chief
residence during the ensuing fourteen years, indeed, we believe her only
residence, except a few removes to Chatsworth and Buxton. It appears
that she was at Chatsworth in 1573, 1577, 1578, and in 1581. (fn. 16) In 1577,
Lord Burleigh observes to the Earl, that he thought Chatsworth " a very
mete hows for good preservation of his charge, having no town of resort
wher any ambushes might lye." (fn. 17) It appears that the royal Prisoner was
never removed from one house to another, without the Queen's express permission: (fn. 18) in 1580, though it was much urged by the Earl and his friends,
the Queen refused to permit him to go with his charge to Chatsworth,
because his daughter-in-law, Lady Talbot, " was so near lying in childbed," and she would not suffer any of his children to be with him " wher this
Quene (fn. 19) was." In 1577, the Queen wrote with her own hand, to thank the
Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury for their hospitable entertainment of her
favourite minister, the Earl of Leicester, at Chatsworth. (fn. 20)
Chatsworth old hall acquired additional interest, in an historical point of
view, from having been occupied as a fortress in the civil wars, both on the
side of the King and of the Parliament: it Was garrisoned for the latter by
Sir John Gell's forces, in 1643. After the Earl of Newcastle had taken Winfield manor, he possessed himself of Chatsworth-hall in the month of December of the same year, and placed a garrison in it for the King, under the command of Colonel Eyre. In the month of September, 1645, the governor of
Welbeck put a fresh garrison into Chatsworth, with three hundred horse, under
the command of Colonel Shalcross. About this time, Major Molanus was sent
against it with four hundred foot, who besieged it fourteen days, when they
received orders from Colonel Gell to raise the siege and return to Derby.
Dr. Kennet in his memoirs of the family of Cavendish, after relating the
circumstance of the first Duke (then Earl) of Devonshire having been prosecuted in the court of King's-Bench, and fined 30,000l., for striking
Colonel Culpepper in the King's presence chamber, adds, " it was under
this load of difficulties that he first projected the new glorious pile of Chatsworth, as if his mind rose upon the depression of his fortune. For he now
contracted with workmen to pull down the south side of that good old seat,
and to rebuild it on a plan he gave to them, for a front to his gardens, so fair
and august, that it looked like a model only of what might be done in after
ages. When he had finished this part he meant to go no further; till seeing public affairs in a happier settlement, for a testimony of ease and joy,
he undertook the east side of the quadrangle, and raised it entirely new, in
conformity to the south, and seemed then content to say, that he had gone
half way through and would leave the rest for his heir. In this resolution
he stopped about seven years, and then reassumed courage, and began to
lay the foundations for two other sides to complete the noble square, and
these last, as far as uniformity admits, do exceed the others, by a west
front of most excellent strength and elegance, and a capital on the north
side, that is of singular ornament and service. And though such a vast
pile (of materials entirely new) required a prodigious expence, yet the
building was his least charge, if regard be had to his gardens, water-works,
statues, pictures, and other the finest pieces of art and of nature that could
be obtained abroad or at home."
Dr. Kennet's account of the building of Chatsworth is confirmed, in most
points, by the auditor's account, and a book of the artists' and tradesmen's
receipts, of which we have obtained the perusal, through the permission of his
Grace the Duke of Devonshire. It appears that the south front of the
present magnificent mansion was begun to be rebuilt on the 12th of April,
1687, under the direction of Mr. William Talman, the architect: the
great hall and staircase were covered in about the middle of April, 1690,
from which it appears, that the inner flank of the east side was built up immediately after the south front. In the month of May, 1692, the works were
surveyed by Sir Christopher Wren, at which time upwards of 9000l. appears
to have been expended. In 1693, Mr. Talman was paid 600l. in advance,
for building the east front and the north-east corner. The east front appears to have been finished in 1700, and in that year the old west front was
pulled down. The old south gallery was pulled down to be immediately
rebuilt, in 1703. In 1704, the north front was pulled down, the west front
was finished in 1706, and the whole of the building not long afterwards
completed; being about twenty years from the time of its commencement,
during which, however, it does not appear that the works were, as Dr.
Kennet supposed, ever wholly suspended,
The artists employed in this magnificent mansion, were the architect,
William Talman: painters, Laguerre and Ricard (fn. 21) , engaged in Jan. 1689;
Monsieur Huyd (fn. 22) , in March, 1690; Anthony Verrio (fn. 23) , in Nov. 1690; Mr.
Highmore (fn. 24) and Price (fn. 25) : carvers in stone, Caius Gabriel Cibber (fn. 26) , engaged in
1687; J.T.Geeraertsleus (fn. 27) , who assisted Cibber; Augustine Harris (fn. 28) , engaged
in 1688; Mr.Nost, (fn. 29) , engaged in 1694; Mr. Davies (fn. 30) in 1696; and Mr. (fn. 31) Auriol,
in 1697.
Mr. Thomas Young was engaged as the principal carver in wood (fn. 32) , in Ja
nuary, 1689. In 1691, Joel Lobb was employed in conjunction with
Young. In September, 1692, Lobb, William Davis, and Samuel Watson, contracted on behalf of Young, with whom Lobb appears to have been then in
partnership, each of them to do a third part, for carving the ornaments for the
great chamber (fn. 33) , in limetree, for 400l. It appears that this was not finished
in August, 1694. Mr. B. Lanscroon was employed as a carver, in March,
1696: in September that year he was paid 42l. for carving the festoons in the
gallery. (fn. 34) In July, 1697, Watson was employed on the capitals and pilasters
of the gallery. In September, 1698, he was paid, for carving the ornaments
of the gallery and the gallery-chimney, 33l. Watson carved most of the ornaments in stone on the outside of the west front; in 1711 he was employed on
the library cornice, and making mask heads in alabaster for the lower dining,
room, &c. Monsieur Nedauld (fn. 35) executed the ornaments of the great frieze
for that front.
There is nothing to confirm the tradition that the apartments occupied
by Mary Queen of Scots were preserved when the house was rebuilt; on
the contrary, it appears the whole of the south and east fronts was then
taken down. There is no doubt, however, that the rooms which now bear
the name of the royal prisoner occupy the site of those which she inhabited;
and that what is called her bed-room is furnished with the same bed and
tapestry.
Chatsworth-hall forms nearly a square, containing a court on the inside,
in the middle of which is a fountain, and a colonnade on the north and south
sides. The south front is 190 feet in length, enriched with pilasters of the
Ionic order, resting on a rustic base; the whole surmounted with a ballustrade.. The west front is 172 feet in length, with similar enrichments, and
also a pediment supported by half columns of the same order. Elevations
of these two fronts are engraved in the first volume of Campbell's Vitruvius Britannicus (fn. 36) ; and also plans of the three stones of the house. (fn. 37) In
the Nouveau Theatre de la Grand Bretagne, published in 1708, is a view
of Chatsworth-house (fn. 38) , shewing the several parterres, gardens, &c. as originally laid out.
Over the colonnade, on the north side of the quadrangle, is a gallery
nearly 100 feet long, in which have lately been hung up a numerous and
valuable collection of drawings, by the old masters. The dancing gallery,
90 feet by 22, has lately been fitted up by the present Duke for a library;
and a great number of books (fn. 39) , from his Grace's extensive and valuable
collection at Devonshire-house, have been already removed thither.
The old gardens, which were laid out by George London, were begun
in 1688: the grand parterre at the south front was contracted for in June,
1694, by London and Wise. (fn. 40)
The water-works, which were constructed under the direction of Monsieur Grillet, a French artist, were begun in 1690, when the pipe for the
great fountain was laid down. They were executed by Mr. Cock, a
plumber from London, who made the artificial tree in 1693. These water-works being still kept up, exhibit almost an unique specimen of what seems
then to have been considered as a necessary appendage to a noble mansion;
and they are on a scale commensurate to the magnificence of the building.
Those at Bretby, which were on a smaller scale, have been many years
destroyed. The great fountain at Chatsworth throws the water 90 feet in
height j another throws it to the height of 60 feet.
Dr. Kennet relates of the celebrated Marshal Tallard, who was taken
on the plains of Hochstedt, near Blenheim, by the Duke of Marlborough,
in 1704, and remained seven years a prisoner in this county, that having
been invited by the Duke of Devonshire to Chatsworth, and nobly entertained by him for several days, he was said to have parted from him
with this compliment — " My Lord, when I come hereafter to compute the
time of my captivity in England, I shall leave out the days of my enjoyment at Chatsworth."
On the 3d of September, 1768, the King of Denmark dined at Chatsworth, having been on a tour to the north of England. Chatsworth has
been very recently honoured with a royal visit in the person of the Grand
Duke Nicholas of Russia, brother to the Emperor, who was splendidly
entertained by the present Duke, on the 8th and 9th of December, 1816.
Chatsworth-house stands near the foot of a steep hill, finely covered with
wood, and at a small distance above the Derwent, which runs through the
park in a rich and well-wooded valley, bounded by the Peak mountains.
On the point of the hill, behind the house, is a tower, about 90 feet high,
called the Hunting-Tower; another ancient tower, within a moat near the
river, is called the Bower of Mary Queen of Scots, and is said to have
been her favourite place of retirement whilst she remained at Chatsworth.
Edlaston
EDLASTON, in the hundred of Appletree, and in the deanery of Ashborne,
lies about three miles south of Ashborne. The hamlet or village of
Wyaston is in this parish.
The manor of Edlaston was given to the prior and convent of Tutbury,
by Robert Earl Ferrars, son of the founder. (fn. 41) After the reformation, it was
granted by King Henry VIII., in or about 1543, to William Lord Paget,
who the next year conveyed it to Sir Edward Aston, Knt. This Sir Edward, or a son of the same name, died seised of it in 1596. At a later
period it belonged to the Eyres of Hassop, and was sold by Rowland Eyre,
Esq., to Mr. Daniel Morley, of Ashborne, of whose devisee in trust it was
purchased by the ancestor of the Rev. Thomas Gisborne, of Yoxall, in Staffordshire.
The church is a rectory in the patronage of the Dean of Lincoln.
Egginton
EGGINTON, in the hundred of Morleston and Litchurch, and in the deanery of Castillar, lies about seven miles south-west from Derby, near the
road to Burton-on-Trent, from which it is about four miles distant.
In the month of March, 1644, there was a battle on Egginton-heath,
between the royalists and Sir John Gell's forces, commanded by Major
Molanus and Captain Rodes. The Royalists are said to have been defeated,
and to have been driven across the Trent. (fn. 42)
The manor of Egginton (Eghintune), which had belonged to Tochi in
the reign of Edward the Confessor, is stated in the Survey of Domesday
to have been held, at the time of the survey, by Azelin, under Geoffry
Alselin. This manor, or a moiety of it, was held under the Bardolfs (fn. 43) , descendants of the above-mentioned Geoffry, by Ralph Fitz-Germund, whose
son William Fitz-Ralph, Seneschall of Normandy, and founder of Dale-Abbey, gave it to William de Grendon, his nephew, in exchange for Stanley,
near Dale-Abbey, which he had first given him. Ermitrude Talbot gave
to Robert, son of Robert Fitz-Walkelin, in free marriage with Margaret
her daughter, all her lands in Egginton which she had of the gift of William de Grendon, her husband, Margaret, elder daughter and coheir of
this Robert married Sir John Chandos; upon the death of whose descendant, Sir John Chandos, the celebrated warrior, in 1370, a moiety of
the manor of Egginton passed to his niece Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John
Lawton, and wife of Sir Peter De la Pole, who was one of the Knights of
the Shire in 1400. This moiety is now the property of Edward Sacheverell
Chandos Pole, Esq., of Radborne. Ermitrude, the other coheiress of Fitz-Walkelin, married Sir William de Stafford, whose son Robert left five
daughters coheiresses; in consequence of which this moiety became divided
into several shares. These having been re-united by purchases, were vested
in the family of Lathbury. A coheiress of Lathbury brought this moiety
to Robert Leigh of Whittield, in the parish of Glossop, descended from the
Leighs of Adlington, in Cheshire. On the death of Sir Henry Leigh of
Egginton, in the reign of James I., this estate passed to his daughter and
coheir Anne, married to Simon Every, Esq., of Chard, in Somersetshire,
who was created a Baronet in 1641. It is now the property, and Eggintonhall the seat, of his descendant, Sir Henry Every, Bart. The greater part
of Egginton-hall was destroyed by fire in the year 1736, and soon afterwards
rebuilt: the late Sir Edward Every made considerable additions to it.
The manor of Hargate, formerly called Heath-house, is supposed to
have been a portion of the original manor, not granted by William Fitz-Ralph
to his nephew William de Grendon: it was afterwards successively the property of the Frechevilles and the Babingtons of Dethick. It was purchased
of the latter by the Leighs, and has since been annexed to their moiety of
the manor of Egginton, being now the property of Sir Henry Every.
In the parish church are several memorials for the family of (fn. 44) Every.
The rectory is in the alternate patronage of Mr. Pole and Sir Henry
Every.
Elmton
ELMTON, in the hundred of Scarsdale and deanery of Chesterfield, lies
about three miles from Bolsover, and seven from Chesterfield, which is the
post-town. Part of the hamlet of Cresswell is in this parish.
The manor of Elmton belonged to Walter Deincourt when the Survey
of Domesday was taken; and it continued in that family till the death of
William Lord Deincourt, in 1422. Ralph Lord Cromwell, who married
one of his sisters and coheirs died seised of this manor in 1454; his sister
and heir brought it to Sir William Lovell. On the attainder of Francis
Lord Lovell, in 1485, it was granted to Sir John Savage. Sir Francis
Rodes became possessed of this manor in the reign of Queen Elizabeth;
and it is now the property of his descendant Cornelius Healthcote Rodes,
Esq., of Barlborough.
The church of Elmton was given to the priory of Thurgarton in Nottinghamshire, by Ralph Deincourt, the founder. Mr. Rodes has the impropriation, and is patron of the vicarage.
Elmton was the birth-place of the celebrated Jedidiah Buxton, a daylabourer (fn. 45) ; who, with the most uncultivated understanding, possessed very
wonderful powers of calculation, and a singularly retentive memory, aided
by which alone, he solved the most difficult problems, in the midst of laborious employments and in the most numerous assemblies. Many specimens
of Buxton's extraordinary arithmetical performances are to be found in the.
Gentleman's Magazine for 1751, 1753, and 1754. Among other instances,
we are told that he measured most accurately the extensive manor of
Elmton by striding over the land, and brought Sir John Rodes the contents,
not only in acres, roods, and perches, but in square inches; and afterwards,
for his own amusement, reduced them into square hairs' breadths. (fn. 46) Jedediah Buxton was born on the 20th of March, 1707; and buried in the
church-yard of this his native place, March 5, 1772. There is an engraved
portrait of him, taken from a drawing made by Miss Hartley in 1764.
The manor of Cresswell, partly in this parish and partly in Whitwell,
belonged formerly to the Deincourts: it is now the property of his Grace
the Duke of Portland.
Elvaston
ELVASTON, in the hundred of Morleston and Litchurch, and in the
deanery of Derby, lies about five miles south from Derby. The hamlets
or villages of Ambaston and Thurlston are in this parish.
The manors of Ælvoldestun (Elvaston), Emboldestune (Ambaston), and
Torulfestune (Thurlston), which had belonged in the reign of Edward the
Confessor to Tochi, were held, when the Survey of Domesday was taken,
by Geoffry Alselin. This Geoffry was ancestor of the Baronial family of
Hanselyn whose heiress brought this manor and the rest of the barony to
the Bardolfs. It afterward belonged to the family of Blount Lord Mountjoy; and at a later period to the Stanhopes. (fn. 47) It was one of the seats of
Sir John Stanhope (father of the first Earl of Chesterfield), who died in
1610, having settled the Elvaston estate on Sir John Stanhope, his eldest
son by his second wife. Thomas Stanhope, Esq., of Elvaston, grandson of
Sir John Stanhope the younger, had three sons: William, the youngest,
who succeeded to the estate on the death of his elder brothers, having been
employed in many important negotiations with foreign courts, was created
a Peer in 1729, by the title of Baron Harrington. He afterwards twice
filled the office of one of the principal Secretaries of State, and was, in
1742, created Viscount Petersham and Earl of Harrington. Elvaston is
now the property of Charles Earl of Harrington, his grandson.
Elvaston-hall, then the seat of the Lady Stanhope, is said to have been
plundered in the month of January, 1643, by Sir John Gell's soldiers, who
demolished a costly monument newly made for Sir John Stanhope, and committed great outrages in the family vault. (fn. 48) Mrs. Hutchinson speaks of this
as the act of Sir John Gell himself, and attributes it to personal enmity
against the deceased. This outrage, according to Mrs. Hutchinson, seems
to have led to the singular event, of Sir John Gell's marrying the (fn. 49) widow.
Eivaston-hall is now rebuilding in the Gothic style, under the direction of
Mr. Richard Walker.
In the parish church is the monument of Sir John Stanhope, who died in
1610, with the effigies of the deceased (in armour) and that of his lady. Bassano, who took notes of the monuments in Elvaston church, in 1710, speaks
of an unfinished monument of the late Sir John Stanhope, in an apartment
18 feet by 9, paved with black and white marble, attached to the north
side of the church. He speaks of the monument of Sir John Stanhope the
elder (fn. 50) , as having been considerably injured in the civil war. The monument of Sir John Stanhope, the younger, was restored or completed by
Charles Stanhope, Esq., in 1731. Walter Blount, Lord Mountjoy, by his
will bearing date 1474, gave directions that the parish church at Aylwaston
should be completed by his executors, and that a tomb should be erected
over the remains of Ellen his wife. (fn. 51)
The church of Elvaston which had been given to the priory of Shelford in
Nottinghamshire, most probably by its founder, Ralph Hanselyn, was
granted to Sir Michael Stanhope in 1539. The Earl of Harrington is impropriator and patron of the vicarage. The inhabitants of Elvaston and
Ockbrook were formerly obliged to brew, annually, certain church ales, at
which they were all required to be present, and to contribute small payments which were applied to the repairs of the church of Elvaston. (fn. 52)
At Thurlston is a good house the property and residence of Samuel
Fox, Esq.
Etwall
ETWALL, in the hundred of Appletree and Deanery of Castillar, lies
about six miles west from Derby, on the road to Uttoxeter.
The parish contains the townships of Etwall and Burnaston. The
manor of Etwall was held under Henry de Ferrars, at the time of taking
the Domesday Survey, by Saswallo, ancestor of the Shirley family. In
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, it was in the family of Riboef.
In the year 1370: Sir William Finchenden and others, as trustees, probably conveyed it to the priory of Bellovalle or Beauval, in Nottinghamshire. (fn. 53) King Henry VIII., in the year 1540, granted the manor of Etwall,
together with the impropriate rectory, and advowson of the vicarage, (which
had been given to Welbeck-abbey, in the reign of King Stephen,) to Sir
John Port, Knt. one of the Justices of the Kings-bench. (fn. 54) The elder
daughter and coheiress of his son, Sir John Port the younger, brought
Etwall to Sir Thomas Gerard, whose great-grandson, Sir William Gerard,
Bart., sold this estate, in 1641, to Sir Edward Moseley, Bart, of whom it
was purchased, in 1646, by Sir Samuel Sleigh. Mary, only daughter of
Sir Samuel, by his third wife, married Rowland Cotton, Esq., of Bellaport in Shropshire. The manor, rectory, and advowson, are now vested in
the committee of his grandson, William Cotton, Esq., a lunatic, who resides
at Etwall-hall.
In the parish church is the tomb of Henry Porte, Esq., 1512, and Elizabeth his wife, with the figures, on brass, of the wife and seventeen children.
There are the monuments also of Janet Cunliffe, 1712; James Chethan,
S.T.P. master of the Hospital, vicar of Etwall, canon and chancellor
of Lichfield (fn. 55) , 1740; Dorothy, relict of Sir John Every, Bart., 1749; and
Joseph Green, Esq. (fn. 56) , 1810.
The church at Etwall received great damage from a violent tempest
which happened on the 20th of June, 1545, and is mentioned in Stowe's
Chronicle. A curious account of this tempest, copied from a letter lately
discovered among the records in the Tower, is inserted in the note. (fn. 57)
The hospital at Etwall was founded by Sir John Porte in the year
1556, for six poor persons. It appears, by an inscription on the front,
that the hospital having fallen to decay, was rebuilt in the year 1681; and
at the same time the number of almsmen was doubled, and the salaries increased, in consequence of the improvement of the estates left for the support of this hospital and the school at Repton. The masters of the hospital
and school, the ushers, and the three senior poor men, are a body corporate.
The present revenue of the estate is about 2500l. per annum. The master's
salary is 200l. per annum. The almsmen, who are now sixteen in number,
receive 20l. 16s. per annum each (8s. a week): they have dark-blue cloth
gowns once, in two years; and an allowance of 3l. per annum each for coals.
The six seniors have perquisites in addition to their pensions, which amount
to about 81. or 9l. per annum. A nurse, who lives in the hospital, washes
and cooks for them, and gives other necessary attendance. She receives
the same pay as the almsmen, and is allowed 61. 6s. per annum for coals.
A surgeon is allowed 12l. 12s. per annum for medical assistance. The
houses are whitewashed every year, and kept in excellent repair. The
affairs of the hospital and school are under the direction of three hereditary
governors, descended from the coheiresses of the founder. The present
governors are, the Marquis of Hastings, the Earl of Chesterfield, and Sir
William Gerard, Bart.
There is a small school at Etwall, endowed with 5l. per annum, by Rowland Cotton, Esq., or Mary his wife, the coheiress of Sleigh.
The manors of Barrowcote (Berewardescote), and Burnaston (Burnulfestun) were held by one Henry, under Henry de Ferrars, when the Survey
of Domesday was taken. In the year 1290 Roger, son of Walter de Chambreis was Lord of Barrowcote and Burnaston; in 1297 William de Henore
held both these places under the Earl of Lancaster; and in a roll of
Knights' fees (fn. 58) , made about the year 1370, they are stated to have been
then held by John Bakepuz, for one knight's fee. Soon afterwards (temp.
Hen. IV.) the Bonnington family possessed both these manors. Ralph
Bonnington, Esq. sold Barrowcote, in 1672, to William Turner, of Derby,
Gent. Mr. Exuperius Turner sold it to Robert Newton, Esq., who died
in 1789, having bequeathed this and other estates to John Leaper, Esq.,
who has taken the name of Newton, and is the present proprietor. Burnaston became the property of Sir Samuel Sleigh, by purchase probably
from the Bonningtons. It was inherited by his grandson, Samuel Chetham,
Esq.; devolved afterwards to the Cottons, (descended from a coheiress of
Sleigh,) and is now vested in the committee of William Cotton, Esq.
Eyam
EYAM, in the hundred and deanery of High-Peak, lies about five miles
from Tideswell, seven from Bakewell, and eleven from Chesterfield. The
parish contains the townships of Eyam and Foolow, and the villages of
Bretton, Hazleford, and part of Grindleford-bridge. The manor of Eyam
(Aiune) was parcel of the ancient demesne of the crown; and having been
granted by King Henry I., with his other manors in the Peak, to William
Peverel, was held under him by an ancestor of the Morteynes. Roger
de Morteyne sold it, about or after the year 1307 (fn. 59) , to Thomas de Furnivall,
lord of Hallumshire. A coheiress of Furnivall brought this manor to
Nevill; and a coheiress of Nevill, to John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury.
The Countess of Pembroke became possessed of it as one of the coheiresses of Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury, who died in 1616: from her it
passed to her grandson, Sir George Saville. One of the coheiresses of Saville,
Marquis of Halifax, brought it to Boyle, Earl of Burlington. It is now,
in consequence of a decision of the Court of King's Bench, in 1781, upon
the wills of the Countess of Burlington and William Duke of Devonshire,
the property of the Right Honourable Lord George Henry Cavendish.
A branch of the ancient family of Stafford had an estate in Eyam, and
resided there as early as the beginning of Henry III.'s reign. The last heir
male of this branch died in the reign of Henry VIII., leaving four daughters, married to Savage, Eyre, Morewood, and Bradshaw, between whom
the estate was divided. Bradshaw's share still belongs to a lineal descendant in the female line, Eaglesfield Smith, Esq., of Ecclesfeccan, in
Scotland. Morewood's share has lately been sold by Mrs. Morewood, of
Alfreton.
In the parish church of Eyam are memorials for the family of Middleton,
of Learn. (fn. 60) In Bassano's volume of Church Notes mention is made of the
monument of John Wright, Gent., 1693. The Earl of Thanet, the Duke
of Devonshire, and the Marquis of Buckingham are joint patrons of the
rectory, and present alternately. In the church-yard is a curious ancient
cross of stone, already noticed.
In the month of September, 1665, this village was visited with that
dreadful calamity the plague (fn. 61) , which swept away four-fifths of its inhabitants. It appears by the parish register, that 260 persons fell victims to
this fatal disease, 78 of whom died in the month of August 1666. (fn. 62) Four or
five persons were sometimes buried in one day. The average yearly number
of burials, for ten years preceding this calamity, was 22. In one of Miss
Seward's letters is a very interesting account of the conduct of Mr. Mompesson, the worthy Rector, who, in spite of all intreaty remained at his
post, daily visiting and praying with the sick; and to avoid spreading the
infection, performed divine service and preached twice a week to his
parishioners in the open air from a rock, which the inhabitants still call
Lucklet-church. In the church-yard is a monument for his wife, who in
her 27th year fell a victim to the disease when it was raging at its greatest
height, in the month of August. In the second volume of Anecdotes published by William Seward, Esq., are some interesting letters of Mr.
Mompesson's.
Thomas Seward, Rector of Eyam, who died in 1790, wrote some poems,
printed in Dodsley's Collections, and published an edition of Beaumont and
Fletcher's Plays, and a treatise on the conformity between the Pagan and
the Romish church. His daughter Anne, well known by her poems (fn. 63) , her
life of Dr. Darwin, and letters published since her death, which happened
in 1809, was born at Eyam, in the year 1742. (fn. 64)
The Honourable and Reverend Edward Finch, D.D., in 1737, gave the
sum of 100l. for teaching five children of Eyam, and five belonging to the
out hamlets. With this money, and 15l. given by some person or persons
now unknown, was purchased land, now let at 4l. per annum. Mr. Thomas
Middleton, in 1745, gave a rent-charge of 5l. per annum for teaching ten
poor children of Eyam to read and write. In 1795, the sum of 120l. was
raised by the Reverend Charles Hargrave, the present rector, and others,
with which a house and garden was bought, and a school-room built.