Duffield Frith - Common Land

Common Land

Duffield Frith continued to be in the hands of the Crown until the time of Charles I. It had been reduced considerably in size, and in the reign of Elizabeth I it is said to have been thirty miles in circumference.

In 1581 a commission investigated ways in which extra royal revenues might be gained. By then Shining Cliff and the manor of Alderwasley had been transferred to the Lowe family, leaving the three wards of Duffield, Belper and Hulland. It reported that the game had virtually disappeared and much of the area was held in common by tenants and copyholders who would suffer if the woods were enclosed. They suggested developing the facilities for smelting the ores and a charge on lead similar to that levied in Wirksworth.

By this time the forest had been almost completely denuded. One effect of this was a move towards the use of coal. Water power was already used for grinding corn and wool fulling. It found increasing use for mechanising the various forms of mineral processing. In 1556, one of the earliest ore-stamping mills was built at Hulland Ward by Burchard Kranich, who, two years earlier, had built the first Smeltmill for extracting lead from its ore at Makeney.

Matters were left in abeyance until 1633, when the Frith ceased to be a royal forest. The Duchy of Lancaster assigned one third of Belper and Hulland to the Crown and rented to Sir Edward Sydenham. The remainder was divided and enclosed and passed to the commoners. When it came to Duffield Ward, however, the majority of the commoners opposed the proposal. Nevertheless, the Duchy council went ahead and selected the best areas for the Crown, particularly those that were rich in coal. Moreover the areas assigned to the commoners were only granted to those who had previously agreed to the scheme.

This culminated in 1643 in the inhabitants forcibly throwing open all the enclosures in Duffield - or Chevin Ward, including Shottle Park. The commoners were about to seek a judicial review when the Civil War began, and all this part of the old forest so seized remained common until 1786, when 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) were enclosed by Act of George III.