Duffield Frith - Duchy of Lancaster

Duchy of Lancaster

There were four wards: Duffield, Belper, Hulland and Colebrook. Within these were a number of enclosed parks for the keeping of buck and doe (in contrast with the much larger ward of Campana in the Forest of High Peak which was intended for hart and hind.)

There were seven of these parks within the Frith, listed by Henry Earl of Lancaster) in 1330 as : Ravensdale, Mansell, Schethull (Shottle), Postern, Bureper (Belper), Morley, and Schymynde-cliffe, (Shining Cliff). There was another park, Champain, on the southern border on what is now Cumberhills, south of Duffield, near Champion Farm.

The records of the Duchy of Lancaster have many references to Duffield Frith, including, in 1314, a great larder at Belper, where the venison of the deer was salted down for winter use, and a large cow-house stood in the lower part of Shottle (Cowhouse Lane, listed by the Post Office as "Cowers Lane").

It was a valuable source of timber. Orders are recorded, in 1375 for the delivery of oaks to the Carmelite Friars of Nottingham, the Dominican Friars of Derby, and the Abbott of Darley for building purposes. In September, 1405, King Henry IV ordered the chief forester to supply twelve timber oaks towards the repair of Duffield church, and in 1411 to deliver to the tenants of Duffield enough wood for shoring Duffield Bridge (near the present Bridge Inn) while it was rebuilt - using, no doubt, stone from the ruins of the castle. Henry VIII decreed that certain crops should be grown such as flax in modern-day Flaxholme.

It should be remembered that, although referred to as forests, these areas were not necessarily woodland overall. However, in any case, no special measures were taken to conserve timber. By the Sixteenth century the forest laws had been relaxed and much of the land was considered as common. A shift had occurred from arable farming to livestock production and it was more profitable to rent the forest for grazing, without protecting the growing shoots of young trees. Meanwhile, the use of timber increased, particularly for iron and lead smelting which increased significantly from the Thirteenth century.