Wingfield Manor - History

History

Wingfield Manor was built around 1450 for Ralph de Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell, then Chancellor of England, on the site of a 12th century castle and was bought by the second Earl of Shrewsbury. The design was the inspiration for Hampton Court Palace in London.

The sixth Earl of Shrewsbury was entrusted with the care of Mary, Queen of Scots, when she was detained from 1569 onwards, in his various houses around Derbyshire, Wingfield among them. It may have been here that she met Anthony Babington, whose family lived at Dethick nearby, who organised the abortive Babington Plot, a Recusant Catholic plot against Elizabeth I. The walnut tree in the north courtyard is reputed to have grown from a seed left when Anthony Babington smeared walnut juice over his face to disguise himself and enter the castle to see Mary, Queen of Scots. Unfortunately, the tree is not old enough for this story to be true.

At the time of the English Civil War (1642–48), the manor was in the hands of the Earl of Shrewsbury, a Parliament supporter. The Manor was taken by the Royalists in 1643 and then, after a siege, retaken by Parliament in 1644. It was located in what was then a strategic position near a main north-south artery of the country. It was partially demolished at the end of the Civil War, and then renovated some years later for Immanuel Halton, an astronomer. It was later further damaged when stone was taken for building Wingfield Hall, in the valley below.

The remains include a usable tower, part of a greater tower that included, before the English Civil War, one of the earliest flushing systems in England. A cistern of water, positioned at the top of the tower, was emptied through the toilet area into the moat. The remains of the great hall, once one of the largest in the country, contains an oriel window, where coloured glass would once shine through and illuminate the high table. The undercroft below the great hall was used for the storage of wine, beer and food, and had stairs on each corner going up to the great hall. The kitchens were connected to the great hall by a passageway. The remains of two bread ovens can be seen, along with two large fireplaces. Along the curtain walls and on the towers can still be seen the damage caused by cannonballs. One in particular on the north wall, shows by its shape, the direction of fire, indicating the direction of the cannons used in the 1644 siege, four 32 pounders, borrowed for the occasion. Initially these cannon were positioned on the hill to the east, the site of an old Roman fort, but the distance was too great and the only damage incurred was to a half moon battery outside the main gate, which is overgrown but still visible. There is also a great stone barn, notable for the internal timbering; and the gate above the entrance to the north court contains a carved representation of moneybags, the symbol of the exchequer, Lord Cromwell.