Ilkeston

ILKESTON, in the hundred of Morleston and Litchurch and in the deanery of Derby is a small market-town on the borders of Nottinghamshire, nine miles from Derby, eight from Nottingham, and one hundred and twentyeight from London. The market was granted, in 1251, to Hugh de Cantelupe (fn. 1) , to be held on Thursdays, with a fair for two days at the festival of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The market has not been wholly discontinued; it is still held occasionally on Thursdays, for fruit and vegetables. There are two cattle fairs, on the sixth of March and Thursday in Whitsun-week.

The hamlets or villages of Cotman-hay and Little-Hallam are in this parish.

The manor of Ilkeston (Tilchestune) was, when the Survey of Domesday was taken, held by one Malger, under Gilbert de Gand, nephew to William the Conqueror. This Gilbert, in the reign of Henry I. gave the manor of Ilkeston to his steward, Sir Robert de Muskam. After four descents the heiress of Muskam married Sir Ralph de Greseley, of Greseley in Nottinghamshire. Eustachia, the daughter of Sir Ralph, and eventually sole heiress of her brother Hugh, married Nicholas Cantelupe, whose grandson of the same name, died seised of it in 1355. (fn. 2) Millecent, one of the coheiresses of William Lord Cantelupe brought it to the baronial family of Zouch of Harringworth. On the attainder of John Lord Zouch, as a partizan of Richard III., King Henry VII. granted it, in 1485, to Sir John Savage, of whose descendant, Sir Thomas Savage, it was purchased in 1608, by Sir John Manners, ancestor of his Grace the Duke of Rutland, who is the present proprietor.

The Cantilupe family had two parks in Ilkeston in 1330. (fn. 3)

In the parish church is the monument of a crusader (one of the Cantilupe family,) and some memorials of the family of Flamsteed. (fn. 4) Bassano's volume of Church Notes describes some mutilated ancient tombs of eccle siastics and others; and memorials of the family of Gregg. (fn. 5)

The Church was appropriated to the abbey of Dale in 1385 (fn. 6) , having been given most probably by the Cantilupe family. The Duke of Rutland is now impropriator and patron of the vicarage.

There are meeting houses at Ilkeston for the Unitarians, Independents, General Baptists, Particular Baptists, and Wesleyan Methodists.

Mr. Richard Smedley, in 1744, founded almshouses at this place for six poor persons (fn. 7) , and endowed them with pensions of five pounds per annum each. Mr. Smedley gave also 10l. per annum (fn. 8) for the education of forty poor children.

Kirk-Ireton

KIRK-IRETON, in the wapentake of Wirksworth and in the deanery of Ash borne, lies about seven miles from Ashborne and three from Wirksworth, which is the post-town. The village of Blackwall and the township of Ireton-wood, are in this parish.

The manor of Kirk-Ireton, was held under the King's brother in the reign of Edward I.: it has long been attached to the duchy manor of Wirksworth. The manor of Hollands in Wirksworth, belonging to Philip Gell, Esq., M. P., extends into this parish.

In the parish church are some memorials of the families of Catesby and Mellor. (fn. 9) The Dean of Lincoln is patron of the rectory.

Blackwall was the freehold property of a family who took their name from this the place of their residence, probably from an early period. They certainly were of Blackwall as early as the year 1500. It is now the property and residence of their descendant Mr. John Blackwall.

The Reverend John Slater and Mary his wife, in the year 1686, gave five closes at Kirk-Ireton to the parish, directing that 81. per annum should be given to a schoolmaster for instructing sixteen poor children in reading, writing and arithmetic, the remainder of the rent to be distributed half-yearly among the poorer inhabitants. The executors of John Bower gave the sum of 120l. for educating of poor children in 1744.

Certain lands in Kirk-Ireton and Callow, in the parish of Wirksworth, were inclosed by act of parliament in 1803.

Kedleston

KEDLESTON, in the hundred of Appletree and in the deanery of Derby, lies four miles north-west from Derby.

The manor of Kedleston (Chetelestune (fn. 10) ) was, at the time of taking the Domesday Survey, part of the large property of Henry de Ferrars: it was held under the Ferrars family by that of Curson or Curzon, as early as the reign of Henry I. This ancient family frequently represented the county of Derby in parliament. Sir John Curzon was created a Baronet in 1641. Sir Nathaniel Curzon the fifth baronet was, in 1760, created Baron Scarsdale of Kedleston, and was father of Nathaniel Lord Scarsdale, the present Lord of the manor of Kedleston.

Kedleston-hall, the noble mansion of Lord Scarsdale, and his chief residence, stands pleasantly situated in the midst of the park, occupying the site of a former mansion, which had not been built many years when Mr. William Wolley wrote his MS. history of Derbyshire in 1712, and which that writer describes as a very useful noble pile of building, of brick and stone, as good as most in the county. The present hall, which is the object of great attraction to travellers, was built from the designs of Adam, about the year 1765. The hall of this mansion is a singularly fine room, about 67 feet by 42, supported by twenty Corinthian columns, twenty-five feet in height, which were much improved in their effect a few years ago, by being fluted. They are made of veined alabaster from the quarries at Red-hill in Nottinghamshire belonging to Lord Curzon. There is a col lection of pictures at Kedleston-hall, by the old masters, among which a landscape by Cuyp and a large picture by Rembrandt, over the fire-place in the library, the subject of which is Daniel interpreting the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, have been most admired.

In the parish church which stands near the hall, are several monuments of the Curzon family; the more ancient have been already described. (fn. 11) In the south transept is the monument of Sir John Curzon, Bart., who died in 1686, aged 89: it is supported by Corinthian columns, and has half length effigies, front-faced, of Sir John in armour, and his lady, (Patience daughter of John Lord Crewe) who died in 1642; there are monuments also for Sir Nathaniel Curzon, Bart., 1719; Sir Nathaniel Curzon, Bart. (fn. 12) , 1758, (by Rysbrach;) and others. (fn. 13)

Lord Scarsdale is patron of the Rectory.

In the parish register is recorded, the burial of one of the Curzon family, " George Curzon," who " being an hundred and foure years old, was buryed March 25, 1652."

The manor of Little-Ireton was the property, and Ireton-hall the seat, of a younger branch of the Shirley family, who took the name of Ireton, and were ancestors of General Ireton, Cromwell's son-in-law. This manor, with the old seat of the Iretóns, belonged, about the middle of the seventeenth century, to Colonel Thomas Sanders (fn. 14) , whose son, Samuel Sanders, Esq., collected materials for a history of this county, as before mentioned. The Curzon family became possessed of Little-Ireton in 1721, by an exchange for lands at Middleton near Youlgrave. It is now the property of Lord Scarsdale. Little-Ireton.hall, formerly the residence of the Iretons, has been pulled down, and a farm-house built on the site.

Kniveton

KNIVETON, the Cheniveton of the Domesday Survey, lies three miles from Ashborne (fn. 15) , in the wapentake of Wirksworth and the deanery of Ashborne.

The manor was from a very early period the property, and Kniveton was the original residence, of the ancient family to which it gave name: this family spread into two branches, settled at Bradley and Mercaston: Kniveton, the original patrimony of the family, was sold by Sir Andrew Kniveton, Bart., in the reign of Charles II., to Lowe, from whom it passed to the Pegges. In the reign of Queen Anne, it was sold by Thomas Pegge, Esq., to Mrs. Meynell, of Bradley, and is now the property of her descendant Godfrey Meynell, Esq.

The rectory of Kniveton was anciently appropriated as parcel of Ash borne, (to which, in remote times, it was a chapel,) to the Deans of Lincoln, one of whom conveyed it to the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield. In 1548, the Dean and Chapter granted the rectory-house, glebe, tithes, &c. (reserv ing only the ecclesiastical jurisdiction), to Ralph Gell, Esq., of Hopton. In 1796, this estate was sold by the devisees, in trust, of the late Philip Gell, Esq., to Mr. Edmund Evans, of Derby, and others: the tithes have been since sold to the several land owners; Mr. Evans is patron of the perpetual curacy.

In the year 1715, Mr. John Hurd gave lands for the endowment of a school at Kniveton, which, in 1787, when the return of charitable donations was made to the House of Commons, were let at 9l. per annum, 81. of which were given to a master, and 15s. per annum for coals. We have not been able to ascertain the present income of this endowment.

Langley

LANGLEY, in the hundred of Morleston and Litchurch and in the deanery of Derby, lies about four miles from Derby, which is the post-town, and about nine miles from Ashborne. The village of Nether-Burrowes or Burroughs, is in this parish.

Langlei, or Church-Langley was, at the time of taking the DomesdaySurvey, one of the manors of Ralph Fitzhubert In the reign of Hen III., it belonged to Ralph Fitz-Nicholas, from whom it passed to the Pipards of Rotherfield Pipard, in Oxfordshire, who afterwards took the name of Twyford. This family possessed Kirk-Langley for several generations, and had a seat here (fn. 16) ; Thomas Twyford, Esq., a descendant of this family (fn. 17) , was buried in the Twyford aisle of Langley-Church in 1523; but we are not sure whether they continued to possess the manor so long. In the year 1553, it was in the Bassetts, then Lords of the manor of Langley-Meynell, and from that time the manors appear to have passed together: the estate at Kirk-Langley was separated from the manor and sold in severalties. Mr. Cornelius Brough possesses by much the larger share, and the old manor-house, which is inha bited by a farmer. E. S. C. Pole, Esq., and Mr. Sampson Copestake have also considerable shares.

The manor of Langley-Meynell took its name from an ancient family who possessed it as early as the reign of Edward III., from them it passed by successive female heirs to the families of Bassett and Cavendish. Wil liam Cavendish Duke of Newcastle sold it, in the year 1669, to Isaac Mey nell, citizen of London (fn. 18) : this Isaac left an only daughter and heir, whose second husband, Robert Cecil, a younger brother of Jamas Earl of Salis bury, sold Church-Langley and Langley-Meynell to Godfrey Meynell, Esq., of another branch of the family. Mr. Meynell, having no issue, bequeathed the Langiey estate to his cousins, Gilbert Cheshire, Isabella Parker, Catherine Cheshire, Godfrey, George, and Obadiah Hodgkinson, Dorothy Turner, Thomas Lord, and Catherine the wife of Joseph Lord. General Cheney, descended from the Cheshires, inherits, by bequest, the old manorhouse of Church-Langley, and four parts out of nine of the two manors; Mrs. Meynell, mother of Godfrey Meynell (fn. 19) , Esq., now of Langley-park, descended from the Wards, has three shares; Philip Gell, Esq., of Wirksworth, inherits one by bequest from Cheshire; and E. S. Chandos Pole, Esq., has the remaining share, which has passed by purchase.

The violent tempest already spoken of (fn. 20) , which happened in 1545, did much damage to Sir William Bassett's mansion as well as to his park and woods, and threw down a great part of the church.

In the parish church are several monuments of the family of Meynell (fn. 21) and Cant (fn. 22) ; the tomb of Alice, widow of Thomas Beresford, of Newton, 1511; and that of Henry Pole, Esq., patron of the church, who died in 1558. Bassano's volume of Church Notes describes the monument of Thomas Twyford, Esq., in the Twyford aisle, 1523.

Godfrey Meynell, Esq., who died, in 1758, possessed the advowson of the rectory, but sold it before his death: it is now the property of Godfrey Meynell, Esq., of Langley-park, whose father purchased it of the family of Cant.

A school-house was built at Langley, in the year 1750, by the joint contributions of the Reverend John Bailey, then Rector, the Meynell family, and others. (fn. 23) The school was endowed by Mr. Bailey with four acres of land, now let at 12l. per annum, and a rent-charge of 5l. for the education of ten children. The rectors of Langley, Brailsford, and Mugginton, are trustees.

Langwith

LANGWITH, commonly called OVER-LANGWITH, in the hundred of Scarsdale and deanery of Chesterfield, lies on the borders of Nottinghamshire, about three miles from Bolsover.

The manor acquired the name of Langwith-Bassett, from the family of Bassett, to whom it belonged, at least as early as the reign of Edward III (fn. 24) this manor, together with those of Houghton-Filley and Houghton-Bassett, partly in this parish, and partly in the parish of Pleasely, were conveyed by Lord Grey to the Vavasors in 1493; from the Vavasors, they passed to the Hardwicks before the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The heiress of Hardwick brought them to Sir William Cavendish, from whom they have descended to his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, the present proprietor.

The Bassett family had two parks in Langwith in 1330. (fn. 25)

In the parish church is the monument of Joseph Briggs, Esq., of Scarcliffe-lane, 1770. The advowson of the rectory belonged to Thurgarton priory, to which monastery it was given by Ralph Deincourt, the founder. (fn. 26)

The Duke of Devonshire is now patron of the rectory.

Longford

LONGFORD, in the hundred of Appletree and deanery of Castillar, lies about nine miles from Derby and about eight (fn. 27) from Ashborne, which is the post-town. The parish contains the townships of Longford, Alkmanton, Hungry-Bently, Hollington, and Rodsley; and the village of Upper-Thurvaston.

The manor of Longford belonged, at an early period, to the ancient family which took its name from that place, and continued to possess it for at least fourteen generations. The ancestor of the family, Oliver Fitz-nigel (fn. 28) , acquired Longford and Malmerton in marriage with the coheiress of Fitz-Ercald, in the reign of Richard I. (fn. 29) Sir Nicholas Longford, the last heir male of this ancient family, which had at various times represented the county in parliament, died in 1610, and his widow in 1620. Soon after this, Clement Coke, Esq., sixth son of Lord Chief Justice Coke, became possessed of this manor and estate (fn. 30) : he married a coheiress of Reddiche or Reddish, by the heiress of Dethick, who had married one of the coheiresses of Longford. Edward Coke, Esq., of Longford, elder son of Clement, was created a Baronet in 1641. His two sons, Robert and Edward, successively enjoyed the title and estate, and died without issue. Sir Edward, by whose death the title became extinct in 1727, bequeathed Longford to his relation, Edward Coke, Esq., brother of Thomas Coke, Esq., of Hoikham, (afterwards Earl of Leicester.) This gentleman, dying without issue in 1733, left Longford to his younger brother, Robert Coke, Esq., Vice-Chamberlain to Queen Caroline. On the death of the latter in 1750, it was inherited by his nephew, Wen man Roberts, Esq., who, in 1756, took the name of Coke, and was father of Thomas Wenman Coke, Esq., M. P., now of Holkham in Norfolk, and of Edward Coke, Esq., M.P. the present Lord of the manors of Longford and Malmerton, who resides at Longford-hall. The Longford family had a park at Longford in 1330: the licence for its inclosure was granted by King Henry III. in 1251. (fn. 31)

In the parish church are monuments of the families of Longford (fn. 32) and Coke (fn. 33) , and memorials for Edmund Browne, Esq., of Bentley, who married a daughter of Sir Edward Vernon and died in 1684, and some of the rectors of Longford.

The church of Longford was given by Nicholas de Longford, in the reign of Henry I., to the monastery of Kenilworth in Warwickshire. Mr. Coke is now patron of the sinecure rectory and of the vicarage. The vicar has the tithes of Bentley and Alkmanton.

An almshouse at Longford for six poor men or women, inhabitants of Longford, or one of the four next townships, (old servants or reduced tenants to be preferred,) was founded by Sir Edward Coke, the last Baronet, pursuant to the will of his brother Sir Robert, who died in 1687. The pen sioners have, under Sir Robert's will, 2s. 6d. a week each (for maintenance and fuel) and gowns of 20s. (fn. 34) price every year, charged on the Longford estate. Sir Robert Coke gave also 10l. per annum to the vicar of Longford for reading prayers to the alms-people in the church.

There is a charity school at Longford founded by Catherine Lady Coke, who died in 1688, and endowed by her will with lands (fn. 35) , now let at 38l. 15s. od. per annum.

The manor of Alkmanton (Alchementune) is described in the Domesday Survey, as held by one Ralph under Henry de Ferrars. In the reign of Edward I. it was in the family of Bakepuz; afterwards in the Blounts. Walter Blount, Lord Mountjoy, by his will bearing date 1474, bequeathed lands of 10l. per annum value to the ancient hospital of St. Leonard, situated between Alkmanton and Bentley, for the maintenance of, seven poor men not under fifty-five years of age (old servants of the lord of the manor of Barton or other lordships belonging to the patron of the hospital to be preferred). These pensioners were to have pasture for seven cows in Bartonpark, fuel from some of Lord Mountjoy's manors in the hundred of Appletree, and a gown and hood every third year. They were to pray for the souls of Lord Mountjoy, his family and ancestors; the Duke of Buckingham, Earl Rivers, Sir John Woodville, and the ancient Lords of the hospital, and to repeat the psalter of the Virgin Mary twice every day in the chapel of the hospital. Lord Mountjoy directed also, that a chapel should be built at Alkmanton, dedicated to St. Nicholas, and that the master of the hospital should say mass in it yearly, on the festival of St. Nicholas. This hospital shared the fate of many others, whose constitutions were mingled with superstitious observances, and was abolished in 1547. The manor of Alkmanton and the Spital estate belonged, soon after the Reformation, to the family of Barnesley. Charles Barnesley, Esq., of Alkmanton, sold it about the end of the seventeenth century, to Thomas Browne, Esq., of Bentley. The Earl of Chesterfield purchased it of the Brownes in 1727. Earl Stanhope, in 1781, sold it to the late Thomas Evans, Esq., in whose family it still continues. There are no remains of the hospital, or of the chapel of St. Nicholas.

The manor of Bentley (Beneleie), commonly called Hungry-Bentley, belonged to Henry de Ferrars when the Survey of Domesday was taken; afterwards to the Blounts, Lords Mountjoy; and at a later period to the Brownes, who had a seat there. This manor is now the property of Sir Robert Wilmot, Bart., of Chaddesden. Bentley-hall is occupied as a farm-house. There was formerly a family of Bentley, who resided at this place. Edward Bentley, Esq., of Hungry-Bentley, was tried at the Old Bailey on a charge of high-treason, and convicted in 1586. (fn. 36)

Hollington (Holintune), and Rodsley (Redeslei), are described in the Domesday Survey as manors belonging to Henry de Ferrars. The manor of Hollington was in the Meynells in the reign of Edward I. (fn. 37) It has long been held under the crown, as parcel of the hundred of Appletree, appurtenant to the Duchy of Lancaster. William, Earl of Pembroke, was lessee in the reign of James I.; Henry Vernon, Esq., in 1660. The lease is now vested in the Right Honourable Henry Venables, Lord Vernon. Mr. Joseph Holme, in 1768, gave ll. per annum, for educating poor children of this hamlet. The manor of Rodsley belonged in the reign of King John to Robert Fitzwilliam, of Alfreton. It was afterwards successively in the families of Montgomery and Vernon, and is now the property of the Right Honourable Lord Vernon, being annexed to the hundred of Appletree.

Upper-Thurvaston (Turverdeston) was held at the time of the Domesday Survey by one Robert, under Henry de Ferrars. It was afterwards in the Blounts. Mountjoy Blount, a natural son of Charles Blount, Earl of Devonshire, who died in 1606, was in 1627 created Baron Mountjoy of Thurvaston, and the next year Earl of Newport, which titles became extinct in 1681. Upper-Thurvaston is held on lease under the duchy by Lord Vernon, as being, together with Hollington, parcel of the hundred of Appletree.

Lullington

LULLINGTON, in the hundred of Repton and Gresley, and in the deanery of Repiugton, lies near the borders of Staffordshire, about seven miles from Tamworth and the same distance from Burton-on-Trent. The township of Coton-in-the-Elms is in this parish.

The manor of Lullington (Lullitune) was held by one Edmund, under the King, when the Survey of Domesday was taken. It was in the Gresley family in the reign of Edward I. (fn. 38) , and is now the property of Sir Roger Gresley Bart.

The church was given by the Gresley family to the priory of Gresley, and appropriated to that monastery in the reign of Edward II. (fn. 39)

The manor of Cotune or Cotes, now called Coton-in-the-Elms, belonged to the Abbey of Burton when the Survey of Domesday was taken: some time before the year 1328 it had passed into lay hands, for in that year it was purchased by Stephen de Segrave of the coheiresses of Stephen de Beauchamp. (fn. 40) Henry Lord Berkeley, a descendant of the Segraves, through the Mowbrays, sold this, manor, in 1570, to Sir William Gresley, Knt. In 1712 it belonged to Samuel Sanders, Esq. (fn. 41) We have not been able to ascertain how it passed afterwards, or who is the present owner. This manor was held by the service of presenting a hound in a leash to the King, whenever he should come into Derbyshire.

Thomas Wagstaffe gave the sum of 50l., for teaching five poor children of this township.

Footnotes