ALFRETON MANOR

Claim

Historical names: Elfreton

Location: Alfreton, Derbyshire

Places / associated places: Alfreton, Derbyshire

Listed in Domesday Book: Yes

Location & Extent

GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas

Representative GPS point: 53.0981, -1.3937

Location / boundary notes:

Identity: confirmed — The TNA/MDR record F253246 is the Alfreton manor record, and the Derbyshire Record Office catalogue independently identifies the same Manor of Alfreton at Alfreton, with surviving court records chiefly in the Palmer-Morewood archive D1763 and a 1460 court roll in the Haddon Hall archive.
Representative point: 53.0981, -1.3937
Basis: documented_manor_house — Approximate WGS84 conversion of Derbyshire Historic Environment Record grid reference SK 4070 5582 for the site of Alfreton's former manor house, situated near St Martin's Church and north of the later Alfreton Hall outbuildings. The HER records that the historic manor house was demolished when the later hall was built around 1733; the precise historical building footprint is uncertain.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to early modern; documented territorial references particularly for the 15th and 16th centuries
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: Sources establish that the manor's lands and jurisdiction extended beyond the settlement of Alfreton into at least Somercotes, Swanwick and Riddings, with associated references also to Birchwood, Greenhill and other nearby lands. Historical records describe individual properties, rents, tithes and manorial holdings, but the available web evidence does not provide a defensible continuous perimeter for the manorial land. The modern parish, urban district or settlement boundary must not be substituted for the manor boundary.
Sources:
- TNA Discovery: F253246, Alfreton Manor: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F253246 — Registry record supplied for the exact manor identity.
- Derbyshire Historic Environment Record: Alfreton Manor House (site of), MDR5861: https://her.derbyshire.gov.uk/Monument/MDR5861 — Locates the former manor house at grid reference SK 4070 5582, near the church and later Alfreton Hall, and records the uncertainty over its exact position.
- Derbyshire Record Office catalogue: Manor of Alfreton: https://calmview.derbyshire.gov.uk/calmview/Record.aspx?id=DS%2FUK%2FM%2F3631&pos=1&src=CalmView.Persons — Confirms the manor identity, ownership succession, the D1763 court-record archive, and the Haddon Hall 1460 court roll.
- Early History of Somercotes: Alfreton Manor and surrounding lands: https://www.somercoteshistory.co.uk/earlyhistory.asp — Provides place-specific historical evidence linking Alfreton Manor to Somercotes, Swanwick, Riddings, Birchwood and other named holdings, including 16th-century rents, tithes and properties.
- T. Bateman, A Descriptive and Historical Account of Alfreton, 1812: https://history753402220.wordpress.com/alfreton/ — Historical account describing the manor and associated property in Alfreton, Swanwick, Somercotes and Riddings, with references to the manor's tenure and ownership.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No reliable continuous historical manorial boundary polygon was located in the available sources.
- The documented manor-house site is approximate: the HER gives a centred grid reference and notes competing interpretations involving the later Hall Farm house and coach house.
- The cited surrounding places demonstrate historical manorial connections and holdings but do not, by themselves, define a single continuous manor perimeter.
- Do not substitute the modern Alfreton civil parish, former urban district, postcode area or settlement boundary for the historical manor boundary.

About the Manor

Alfreton Manor was the principal manor of Alfreton, Derbyshire, with associated lands extending into parts of Somercotes, Swanwick, Riddings, Birchwood and the surrounding district. The manor is recorded in Domesday Book as being held by Ingram under Roger de Busli. The medieval lords subsequently adopted the surname de Alfreton. A manor house stood near the parish church; the medieval or earlier building was later replaced by a substantial house associated with the Chaworth, Ormond, Babington, Zouch and Morewood families. The earlier manor house was replaced by the Morewood family's Alfreton Hall, begun in 1724 and completed about 1725. The manor descended through the de Alfreton and Chaworth interests, passed by marriage to the Ormond and Babington families, and was sold in 1565 to John Zouch, in 1618 to Robert Sutton, and in 1629 to Anthony Morewood. It remained with the Morewood and Palmer-Morewood family interests until the twentieth century. The Derbyshire Record Office states that the Palmer-Morewoods remained lords of the manor until the early 1960s, while a local historical account identifies William Palmer-Morewood, who died in 1957, as the last Lord of Alfreton. The precise final conveyance or legal extinction of the lordship after the Palmer-Morewood period has not been established from the sources consulted.

Ownership / Holder Account

The earliest reported holder was Wulfric Spott, who gave Alfreton by his will of 1004 to Burton Abbey. The manor subsequently returned to lay hands; Morcar held it before the Norman Conquest. In 1086 Ingram held it under Roger de Busli. Ingram's descendants, including Ranulf and Robert Fitz-Ranulph or Robert de Alfreton, held the manor and used the de Alfreton name. After the death without issue of Thomas de Alfreton in the later thirteenth century, the estate passed among his sisters and their husbands. Sir William Chaworth acquired the Latham moiety and the Chaworth family held the manor for several generations. In the reign of Henry VII, the Chaworth inheritance passed through Joan Chaworth to her husband John Ormond. The Ormond heiress subsequently brought the estate to Sir Anthony Babington of Dethick and the Babington family. Sir Henry Babington sold the manor to John Zouch in 1565. John Zouch's successor sold it to Robert Sutton in 1618, and Robert Sutton sold it in 1629 to Anthony Morewood. The Morewood descent included John Morewood, Rowland Morewood and George Morewood. George Morewood died in 1792 without a male heir, and the estate passed under his will to his widow Ellen Morewood. Ellen later married the Reverend Henry Case, who assumed the additional surname Morewood. After Ellen's death in 1824 and Henry Case Morewood's death in 1825, the estate was bequeathed to Ellen's nephew William Palmer, who received permission in 1825 to use the name Morewood in addition to Palmer. The resulting Palmer-Morewood family continued as lords of the manor into the twentieth century. The sources establish the broad descent securely, but do not establish every intermediate medieval heir or the final conveyance after the Palmer-Morewood period.

Records & References

Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.

47 records found · showing 9–16.