EGGINTON, STRETTON, AND TUTBURY.
At the making of the Domesday Survey, the manor of Egginton was held by Geoffrey Alselin, and had a priest and a church. The Alselins’ estates passed, through an heiress, into the family of Bardulfs. Under them the manor was held by Ralph Fitz-Germund, whose son William Fitz-Ralph, Seneschall of Normandy, and founder of Dale-Abbey, gave it to William de Grendon, his nephew. In exchange for Stanley, near Dale-Abbey, William’s wife gave it, as a marriage portion of her daughter, Margaret, to Robert Fitz-Walkelin, one of whose daughters married Sir John Chandos. At the death of his descendant, another Sir John Chandos, one moiety of the manor passed to his niece Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Lawton, and wife of Sir Peter de la Pole, one of the Knights of the Shire in 1400, from whom it descended to the Chandos-Poles of Radbourne. Another daughter of Robert Walkelin, Ermentrude, married Sir William de Stafford, whose son, Robert, left it to five co-heiresses, and so their moiety became divided into many shares, which were re-united, by purchase, by the family of Lathbury. A co-heiress of Lathbury brought her moiety to Robert Leigh, of Whitfield, Cheshire. In the reign of James I., the estate passed to Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Leigh of Egginton, who married Simon Every, Esq., of Chard, Somersetshire, created 1st Baronet in 1641, ancestor of the present owner, a minor, the 11th Baronet.
Plate 19.
Eggington Church. ([Page 109.])
Willington Church.
As the manor of Egginton was divided into two moieties, so was the rectory. Dr. Charles Cox thus writes, “Early in the reign of Henry III., the two moieties of the rectory were respectively conveyed to the newly-founded abbey of Dale by Amalric de Gasci and Geoffrey de Musters.” In consequence of this division there were two rectors. The abbots of Dale-Abbey continued to present till the year 1344, meanwhile the lords of the manor laid claim to it, and, from that time down to 1712, a series of law-suits were carried on, the result of which is that at the present time the patronage is in five parts; two turns belonging to the Everys, two to the Poles, and one to the Leighs. An account of the various claimants, &c., and a list of the rectors, will be found in Cox’s Derbyshire Churches, Vol. IV. The church, dedicated to St. Wilfred, consists of chancel, nave, aisles, and low west tower. At various times the church has been added to, but it chiefly belongs to the Decorated period, the tower is Perpendicular, as are some of the windows. In the south wall of the south aisle are two recesses, one contains an effigy of a lady, holding a heart in her hand, supposed to be Elizabeth, co-heiress of Stafford, wife of William Tymmore. On the walls, and floor of the chancel are memorial stones, and monuments of the Everys, and several rectors.
There are three bells, bearing the following inscriptions:
I. “I was recast again to sing
By friends to country, church, and king.
Thomas Hedderley, founder, Nottingham, 1778.”
II. “Ihe. Ave Maria gracia plena Dominus tecum.”
III. “I sweetly toling men do call
To taste of meats that feeds the soole, 1615.”
Bell mark of Henry Oldfield.
The 2nd bell is supposed to be the only one left when the others were sold for the repairing of Monks’ Bridge. The third bell is of the same date, and bears the same inscription as the 2nd bell in Repton Church.
The old Egginton Hall, the seat of the Every family, was destroyed by fire in the year 1736, and was rebuilt by Sir Edward Every, Bart., from designs by Wyatt. In the Hall there are five splendid pieces of tapestry, made at Gobelin’s, in Paris, by order of Sir Henry Every, who died in 1709, before the order was completed. Four exhibit emblematic devices of the four elements, earth, air, fire and water, and armorial bearings, in each compartment.
Earth is represented by Ceres (Demeter) in her chariot in a garden, with fountains in the background. By the side of the chariot stands her daughter Persephone, wearing a mural crown. Lions and other wild beasts occupy the foreground, the bordering is composed of fruit and flowers.
Air is represented by Jupiter and Juno throned on the clouds. Boreas blowing up a storm in the background, birds, storks, pelicans, &c., occupy the foreground.
Fire is represented by Vulcan working at his forge, attended by Venus and Cupid, at the back is a cave with a furnace in its recesses. Weapons, and instruments of metal form a bordering.
Water is represented by Neptune and Amphitrite, in a chariot drawn by sea-horses. The bordering is composed of seaweed, shells, coral, &c.
The fifth hanging has a representation of Venus, with a little Cupid standing before her, and has a pretty bordering of flowers, landscapes, and medallions bearing symbolical emblems, coats-of-arms, adorn the sides of the hanging. Le Brun, the famous director of paneling at the Gobelin’s, is supposed to have designed the tapestry. For many years the hangings were locked up in “a great chest at Hodges’s, the coachmaker, in Chandos Street,” where they remained till 1750, thus escaping the fire of 1736, they were set up about the year 1760. In March, 1644, there was an engagement on Egginton Heath, between the Royalists and Parliamentarians, when both sides claimed the victory.
STRETTON.
Stretton is a little village about 3½ miles from Repton. Its name is derived from the Latin strata, a street, and as the old Roman Icknield Street passes close to it no doubt that had something to do with its name. Within the last two years it has become noted to all who take an interest in churches, and works of art. Following the good example of his partners Bass and Ratcliff, and other successful brewers, John Gretton, father of the M.P. for South Derbyshire, has built a most beautiful church in his native village.
It consists of nave with aisles, central tower over the choir, and chancel. The east end of the south aisle is separated from it by an arch and a stone screen, with wrought iron gates, and forms a small chapel.
The east end of the north aisle is used as an organ chamber, with vestries for the clergy and choir behind it.
A cross, bearing an appropriate inscription, marks the site of the former church, a little to the south of the present one. No expense was spared in the construction of the church, and the greatest praise is due to the founder, architect, (Mr. J. T. Micklethwaite), builder, (Mr. Halliday of Stamford), and all concerned in the erection of one of the finest village churches in England.
Where everything is so well done, it may seem unnecessary to call attention to anything in particular, but the unusual beauty of design and material of the font, (Frostely marble,) surmounted by its ornate canopy of oak, the splendidly carved chancel screen, surmounted by a cross of exceptional size and beauty, (the work of Mr. J. E. Knox, of Kennington), the stone screen of the little south chapel, the reredos, of marble and alabaster, in the chancel, the oak seats in the nave, the choir stalls, the organ case and pulpit, the pavement of the choir and sanctuary, and the furniture generally call for more than a passing glance. In the chancel are three stained glass windows, symbolizing our Lord in His glory, &c., by Sir William Richmond. The tapestry in the chancel was designed by the late William Morris. The roof of the chancel is decorated with angels playing and singing “Gloria in excelsis,” the nave roof is also painted from designs by Mr. Charles Powell, of London.
TUTBURY.
Sir Oswald Mosley, in his History of the Castle, Priory, and Town of Tutbury, suggests that the name is derived from Tuisco, a Saxon idol. At the Norman Conquest the town and castle were granted to Hugh de Abrincis, who held them for a time till he acquired the estates, &c., of the Earls of Chester, when the King conferred Tutbury on Henry de Ferrariis or Ferrers, who was one of the commissioners appointed to make the Domesday Survey. He rebuilt and extended the Castle, and founded the Priory.
His descendant, Robert de Ferrers, joined Leicester in a rebellion against King Henry III., which ended in Robert being fined £50,000. Unable to pay so large a sum, he forfeited his estates to the King, who granted them to his son Edmund, 1st Earl of Lancaster. Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, was attainted and beheaded after the battle at Boroughbridge, A.D. 1322. Tutbury Castle fell into a state of ruin, and remained so till John of Gaunt, 4th son of Edward III., rebuilt it. The only parts of this castle now remaining, are the gateway, and the apartments on the north side which were occupied by Mary, Queen of Scots, from January to December, 1585. Her son, James I., often visited the Castle, “not,” as Sir Oswald writes, “to indulge melancholy reflections, but to gratify an occasional delight which he took in the diversion of hunting. His feelings were not much affected when he surveyed the late abode of his unfortunate mother, for extreme sensibility was not one of his foibles.”
King Charles I. also paid several visits to it, and in 1642 the Castle was garrisoned for him, and placed under the command of Lord Loughborough. After many privations, the garrison, at last, yielded up the Castle on April 20th, 1646. By a vote on the 19th of July, 1647, the House of Commons ordered that “it should forthwith be rendered untenable.” Its walls enclose a space of about three acres. On the elevated mound, at its west side, the Julius Tower used to stand, now its site is occupied by an artificial ruin. A deep moat or foss surrounds three sides. Within the walls was a chapel, dedicated to St. Peter, the site of which cannot now be found.
The Priory of Tutbury was founded by Henry de Ferrers, A.D. 1080, and occupied the north side of the present church, which belonged to it. On the 14th of September, 1538, it was surrendered into the hands of King Henry VIII., when its revenue was valued at £242. 15s. 3d. All the Priory buildings were pulled down, with the exception of the magnificent Norman nave and west end doorway of the Priory church, which now form the present parish church.
The town is situated on the west bank of the river Dove, which used to drive several corn and cotton spinning mills.
To John of Gaunt, Tutbury owed two of its ancient institutions, viz.:—The Minstrel’s Court and Bull Baiting. The Minstrel’s Court was held every year on the day after the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, being the 16th of August, to elect a king of the minstrels, to try those who had been guilty of misdemeanours during the year, and grant licences for the coming year. Various, very curious customs were observed, which will be found in “The Book of Days,” Vol. II., p. 224. The old horn, bearing the arms of John of Gaunt, impaled with Ferrers arms, on a girdle of black silk, adorned with buckles of silver, is now in the possession of the Bagshawes of Ford Hall, Chapel-en-le-Frith.
The Bull Baiting is supposed to have been introduced, in imitation of the Spanish bull-fights, by John of Gaunt, who assumed the title of King of Castile and Leon, in right of his wife. A bull was granted by the Prior of Tutbury, the poor beast’s horns were sawn off, his ears and tail cut off, and his nose filled with pepper. Then the minstrels rushed after the maddened beast, and if they could cut off a portion of hair or skin before it crossed the river Dove, it belonged to the Minstrels, if it escaped it was returned to the Prior. The proceedings led to very great rows, and many returned home with broken heads, &c. In 1778 the Duke of Devonshire abolished the whole proceedings.
Plate 20.
Etwall Church. ([Page 116.])
Etwall Hospital. ([Page 119.])
In 1831 some workmen, digging gravel out of the bed of the river, about thirty yards below the bridge, four or five feet below the surface of the gravel, discovered “upwards of 300,000 valuable coins,” which Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, lost, together with his baggage, when he was attempting to cross the river, in flood. For five hundred years the coins, consisting of English, French, and Scottish pieces, had remained hidden below the bed of the river.
The chief attractions at Tutbury are the Castle, Church, and Glass-Works.