Duffield lies in a hollow where the Derwent flows under a fine old bridge after gathering the waters of the Ecclesbourne. It has graceful 18th century houses, and Elizabethan and later Hall, now a girls school, and a charming Baptist chapel built in 1830.
Its church is in a delightful river setting, with limes and yews in and around the churchyard; and to the north is the site of one of the greatest castles in England.
From the road above the river is a glorious view of the valley, with Castle Hill, where Henry de Ferrers who came over with William the Conqueror built his Norman stronghold. The powerful Ferrers family fell out with the monarch, and the castle was razed to the ground in 1266. The foundations of its keep were accidentally laid bare many years ago, and it was found that it must have been bigger than any other Norman keep in England except those of Colchester and the Tower of London. It was nearly 100 feet square, with walls 16 feet thick, and had a well 80 feet deep, and a moat of which we can see remains to this day.
The church of many gables has a 14th century tower and spire and a fine peal of 10 bells. Nothing is left of the Saxon church except its dedication to St Alkmund, whose tomb has recently been discovered in Derby, but there are fragments of Norman work in two small shafts and capitals under the 14th century chancel arch, and a corbel table with 12 grotesque heads on an outer wall of the chancel, now enclosed by a chapel.
On a fine alabaster tomb in the chapel (now the vestry) lie the figures of Sir Roger Mynors and his wife who were buried here more than 450 years ago. Sir Roger was a sergeant in the household of Henry VII and his son, and knew Sir Thomas More.
The wall monument in the north transept, with a marvellous company of Anthony Bradshaw, his two wives, and 20 children, is very unusual. He set it up in the year 1600, or the children would have been three more. One wonders if anywhere else in England three children came too late to have their pictures on their fathers monument. The figure of Anthony, his wives, and children, all with their initials, are engraved across the middle of the monument between long inscriptions.
An unusual figure was this Anthony Bradshaw, great-uncle of the John Bradshaw who sat in judgement on Charles I. He was a barrister, and Deputy-Steward of the then important Duffield Frith, a stretch of forest land between Duffield and Wirksworth where wolves abounded in the 13th century and Edward I hunted the fallow deer. He left instructions in his will that the old folk who lived in the village should sit at the back of his pew and keep his monument clean!
Some of the family of Anthony Bradshaw lived at the old hall at Makeney, a stone-built hamlet at the end of a lovely climb from Duffield along the road where coaches used to travel. An old stone near the inn has the words "Derby Coach Road 1739".
