Conksbury is the site of a deserted medieval settlement between

Over Haddon Over Haddon is a small village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England. The population of the civil parish (including Nether Haddon) at the 2011 Census was 255. It is near the small town of Bakewell, south of the B5055 road. Over Haddon overlook ...

and

Youlgreave Youlgreave or Youlgrave is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England, on the River Bradford south of Bakewell. The name possibly derives from "yellow grove", the ore mined locally being yellow in colour. The popul ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, England.

History

The village was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

of 1086 AD as ''Cranchesberie'' in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of Blackwell'','' in the county of ''Derbyscire.'' The settlement was one of seven ''berewicks'' (surrounding estates) within the royal manor of Bakewell. It was listed as part of the lands owned by

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

, with the following details documented for Bakewell (including Burton; Conksbury; Holme;

Monyash Monyash (/muhn-ee-ash/ munyash) is a village and civil parish in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, west of the market town Bakewell. It is centred on a village green above sea level at the head of Lathkill Dale in the limestone area k ...

; ether and OverHaddon; One Ash and

Rowsley Rowsley () is a village on the A6 road in the English county of Derbyshire. The population as at the 2011 census was 507. It is at the point where the River Wye flows into the River Derwent and prospered from mills on both. The border of the ...

): * Households: 35 villagers. 16 smallholders. 2 priests. 1 men-at-arms. * Farming: 18 ploughlands. 7 lord's plough teams. 11 men's plough teams. * Meadow 80 acres. Woodland 1 by 1 leagues. 1 mill, value 10 shillings and 7 pence. 1 church. 3 church lands. * Tenant-in-chief in 1086: King William * Lord in 1066: King Edward William the Conqueror subsequently granted the manor of Bakewell to the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

knight

William Peverel William Peverel († 28. January 1114), Latinised to Gulielmus Piperellus), was a Norman knight granted lands in England following the Norman Conquest. Origins Little is known of the origin of the William Peverel the Elder. Of his immediate f ...

. Peverel established

Lenton Priory Lenton Priory was a Cluniac monastic house in Nottinghamshire, founded by William Peverel ''circa 1102-8''. The priory was granted a large endowment of property in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire by its founder, which became the cause of violent di ...

and set up Meadow Place as a monastic grange for the priory next to Conksbury. Conksbury and its mill were later given to the Abbey of St Mary de Pre by William Avenal of

Haddon Haddon may refer to: Places *Haddon, Victoria, Australia, a township *Haddon, Cambridgeshire, England, a village and civil parish * Haddon Hill, Somerset, England, a ridge * Haddon, Gauteng, South Africa, a suburb of Johannesburg *Haddon Townshi ...

. Conksbury and Meadow Place became property of

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

after the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. By 1610 the

Cavendish family The Cavendish (or de Cavendish) family ( ) is a British noble family, of Anglo-Norman origins (though with an Anglo-Saxon name, originally from a place-name in Suffolk). They rose to their highest prominence as Duke of Devonshire and Duke of Newc ...

had purchased the land, which became part of the

Devonshire Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, ...

estate. The site of the deserted village is a protected

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. There are visible earthwork remains of building platforms and enclosures either side of a road that was wide. Conksbury medieval bridge over the River Lathkill is a designated Grade II listed structure. The bridge was built in the mid-18th century from limestone rubble with gritstone dressings. It carries the road between Bakewell and Youlgreave. The bridge was authorised to collect tolls in the 1758 Turnpike Act. The curving bridge has three main arches with pointed cutwaters. Conksbury Hall is an 18th-century gritstone house on the western edge of the site of the medieval village. It was designated as a Grade II listed building in 1967. On the same side of the site, Conksbury Farmhouse is also a Grade II listed building, dating from 1725 (the door lintel is inscribed 'S/CF 1725 BH').{{NHLE, num=1109854, desc=Conksbury Farmhouse, grade=II, fewer-links=yes, accessdate=5 May 2020

References

Archaeological sites in Derbyshire Scheduled monuments in Derbyshire Deserted medieval villages in Derbyshire Towns and villages of the Peak District