Padley Hall (or Padley Manor) was an

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

great house overlooking the River Derwent near

Grindleford Grindleford is a village and civil parish in the county of Derbyshire, in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 Census was 909. It lies at an altitude of in the valley of the River Derwent in the ...

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. The remains of the hall today are mostly just foundation walls. The site 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 ...

. Not to be confused with 17th-century Padley Hall near

Ripley Ripley may refer to: People and characters * Ripley (name) * ''Ripley'', the test mannequin aboard the first International Space Station space station Dragon 2 space test flight Crew Dragon Demo-1 * Ellen Ripley, a fictional character from the Ali ...

. Padley Hall was a large double courtyard house dating back to the 14th century, although it was built on the site of an earlier

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 ...

manor house.

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 ...

gave the Padley estate to his supporter the head of the De Bernac family. The Bernac family changed their name to Padley after the estate. The hall was built for the Padley family and subsequently passed onto the local aristocratic Eyre family, when Joan Padley married Robert Eyre (

Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests The Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests is a position established by the Normans in England. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in ...

in 1481). It became the residence of Sir Thomas Fitzherbert through his marriage to Anne Eyre in 1534. The Fitzherbert family were devout

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, refusing to attend the services of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. Sir Thomas had given the hall to his younger brother John by 1588. In July 1588, the hall was raided and two Catholic priests ( Nicholas Garlick and Robert Ludlum) were discovered hiding within the walls. Two weeks later they were found guilty of high treason (being ordained priests in England) and they were hanged, drawn and quartered in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

. Their corpses were displayed on poles on St. Mary’s Bridge. They became known as the 'Padley Martyrs'. John Fitzherbert was imprisoned and died in 1590. Sir Thomas Fitzherbert had spent 32 years in prison for his beliefs and died in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

in 1591. Padley Manor was confiscated by the Crown before being returned later to the Fitzherbert family. William Fitzherbert inherited the estate in 1649 but hefty recusancy fines and family debts forced him to sell the hall, which gradually fell into disrepair. Stones were taken from the hall ruins to construct two barns. Padley Chapel was the former gatehouse to the hall and was used as a farm building following the closure of the hall. The building is still intact and in 1933 it was converted into a Catholic chapel in honour of the martyrs. A pilgrimage to Padley Chapel began in 1892 in honour of the executed martyrs and it still takes place in July each year from nearby

Grindleford railway station Grindleford railway station serves the village of Grindleford in the Derbyshire Peak District, in England, although the station is about a mile way, the nearest village being Nether Padley. History It was opened in 1894 on the Midland Rail ...

. The chapel is a Grade I listed building. The

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

's Longshaw Estate and Padley Gorge would have been part of the original Padley estate.{{Cite web, title=Longshaw, Burbage and the Eastern Moors, url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/longshaw-burbage-and-the-eastern-moors, access-date=2020-06-03, website=National Trust, language=en

References

Scheduled monuments in Derbyshire Country houses in Derbyshire