Codnor Castle is a ruined 13th-century castle in

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 land around Codnor came under the jurisdiction of

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 ...

after the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

. The building is registered as a

Scheduled Ancient 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 ...

a Grade II Listed Building and is officially a Building at Risk.

History

William Peverel

The castle is a stone keep and bailey fortress, and was established by

. The present fragmentary remains represent a three-storey

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

and a strong curtain wall and ditch, flanked by round towers. The outer bailey is on a lower level, and was constructed at a later period. The castle overlooks the Erewash valley and the counties of

and

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

. It originally had a deep moat, and on its eastern side, there was once a considerable abundance of trees, which have now been cut down. On the west side, there was a courtyard that was strongly fortified by huge round towers, which had battlements. In other parts of the ruins, there is evidence that the outer walls had arrow-loops included to allow bowmen to use them if necessary.

Henry de Grey

By 1211, it was owned by Henry de Grey, a descendant of the Norman knight Anchetil de Greye. Henry's descendants include the long line of Lords Grey of Codnor, the Lords Grey of Ruthyn, Wilton and

Rotherfield Rotherfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is one of the largest parishes in East Sussex. There are three villages in the parish: Rotherfield, Mark Cross and Eridge. The River Rother, which ...

Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553. Jane was ...

and the Earls of Stamford, and the extinct families of the Dukes of Suffolk and Kent. His son Richard settled in Codnor and was a loyal Baron to Henry III. Along with his brother John, they served the King in the Holy Land. John Grey distinguished himself in the Scottish wars, and found himself in great favour with

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

. Together with William D'Eincourt, the Lord Grey commanded all the knights of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in case of an invasion. Henry, the last of the family, died during the reign of Henry VII without a legitimate heir. He left part of his lands to his illegitimate sons, Henry and Richard, and part to his widow,

Katherine Stourton Katherine Stourton, Baroness Grey of Codnor (c. 1455 – 1521) was an English noblewoman. Her life reflects the turbulence of English political life in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries; her first husband was attainted for treason, a ...

Zouche family

The remainder went to his aunt Elizabeth Grey, who in 1429 married Sir John Zouche, the youngest son of the fourth

Baron Zouche Baron Zouche is a title which has been created three times, all in the Peerage of England. Genealogy The la Zouche family descended from Alan la Zouche (d. 1190), lord of the manor of North Molton in North Devon, England, originally called ...

of Harringworth. Sir John Zouche of Codnor was three times

High Sheriff of Derbyshire High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

. The castle remained in the hands of the Zouche family for two hundred years until they sold up and emigrated to Virginia in 1634.

Streynsham Master

Sir Streynsham Master,

, who bought the Codnor Castle estate in 1692, is reported as the last resident of the castle. He lived there until his death in 1724.

Access and media coverage

The castle site is not open for public access, though there are public footpaths across the upper field near the old keep (the North Court). The area around the farmhouse and farmyard is private property. There are public footpaths to the Castle from Codnor Market Place, where there is an information board in partnership with Derbyshire County Council, as well as public footpaths from the east in the Erewash valley. In June 2007,

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'' programme carried out an

archaeological dig In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

around the castle. A perfectly preserved gold noble of Henry V was found in the moat and is now displayed at

Derby Museum and Art Gallery Derby Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery in Derby, England. It was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The colle ...

. ''

Most Haunted Live! ''Most Haunted Live'' is a spin-off of the paranormal reality television series '' Most Haunted'' and was also produced by Antix Productions. The show consists of paranormal investigations broadcast live over a period of one or more nights, ...

'' visited the castle as part of a paranormal investigation 'As Live' special in 2017. The programme was broadcast in March 2018.

References

External links

Codnor Castle
– official website
Heanor & District Local History Society
covers the Codnor area, and their site contains a page (with photographs) of the castle
Codnor & District Local History & Heritage website
– Codnor Castle webpage
"Time Team arrives at Codnor Castle"
– ''Ripley & Heanor News'' (14 June 2007)
Earthwork Analysis
English Heritage Research Reports (contains maps)
Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results
report by Wessex Archaeology on Time Team dig * {{Derby Museum Castles in Derbyshire Grade II listed buildings in Derbyshire Tourist attractions in Derbyshire Scheduled monuments in Derbyshire Ruins in Derbyshire Collections of Derby Museum and Art Gallery Ruined castles in England Grade II listed castles Grey family residences Grade II listed ruins