Morley is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

within the

Borough of Erewash Erewash () is a non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Derbyshire, England. The borough is named after the River Erewash. The council has offices in both the borough's to ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, England. It is on the eastern side of Morley Moor, with Morley Smithy to the north. The parish church of St Matthew is a grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and stands near the (converted) Tithe Barn and dovecote of Morley Hall. The church features a wall of stained glass depicting the story of

Robert of Knaresborough Robert of Knaresborough (St Robert, born Robert Flower, 24 September 1218) was a British hermit who lived in a cave by the River Nidd, Knaresborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire. His feast day is celebrated on 24 September, altho ...

along the north aisle which came from

Dale Abbey Dale Abbey is a village and civil parish in the borough of Borough of Erewash, Erewash in Derbyshire in the East Midlands of England, 6 miles north east of Derby. The population of the civil parish on the 2011 census was 1,351. Formerly known as ...

in 1539, home of the fine Sacheverell tombs.

History

Morley is first certainly mentioned in 1009, as ''(in) Moreleage'', though later copies of a 1002 document in which it appears as ''(æt) Morlege'' may be genuine. The name probably means "open ground by a moor", from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''mōr'' " moor, clearing, pasture" + lẽah "open ground, clearing". In 1009 Æþelræd Unræd (King Ethelred the Unready) signed a charter at the Great Council which recognised the position and boundaries of Westune.Aston on Trent Conservation Area History
, South Derbyshire, accessed 25 November 2008 The land described in that charter included the lands now known as

Shardlow Shardlow is a village in Derbyshire, England about southeast of Derby and southwest of Nottingham. Part of the civil parish of Shardlow and Great Wilne, and the district of South Derbyshire, it is also very close to the border with Leicester ...

Great Wilne Great Wilne is a small village in Derbyshire, England on the border with Leicestershire. It is south east of Derby. It is a village split from its church of St Chad's by the river. The church is at the very small hamlet of Church Wilne which c ...

Church Wilne Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Crich Crich is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire. Besides the village of Crich, the civil parish includes the nearby villages of Fritchley, Whatstandwell and Wheatcroft, Derbyshire, Wheatcroft. The population of the civi ...

, Morley, Smalley, Weston and

Aston-on-Trent Aston-on-Trent is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Derbyshire district, in the county of Derbyshire, England. The parish had a population of 1,682 at the 2011 Census. It is adjacent to Weston-on-Trent and near ...

. Under this charter Æþelræd gave his minister,

Morcar Morcar (or Morcere) (, ) (died after 1087) was the son of Ælfgār (earl of Mercia) and brother of Ēadwine. He was the earl of Northumbria from 1065 to 1066, when William the Conqueror replaced him with Copsi. Dispute with the Godwins Morcar ...

, a number of rights that made him free from

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

and to his own rule within the manor. Morley was mentioned 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as belonging to

Henry de Ferrers Henry de Ferrers (died by 1100), magnate and administrator, was a Normans, Norman who after the 1066 Norman conquest of England, Norman conquest was awarded extensive lands in England. Origins He was the eldest son of Vauquelin de Ferrers and i ...

Henry was given a large number of manors in Derbyshire including Doveridge,

Swarkestone Swarkestone is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 187. Swarkestone has a very old village church, a full cricket pitch, a canal with a Georgian lock keepers ...

Sinfin Sinfin is a suburb of Derby, England, southwest of the city centre on its southern outskirts. The ward, which includes Osmaston as well as Sinfin itself, had a population of 15,128 in 2011. Historically, Sinfin and Osmaston were separate vill ...

and

Breadsall Breadsall is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Erewash in Derbyshire, England. The population of the village at the 2021 census was 792 Breadsall Priory is one of the oldest buildings in the village. The village is almost contiguous w ...

. and having woodland pasture that was four furlongs by three.''Domesday Book: A Complete Translation''. London: Penguin, 2003. p.745

Morley Park Morley Park is an area within Heage, in the parish of Ripley in the English county of Derbyshire, north of Derby. It is about five miles north of the village of Morley itself. At the Norman Conquest it was within the wapentake of Morleyston. ...

was one of the seven royal parks within

Duffield Frith Duffield Frith was, in medieval times, an area of Derbyshire in England, part of that bestowed upon Henry de Ferrers (or Ferrars) by King William, controlled from his seat at Duffield Castle. From 1266 it became part of the Duchy of Lancaster ...

and is about five miles north in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Ripley.

Education

Broomfield Hall of

Derby College Derby College is a further education provider with sites located within Derbyshire (Derby and South East Derbyshire – Ilkeston, Morley). It delivers training in workplace locations across England. Derby College Group is a member of the Colla ...

is located in Morley.ダービー日本人補習校（Derby Japanese School）
." Derby Japanese School. Retrieved on February 14, 2015. " c/o Derby College Broomfield Hall, Morley Ilkeston, Derby DE7 6DN UK"

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

Japanese School (ダービー日本人補習校 ''Dābī Nihonjin Hoshūkō''), a Japanese weekend school, holds its classes in Broomfield Hall.

Notable residents

Sir

Streynsham Master Sir Streynsham Master (28 October 1640 – 28 April 1724) was an English colonial administrator who was one of the 17th-century pioneers of the English East India Company. He served as the Agent of Madras from 27 January 1678 to 3 July 1681, ...

who was involved in the early East India Company and who was

High Sheriff of Derbyshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Derbyshire from 1567 until 1974 and High Sheriffs since. The ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around ...

in 1712, resided with his wife at Stanley Grange in Morley. Joseph Whittaker (1815–1892), botanist, lived and died here. Edward FitzWalter Wright, vice-Chairman of the

Butterley Company The Butterley Company was an English manufacturing firm founded as Benjamin Outram and Company in 1790. Its subsidiaries existed until 2009. Origins This area of Derbyshire had been known for its outcrops of iron ore which had been exploited at ...

and High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1942 lived at Morley Manor.Who's Who 1951

References

{{authority control Villages in Derbyshire Civil parishes in Derbyshire Borough of Erewash