Wingfield Manor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wingfield Manor is a deserted (since the 1770s) house some 4 miles from the town of Alfreton in the English county of Derbyshire.
It is now in the care of English Heritage, though rarely open.
[edit] History
Wingfield Manor was built around 1450 for Ralph, Lord Cromwell on the site of a 12th century castle, and was bought by the second Earl of Shrewsbury. The design was the inspiration for Hampton Court in London.
The sixth Earl of Shrewsbury was entrusted with the care of Mary, Queen of Scots, when she was detained from 1569 onwards, in his various houses around Derbyshire, Wingfield among them. It may have been here that she met Anthony Babington, whose family lived at Dethick nearby, who organised the abortive Babington Plot.
At the time of the English Civil War (1642), the manor was in the hands of the Earl of Shrewsbury, a Parliament supporter. The Manor was taken by the Royalists in 1643 and then, after a siege, retaken by Parliament in 1644. It was located in what was then a strategic position near the main north-south artery of the country. It was partially demolished at the end of the war, and then renovated some years later for Halton, an astronomer.
[edit] External links
- A brief history and numerous photographs
- English Heritage
- The Architecture of Wingfield Manor by J. Alfred Gotch
- Mary Queen of Scots
- Mary and Babington
- Map sources for Wingfield Manor
