Stainsby Manor, Ault Hucknall
Has been described as a Possible Fortified Manor House
There are earthwork remains
| Name | Stainsby Manor, Ault Hucknall |
| Alternative Names | Steynesby Hall |
| Historic Country | Derbyshire |
| Modern Authority | Derbyshire |
| 1974 Authority | Derbyshire |
| Civil Parish | Ault Hucknall |
The monument includes the remains of the defended manorial complex at Stainsby. The site is situated on the crest of a hill 12.8km south east of Chesterfield and consists of the below ground remains of a manor house and chapel, the surviving earthworks of the defensive ditch and rampart, the outer circuit bank and fishpond. A hollow way is also evident as an earthwork to the south west of the manor house leading to the chapel. The medieval manor house is thought to have stood on the brow of the hill and underlies the Victorian school building (now the Baden-Powell scout centre) and adjacent School House which occupy the hill top today. A 19th century water colour shows the school house (then known as the Manor House) to be 'L' shaped in plan with mullioned windows. During the laying of new water pipes to the west of the School House stone footings of the western wing were revealed. This evidence appears to indicate that the present school house incorporates fabric of a much earlier building and that this building was originally much larger. It is interpreted as a fragment of the earlier house. A cruck frame is incorporated towards the south end of the School House. The most visible archaeological features are the earthworks which enclose the northern end of the manorial complex. There are three circuits or part circuits of enclosing earthworks. The innermost surrounds an area about 130m by 120m on the summit of the hill and defines the northern side of the medieval manor itself. The largest earthworks are the defensive ditch, rampart and fishpond which form a segmented arc approximately 150m long on the northern flank of the hill. The material dug out from the ditch has been banked up along the down slope to form an outer bank and to aid water retention. The ditch was probably fed by a spring and lined with clay to make it more impermeable
A natural spring is evident to the north west of the school, about 5m south of the defensive ditch, which at this point remains waterlogged. The outer bank runs in an almost continuous line broken by a causeway approximately half way along its surviving length. This marks the line of an ancient right of way which was widened and levelled by a previous tenant farmer for the access of farm machinery. A second narrower causeway running north west from the summit provides an entrance through the outer bank. The ditch is segmented having been cut by natural water erosion, the public right of way and a third causeway to the north east of the school. To the east of this causeway is the fishpond, which is the most clearly defined feature of all. The pond measures approximately 45m by 30m and 2.2m deep. The level of preservation of this feature and the relative lack of silting compared to the rest of the ditch suggests the fishpond was a later reuse of the earlier defensive ditch. Although no upstanding earthworks can be seen on the field to the west of the ditch, crop marks visible on aerial photographs do show the continuation of the ditch to the west. This follows the curve and mirrors the form of the surviving ditch and bank. An outer circuit defines the north eastern quadrant of the complex. This is the smallest of the earthworks and manifests as a low bank about 0.6m-1m high which provides the basis of the existing field boundary. This follows the curve of the inner defensive ditch and bank. No continuation of its south end can be traced, but it would have originally been more extensive. Crop marks on aerial photographs do show the continuation of the feature to the west. Modern ploughing and open cast mining in the surrounding area will have contributed to the degradation of this feature. The enclosure created on the hill top by these defensive earthworks is occupied by the manorial complex including the main manorial building. In a field to the south of the School House are the earthwork remains of further manorial buildings and other structures. Geophysical survey has indicated that extensive buried remains survive throughout this field. To the south of the innermost enclosure and west of Yew Tree Farm are the remains of a hollow way. Partly overlain by the modern road the hollow way runs west for approximately 200m where it is truncated by Hawking Lane. The southern side of the hollow way survives to a height of about 1m. To the south of the hollow way and at its westernmost extent is the site of the chapel, the remains of which survive as an earthwork. The road verge around the west side of this field is formed by a bank with a hedge on top (an unusual boundary for this area). The base of the bank is composed of worked stone which may have come from the hapel building. A geophysical survey in this field has identified buried remains which are believed to relate to the chapel itself. The full extent of the southern end of the manorial complex is not fully understood. The enclosing earthworks may originally have extended further south to include a larger area of the hilltop. However, no further trace of defences is definable now. Continued settlement and use of the hilltop has obscured earlier remains of both the defensive circuit and activity within the enclosed area. The manor of Stainsby, originally spelt Steinesbi, is first recorded in 1086 in the Domesday Book when it is described as the manor of Steinesbi and Tunstall (with which it shared a priest). Immediately before the Norman Conquest Stainsby was held by Steinulf as part of a much larger estate. The break up of Steinulf's estate began at the Conquest and Stainsby was granted by Henry II to William Fitz Walchel of Wakelin. It was then at least partly in the royal forest and therefore under the jurisdiction of Forest Law, dictated by the Crown's monopoly over the hunting rights. On the death of Fitz Walchel Stainsby passed to his daughter Andeluya and her husband Robert Le Sauvage. The park was probably enclosed for hunting soon after the grant of free warren in 1199 although 'parcum de Steynesbi' is not mentioned until 1260. By the end of the 13th century the manor had become prosperous and the Crown recognised its economic potential. By 1311 an additional yearly rent of 4lbs of cummin, 2lbs of pepper and costly spices had to be paid to the Crown. In addition to Stainsby, the Sauvage family also held the manors of Rowthorne and Hardwick for a time. Their main home remained at Stainsby, where in the 14th century they maintained a chaplain. The manor remained the possession of the Sauvage family until around 1583 when it was sold to the Cavendish family. The Hardwick family, who were lords of the manor of Hardwick for six generations and who built up substantial estates in the district, ended in the mid-16th century with four co-heiresses, one of whom, Elizabeth (Bess of Hardwick), took Hardwick itself as her share. Her second husband Sir William Cavendish and their descendants pursued a steady policy of buying up estates in the immediate environs in the parishes of Ault Hucknall and Heath. The two major settlements in the parishes were Stainsby and Heath itself. It is believed that the manor house at Stainsby ceased to be used as a family seat at the time of the Hardwicks. It may have been used as a farmhouse for sometime after or partly demolished, with its material being used for the building or repair of Hardwick Hall. By 1780 Stainsby had the second largest population in the area after Heath with 32 households and by 1801 the census return for Stainsby recorded 97 houses and 492 persons. The village continued to grow and prosper until the late 19th century when Stainsby's decline as the natural centre of the parish began. Two World War II air raid shelters are located in the field east of the Scout Centre (provided for the pupils of the school) and survive, infilled beneath the ground surface. These are still visible as earthworks and are included in the scheduling. (Scheduling Report)
This site is a scheduled monument protected by law
Not Listed
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | SK449656 |
| Latitude | 53.1860885620117 |
| Longitude | -1.32897996902466 |
| Eastings | 444940 |
| Northings | 365600 |
