Alfreton Hall

Alfreton Hall is a country house in Alfreton, Derbyshire. It was at the heart of local social and industrial history in the county. The history of the estate goes back to Norman times, but by the 17th century it was owned by the Morewood family, who were linked to local industry, mainly in coal mining.

The original hall was on the site of Hall Farm to the east of the present building and was the seat of the Lord of the Manor. A new hall was built on the estate around 1724–25 by Rowland Morewood, with an additional wing added in 1855 by William Palmer-Morewood (architect Benjamin Wilson). This made the hall a very substantial property.

The Morewood family

Rowland Morewood built Alfreton Hall in about 1725. He was born in 1682. His father was John Morewood who owned the Alfreton estate and his mother was Barbara Palmer. He was educated at Cambridge University in 1700 and in 1717 he married Mary Wigley. He was the High Sheriff of Derby in 1706-1707. The couple had three sons but two died leaving the second son George to inherit Alfreton Hall.

Alfreton

Coordinates: 53°05′49″N 1°22′48″W / 53.097°N 1.380°W / 53.097; -1.380

Alfreton is a town and civil parish in Amber Valley, Derbyshire, England, adjoining the Bolsover and North East Derbyshire districts. It was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ironville, Riddings, Somercotes and Swanwick were historically part of the Manor and Urban District, and the population including these was 24,476 in 2001.

History

Alfreton is said to have been founded by King Alfred and to have derived its name from him. The placename appears in different forms throughout the ages, such as 'Elstretune' in Domesday, but the earliest appears to be in AD1004 in the will of Wulfric Spott, the founder of Burton Abbey. Amongst his bequests was 'Aelfredingtune', or 'Alfred's farmstead', which is believed to relate to Alfreton. However there is no evidence that this Alfred was the aforementioned king.

To the south-west near Pentrich was a Roman fortlet on the major road known as Ryknield Street. Another Roman road known as Lilley Street ran from there to the southern end of Alfreton, suggesting that settlement in the area predated the time of King Alfred by several centuries.