Scheduled Monument: BRETBY CASTLE FORTIFIED MANOR (1011443)

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION Fortified manors were the residences of the lesser nobility and richer burgesses and date from the late 12th century and throughout the rest of the Middle Ages. Generally they comprise a hall and residential wing, domestic ranges, and fortifications such as a moat or crenelated wall or both. The site at Bretby is relatively typical in that it is a large and complex site which remained occupied until the 17th century and therefore retains archaeological remains of buildings and structures of all periods over a very wide area. It is an exceptionally well documented site with important historical associations. DETAILS The monument includes the core area of the site of Bretby Castle fortified manor and incorporates manorial remains dating from the 13th to the 17th centuries. The visible remains, which occupy a sub-rectangular enclosure of c.3.5 ha, are those of the 16th century manor partially excavated in 1800. The remains of earlier buildings and structures will survive as buried features beneath the earthwork remains of later buildings. The visible remains include, on the west and north sides, a massive outer bank measuring up to 5m high. This bank is flanked on the inside by a ditch-like feature which has, in the past, been inaccurately termed a moat. Although it undoubtedly served as a boundary feature and may have had different functions at different times, in its present form the feature has been reinterpreted as a sunken driveway. This is in part due to the presence of two gateways visible at its southern end. One of these leads southward towards Bretby Park and the other westward towards Home Farm. Although the present day Home Farm was not built until the early 19th century, it is believed to stand on the site of earlier farmsteads belonging to the fortified manor. On the inside, the sunken driveway is flanked by the remains of buildings which reveal that the 16th century manor was built round two courtyards. Although partly masked by numerous mounds of excavation spoil, the layout can be seen to have included a large court to the north and another to the south. Along the south-east edge of the latter, adjacent to the south gate, are the well preserved foundations of three rectangular buildings. These are each roughly 40m long by 15m wide and were previously thought to be fishponds. In fact, there is no evidence for this and several factors, including the lack of a water supply, make it unfeasible. One example includes a 2m deep cellar and two exhibit evidence of opposing doorways. It is therefore likely that they were ancillary or service buildings. These three features previously thought to be fishponds are excluded from the scheduling. Alongside them to the north- east is a level area interpreted as a small yard or, alternatively, a kitchen garden. Additional features lie to the north of this. Formerly, the manor site would also have extended further to the north-east. However, although further remains, including those of a chapel, will survive beneath modern development in this area, they are not included in the scheduling as their extent and state of survival is not sufficiently understood. Originally a berewick or outlier of Newton Manor, Bretby became a separate manor in the 13th century when it was granted by Ranulf, Earl of Chester, to Stephen de Segrave who, amongst other attributes, was Justiciar of England between 1232 and 1234 and once acted as joint regent for Henry III during the king's absence. It may have been he who built the first manor house. In 1300, Edward I granted Stephen's great-grandson John Segrave licence to crenelated, that is fortify the manor house at Bretby. This may have been the origin of the massive outer earthworks which would have been surmounted by a castellated wall. John Segrave had a distinguished career as a royal servant, including in 1302 being made constable of Berwick Castle and the king's lieutenant on the Border and in occupied Scotland. However, during the civil strife between the factions of Edward II and his queen, Isabella, the Segraves incurred royal displeasure and John and his sons were despatched to serve in Gascony and Aquitaine where John and his heir, Stephen, died. Stephen's son, John, inherited the Segrave lands which then passed to his daughter after his own death in 1352, and from there, by marriage, to the Mowbray and Berkley families. The Bretby estate was purchased by Philip Stanhope in 1610 and the manor house subsequently demolished, reputedly to provide building materials to build a mansion house in the new Bretby Park. The house known as Castlefield, all modern boundary fences and gates, and a stable are all excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included. SELECTED SOURCES Book Reference - Title: Victoria County History: Derby I - Date: 1905 - Type: DESC TEXT Book Reference - Author: Craven, M and Drage, C - Title: Moated Sites List - Date: 1982 - Type: DESC TEXT - Description: SMR Book Reference - Author: Craven, M and Stanley, M - Title: The Derbyshire Country House - Date: 1982 - Type: DESC TEXT - Description: No 28 Book Reference - Author: Sinar, Joan - Title: Bretby (historical notes) - Type: DESC TEXT - Description: On EH file Book Reference - Author: Staples, David - Title: Bretby: Proposed Conservation Area (historical notes) - Type: DESC TEXT - Description: On EH file