Site record MDR16504 - The Laund (site of), Belper

The name Belper derives from 'beau repair', pleasant retreat, the name coinciding with the Norman developments at the site of the manor house. Despite its name, Belper was still a wild place in the mid thirteenth century. Between 1260 and 1266 Robert de Ferrers granted a toft and 68 acres of land at Heage to Norman Fitz Sylvester of Bingham for the service of driving wolves out of his lordship of Belper. The Inquisition Post Mortem of 1297 provided a sketch of Belper Ward, which included 'herbage in Laund'. The Laund, an area free of trees, is recognisable today by the place names Laund and Far Laund and its boundaries can be easily traced on the enclosure map and the first edition 6" OS map. It was separately paled before 1314, when repairs were made to the palings. Thirty-four acres of hay were made there at that date. (1) A separate, larger area was enclosed as a laund away from Belper Park. Hay was made here in 1314 and money spent on palings. Today this is filled with houses but the name survives. (2)