Monument record MDR8442 - Bull ring, Snitterton, South Darley

Small metal ring set in the road. The ring was formerly used for tethering bulls on the site of the cattle market (?). The ring was in fair condition in 1975. It was checked on 11.2.1977 and was not seen, however there is a plaque on the roadside. (1) Iron ring set into the road surface. Formerly used for tethering bulls for bull baiting. Marked by a concrete pillar on the verge. Of possible 17th century date? (2) An unsigned note added to the County Treasure Record (2) reads 'I think it's a rash assumption that this was necessarily for bull baiting. It was quite usual to have "places" to tether bulls without necessarily invoking the idea of bull baiting'. The bull ring at Snitterton lies at road level near the junction to Snitterton Hall. It was preserved by Derbyshire Archaeological Society in 1906, when one old villager recalled being told by his father how in the evenings men from Winster, Wensley and other villages would often bring their bulldogs to be tried against the bull at Snitterton. The bull ring was so worn by the last century that a new one was laid, its staple set into a stone 2ft wide and 7ft deep - which it took four horses to pull - and which was sunk 2ft into the ground. (3)