Monument record MDR9975 - Manor Quarry, Duffieldbank, Duffield

Site is shown as 'Quarry' on a late 19th century OS map and as 'Old Quarry' on an OS map at the end of the 19th century and an early 20th century OS map. (1, 2, 3) The first unambiguously large scale quarrying of sandstone in the Lower Derwent area was prompted by Henry de Ferrers' re-building of Duffield Castle [SMR 19401] in the early 12th century, replacing an earlier wooden structure. Its keep was claimed as the third largest in England at the time with walls 4.6m (15ft) thick. The source was almost certainly Duffield or Eaton Bank, where 'Manor Quarry' was worked until the late 19th century. What is of particular local significance is that this formidable structure was literally razed to the ground after the Ferrers were dispossessed of their lands by the Crown in 1266. The fabric provided a readier source of shaped stone for the neighbourhood than resorting to the arduous task of quarrying. A Parliamentary Commission in 1839 considered that the 15th century tower of Derby Cathedral was similar to the stone on Duffield Bank. However a city stone trail indicates that the source for the latter was Rigga Lane Quarry, a few steps to the south, on Eaton Bank. St Alkmund's [SMR 19402] in Duffield, of which only the early 14th century tower probably retains original stone work, probably drew stone from Duffield Bank, just across the river, but within the parish. Manor Quarry (now a private residence) was aptly owned by the Jodrells (Lords of the Manor) and worked under lease (in the 1830s to Hunt, Smith and Tomlinson, and later to Grace and his sons) until closure in 1897. A little further north, a house known as The Quarry was built in 1884 after extraction had finished. Farey lists a Duffield Bank Quarry in 1811. (4) Gritstone quarries similar to those in the nearby Blue Mountains, Little Eaton. (5)