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Etwall - by Daniel and Samuel Lysons, 1817

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Transcription by Barbarann AYARS © 2001
[Lyson's Magna Britannia Vol 5: Derbyshire, page 159-162]

ETWALL, in the hundred of Appletree and Deanery of Castillar, lies about six miles west from Derby, on the road to Uttoxeter.

The parish contains the townships of Etwall and Burnaston The manor of Etwall was held under Henry de Ferrars, at the time of taking the Domesday Survey, by Saswallo, ancestor of the Shirley family. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, it was in the family of Riboef. In the year 1370: Sir William Fenchenden and others, as trustees, probably conveyed it to the priory of Bellovale or Beauval, in Nottinghamshire. King Henry VII, in the year 1540 granted the manor of Etwall, together with the impropriate rectory, and advowson of the vicarage, (which had been given to Welbeck-abbey, in the reign of King Stephen) to Sir John Port, Knight, one of the justices of the Kings-bench. (Footnote: He appears to have had property in Etwall, before this grant, having married the heiress of John Fitzherbert, Esq., of Etwall.) The elder daughter and coheiress of his son, Sir John Port the younger, brought Etwall to Sir Thomas Gerard, whose great-grandson, Sir William Gerard, Bart, sold this estate, in 1641, to Sir Edward Moseley, Bart., of whom it was purchased, in 1646, by Sir Samuel Sleigh. Mary, only daughter of Sir Samuel, by his third wife, married Rowland Cotton, Esq., of Bellaport in Shropshire. The manor, rectory, and advowson, are now vested in the committee of his grandson, William Cotton, a lunatic, who resides at Etwall-hall.

In the parish church is the tomb of Henry Porte, Esq., 1512, and Elizabeth his wife, with the figures, on brass, of the wife and seventeen children. There are monuments also of Janet Cunliffe, 1712; James Chethan, S.T.P. master of the Hospital, vicar of Etwall, canon and chancellor of Lichfield, 1740 (Footnote: It is remarkable that he was born, married and died on the same day of the month {October 22}); Dorothy, relict of Sir John Every, Bart., 1749; and Joseph Green, Esq., 1810.

The church at Etwall received great damage from a violent tempest which happened on the 10th of June, 1545, and it is mentioned in Stowe's Chronicle. A curious account of this tempest copied from a letter lately discovered among the records in the Tower, is inserted in the note:

 

" At Darbie the 25th daye of June 1545:
Wellbeloved sonne I recomend me unto you, gevyng you Godds blessyng & myne. Son this is to sertifie you of soche straunge newes, as that hath of late chaunsed in thes p'ties; that is to wytt, apon Satterday last past, being the 20th daye of this moneth, on Say'te Albons day, we had in thes p'tyes great tempest...wether, about xi of the clok before none: & in the same tempest, The devill as we do suppose beganne in Nedewood, which is ix myles from Darbie; & there he cast downe a great substance of wood; & pulled up by the rotts: & from thens he came to Enwalle, wher at one Mre. Powret (Porte) doth dwell, & there he pulled down ij great elmes, that there was a dossyn or xvj loode apon a piese of them; & went to the churche and pullyd up the leade, and flonge it apon a great elme that stondyth a payer of butt langthes from the churche, &.......it hangyd apon the bowys lyke stremars; & afte...turned...&and the grounsells upwards & some layd by apon...heape & ...that was apon viij bayes long he set it a ...gge & and the ...roots set upwards; & he hathe in the same towne lefte not past iiij or v housses hole. And from thence he came a myle a this syde, & there grewe opon lx or iiij wyllowes, & apon xij or xvi he hathe brokyn in the mydds, & they were as great as a mans body; & so he lefte them lyke a yard and a half hye: And from thence he went to Langley, which is lyke iiij myles from Darby, & there he hath pullyd downe a great p''te of the churche, & and rowled up the leade and lefte it lyeing, & so we went to Syr Wyllm Bassetts place in the same (towne) & all so pullyd a great parte of it downe with his...& the wood that growethe abowte his place, & in his parke he pulled downe his pale and dryve out his deare and pulled downe his woods, & so (me) broken in the mydds that was xvj or xx loode of wood of some one tre. And after that he went into the towne to Awstens housse of Potts & hath slayne his sonne and his ayer, and perused all the hole towne, that he hath left not past ij hole howsses in the same towne. And from thence he went to Wydley lane, and there a nourse satt wt ij chylderen uppon her lappe before the fyre, & there he flonge downe the sayde howse, & the woman fell forwards ap (on the) yonge chyldren afore the fyre, & a piese of tyber fell apon her...& so killed her, but the chylderen were sayved, & and no more hurte, and none of the house left standyng but the chymney, & there as the house stode, he flange a great tre, that there is viij or x lood of wood apon it. And from thence he went to Belyer (Belper) & there he hath pullyd & rent apon xl houses; and from thence he went to Belper wood and he hathe pullyd downe a wonderous thyng of wood & kylled may bease; & from thens to Brege (Heage) & there hath he pulled downe the chappyl & the moste parte of the towne; & and from thens to Wynfeldman, that is the Erle of Shroseberys, & in the parke he pulled him downe a lytell...& and from thens to Manfyld in Shrewood & there I am sure he hath done no good, & and it is sayd he hathe donne much hurt in Chesshire & ...shire. And as the noyse goeth of the people there felle in some places hayle stons as great as a mans fyste, & some of them had prynts apon them lyke faces. This is true, & no fables, there is moche more hurte done besyds, that were to moche to wryte, by the reporte of them that have sene it; and thus fare you well."

The hospital at Etwall was founded by Sir John Porte in the year 1556, for six poor persons. It appears, by an inscription on the front, that the hospital having fallen to decay, was rebuilt in the year 1681; and at the same time the number of almsmen was doubled, and the salaries increased, in consequence of the improvement of the estates left for the support of this hospital and the school at Repton. The masters of the hospital and school, the ushers, and the three senior poor men, are a body corporate. The present revenue of the estate is about 2500 pounds per annum. The master's salary is 200 pounds per annum. The almsmen, who are now sixteen in number, receive 20 pounds 16 s. per annum each ( 8 s a week): they have dark-blue cloth gowns, once in two years; and an allowance of 3 Pounds per annum each for coals.

The six seniors have perquisites in addition to their pensions, which amount to about 8 pounds or 9 pounds per annum. A nurse, who lives in the hospital, washes and cooks for them, and gives other necessary attendance. She receives the same pay as the almsmen, and is allowed 6 pounds 6 s. per annum for coals. A surgeon is allowed 12 pounds 12 s per annum for medical assistance. The houses are whitewashed every year, and kept in excellent repair. The affairs of the hospital and school are under the direction of three hereditary governors, descended from the coheiresses of the founder. The present governors are the Marquis of Hastings, the Earl of Chesterfield, and Sir William Gerard, Bart.

There is a small school at Etwall, endowed with 5 pounds per annum, by Rowland Cotton, Esq., or Mary his wife, the coheiress of Sleigh.

The manors of Barrowcote (Berewardescote), and Burnaston (Burnulfestun) were held by one Henry, under Henry de Ferrars, when the Survey of Domesday was taken. In the year 1290 Roger, son of Walter de Chambreis was Lord of Barrowcote and Burnaston; in 1297 William de Henore held both these places under the Earl of Lancaster; and in a roll of Knights fees, made about the year 1370, they are stated to have been then held by John Bakepuz, for one knight's fee. Soon afterwards (temp Henry IV), the Bonnington family possessed both these manors. Ralph Bonnington, Esq., sold Barrowcote, in 1672, to William Turner, of Derby, Gent. Mr. Exuperius Turner sold it to Robert Newton, Esq., who died in 1789, having bequeathed this and other estates to John Leaper, Esq., who had taken the name of Newton, and is the present proprietor. Burnaston became the property of Sir Samuel Sleigh, by purchase probably from the Benningtons. It was inherited by his grand-son, Samuel Chetham, Esq.; devolved afterwards to the Cottons, (descended from a co-heiress of Sleigh), and is now vested in the Committe of William Cotton, Esq.

 

[From Lysons Topographical and Historical Account of Derbyshire, 1817.
Transcription kindly donated by Barbarann AYARS, 18th Jun 2001]