BRETBY, Derbyshire - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"BRETBY, (or Bradby) a chapelry in the parish of Repton, hundred of Repton and Gresley, in the county of Derby, 3 miles to the E. of Burton-upon-Trent, its post town. A castle formerly existed here, which belonged to the Mowbrays as early as the reign of Richard II. The manor subsequently passed to the Berkeley family. A fine mansion, erected by the first Earl of Chesterfield, was fortified and held for Charles I. in 1642, but was captured by the parliamentary forces, and taken down about 1780.

The living is a donative curacy in the diocese of Lichfield, value £80, in the patronage of the Earl of Chesterfield. Bradby Park, which contains the sites of the ancient castle and the former mansion, is the seat of the Earl of Chesterfield. The present hall was built about 1814."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin HINSON ©2003]