Foremark is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the

South Derbyshire South Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. The population of the local authority at the 2011 Census was 94,611. It contains a third of the National Forest, and the council offices are in Swadlincote. The district ...

district of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

, England. It contains

Foremarke Hall Foremarke Hall is a Georgian- Palladian country house and manor house. Completed in 1762, the Hall is located at the manor (hamlet) of Foremark, near the hamlets of Ingleby, Ticknall, Milton, and the village of Repton in South Derbyshire, ...

, a medieval

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals with ...

which now houses Repton Preparatory School; and part of Foremark Reservoir. Foremark is near the hamlets of Ingleby, Ticknall, Milton and the village of

Repton Repton is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, located on the edge of the River Trent floodplain, about north of Swadlincote. The population taken at the 2001 Census was 2,707, increasing to 2,8 ...

. Its postal address is Milton. It is also a few miles to the east of the town of

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The d ...

History

The toponym is of

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

origin, from ''forn'' "old" and ''verk'' "fortification". Following discoveries by a local metal detectorist, excavations in 2018 found indications of a Viking camp at Foremark, possibly associated with the winter camp of the

Great Heathen Army The Great Heathen Army,; da, Store Hedenske Hær also known as the Viking Great Army,Hadley. "The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire", ''Antiquaries Journal''. 96, pp. 23–67 was a coalition of Scandi ...

in 874 at nearby

. Foremark is mentioned in 1086 in the

Domesday book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

.Foremark is spelt Fornewerche in 1086 The book says ''Domesday Book: A Complete Transliteration''. London: Penguin, 2003. p.753 under the title of “The lands of Nigel of Stafford":Nigel of Stafford held a considerable number of manors including several in Derbyshire given to him by the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

. These included obviously Foremark but also included lands in Drakelow,

Stapenhill Stapenhill is a suburban village and civil parish in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire in the UK. It was a small village owned by Nigel of Stafford as far back as 1086, however, this ancient parish area has long since been surrounded by new hous ...

Swadlincote Swadlincote is a former mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, England, lying within The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire, south-east of Burton upon Trent and north-west of Ashby-d ...

, Ingleby, Ticknall and

Smisby Smisby is an ancient manor, civil parish and small village in South Derbyshire, England. It is from Melbourne and near the Leicestershire border

, (and Ravenstone, Donisthorpe, Oakthorpe and Trangesby in Leicestershire).

”In Foremark Ulfkil had two
carucates The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...
of land to the geld. There is land for 2 ploughs. There is now one plough in
demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...
and 5 villans and 3
bordars Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which devel ...
have one plough. There is one mill rendering 2 shillings and of meadow, woodland pasture half a league long and as much broad. TRETRE in
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
is Tempore Regis Edwardi. This means in the time of
King Edward King Edward may refer to: Monarchs of England and the United Kingdom * Edward the Elder (–924) * Edward the Martyr (–978) * Edward the Confessor (–1066) * Edward I of England (1239–1307) * Edward II of England (1284–1327) * Edward III o ...
before the
Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest ...
. worth 40 shillings now 15 shillings.“

Foremake was the

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

given to the Burdett Family of Bramcote since the family became a hereditary line of baronets. The Burdett family yielded several politicians, The most notable Burdett lords were Sir Robert Burdett,

Francis Burdett Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet (25 January 1770 – 23 January 1844) was a British politician and Member of Parliament who gained notoriety as a proponent (in advance of the Chartists) of universal male suffrage, equal electoral districts, v ...

and Sir Francis Burdett. The

, was built by the orders of one of the baronets in the family in 1762 and now sits in the centre of Foremark. Foremark saw a more active role in World War I when

was used as an army military hospital; and World War II, when the hall was an officer training centre. The fields around were a Starfish site (one of several decoy sites used to distract German bombers en route to bomb

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

Parish church

The parish church of Saint Saviour is on a small mount in south-western Foremark. It was built in 1662 by Sir Francis Burdett, and retains most of its original furnishings.Pevsner, Nikolaus. 1986. ''The Buildings of England:Derbyshire''. pp 216-217. Harmondsworth, Middx. Penguin. It is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

References

{{Reflist Hamlets in Derbyshire Civil parishes in Derbyshire South Derbyshire District

History

Parish church

See also

References