Padley Hall (or Padley Manor) was an

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

great house A great house is a large house or mansion with luxurious appointments and great retinues of indoor and outdoor staff. The term is used mainly historically, especially of properties at the turn of the 20th century, i.e., the late Victorian or ...

overlooking the River Derwent near

Grindleford Grindleford is a village and civil parish in the county of Derbyshire, in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 Census was 909. It lies at an altitude of in the valley of the River Derwent in t ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, England. The remains of the hall today are mostly just foundation walls. The site is a protected

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. Not to be confused with 17th-century Padley Hall near Ripley. Padley Hall was a large double courtyard house dating back to the 14th century, although it was built on the site of an earlier

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

manor house.

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

gave the Padley estate to his supporter the head of the De Bernac family. The Bernac family changed their name to Padley after the estate. The hall was built for the Padley family and subsequently passed onto the local aristocratic Eyre family, when Joan Padley married Robert Eyre ( Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests in 1481). It became the residence of Sir Thomas Fitzherbert through his marriage to Anne Eyre in 1534. The Fitzherbert family were devout

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, refusing to attend the services of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. Sir Thomas had given the hall to his younger brother John by 1588. In July 1588, the hall was raided and two Catholic priests (

Nicholas Garlick Nicholas Garlick (c. 1555 – 24 July 1588) was an English Catholic priest, martyred in Derby in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Early life He was born around 1555, near Dinting in Glossop, within the county of Derby. In January 1575 he ...

and

Robert Ludlum Robert Ludlum (May 25, 1927 – March 12, 2001) was an American author of 27 Thriller (genre), thriller novels, best known as the creator of Jason Bourne from the original ''Bourne (novel series), The Bourne Trilogy'' series. The number of copi ...

) were discovered hiding within the walls. Two weeks later they were found guilty of high treason (being ordained priests in England) and they were hanged, drawn and quartered in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

. Their corpses were displayed on poles on St. Mary’s Bridge. They became known as the 'Padley Martyrs'. John Fitzherbert was imprisoned and died in 1590. Sir Thomas Fitzherbert had spent 32 years in prison for his beliefs and died in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

in 1591. Padley Manor was confiscated by the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

before being returned later to the Fitzherbert family. William Fitzherbert inherited the estate in 1649 but hefty

recusancy Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

fines and family debts forced him to sell the hall, which gradually fell into disrepair. Stones were taken from the hall ruins to construct two barns. Padley Chapel was the former gatehouse to the hall and was used as a farm building following the closure of the hall. The building is still intact and in 1933 it was converted into a Catholic chapel in honour of the martyrs. A pilgrimage to Padley Chapel began in 1892 in honour of the executed martyrs and it still takes place in July each year from nearby

Grindleford railway station Grindleford railway station serves the village of Grindleford in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. It is located away from the village centre in Nether Padley. The station is a stop on the Hope Valley line between and . History It was ...

. The chapel is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

Longshaw Estate Longshaw Estate is an area of moorland, woodland and farmland within the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire, England. The name of Longshaw is thought to have derived from the long wood in Padley Gorge. There are remains from Bronze Age ...

and

Padley Gorge Padley Gorge is a deep but narrow valley in the Peak District, Derbyshire between the village of Grindleford and the A6187 road. The gorge is wooded with a stream, the Burbage Brook. This stream used to form the boundary between Derbyshire a ...

would have been part of the original Padley estate.{{Cite web, title=Longshaw, Burbage and the Eastern Moors, url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/longshaw-burbage-and-the-eastern-moors, access-date=2020-06-03, website=National Trust, language=en

References

Scheduled monuments in Derbyshire Country houses in Derbyshire