Country Images Magazine Derby Edition Derby 2017 | Page 18

D e r b y s h i re -
Lost Houses
Th e house probably had a medieval predecessor
in the NW corner of what was once the 500
acre park about 700 yards east of Warren Farm,
a moated site. Th e fi rst we can be sure of relating
to the later house was that it was probably built
aft er 1525 by Sir George Gresley, who succeeded
to the estate through an award in chancery
allowed by Th omas, Cardinal Wolsey, Henry
VIII’s notorious fi rst minister, no less. Th e house
he built was in ashlared Keuper Sandstone and
had its long side facing NW, raised on a high
terrace overlooking the Trent. Th e entrance was
on the SW and the service wing to the NE – not
the most favourable orientation for a house, but
probably dictated by the position vis-à-vis the
river. Th e estate stretched into Staff ordshire, also
south to Castle Gresley, Lullington, Netherseal
and with an outlier in Northamptonshire.
Unravelling its history is not easy, as few relevant
papers have survived.
Th e long garden front of the house was much
akin to Longford Hall, of similar date, of two
main storeys and with groups of bays separated
by four protruding chimney breasts, tall stacks
punctuating the parapet. Th e house was taxed on
23 hearths in 1662, placing it amongst the larger
houses in the county.
Unfortunately, the earliest view we have is an
18th century one, showing the same side of
the house now mainly fi tted with Georgian
sash windows, the outer bays being tripartite
ones as were those fl anking the central one.
Th e chimneys were all reduced to rectangular
stumps with a balustrade in between just like
18 | CountryImagesMagazine.co.uk