Carnfield Hall

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

The settlements of South Normanton and Alfreton are both recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) as ‘Normentune’ and ‘Elstretune’, respectively.   There origins are likely to have been Anglo-Saxon, although earlier small settlements might have existed.

Alfreton is also referenced in King Ethelred’s charter of freedom to Burton Abbey as ‘Alfedingtune’ and dated to around 1004.

At the time of the Domesday Book the manor of Normanton fell under the lordship of William Peveril, a son a William the Conqueror.   The manor passed by forfeiture to the De Alfreton family then to the Le poer family and in 1342 it was purchased by the le Wynn family.   By 1372 the manor belonged to Sir Alured de Solney (or Sulney) and, upon his death, it passed through marriage to his two daughters to the Stafford and Longford families.   The Stafford family subsequently sold their interest, including the land that was to become the Carnfield estate, to the Babington family of Dethick, near Matlock.

About 1502 an estate of just over 500 acres was sold by the Babingtons to Hugh Revell and, by the time of Hugh’s grandson, Thomas, there appears to have been the nucleus of the present house on the site when it was let to Anthony Eyre in 1563.¹

Carnfield itself is a derivation of the name Carlingthwaite which means ‘old woman’s clearing’.²

This subsequently became Carlingthwaite Hall by the late 16^th century and afterwards Carnfield Hall.   Carnfield Hall was the manor house of South Normanton and remained so for several successive generations of the Revell family.

The last of the Revells, Colonel Tristram Revell, died without heir in 1797.  He left the estate to the Wilmot family, although they never actually lived at the Hall.     It eventually passed to the Radford family who continued to live at Carnfield until 1912.   After that the hall was only used intermittently and by the 1960’s was empty.   The current owner purchased the property in 1987 and since than a process of restoration has been undertaken.

By the late seventeenth century the Carnfield estate covered 450 hectares, but has diminished significantly in size since.   At the turn of the 19^th century only about 48 hectares of the earlier demesne remained;  the actual landholding currently directly associated with the hall is about 20 hectares.

Carnfield Hall was listed Grade 11* in 1951.

As such it is recognised as a building of historic and architectural interest.

The building has been considerably altered throughout its history reflecting changing architectural styles and the tastes and idiosyncrasies of previous owners.   Architecturally it is a complex building.

The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England surveyed the hall in 1988.   Its report is the most complete record available of the building’s historical and structural development.   The following phases of development were identified:

• The earliest phase was a timber-framed building from the early 16^th century which partly survives encased in the south wing of the present hall.  This original building was of two storey height and at least five bays in length.   It is likely that it was jettied on its east front.

• Sometime between 1620 and 1630 the house was rebuilt in stone as an H-plan house of two and a half storeys in height.  Other alterations included the refenestration of the east front with mullion and transom windows and construction of the main staircase which rises from the main hall in the centre of the house.

• A further period of significant remodelling took place between 1693 and 1699 when the east elevation was remodelled and the main entrance moved to the east side of the house.   The work included refenestration plus the construction of a parapet to replace the gables of the earlier house.   This latter development has produced the symmetrical nine bay east facade in evident today.

• In 1912 further alterations were undertaken, particularly to the ground floor rooms, plus the insertion of new window and door opening.

The main building is constructed predominantly from variously coursed Coal Measures sandstone.  Some repairs have been undertaken using magnesian limestone which has also been used for most of the architectural detailing such as quoins and pediments.   To the rear of the main hall a small extension was built and some building repairs undertaken using red brick in the 19^th century.

The roof is tiled with plain tiles and displays moulded stone copings on moulded kneelers to the gables.   Many of the original mullion and transom windows have been replaced by timber-framed sash windows although some of the original windows remain in the south and west facades.   The traces of other remnant early window and door opening are still visible in varius locations around the building.

There is a further two storey wing of three days in length behind the main hall.   The mullioned windows suggest that it may have been built inthe late 17^th century, but again it has been much altered.

¹Craven, M and Stanley, M (2001)  The Derbyshire Country House.

²Cameron K (1959) The Place-Names of Derbyshire.

CARNFIELD HALL

The Sixteenth Century House

The remains of the 16^th century timber-framed house are very fragmentary.   The only evidence for the form of the original wall framing is to be found in the north wall of the wing – now an internal wall with the present house.   One wall post survives intact, another from first floor level up.   Mortices in the exposed soffits of two sections of mid rail show the framing pattern to have been close studding.

It is not certain how far the range extended to either the east or west originally.   However, it is clear that it extended east at least as far as the present front wall.   It is likely that the east wall of the present sough wing is one the same line as that of the 16^th century timber-framed range.   Further, the fact that the joists run axially raises the possibility that the east front of the earlier building was jettied.

The Early/Mid 17^th Century House

In the first half of the 17^th century the house was rebuilt in stone as a two and a half storey, H-plan house.   The ground and first floor of the east front was fenestrated with mullion and transom windows, traces of a number of which are still visible.   Both the front and rear elevations had gabled dormers, the roof structures of which survive behind the last 17^th century parapet.   The principal entrance in this period appears to have been located at the north end of the east front of the south wing.   This entrance, now part blocked, part cut through by a later 17^th century window, is still visible.    The surviving north half of the lintel shows the entrance to have had a Tudor-arched head of surprisingly plain appearance.

The entrance opened into a cross-passage running down the north side of the wing.   The former presence of the passage explains why the south wing is broader than the north wing.   The partition of the south side of the passage, now removed, was the original north wall of the timber-framed east-west range.

The front room of the south wing, the south-east room, appears to have been a heated parlour.   Immediately to the west of this room was a staircase opening off the cross-passage.   This staircase has heavy turned baluster s of early/mid 17^th century date.   To the west of the stair is a small room of uncertain function.   Close to the north wall of the room is an axial beam with a row of mortices for studs in its soffit.   It is likely that this was the line of a partition on the north side of which was a corridor from the cross-passage to the north room in the wing.   The need for this corridor would have ceased when a small addition providing better circulation was later built in the angle between the rear of the hall range and the north wall of the wing.

The north room of the wing appears to have been the kitchen, this being indicated by the large stack in the west gable wall.   At the east end of this room is a transverse beam, at the south end of which is a brace from its associated wall post and at the north end of which is a mortice for another brace, since removed.   Close to the two brace positions are a pair of mortices for studs.   Between these two mortices is a wide central opening which would, in the sixteenth century house, have given access to a bay beyond.

To the north of the cross-passage is the hall.   The front wall of this has been much altered, but traces of original window jamb remain visible – these indicating the positions of the earlier mullion and transom windows.   The rear wall of the ahll was lit by a single three light mullion window, now blocked.   The hall was heated by a stack in the centre of the rear wall.   Immediately to the north of this was a wide opening giving onto a stair turret in the angle between the hall range and the north wing.  There is a quoined straight joint between the wing which runs up to first floor level then stops – above which point the masonry of the two courses through unbroken.   This indicates that the stair turret was an afterthought, construction work only beginning after the adjoining wing had already reach one storey in height.   The staircase in this turret has turned balusters of the same pattern as those in the stair in the south wing.

The ground floor of the north wing comprised three rooms, the east and west of which are heated by stack against the north wall.   The east of these stacks was later enlarged in order to allow for fireplaces to be inserted into the unheated central rooms on the ground  and first floors.   The west room on the ground floor retain its ornate 17^th century fireplace with moulded surround and corbelled out lintel.

The First Floor

The chamber over the hall was lit and heated in the same way as the hall itself.   The panelling in the room is of late 16^thth century character.   It is by no means certain that this panelling was made for the room;  indeed much of the panelling in the house appears to have been re-used from elsewhere.   Above the panelling is a plaster frieze of unusual design.   This frieze is almost identical in appearance to one in North Lees Hall, date 1594.   If the Carnfield frieze is of similar date than it must have been re-used, conceivably from the earlier house on the site. or early 17

There are two doorways in the stud partition at the north end of the chamber, one giving access to the east room in the wing (heated), the other to the central rooms (originally unheated).   Access to the west room (heated) was from the stair landing.   At the south end of the hall chamber was a single doorway through stud partition.   This doorway gave access to an unheated ante-room over the cross-passage.   To the south of this was the first floor landing of the staircase in the south wing.  On the east side of the stair landing was a doorway giving access to the eat room (heated) and on the west side a corridor.   On the south side of the partition is a small unheated room.   At the west end of the corridor was a heated room principally lit by a large bay window projecting from the south wall.

This large bay window continues up to the attic floor above, where it lights the only attic storey rooms any any status.   Access to this room is by way of the stair in the south wing, the upper balustrade of which is of different pattern to those below.   The purpose of this heated and well lit room at the top of the house was not determined with any degree of certainty, although it may be that it was built as a prospect room, giving as it does an excellent view of the Revell estate, most of which lies to the south of the hall.

The Late 17^th Century

At the end of the 17^th century the east front of the building was remodelled, this work including refenestration, the re-siting of the entrance in the middle of the hall range, and the building of a tall parapet to replace the gables of the earlier house.   Also in this period, a two storey addition was built onto the east end of the north wall of the north wing providing large closets from theground and first floor east rooms of the wing.   The real purpose of building this addition was not, however, to provide additional domestic accommodation, but to make the east end of the north wing that same width as that of the south wing.  This was necessary in order to five the east front the symmetry desired.

The front entrance inserted in this period has a bolection moulded surround and open segmental pediment.   A number of fireplaces were given bolection moulded fireplace surrounds in this period. Including the one in the hall chamber.

The Rear Wing

Adjoining the west wall of the south wing is a lower two storeyed stone built wing of 17^th century date.   The purpose of this wing was not determined, although the presence of a large stack built against the south wall suggests that the ground floor, at least, had a service function.   A number of mullion windows survive at both ground and first floor level in all three external walls.   A two light mullion window in the west gable shows that the attic storey was used from the outset.  The three centrally positioned windows in the west gable, one of each floor, were later blocked when a stack was built against the inside face of the wall.