ARCH^OLOGICAL GLEANINGS. lOQ 



the death of liis father on the first August, 1435, ^^ his own death 

 in 1443, appointed one John Clarke to be keeper of the parks of 

 Codnor and Aldercar, with a salary of twopence per day, and 

 that his son Henry, last Lord Grey, confirmed his father's appoint- 

 ment in 1458, and in 1465 Reginald Grey de Wilton, then owner 

 of an estate at Shirland in this county, presented John Clerk to 

 the rectory there. (There is, of course, no proof that this John 

 Clerk was one of the same family, though it is only fair to 

 suppose that he was.) The fact of the boundary of this property 

 being so close to the castle, and that the chapel stood on this 

 estate, seems to me clear evidence that these lands were granted 

 by the Greys to one of their retainers, and no doubt the John 

 Clarke, park ranger, or his ancestors, obtained a footing here 

 from the Greys. The boundary between the two properties 

 (Codnor Castle and Ormonde Fields) is still known as the Buck 

 Leap, and the Lord of the Castle claimed the right to take game 

 and fell trees twelve feet beyond the fence, into what is called 

 the Scarlet Closes, so named by tradition from a bloody battle 

 having been fought there between the Greys and a neighbouring 

 lord, who attempted to break down the castle and kill the lord 

 thereof. 



Several of the inhabitants now living, who have heard the tale 

 from their forebears, have given me details of this battle, and, 

 curiously enough, each told the same story. 



It is open to question whether John Clarke of Codnor, in 1458, 

 was ancestor of John Clarke of Codnor, yeoman, who was, 

 undoubtedly, possessed of this estate before 1561, but it is more 

 than likely that he was.* 



I have not seen any early pedigree of the family, or do I know 

 what relationship there existed between the Clarkes of Somerall, 

 in the parish of Brampton, and those of Codnor, beyond the 

 marriage mentioned below. 



Some of the family resided at Chesterfield, and Nicholas Clarke, 



* To show the difficulty in tracing so common a name as Clarke, I 

 have searched the list of wills at Lichfield, and find that from 1562 to 1586 

 there are no less than thirty-three wills of Clarkes, and six of them are John 

 Clarke. 



