DUFFIELD CASTLE. 135 



II. — Subsequent History ; the Ruins Discovered. 



Meanwhile, what became of Duffield Castle on the forfeiture of 

 the last Earl Ferrers? Tradition says that it was demolished, 

 and though as yet we have failed to find any order for its 

 demolition, there is little or no doubt that tradition is in this 

 respect accurate. We believe that the work of demolition was 

 carried out by the royal forces immediately after the battle of 

 Chesterfield, so as to leave no strong centre for future disaffection 

 in the county. The troops set out on their march back to London 

 immediately after their victory. They would proceed by the 

 great road to the south that passed so near to Duffield, and whilst 

 a portion of them hurried on with their important prisoner, 

 the bulk of the forces would turn aside to lay siege to the 

 powerful stronghold of Duffield. The garrison that Robert de 

 Ferrers had left behind him would most likely immediately yield 

 when they knew the fate of their lord, and the troops would 

 simply have the work of demolition to accomplish. 



At all events there is plenty of negative evidence to prove that 

 the castle of Duffield was non-existent shortly after the time of 

 Robert de Ferrers. Among the possessions of Edmund, Earl of 

 Lancaster, at the time of his death, 1297, were the manor, forest, 

 and advowson of Duffield, but there is no record of the castle ; 

 and it is impossible but that it would have been specifically 

 mentioned if it had been existent* Again, on the 21st of June 

 following, the king grants to Blanche, Queen of Navarre, 

 widow of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, Duffield manor, and its 

 members as assignment of dower, but no mention is made of 

 the castle. 



There are several rent rolls of the Duchy of Lancaster at the 

 Public Record Office that include Duffield of the 14th and 15th 

 centuries ; they prove that there was in those times only the 

 site of the castle remaining. For instance, in the year 1401, 

 among the Duffield tenants for that year in a list of rentals 



* Inquisitio post mortem, 25 Edw. I., No. 51. 



