I36 DUFFIEt.D CASTLK. 



and knights' fees, in the Cowcher of the Honor of Tutbury, 



occurs the following : — 



"Nicholas Jakson 1 acre in Castelfeld ad finem ville i d " 



In the year 1588, Anthony Bradshawe, of Duffield, wrote a 



most interesting local poem, entitled — " A Frends due Comen- 



dacon of Duffeld Frith."* It opens thus — 



" O auntient prety Duffeld ffrith my love & commendacon 

 Of due defect I yeld to thee for pleasant habitation 

 The stately hono r of Tutbury includeth thee as part 

 And of the Duchy of Lancast' a member fine thou art." 



The eighth stanza runs as follows, and shows how entirely, in 



Elizabeth's days, the castle was a thing of the past : — 



"At Duffeld Placehead, placed was a statlye Castly & Cortyard 

 Whereof the seyte yet beareth name now called Castly Orchard. 

 The Duke there had great royalties of fforest p'ks of warren 

 And wards and pleines of waters store, of grounds not very barren." 



In 1769, as has been already stated, the careful eye of 

 Mr. Reynolds, so used to antiquarian observation, could detect no 

 visible ruins of the castle above the sod. But there, beneath the 

 ground, where cattle had grazed for more than six centuries, lay 

 silently concealed the massive remnants of this great Norman 

 fortress. 



On Easter Monday, 1886, Mr. H. J. Harvey, son of the owner 

 of the Castle Field, being desirous of repairing one of the stone 

 fences, sought for stone where it seemed to be near the surface. 

 In so doing some old masonry was uncovered, which proved to 

 be part of the east wall of the keep. The hole thus made would 

 probably have been filled up again, and this ancient stronghold 

 might have again slumbered in oblivion, had it not been for the 

 wakeful zeal and energy of Mr. Bland, of Duffield, who, recog- 

 nising the importance of the discovery, obtained the necessary 

 permission from the owner for systematic excavation. A local 

 committee was soon formed, and, with the extended support 

 gained by the assistance of the Derbyshire Archaeological and 

 Natural History Society, funds were raised to carry out the work 

 of exploration to a successful issue, under the painstaking super- 

 vision of Mr. Bland. 



* Printed in the Reliquary, vol. xxiii., pp. 69-74. 



