THE CHURCH OF ST. HELENS, DARLEY DALE. 21 



commemorated has been described in the above account of the 

 manor. There are memorials to the Greensmiths and Beards 

 of a later date. The oldest of these is one to the memory 

 of Herbert Greensmith and Ann his wife, who both died in 



i75°- 



Of the early holders of the other moiety of the chief manor 

 of Darley there are no monuments extant, nor is it likely that 

 any of the Plomptons have been here interred, as their chief 

 seat was in Yorkshire. But that part of the church which was 

 specially appropriated to the Old Hall Manor is easily dis- 

 tinguishable, as it is still enclosed by a stone openwork screen 

 or parclose of Perpendicular tracery, which seems to be of 

 fifteenth century style. It most probably was erected here by 

 the Plompton family when they succeeded to the estate. The 

 screen shuts off the east portion of the south aisle between 

 the south transept and the main entrance to the church. It 

 was, unfortunately, set back a foot or two to give more room 

 in the aisle in 1854, but otherwise remains as it was before 

 the restoration. Stone parcloses, though of fairly frequent occur- 

 rence round chantry tombs in cathedrals, are very rarely met 

 with in parish churches. 



Besides the manor-in-chief, there were several other manors 

 within the parish of Darley. One of these was the manor of 

 Wendesley, or Wensley, which was a hamlet of the Royal 

 Manor of Matlock at the time of the Domesday Survey; but 

 in less than a century it seems to have been included in Darley 

 parish. It was held directly under the Crown for about two 

 centuries, but formed part of the estates of Edmund Plantagenet, 

 Earl of Lancaster, in the reign of Edward I. Before the reign 

 of King John the tenants of the Crown who held this manor 

 were known by the title of the manor, " De Wendesley or 

 De Wensley," and it remained with that ancient family till the 

 time of Queen Elizabeth, when the heiress, Anne Wendesley, 

 married Ralph Blackwall, of Blackwall. The visitation pedi- 

 grees give four generations previous to Anne Wendesley. Her 

 father, Richard Wendesley (who was living in 1569), married 



