Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for HADDON (NETHER)

HADDON (NETHER). an extra-parochial tract in Bakewell district, Derby; on the river Wye, 2 miles NW of Rowsley r. station, and 2 SE of Bakewell. Acres, with Over Haddon, 2, 800. Real property, with O. H., £4, 614; of which £46 are in mines, and £130 in fisheries. Pop. of N. H. alone, 103. Houses, 16. The manor belonged, at Domesday, to Henry de Ferrars; was given, by the Conqueror, to William Peveril, the famous " Peveril of the Peak;" reverted to the Crown in the time of Henry II.; was then given to the Avenalls; passed by marriage to the Vernons, the last of whom, Sir George Vernon, who died in 1567, was styled the "King of the Peak;'' and went afterwards to the Mannerses, Earls and Dukes of Rutland. Haddon Hall, the baronial sea t of the manor, was inhabited by the Mannerses till the time of Queen Anne; stands on an elevated limestone ridge, overhanging the Wye, in one of the most picturesque tracts in the county; and is an object of romantic interest, at once for its historical associations, for its architectural features, and for its picturesque surroundings. '' The magnitude of this venerable pile of buildings, '' says Rhodes, its castellated form, and its embattled turrets rising above the trees that adorn and encompass it, have a magnificent effect, especially when seen from the vale between Haddon and Rowsley." The pile comprises erections of different date; forms two quadrangles, with interior courts; has a gateway tower, supposed to have been built in the time of Edward III.; and consists partly of portions which may have been constructed for defence, but mainly of portions for baronial and domestic uses. One apartment in it is the chaplain's room, with a curious matchlock, a pair of huge boots and some other incongruous relics; another is the chapel, of Norman date, with later additions, and a Norman font: another is the great hall, the ' ' Martindale Hall of Scott's Peveril of the Peak, '' 35 feet long and 25 feet wide, with a Roman altar in its porch, and some curious relics in its interior; another is the dining room, all wainscotted, once very magnificent, and still possessing carved portraits of Henry VII., his queen, and his jester; another is the drawing room, hung with arras, and having an old state chair; another is the long gallery, 110 feet in length and 17 in width, wainscotted with oak, ornamented with Corinthian pilasters, and carved on the frieze with the crests of the Vernons and the Mannerses; another is the ante room, adorned on the walls with numerous old paintings, and leading through Dorothy Vernon s door, to Dorothy Vernon's walk; and another is the statebedroom, hung with Gobeline tapestry, and containing a state bed occupied at Belvoir by the Prince Regent, afterwards George IV., and brought hither partly on account of its hangings having been made, or believed to have been made, by the lady of Sir Robert Manners. '' Haddon ! within thy silent halls, Deserted courts and turrets high, How mournfully on memory falls Past scenes of antique pageantry. Where are the high and stately dames Of princely Vernon's banner'd hall? And where the knights, and what their names, Who led them forth to festival? Haddon ! thy chivalry are fled ! The tilt and tourney's brave array, Where knights in steel from heel to head, Bore love's or honour's prize away."


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "an extra-parochial tract"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Bakewell RegD/PLU       Derbyshire AncC
Place names: HADDON     |     HADDON NETHER     |     NETHER HADDON
Place: Nether Haddon

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.