Stainsby Mill

Stainsby is a small village in Derbyshire, England. It is near Chesterfield and Bolsover, and the villages of Heath and Doe Lea. The village population is included in the civil parish of Ault Hucknall. The M1 motorway skirts past the village. In 1870-72 it had a population of 101.The village is near the National Trust property of Hardwick Hall. In the hall's estate is Stainsby Mill, a fully working 19th-century water mill. The village was known as Steinesbei in the Domesday survey where it was listed together with several manors including Beighton and Sutton Scarsdale under the lands of Roger de Poitou. It was surrounded to the north by a semi-circular moat with banks and ramparts, approximately eight feet in depth. Some of this still remains visible, although in a much reduced form. This is known as "The Earthwork". The manor of Stainsby was owned by the Savage family, whose members played prolific roles in the king's armies and in society. A John Savage was knighted, probably by Henry V, for his service at the Battle of Agincourt on 15 October 1415. Whilst another Sir John commanded the left wing of the Tudor army at the Battle of Bosworth and became a Knight of the Garter. Thomas Savage was consecrated Bishop of Rochester, then London (where he also became Chaplain to King Henry VII) and was then made Archbishop of York and Primate of England a position he held from 1501 until his death in 1507. One of the Savages was involved in the Babington Plot to kill Queen Elizabeth I and put Mary, Queen of Scots, on the throne. Along with the Babington family of Dethick, their deeds resulted in many of them being executed. Around 1580, the manor passed from the hands of the family, eventually being sold on to William Cavendish. Stainsby hosts the Stainsby Festival, a folk festival which takes place in the summer. The festival celebrated its 40th year in 2008.

Bramley Vale is a village in Derbyshire, England, south of Bolsover. It is in the civil parish of Ault Hucknall.

Doe Lea is a small, linear village in the English county of Derbyshire. It is in the Bolsover district of the county and falls in the Ault Hucknall civil parish. The village runs along the old A617 road. A newer dual carriageway (currently the A617) runs parallel to it. The village is also immediately adjacent to junction 29 of the M1 motorway, like its neighbouring village Heath. Hardwick Hall is nearby. In 2005 the river and banks were given a makeover. A new path was put down, about 30 new trees were planted, the path was called Willow Walk and was opened by Dennis Skinner, MP. The work was carried out by The Doe Lea Valley Community Partnership, a group of volunteers from Doe Lea and surrounding areas. Work is still being carried out and is still being maintained by the group. The village has a public house and a community centre. The River Doe Lea runs through the village, and Doe Lea local nature reserve is located nearby.Doe Lea is near the villages of Bramley Vale, Glapwell, Heath and Stainsby; the latter hosts the annual Stainsby Festival.

St John the Baptist's Church, Ault Hucknall, is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in Ault Hucknall, Derbyshire.

Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire is an architecturally significant country house from the Elizabethan era, a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house. Built between 1590 and 1597 for Bess of Hardwick, it was designed by the architect Robert Smythson, an exponent of the Renaissance style. Hardwick Hall is one of the earliest examples of the English interpretation of this style, which came into fashion having slowly spread from Florence. Its arrival in Britain coincided with the period when it was no longer necessary or legal to fortify a domestic dwelling. After ownership for centuries by the Cavendish family and the line of the Earl of Devonshire and the Duke of Devonshire, ownership of the house was transferred to the Treasury in 1956 and then to the National Trust in 1959. The building was ruinous and required stabilisation and a subsequent restoration.The Hall is fully open to the public and received 298,283 visitors in 2019.

Ault Hucknall (Old English: Hucca's nook of land) is a village and civil parish in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire, England. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 1,053.Local residents describe the settlement as the 'smallest village in England', as it consists of only a church and three houses. The philosopher Thomas Hobbes was interred within Ault Hucknall's St John the Baptist Church following his death in 1679.Hardwick Hall is within the parish boundary, which also contains the settlements of Astwith, Bramley Vale, Doe Lea, Hardstoft, Rowthorne and Stainsby.

Glapwell is a former railway station in Glapwell, Derbyshire, England.

Heath is a village in the North East Derbyshire district of the English county of Derbyshire. The civil parish is called Heath and Holmewood. The population of this parish as taken at the 2011 Census was 2,953.

Blackwell was a rural district in Derbyshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 based on that part of the Mansfield rural sanitary district which was in Derbyshire (the Nottinghamshire part forming Skegby Rural District). It was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, becoming part of the new district of Bolsover. The parishes within the district included: Ault Hucknall Blackwell Glapwell Pinxton Pleasley Scarcliffe Shirebrook South Normanton Tibshelf

Astwith is a village in Derbyshire, England. Astwith is in the parish of Ault Hucknall. For many decades it was a part of the manor of Stainsby, which was known as Steinesbei in the Domesday survey (1087). Apparently there is no mention of Astwith, otherwise spelt Estewayt, Est(th)wayt, Estweit and Eswheyt, by name until the 13th century. This extract was taken from a small book found in the Chesterfield library written by J.E.Milner a local schoolmaster: "There is no mention of it (Astwith) until the 1200s when Adeluga, widow of Robert le Sauvage, released among other bequests, one messuage and one bovate of land at Estewyte to John de Sauvage and his heirs. It would also suggest that between the two claims for the name's meaning: a. the ford by the ash trees b. The East ford the latter seems the more likely. The ford, now a bridge, is on the lane from Stainsby, but east of where, remains a puzzle." The Savage family are believed to have held Astwith among other local lands until 1593, when Bess of Hardwick purchased them from the Lord Chancellor and Auditor for the sum of £9,500. Following her death, her son William 1st Lord Cavendish, had a survey of all his lands carried out by William Senior in 1609/1610. At this time Astwith is recorded with a total acreage of 508 acres (2.06 km2) and seven named residents. These were Matthewe Foxe, Richard Carman, Henrie Frithe, John Tacie, John Turner, Robert Wainwrighte, Humphrie Fretwell. These residents had holdings varying in size from 88 acres (360,000 m2) to just over 1-acre (4,000 m2). The common extended to 169 acres (0.68 km2), and the cunygre to a further 24 acres (97,000 m2). Unlike other local villages which were built along a main street with tofts on either side, Astwith was ranged along the edge of the common. By the time of the 1839 Tithe Awards, the village had grown to 17 households, although the acreage farmed had remained the same in total. Communications to local towns had been improved by the development of the turnpike road between Tibshelf and Temple Normanton in the 1820s. Access roads into the village from the turnpike were improved and the housing centre of the village moved to this access road. The village remained in the ownership of the Dukes of Devonshire until 1959, when it was passed to the National Trust as part of the death duty settlement of the 10th Duke. Most of the village is now in private ownership, after the National Trust began to dispose of its holding of residential buildings in the 1970s. The Trust retains much of the land which is farmed by the one working farm in the village or by the farm at Hardwick Park within the grounds of Hardwick Hall which they run in partnership with the farmer. Many of the properties in the village remain under building covenants held by the Trust. The photograph looks east and shows Manor Farm Cottage on the right and parts of Manor Farm and The Swallows on the left. There are around 20 homes in Astwith today. There is no room for six bedroom Swiss cottages. Astwith is one of 27 conservation areas within the council area of Bolsover District Council. In October 2010 the Local Conservation Plan for Astwith was approved by Bolsover District Council and a copy of the report can be viewed on their website www.bolsover.gov.uk. A circular walk of around 5.5 miles (8.9 km) is centred on Astwith and is a part of the longer Five Pits Trail which connects Tibshelf, Holmewood and Grassmoor.

Common End is a place noted on an Ordnance Survey map of Derbyshire, England. It is located eight miles south-east of Chesterfield, and just north of Astwith.

Rowthorn Tunnel is a former railway tunnel between Glapwell and Rowthorn and Hardwick stations southeast of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. Some sources refer to the tunnel as "Rowthorne".