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Wingfield Manor is a deserted (since the 1770s) house some 4 miles from the town of Alfreton. It is now in the care of English Heritage, though rarely open.

Wingfield Manor was built around 1450 for Ralph, Lord Cromwell on the site of a 12th century castle, and was bought by the second Earl of Shrewsbury. The design was the inspiration for Hampden Court in London.

The sixth Earl of Shrewsbury was entrusted with the care of Mary, Queen of Scots, when she was detained from 1569 onwards, in his various houses around Derbyshire, Wingfield among them. It may have been here that she met Anthony Babington, whose family lived at Dethick nearby, who organised the abortive Babington Plot.

At the time of the English Civil War (1642), the manor was in the hands of the Earl of Shrewsbury, a Parliament supporter. The Manor was taken by the Royalists in 1643 and then, after a siege, retaken by Parliament in 1644. It was located in what was then a strategic position near the main north-south artery of the country. It was partially demolished at the end of the war, and then renovated some years later for Halton, an astronomer.

The ruins present a dramatic and atmospheric backdrop to the landscape and have featured in a number of television and cinema productions, among them 'Peak Practice' and the Franco Zeffirelli film 'Jane Eyre'.

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County:  Derbyshire

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