South Wingfield Manor visit.

It has always been a fascinating place to view. As you drive from our house towards Crich and Cromford. A great ruin stands set back in the countryside; South Wingfield Manor. It is privately owned but administered by English Heritage. It forms part of a working farm. It is enormous.

So, armed with our English Heritage membership, we booked ourselves on one of the guided tours - this is the only way you can view the place - because it is all on private land, etc. And, guaranteed great weather because it's the height of summer we set out...into the rain. 

This summer has been appalling.

However, South Wingfield manor is not appalling. It is very impressive. It also provides no clue to its scale until you arrive at the front door, so to speak.

It is an incredibly important building. It was built by one of the most important people in the country. Ralph De Cromwell, was a big deal in the 1400's. At 22, he fought alongside Henry V at Agincourt. He was plugged into the powers of the time. This is proved when he was appointed as a member of the regency council for Henry VI. Henry VI being the son of the V, crowned at 9 months old. De Cromwell, ruled in the council alongside the likes of Henry V's brother, the Duke of Gloucester. He was a VIP for sure. He was also, to my thoughts, lucky to have died in the 1450's. Another decade or so of life and he would have found himself smack bang in the overthrow of Henry VI by Edward IV (The house of York). Times became very interesting at this point. And, as someone who was very close to the regime - we must bear in mind that Kings patronage was hugely important - he may not have been so wealthy or as influential with Henry's replacement, Edward.

The building however, as they a do, stood tall and let history wash off of its wall for a time. Ultimately, history washed the walls away. It was not the wars of the roses that did for this building.

The Interior of the Great Hall

It was the other great seismic event; the English civil war. It began as a parliamentarian stronghold. It soon, under siege, the remains of the damage inflicted by the siege canon can still be seen on the outer wall, became a royalist base. Then finally it fell under the power of the parliamentarians. Who, noting the manors strategic position, began the process of slighting the building. This meant a partial, deliberate, demolition of the site. 

 

There was more life left in the building when the great hall, one of the largest in the country, was renovated for an astronomer into a separate house. You can still make out the structural recesses for the joists that made it at least 2 stories, if not 3 and so providing an attic space. You can see this below quite well.

Taking about the great hall. The surprise of the building is in its enormous size. There is a hint of this when you view it from the road. Once you are inside then it dawns on you. The rooms and internal space is vast. It's a very big manor. It is the size which you would attribute to one of the wealthiest men in the kingdom. 

You even followed in the footsteps of English historical events. The manor held, Mary Queen of scots for a period of time. You are walking and looking into the very rooms that she would have lived and thought in. This aspect always fascinates me about these places. It is similar to when I revisit Rome. You are waking with the great shadows of the past. The same here, in South Wingfield, walking through rooms and doors that great figures have passed through. Like this, the entrance to the great hall. 

South Wingfield is a glorious place. Not the quickest or easiet place to get to. It's a fair, mainly uphill, stroll from the road to the manor. And, in the rain, the pathway can be muddy and full of puddles.