History of Hagg Hill Hall

Ancient documents show that there has been a substantial dwelling house here on this location at Tupton for several centuries. The present stone building that we see today was erected in the 1600's and is one of the finest examples of a house of its period that can be seen in England today. Investigation has proved that the house was built using recycled beams from a previous medieval building which stood on the same spot, a building which in those times would have been constructed mainly from timber.

Specialist tests (Dandro Radio Carbon Dating) has been used to substantiate the date of the beams in the present house and the results of the tests are quite astounding as they show that the trees to make the beams were cut down in the early 1200's.

Exactly who built the previous building is not known but when the Angles and Saxons came to settle in this county this part of Derbyshire was ruled by a wealthy Anglo-Saxon nobleman by the name of Wulfric Spot and when he died in the year 1004 he left this parish to Burton Abbey but things changed in 1066 when the Normans came and this parish was awarded by William the Conqueror to one of his companions Walter Deincourt as is recorded in the Domesday book of 1086. Walter eventually passed the land to his son Ralph Deincourt. This family built a large mansion at Park Hall near Tupton (long since demolished) and it would seem highly likely that it was the Deincourts who had the original medieval house built at "The Hill" (now called Hagg Hill). There is a charter of 1297 in which Roger Deincourt of North Wingfield parish giver to Mary his mother and William his brother all of his lands in Tupton which had previously belonged to his Father and is rented out to Robert of "The Hill" and Henry of "The Hill" for a yearly rent of one penny and a rose. The male line of the Deincourts became extinct in the early 1400's but one of the females Joan Deincourt married John Revell. The Revells were a very wealthy family and they came to this part of Derbyshire in the mid 1400's and became owners of land in the area including this place which was a large house and farm referred to as "The Hill".

The Revells settled at Shirland which is 5 miles from Hagg Hill and in his will of 1555 Robert Revell of Shirland lodge left to his son:- "All my lands and tenements at "The Hill" in occupation of John Clay". Again in 1568 another will was left by a John Revell of Shirland in which he states:- 'To Edward Revell my son all my lands and tenements at "The Hill" in the parish of North Wingfield".

The Clay family who were tenants at "The Hill" had been in the parish for some centuries previous, Nicholas Clay being mentioned there in a tax record of 1327 and by the mid 1500's were leasing the house and farm at "The Hill" from the Revell family. The Clay's were yeoman farmers and by the mid 1600's had become prosperous enough to buy the house and farm at "The Hill". It was a time when a lot of land changed hands after the Civil War. The old medieval building was taken down at this time and the beams were used in the new stone building that we see today.

The Clay's are mentioned in the parish register from its beginning in 1567 as being of "The Hill" and in one of the Clay Wills it mentions a Deed of 1675 which shows transfer of the property from Francis Clay the Elder to Francs Clay the younger and Katherine his wife, there is a date stone in the building C. F. K.1693 which are the initials of Francis Clay and his wife Katherine whose decedents were to own the farm for the next 200 years over which period of time the property is mentioned in several Clay Wills. In 1804 Rowley Clay of "The Hill" gentleman leaves the property to his son Richard Clay and in 1836 Richard Clay of "The Hill" left -" The dwelling house and stock (etc.) at "The Hill" to his son Frederick Lord Clay.

The house and farm was now rented out to tenants and the Clay family moved out of the area but still retained ownership - Frederick Lord Clay become a solicitor and emigrated to Australia but still made frequent visits to England and on the 1837 Survey he is listed as the owner and in 1873 "Owners of Land" he is still the owner, he died in Australia in 1885 and although he had 10 children there the house and farm passed to his sister Eliza Penelope Bright (nee Clay) who was living at Chesterfield and in the "1910 Government Survey the owner of "The Hill" is listed Eliza Bright with tenants at the house and farm, she died the same year. Her daughter Mabel Elizabeth Bright married Edward Ainsworth and they moved into her ancestors home at "Hagg Hill House" which had been left to her in the family Will, her husband Edward Ainsworth is listed here as a farmer in the Derbyshire Traders Directories of 1922 to 1941. Mabel died in 1938 and had no children, her husband died in 1946.

Hagg Hill House was eventually purchased in 1958 by Mr. Tom Brown and his wife Jose but disaster struck in 1970 when the house caught fire but thanks to the effort of the fire brigade the house survived but unfortunately the ancient title deeds were lost in the fire.

In the year 2000 the house was put up for sale and the ancient historic house has now been carefully restored to its original features and preserved for the future by the present owner Mel Humphries who has turned the property into a superior holiday home which can be enjoyed by guests at this special place which many centuries of history contained within its walls.

 

Compiled in 2014 by David Clay with thanks.