Codnor Common used to be a much larger area, stretching almost up towards Denby. The 1835 map certainly suggests as much. The whole area of Codnor was given to William Peverel, the illegitimate son of William the conqueror, after the Normal conquest. Peverel built the castle at the other side of the village.
It’s likely the area now known as Waingroves Common – the Derbyshire County Council owned amenity including the children’s park – was part of the Common, as well as the site of Waingroves Primary School. We also have deeds placing Jessop Street on Codnor Common. Much of the land was lost in the 20th century to developments such as Holborn View, Eastfield Road, and Thompson Drive. And yet this small piece of the Common has survived – and we intend to celebrate and preserve it.
Sources: Codnor.info
Village Green application 2013
New information found on Codnor.info
Scarlet Closes
In 1467 Henry Grey’s men murdered Henry Vernon’s uncle Roger who was one of the Vernon squires in Belper. A battle is said to have taken place at Codnor Castle between the households of Grey and Vernon. The Earl of Shrewsbury had to intervene and both sides had to pay £1000 fine and ordered to keep the peace. Frederick Channer Corfield records in the Derbyshire Archaeological Journal that a field to the west of the castle was once called Scarlet Closes after the blood spilt during the skirmish. However due to mining and landscaping in recent centuries all evidence is now lost.
Sources: Archaeological gleanings in the neighbourhood of Codnor Castle. Corfield, F.C., DAJ, vol. 15, 1893.
Historical research & Re-enactment http://www.houghtonkeep.com/history/15/grey.html
beckydeans 