Carnfield Hall..Derbyshire 17th Sept 2016

History The origins of Carnfield Hall can be traced in its old name (in use until 18th century – Carlingthwaite/Carnthwaite). This means, in old Norse, “an old woman’s clearing”, thus denoting Viking origins. The earliest documents relating specifically to Carnfield date from the early 1300’s in a large collection held at the Derbyshire Record office and at the Hall itself. Parts of the present Hall date from the mid 15th century when it was lived in by the Babington family of nearby Dethick – ancestors of Anthony who was hanged, drawn and quartered for supporting Mary Queen of Scots at Wingfield Manor. Alice Babington married Gregory Page so Carlingthwaite and its 500 acres was her dowry. In 1502 they sold it to their relative Hugh Revell soon after he had kidnapped old Mr Page. The Hall was much reconstructed in the 1560’s by Edward Revell and his grandsons – Edward and George added the great upstairs parlour and the wonderful do-leg staircases and panelled rooms in the early 1600’s. During the Civil War Francis Revell supported Parliament, although a warrant was issued by Mr Sitwell for his arrest as a Royalist. Sitting on the fence preserved the Hall intact and in about 1700 his grandson Robert Revell turned the house back to front to use the new park for a great avenue of trees which, sadly, was cut down on 1941/2 for the war effort. He was a close relative (as were his wife and mother) of the wealthy Harpur family of Calke Abbey, and it seems probable that he set about remodeling his house as a smaller version of Calke Abbey. Delusions of grandeur caused debts and his untimely murder at the age of 46 in his bed at Carnfield in 1714. His granddaughter, an orphan at 14, inherited in 1729 and died a year later after marrying the interestingly named Strelley Pegge (of Beauchief Hall, Sheffield). Smallpox killed her aged 20 in Nottingham causing the estate to pass to her uncle, the Reverend Francis Revell..