Uttoxeter Online Magazine

Early Days

The area of land of which Doveridge occupies but a small part has witnessed much of the early history of England.

The Romans passed this way leaving evidence in the form of long straight roads and the remains of their encampments are to be found at Rocester and Chesterton.

Long after the Romans had returned to their homeland, Britain remained a Roman province.

For some three hundred years the Romans imposed a superior culture upon the country, but as the years sapped the vitality of the invader so the British character deteriorated.

Two centuries of tribal warfare leads us to the 6th Century and to the seven kingdoms into which the country was divided until the Norman invasion of 1066.

The Anglo Saxon Kingdom of Mercia covered virtually all the area we would now refer to as the greater Midlands.

During the 6th and 7th centuries a religious upsurge brought a degree of stability to the area.  In 653 AD Paeda, son of King Penda married a Christian princess, Elfleda of Northumbria.  Paeda brought his wife and four priests to Repton and there established a monastery.

The religious aspect continued to influence the area and in 674 Aethelred thought the area important enough to make Tutbury one of his principal homes.

It is not unreasonable to conclude that Christianity would spread to the rural communities and that churches would be built and become the focal point of village and hamlet.

The Domesday survey records a Priest and a Church at Doveridge and the Reverend Ainley in his notes on Doveridge Church tells of a wooden structure that occupied the site of the present Church.

It is clear that for several centuries before the Norman invasion Doveridge had a settled community.  Evidence of Saxon burial ground is thought to exist at  Lea Hill to the east of the village and the lower part of the stone cross that stands in the churchyard is thought to be of Saxon origin.
The Domesday book gives a valuable insight into the towns and villages of England.  The survey was compiled in 1085 and the Anglo Saxon chronicles record ‘at Gloucester at Midwinter - the King had deep speech with his counsellors - and sent men all over England to each shire to find out what or how much each landowner held - in land and livestock, and what it was worth.  The returns were brought to him’.

The brief of the commissioners was as follows:-
‘The name of the place, who held it before 1066 and now? How many hides (120 acres), how many ploughs, both those in Lordships and the mens.  How many villagers, cottagers and slaves, how many free men and Free men?  How much woodland, meadow and pasture?  How many mills and fishponds?  How much has been added or taken away?  What the total value was and is?  How much each free man and Free man had or has?  All threefold, before 1066, when King William gave it and now, and if more can be had than at present’.

The details covering Doveridge are:-
‘In Dubrige Earl Edwin had 4C of land taxable.  Land for 6 ploughs.  Now in Lordship 3 ploughs; 30 villagers and 10 smallholders who have 7 ploughs.  A Church and a priest; 1 mill, 10s; meadow, 48 acres; woodland pastures, 1 league long and 0.5 league wide.  Value before 1066 £8.  Now 100s.  The monks hold it for Henry’.

Eaton, Dovedale and Sedsall each merited a separate entry.

The ‘Henry’ referred to in the survey was Henry deFerriers who had fought at the side of the William and was rewarded with large estates throughout the country.  At the time of the survey he held 210 Lordships, of which at least half were in the county of Derby.  Henry was responsible for the building of the monastery at Tutbury, to the east of the castle between the years of 1080 and 1085.  Henry also gave land and property in the area for the use of the Church, and his wife Berta ‘gave property called Doveridge with all its customs and free will.  Also given is a property called Little Broughton which adjoins Doveridge aforesaid, with all its customs’.

The Domesday survey refers to a mill at Doveridge.  The mill was situated in the water meadows to the west of the Church and was driven by water power.

Natural bends  in  the  river  were connected by  a  flume, a channel cut to allow the water  to flow at speed along its length before rejoining the river.  Sluice gates on the northern approach controlled the flow of water which would be diverted into a mill race, thus exerting pressure and so turning the single water wheel.  The wheel was connected via the drive shaft to a simple grinding pan.

There is little doubt that the mill was originally used to grind corn.  In later years the mill was used in a variety of other ways including the generating of electricity and the pumping of water up to Doveridge Hall.  A mill occupied the site for at least a thousand years.

Sadly, in the latter half of the 20th century the mill was allowed to fall into disrepair and was eventually knocked down.  The wheel and the drive shaft were taken to Stoke-on-Trent.   Whether for  scrap or to renovate  another  mill is not  clear.  Little evidence now remains of what must have been a unique water mill worthy of renovation and conservation.

Fortunately a few paintings of the mill are still in existence and the illustration on a later page is taken from an old photographic plate* now housed at Shugborough Hall Museum.

Extract from a book published locally by Alan Gibson - a revised, larger and more detailed version of which is due out in 2010.

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