About this site

Codnor Castle, now a ruin, was built in the 13^th century by the De Grey family on a ridge overlooking the Erewash valley. It was a stronghold surrounded by a moat and accessed by a drawbridge.

By the end of the 15^th century, it had passed by marriage to the Zouche family who exploited the coal and ironstone resources under the park surrounding the castle and at the dissolution of the monasteries bought the manors of Butterley and Ripley which had previously belonged to dale Abbey.

Its high point was the early 16^th century, when landscaped gardens were laid out surrounding the castle which was by then a comfortable country house. However, in 1634, the Zouche family were bankrupt, and sold the castle, leaving for Virginia.

From then on, the castle was largely left to decay, and stone from it was used to build local houses, including Home Farm on Alfreton Road, dated 1708.

The castle and land were eventually bought by Sir Streynsham Master, mainly for the coal deposits. The castle was ruinous and uninhabited, though the adjoining farmhouse was occupied. The Masters family retained the castle until 1862 when it was sold to the Butterley Company who mined much of the area.

The Company sold it in 1968 and ten years alter it was resold to the National Coal Board whose successor opencast mined the land to the East of the castle. As part of the agreement giving permission for the opencasting, the castle ruins were stabilised in 2008.

Time Team visited in 2007 and their investigations revealed that the castle was much larger than the surviving remains suggest, at least by its heyday in the early 16^th century. One prize find was a gold Noble coin of Henry V dated between 1413 and 1422 found in the moat.

It is a grade 1 listed building but is now in private hands and not accessible to the public. There is no vehicular access, but public footpaths from Codnor lead to the castle site and the ruins can be viewed from a distance.

Information provided by Ripley & District Heritage Trust. Images provided by www.codnor.info.