About this site

Wingfield Manor is described as 'vast and immensely impressive ruins arranged round a pair of courtyards, with a huge undercrofted Great Hall and a defensible high tower 22 metres tall.' The medieval manor was built in the 1440's for the wealthy Ralph Lord Cromwell, Treasurer of England. Later it became the home of Bess of Hardwick’s husband, the Earl of Shrewsbury, and used to imprison Mary Queen of Scots in 1569, 1584 and 1585. The property remained in his family for nearly two hundred years after which, parliament decreed that the manor be dismantled and allowed to fall into ruin, and parts taken for building materials, leaving behind the ruins we see today. 

The manor is now in the care of English Heritage, listed on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register, and is not currently open to the public. Views of the Manor can be admired from surrounding landscape and from the village of South Wingfield. Please note: Wingfield Manor is part of a working farm. Please respect the owner's privacy at all times.