HISTORY

Staveley Hall dates back over 400 years, but the site on which it's built on can be traced back to the Norman Conquest. William the Conqueror rewarded Hascoit Musard de Bretagne and other members of his family with 25 Manors in six different counties in England, for their service in fighting in his army at the Battle of Hastings. Despite having that many Manors, Hascoit chose Staveley as his main family residence because he claimed it was the biggest and best.

The Domesday Book records that Staveley already had a Church and priest, a mill, 60 acres of meadow, and woodlands pasture about 2.25 miles long. The site where Staveley Hall stands is high up on a ridge, which made the area a good defensive location for the Anglo-Saxons, who marked their settlement with staves in the River Lea, which is where Staveley gets its name from. Hacon was Saxon Lord of the Manor prior to the Norman takeover.

The Musards held Staveley from 1066 until about 1300 AD when Nicholas Musard died. His children sadly could not inherit the Manor, because although he was Baron Musard of Staveley, he was also Rector of Staveley and thus was under holy orders. The Manor was left behind to his three sisters instead. Nicholas's eldest sister Amicia married Anker de Frecheville, Baron of Crich, but both had died before Nicholas did, so it was their son Ralph who inherited his mother's one third share of the Manor, which enticed him to live at Staveley.

The Staveley Hall we see today was built in 1604 by Sir Peter Frecheville on the same site his ancestors had lived for the past 500 years before him. The plaque above the front door displays the date 1604, his status as a Knight of the Realm, and the Coats of Arms of his father and mother, Peter Frecheville and Margaret Kaye. In 1605 Sir Peter Frecheville married a widow called Joyce Osborne (née Fleetwood), whose husband was the late Sir Hewett Osborne of Kiveton and Harthill. The Frecheville family lived at Staveley Hall for over 300 years, until John Frecheville retired to his grave in 1682, after having sold the estate to William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of Devonshire the year before.

During the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, Colonel John Frecheville fought for King Charles I in the Royalist Army, raising a troop of horse and garrisoned Staveley Hall at his own expense. John had three daughters, the eldest of which, Christian, married Charles Paulet, Lord St. John of Basing. She died on 22nd July 1653 during childbirth, and one week later her baby son John died as well. They were both buried together in Staveley Church in the Frecheville Chapel, where their effigies now rest. If John Paulet had lived, he would've succeeded his grandfather as Baron Frecheville of Staveley and his father as 2nd Duke of Bolton.

William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of Devonshire leased the Hall out for a short time after 1682, but in 1710 his grandson Lord James Cavendish, an MP for Derby, moved into the Hall. When James died in 1751, Staveley Hall was set to be demolished, but was saved by Reverend James Gisborne, Rector of Staveley, who persuaded the Cavendish family to allow the Clergy to live there instead. The Church rented it as a Rectory for the next 200 years, and in the 1860s when Sir George Gilbert Scott did some work on Staveley Church, he also worked on parts of Staveley Hall too.

In 1967 the Hall was sold to Staveley Urban District Council for use as their offices, and in 1974, English Heritage granted Staveley Hall
Grade II listed status. Today the Hall is owned and operated by Staveley Town Council as their head office, and is now a new location for Brookes Paranormal's Victorian Séance Nights and Ghost Hunts.

Some extra interesting facts to know about: Because of their support to William of Orange (William III of England) in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Charles Paulet was created 1st Duke of Bolton, James Cavendish’s father William Cavendish, 4th Earl of Devonshire was created 1st Duke of Devonshire, and Joyce Osborne’s grandson, Thomas Osborne was created 1st Duke of Leeds.

Staveley Hall has many other connections with key historical events and people, including the Brontës, the Gunpowder Plot and the English Civil War.

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GHOSTS & HAUNTINGS