England · Ruin
Codnor Castle
Codnor Castle is a ruined 13th-century stone keep-and-bailey fortress in Derbyshire, England, now represented by fragmentary masonry of its keep, curtain wall and towers. The surviving fabric sits on a raised mound overlooking the Erewash valley and an outer bailey at a lower level.
Its prime
1250
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1250
What Codnor Castle looked like in its prime.
A fragmentary three-storey stone keep and stretches of curtain wall built of coursed sandstone blocks and rubble infill, with large vertical gaps where walls have collapsed. Massive, battered wall faces with narrow arrow-slits and the bases of once-round towers are visible; some sections retain squared ashlar quoins and a tall, narrow doorway pierced through the eastern wall. The site stands on a grassy mound above a ditch/moat and looks across the Erewash valley to lower farmland.
Its story
The story of Codnor Castle.
William Peverel's Keep Above the Erewash
The land around Codnor came under the jurisdiction of William Peverel after the Norman Conquest, and the castle was established by him. It was a stone keep and bailey fortress on ground overlooking the Erewash valley and the counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and the fragments that remain represent a three-storey keep and a strong curtain wall and ditch, flanked by round towers.
The castle originally had a deep moat, and on its eastern side there was once a considerable abundance of trees, which have now been cut down. On the west side lay a courtyard strongly fortified by huge round towers carrying battlements, and elsewhere in the ruins there is evidence that the outer walls were pierced with arrow-loops for bowmen. The outer bailey, on a lower level, was built at a later period.
The Greys of Codnor, from 1211 to the Reign of Henry VII
By 1211 Codnor was owned by Henry de Grey, a descendant of the Norman knight Anchetil de Greye. Henry's descendants include the long line of Lords Grey of Codnor, the Lords Grey of Ruthyn, Wilton and Rotherfield, Lady Jane Grey and the Earls of Stamford, along with the extinct families of the Dukes of Suffolk and Kent. His son Richard settled at Codnor and was a loyal baron to Henry III; with his brother John he served the king in the Holy Land. John Grey distinguished himself in the Scottish wars and stood in great favour with Edward III.
Together with William D'Eincourt, the Lord Grey commanded all the knights of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in case of an invasion. Henry, the last of the family, died during the reign of Henry VII without a legitimate heir, leaving part of his lands to his illegitimate sons Henry and Richard, and part to his widow, Katherine Stourton.
The Zouches at Codnor, 1429–1634
The remainder went to Henry's aunt Elizabeth Grey, who in 1429 married Sir John Zouche, youngest son of the fourth Baron Zouche of Harringworth. Sir John Zouche of Codnor was three times High Sheriff of Derbyshire. The castle stayed in Zouche hands for two hundred years, until the family sold up and emigrated to Virginia in 1634.
Streynsham Master, Last Resident, and the Ruin at Risk
Sir Streynsham Master, High Sheriff of Derbyshire, bought the Codnor Castle estate in 1692 and is reported as the last resident of the castle; he lived there until his death in 1724. The ruin is registered as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, has been a Grade II listed building since November 1963, and is officially a Building at Risk.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1250.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Codnor Castle, including 1 interior: keep interior (ground floor). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Recreate Codnor Castle with AI to explore it.
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Clans who held Codnor Castle.
The families that held Codnor Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Held by the Lords Grey of Codnor from Henry de Grey, by 1211, until the last of the line died without a legitimate heir in the reign of Henry VII.
Zouche
Held by the Zouche family through Elizabeth Grey's 1429 marriage to Sir John Zouche, until they sold up and emigrated to Virginia in 1634.
Nearby
