Renishaw

Renishaw, a pretty village in the north of Derbyshire, is most famous for Renishaw Hall, the home of the Sitwell Family for the last 400 years. The village appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Ravenshorn. Originally it was an agricultural village but iron founding might have started here as early as the 11th Century. Renishaw Hall was built in 1625 by George Sitwell.

The family had been landowners in the nearby village of Eckington for around 800 years, from the days of Walter Cytewel. It was Roger Sitwell who bought land rich in coal and iron in 1530 and laid the foundations for the family's future wealth. These holdings passed to George Sitwell who, with his son Francis, were forerunners of the Industrial Revolution. By the middle of the 17th Century, they handled one tenth of the nation's iron trade and were the greatest makers of iron nails in the world! Today, Renishaw Hall is better known for its gardens, set out early in the 20th Century by the eccentric George Reresby Sitwell. George was the father of three remarkable children - Dame Edith Sitwell, Sir Osbert and Sir Sacheverel Sitwell.

Renishaw was also a mining village and holds a particular place in the history of coal mining in Derbyshire. Renishaw Park Colliery was the last pit to close in 1989.