Royal visits to Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire

This article is not a complete chronology of the reigns of Kings Richard I and John, but a record of the visits they made to Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. You'll find most of the places mentioned on the map of Nottinghamshire. I'm currently working on a similar map of Derbyshire.

King Richard

Source: Appleby, JT: England Without Richard (G. Bell & Sons, London, 1965) pp126-135

Friday 25 March to Monday 5 April 1194

Richard arrived in Nottingham with a small army on Friday 25 March and immediately laid siege to Nottingham Castle, personally leading an assault on the gatehouse. On Saturday 26 March he had siege engines 'of the modern type' assembled and a gallows in view the castle where he hanged prisoners taken in the previous day's assault. On Sunday 27 March, while he and his nobles were dining, two knights from the castle came to check the king was really present, and the castle surrendered on Monday 28 March. Richard summoned a great council to meet at Nottingham, and while its members assembled he visited Sherwood Forest and the King's Houses hunting lodge at Clipstone on Tuesday 29 March. Richard had never seen Sherwood before, and the forest delighted him.

On Wednesday 30 March the great council convened at the hastily repaired Nottingham Castle. Archbsihop Hubert Walter sat to Richard's right, and Archbishop Geoffrey to his left. Eleanor of Aquitaine was present, as were Hugh le Puiset, Bishop of Durham, William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, five other bishops and six earls. The king told the council he needed to raise money to pay off the balance of his ransom and free the hostages who had remained in Germany as his surety, and to repel King Philip's attacks on Normandy. His barons, he said, had become fat, and he intedned to burn the fat off them by auctioning off royal offices and favours, just as he had done after his coronation in 1189. He turned all but seven sheriffs out of office and auctioned off the positions.

On Thursday 31 March, the second day of the council, Richard laid before the council his charges against his brother, Count John, and Hugh de Nonant, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. The council ordered that the two men should appear before it within 40 days to answer the king's charges.

On Friday 1 April, the third day of the council, Richard turned to taxation and ordered payment of the Danegeld, a tax last collected in 1162. Richard demanded 2 shillings on every hide of ploughland, to be assessed by Domesday Book. Unusually, Richard proposed to tax church lands as well as that held by secular lords. He demanded military service from some of his barons, and scutage from the rest. From the Cistercians he demanded their annual clip of fleeces. He also ordered towns to pay for a variety of privileges, such as confirmation of their charters or to have the king's goodwill.

On Saturday 2 April, the fourth and final day of the council, Richard heard complaints against Geoffrey, Archbishop of York, and Gerald de Camville, Constable of Lincoln Castle, who was accused of harbouring thieves and robbers and of contempt for the king's majesty. Both men pledged to defend their cases. Finally, Richard announced that he would be crowned again, at Winchester on 17 April, to remove the taint of his imprisonment.

Later that day, Richard travelled once more to the King's Houses at Clip[tone, where he met William, King of Scots. The two kings remained there to observe the religious ceremonies on Palm Sunday, 3 April, then travelled to Southwell on Monday 4 April.

On Tuesday 5 April the two kings departed Southwell and headed for Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire. Richard would never visit Nottinghamshire again.

Richard died on 6 April 1199, 11 days after being shot by a crossbow bolt at the siege of Châlus-Chabrol. John, who was staying with his nephew Arthur, Duke of Brittany, travelled to England where he was proclaimed king. He was crowned on 27 May 1199.

King John

John was a very active king, travelling so frequently that he rarely stayed in one place more than two or three days. Through his reign he travelled, on average, almost 15 miles per day. He visited Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire often.

Source: Kanter, Julie Elizabeth: Peripatetic and Sedentary Kingship: The Itineraries of the Thirteenth-Century English Kings (PhD Thesis, King's College, University of London, 2011)

19 March to 31 March 1200

King John left Northampton on 16 March to meet William, King of Scots, in York. He reached the King's Houses in Clipstone on March 19, and on 20 March travelled to Tickhill, where he remained until 22 March. He reached York on Lady Day, 25 March, but King William did not come. On 28 March King John left York and headed south via Brotherton and Doncaster. He reached Bolsover on 30 March, and on March 31 travelled to Derby, then Burton on Trent in Staffordshire.

17 November to 21 November 1200

King John made a second attempt to meet King William in November, this time at Lincoln. He reached Burton-on-Trent on St Edmund's Day, 16 November, the day Bishop Hugh of Lincoln died in London. On 17 November he travelled to Melbourne, Derbyshire, where he rested the next day. On 19 November he travelled from Melbourne to Nottingham, and on 20 November he went to the King's Houses at Clipstone. On 21 November he travelled from Clipstone to Lincoln, where he finally met King William and held a great council. William an 'imressive homage ceremony' to John in the presence of Gruffyd ap Rhys of south Wales, Roland mac Uhtred of Galloway, three arhcbishops, thirteen bishops, ten earls and 17 barons from England, Scotland and Wales. On 23 November KIng William left Lincoln to return to Scotalnd. That day was also the funeral of Bishop Hugh's funeral, when John acted as a pallbearer. On 26 November John reconciled with the Cistercians, who had refused to pay a tax on their ploughs until they had conferred with their general order, then headed south from Lincoln via Sleaford and Stamford.

5 March to 14 March 1201

On March 5 King John, returning from a tour of Northumberland and Carlisle, travelled from Conisbrough to the King's Houses at Clipstone. He stayed at Clipstone until the morning of 8 March, when he travelled to Bolsover in Derbyshire, where he stayed until the morning of 10 March. He then travelled to Nottingham, 22 miles away, where he stayed until the morning of 13 March. He then travelled 13 miles to the Nottinghamshire manor of Aslockton, where he stayed overnight before leaving for Geddington, 50 miles away in Northamptonshire, on 14 March.

9 February to 19 February 1204, 5-7 March 1204

John had spent the later part of 1202 and most of 1203 in Normandy, where King Philip of France was invading. He returned to England in December 1203. In January 1204 he left London for York, reaching Nottingham on 9 February. He remained in Nottingham at least until 11 February; he whereabouts for the next week are not recorded. He may have remained in Nottingham, or visited his hunting lodges at the King's Houses, Clipstone, or Kingshaugh in the Forest of the Clay. On 19 February he was in Tickhill. While there he conferred the Barony of Horsley, Derbyshire, on William Brewer, sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, having some time earlier granted royal lands around Litchurch, Derbyshire, to Peter de Buron, in exchange for the Horsley estate which de Buron's ancestors had held since Domesday. Simon de Strelley, lord of Strelley in Nottinghamshire, would be the constable of de Buron's castle at Horston, now a royal castle¹. John reached York on 21 February, where he stayed for at least 11 days before returning south. He reached Nottingham on 5 March, and stayed there until the morning of 7 March, when he left for Lichfield, where he remained until Thursday 11 March.

23 August to 29 August 1204

King John visited again in summer, travelling from Burton-on-Trent to the new royal castle at Horston, north of Derby, on 23 August. It may have been at this time he ordered the replacement of the Norman motte-and-bailey castle with a stone keep, or he may hvve visited to check progress on the work. On 24 August he travelled 14 miles from Horston Castle to Nottingham, and on 26 August he travelled from Nottingham to Aslockton. he may have stayed there for two or three days; by 29 August he was in Geddington, Northampstonshire, on his way south again.

20 February to 1 March and 10 March to 16 March 1205

John stopped in Nottinghamshire on his way to and from York. He arrived at Aslockton from Peterborough on 20 February, and was in Nottingham on Shrove Tuesday, 22 February. On 24 February he travelled from Nottingham to Laxton, returning to Nottingham the following day. On 27 February he was back in Laxton, and travelled from there to Tickhill on 28 February. On 1 March he began his journey to York via Doncaster, Pontefract and Tadcaster, reaching York on 6 March and leaving on 9 March. On 10 March he travelled from Doncaster back to the King's Houses at Clipstone, and on 11 March travelled from Clipstone to Nottingham. He stayed in Nottingham until the morning of 15 March, when he went to Melbourne in Derbyshire, where he stayed overnight before travelling to Eaton in Derbyshire. On the morning of March 17 he left Eaton for Kenilworth.

26 September to 3 October 1205

John arrived in Belvoir, Leicestershire, on 25 September, having travelled from Rockingham. On 26 September he went from Belvoir to Lowdham in Nottinghamshire, and was in Nottingham by 28 September. He stayed in Nottingham until 3 October, when he travelled to Newark, and then to Lincoln later that day. he stayed in Lincoln for three days and then headed south through Lincolnshire and to Norwich.

1 February to 8 February and 4 March to 10 March 1206

John stopped in Nottinghamshire on his way to and from York, Carlisle and Chester in the early 1206. He arrived in Nottingham from Lichfield on 1 February and remained there until 4 February when he moved to Laxton, where he spent four days. Though Laxton belonged to the de Caux family, Mathilda de Caux became a royal ward after the death of her husband Radulf Fitzstephen in 1204 and her lands fell to royal administration. Though John returned most of the de Caux lands when Mathilda's niece and heir, also Mathilda de Caux, married Adam de Birkin in 1204, he kept Laxton Castle for himself, and the de Caux family only recovered it after his death. On 8 February he left Laxton for Doncaster, heading from there to York, then Carlisle via Knaresborough, Richmond and Bowes Moor. He was in Carlisle by 18 February, and left on 21 February for Lancaster, where he stayed until at least 26 February. he was in Chester on March 28, and from there headed through Middlewich and Newcastle-under-Lyme to arrive in Melbourne, Derbyshire, on 4 March. He stayed in Melbourne for several days, then journeyed to Nottingham on 9 March. The following day he left Nottingham for Oakham in Rutland on his way to Windsor and Oxford.

16 May to 23 May and 28 May to 30 May 1207

In May 1207 John travelled to meet William King of Scots in York. He was in Woodstock, OXfordshire, on 14 May, and 106 miles away in Southwell, Nottinghamshire on 18 May. Where he stopped is unknown, but even John who occasionally travelled 75 miles in a day, must have broken his journey somewhere. John remained in Southwell on May 19. On 21 May he was in the manors of Dunham, on the west bank of the Trent, and Gringley-on-the-Hill in the Forest of the Clay. It is possible he visited the hunting lodge at Kingshaugh between Southwell and Dunham on 20 May, but this is not recorded. He left Gringley for Doncaster in 23 May, and following his meeting with King William in York on 26 May he returned south. On 29 May travelled from Doncaster to Newark, and on 30 May from Newark to Oakham in Rutland, thence to Woodstock.

13 August to 17 August 1207

John was briefly back in Nottinghamshire in summer, arriving in Lowdham on 13 August, where he spent the following day, then travelling to Nottingham on the feast of the Assumption of Mary on 15 August. He reamined in Notitngham on 16 August, and on 17 August travelled to Lichfield, 41 miles away.

10-15 January 1208

John travelled from Northampton to Aslockton, Nottinghamshire, some 61 miles away, on 11 January. He stayed there several days, returning to Northampton on 15 January.

August and 2 September 1208

John probably travelled through Nottinghamshire on his way from Rockingham to York in August, but his stops in the county are not recorded. He was in Rockingham on 28 July and in York on 7 August. After York he visited Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Hexham, Carlisle and Kendal. He was in Kendal on 21 August and back in Nottingham, 150 miles away, on 2 September. How long he stayed in Nottinghamshire is uncertain, but on 7 September he was in Northampton.

3-4 December 1208

John was in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, on 1 December 1208, and in Nottingham on 3 and 4 December. He may have stayed in Nottinghamshire several more days, possibly visiting his hunting lodges, but his next recorded location is Donington, Leicestershire, on 12 December.

7-11 April and 1-5 May 1209

In spring of 1209 John headed north for another meeting with the King of Scots. Though his surviving itinerary is sparse, he was in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, on 3 April and in Nottingham by 7 April. On 8 April he was in Laxton, and on 10 April in the village of Lound, between Retford and Mattersey. On 12 April he was in Doncaster, from where he travelled to Alnwick, Northumberland for his meeting with King William. On his way back he was in Laxton on 1 May, having travelled from Pontefract, in Derby on 3 May and at Horston Castle on 4 May. He then travelled to Lichfield, where he arrived on 5 May.

20-24 July and 19-25 August 1209

John stopped in Nottingham on his way from Kenilworth to York and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was in Notitngham from 20 July to the morning of 24 July, when he travelled to Doncaster, 45 miles away. On his return journey he reached Lound by 19 August, and travelled from there to Laxton on 20 August. On 21 August he was in Thorney, east of the Trent, and on 22 August was in Southwell, then Nottingham. He was still in Nottingham on 25 August, and travelled that day to Grantham on his way south.

2-11 November 1209

During November, John's excommunication by the Pope was being proclaimed throughout France. The English bishops ordered to proclaim the sentence in England declined to do so out of fear of John, but the news soon reached England, possibly while John was in Nottinghamshire. He was in Nottingham from 2 November to 5 November, and in Laxton on 6 and 7 of November, travelling from Laxton to Nottingham on 8 November. He was still in Nottingham on 10 November, but by 12 November had reached Mountsorrel in Leicestershire on his journey south.

21 March to 26 March and 24 April 1210

John left 'Salvata', his hunting lodge at Sauvey Castle in the Forest of Rutland, on 21 March and travelled 14 miles to Nottingham. He was still in Nottingham on 22 March. On 24 March he was at Perlethorpe in Sherwood, where he remained for the the Feast of the Annunciation, Lady Day, on 25 March. On 26 March he travelled to Pontefract, some 38 miles north, and then to York. After a month travelling around Yorkshire and Durham, he was back in Nottingham by April 24, though he may have spent the previous day or two in Nottinghamshire. On 25 April he was in Northampton on his way to London.

20 November to 6 December 1210

John was back in Nottinghamshire in late November. he was at Salvata in the Forest of Rutland on 19 November, and the following day arrived in Nottingham, where he stayed for several days. He was in Haywood, near Blidworth in Sherwood, on 24 November, and returned to Nottingham on 25 November, where he stayed several more days. By 2 December he was at Clipstone, and he may have remained there on 3 and 4 December. On 5 and 6 December he was at Laxton. By 10 December he was at Hainton in Lincolnshire, and went from there to York, where he spent Christmas.

2-8 January 1211

It's not clear exactly when John left York, but by 2 January he was in Nottingham, and he was still there on 7 January. On 8 January he went to Newark, and the following day travelled to Lincoln, from where he headed south.

12 May 1211

John was in Nottingham on Ascension Day, 12 May. His surviving itinerary for 1211 is sparse, and he may have spent longer in Nottinghamshire - all that's known is that he was in Norwich on 2 May, Nottingham on 12 May, and Chester on 16 May, where he prepared for an invasion of Wales, which proved unsuccessful.

20 January 1212

John's surviving itinerary for 1212 is sparse until May, but it is known that he was at his hunting lodge at Kingshaugh, in the Forest of the Clay, on 20 January.

8-12 June and 4-9 July 1212

John was back at Kingshaugh on 8 June, and stayed there for three or four days. On 12 June he travelled from Tickhill to Doncaster on his way to Carlisle. On his return from the north he travelled from Tickhill to L:axton on 4 July, and was at Southwell on 5 July. He was in Nottingham on 6,7 and 8 July, and left Notitngham for Salvata on 9 July.

13-28 August and 9-15 September 1212

John was at Salvata in Leicestershire on 12 August, and at Gunthorpe, Nottinghamshire on 13 August. On 14 August he was in Nottingham, where he executed young Welsh hostages as he prepared for a second invasion of Wales. On 15 August, at Nottingham, he was informed by his daughter Joan, wife of Llywelyn, and by William King of Scots, of a plot by his barons to kill him in battle against the Welsh. John remained in Nottingham nearly two weeks. He travelled to Southwell and Laxton on 23 August, and was at KIngshaugh from 24 to 28 August, when he travelled to Scrooby on his way to Pontefract and Durham. During this journey the hermit Peter of Pontefract prophesied that John would lose his crown by Ascension Day 1213; John had the Pomfret prophet arrested and imprisoned in Corfe Castle to await the truth of his prediction, which spread like wildfire through England and France. John was back in Nottingham by 9 September, and spent several days there before leaving for Salvata on 15 September.

23-27 November 1212

John was briefly back in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in November. On 23 November he travelled from Bosworth in Leicestershire to Melbourne in Derbyshire, and the following day travelled to Nottingham, where he stayed until 26 November, when he went to Southwell. From Southwell he travelled to Salvata on 27 November.

15-20 February 1213

John travelled through Lincolnshire and across the Humber on his way to Northumberland in January, but travelled back through Nottinghamshire in February. He travelled from Lincoln to Newark on 15 February, and was at Nottingham on 16 February, where he stayed until he left for Salvata on 20 February.

On 15 May, at Temple Ewell in Kent, John swore fealty to the Pope, who lifted both the Interdict and John's excommunication. Peter of Pontefract claimed this fulfilled his prophecy as the act of fealty meant John was no longer sovereign in England; John disagreed and had the prophet and his son hanged at Wareham on 28 May, five days after Ascension Day.

3-7 September and 20-22 September 1213

Having spent the previous night in Salvata, John passed through Nottingham to stay in Southwell on 3 September. On 4 September he travelled to Kingshaugh, where he remained until the m,onring of 7 September, when he left for York, 61 miles away. On his way back he stopped at Tickhill on 19 September, where he stayed the following day. On 21 September he left for Laxton, and on 22 September he travelled from Laxton to Nottingham.

24 March to 2 April 1215

John left Kings Cliffe in Northamptonshire to arrive in Nottingham on 24 March. He spent the Feast of the Annunciation, 25 March, in Nottingham, and on 26 March travelled to Clipstone. He stayed at Kingshaugh on 28 March and was back in Clipstone on 29 March, when he set off for Nottingham. It would be the last time he visited his hunting lodges at Clipstone and Kingshaugh. He left Nottingham for Melbourne in Derbyshire on 1 April, and travelled from Melbourne to Lichfield on 2 April.

On 15 June Magna Carta was sealed at Runnymede. On 25 August the Pope issued a bull quashing it.

24 December 1215 to 1 January 1216

Rochester Castle surrendered to John on 30 November after a six-week siege. On 20 December John marched north with half his troops to hold his Christmas court at Nottingham and confront northern rebels. He arrived in Nottingham on Christmas Eve, having left Melton Mowbray that morning. The Christmas court is a very militaristic affair, intended to intimidate the rebels. On the feast of Stephen, 26 December, John left Nottingham for the manor of Langar, east of the Trent, where he stayed until the morning of December 28 when he travelled up Fosse Wat to Newark. He remained at Newark for the Feast of St Thomas Becket, 29 December, and the following day travelled to Laxton, then Hodsock, where he spent New Year's Eve. On January 1 he travelled from Hodsock to Doncaster. He burnt many manors on his way from Doncaster to Berwick-upon-Tweed, which he reached on January 15.

19-20 February 1216

John was in Nottinghamshire briefly on his return from the north, travelling from Tickhill to Misterton on 20 February on his way to Lincoln, which he reached on Shrove Tuesday, 23 February.

16-19 October 1216

On 12 October John began his last journey from Kings Lynn, where he had enjoyed great feasting for several days. That day, suffering from dysentery, he took a shortcut across the tidal estuaries feeding into the Wash. Though John crossed successfully, the baggage train containing his crown jewels was lost, sucked in by quicksand and whirlpools. By 15 October John reached Sleaford. Despite his illness, he managed a 25 mile journey from Sleaford to Newark-on-Trent on 16 October, but there he stayed until he died in the early hours of 19 October.

Notes

¹ Fisher, F.N.: Notes on the Manorial History of Horsley (Derbyshire Archaeological Journal vol 73, 1953) pp 36-66.