It is time for John Pegg and I to publish current findings on Bupton, Derbyshire. However, the Bupton research continues……
photo credit: John Pegg
Bupton, now Longford, Derbyshire, is an under-researched backdrop to numerous course-altering events in British History. The fertile soil tells the story of Bupton as a keystone estate on the “main and main” crossroads of the Dove Valley. It was part of the Bishop of Lichfield’s core land holdings, home to a likely 12th century or earlier moated manor house, a 10th century or earlier Mercian minster, and possible burh and roman fortification. Though the story of this manor is accessible, it hides in the landscape on which fields of grain now grow.
From its commanding position, Hilltop Farm, just south of Longford Mill, was the seat of power for Bupton and Longford Parish as a whole, partly due to its strategic landscape and an unidentified defensive structure described in detail here. Current conservation appraisals of Longford, Derbyshire, have ignored Hilltop Farm, and this report intends to rectify its exclusion. This report includes a desk-based assessment of Hilltop Farm and the neighboring village of Mammerton, directly across Longford Brook. This report concludes that Bupton is an important historical site for the region, and therefore, government and educational institutions should secure the Bupton history without haste. The forthcoming Part Two of this report is a more in-depth look at the historical record of Bupton and the political dramas in which the estate participated. This work and Part 2 provide conclusive evidence that historians and archeologists must focus on this culturally and historically rich parish with its tangible treasures barely below the topsoil.
