The Places

The manor of Bradelei was given to Henri de Ferrieres by William the Conqueror following the Norman conquest. The family used the manor as a base for hunting and entertaining and its name evolved from Bradelei to Belper (from the French 'Beau Repaire' meaning beautiful retreat).

The Anglo Saxon settlement of Calverton, meaning 'farm where calves are reared' was recorded in the Domesday Book as having a church and a value of £1 10s 10d. The heathland around the village provided grazing pasture for sheep and an income for the villagers.

The history of Derby began in the Roman period when a fort was built on an area of high ground above the marshes of the river Derwent and river Trent. A later fort was built on the east bank of the Derwent and named Derventio.

The Anglo Saxon placename for Hinckley suggests something about its origins. Hinckley or 'Hynca's leah' means 'woodland clearing of a man called Hynca'.

Ratae Coritanorum, later to become Leicester, was originally an important Roman military centre at the junction of the Fosse Way and the road from Colchester to the centre of the country.

Loughborough or 'Lucteburne' meaning 'fortified house of a man called Luhhede' is thought to have developed in Anglo Saxon times around the Woodbrook.

Evidence of human occupation in the Mansfield area has been found dating back to Roman times. Roman coins were uncovered together with a Roman villa near Mansfield Woodhouse.

The name Snotengaham was first recorded in the late ninth century, but the 'S' was dropped in the twelfth century. This Anglo Saxon name meant 'homestead of the people of Snot'.

Excavations close to Ruddington have revealed evidence of Bronze Age occupation in the area (c.1500 BC).

Shepshed, from its place name meaning 'sheep headland', appears to have developed an early link with sheep farming.

Sutton-in-Ashfield is situated at the western edge of Sherwood Forest on an area of high ground close to the Nottinghamshire Derbyshire border.

The town of Troyes shares a common history with many towns in the East Midlands.