NETHER PADLEY is a small township containing 299½ acres, belonging solely to E.A. Jefferson Maynard, Esq., Rolleston, Burton-on-Trent. The ratable value is £272, and the population is 42. The village, if such it can be called, is situated on the Sheffield Road, near the Derwent, 2¼ miles south from Hathersage. The township is in the Western parliamentary division and Bakewell union and rural district. This township is united with Froggatt for the election of a district councillor.

Padley anciently belonged to a family who took their name from the place, and were seated here as early as the reign of Henry III. It subsequently became the property of the Eyres by the marriage of Robert Eyre with the heiress, Joan Padley. The Eyres were once an influential and powerful family in the Peak, where they possessed considerable estates. The founder of the family, according to the Hassop pedigree, was named Truelove. He was present at the battle of Hastings, and seeing William unhorsed, and his helmet beaten down over his face so that he could not breath, pulled off the helmet and assisted him to mount his horse again. The Conqueror said, “Thou shalt hereafter from Truelove be called ‘Air’ or ‘Eyre’, because thou hast given me the air I breathe”. After the battle, the king called for him, and being found with his thigh cut off, William ordered him to be taken care of, and after his recovery gave him lands in the county of Derby, in reward for his services. The seat he lived at was called Hope, because he had hope in the greatest extremity, and the king gave him the leg and thigh cut off in armour for his crest, which is still the crest of all the Eyres in England. The Eyres built a large mansion here, of which only the chapel with offices beneath now remains. The estate continued in the possession of the family for three generations, and then passed by the marriage of an heiress to Sir Thomas Fitzherbert, of Norbury. The Fitzherberts, like the Eyres, remained firm in their attachment to the faith of their fathers, and suffered much persecution for their recusancy under the mild sway of Queen Elizabeth. They were suspected of harbouring priests at Padley, and the hall was subject to constant domicilliary visits. During one of these searches in 1588, two Catholic priests, Nicholas Garlick and Robert Ludlam, were discovered in concealment. They were confined in Derby gaol, and condemned at the following assizes to be drawn, hanged and quartered, which barbarous sentence was carried out on the 25th of July of the sme year. The old chapel has been converted into a hayloft, but it still retains many of its ecclesiastical features, drawings of some of which are given in Dr. Cox's “Churches of Derbyshire”.

OFFERTON township lies four miles S.E. from Hope, and 1¼ miles W. from Hathersage. Its extent, according to the overseer's returns, is 617 acres, of which about 245 acres are common lands. The ratable value is £313, and the number of inhabitants 27. At the time of the Domesday Survey, Offerton was a berewick or hamlet under Hope; it is now held by the Duke of Devonshire under the Crown. The principal landowners are Henry Cunliffe Shaw, Esq., George Robinson, Edale; Mrs. E.A. Greaves, Offerton; and the trustees of Mellor School. The soil is hazel on gritstone, with some clay, and is chiefly in pasture. The tithes were commuted in 1848, the large for £24, lamb and wool for £4 5s., and the vicarial for £4.

A branch of the Eyre family settled here in the 15th century. The hall has been converted into a farmhouse, but still retains traces of its former importance.

Offerton is in the Western parliamentary division and Bakewell union and rural district. It is united with Outseats for the election of a district councillor.

Transcribed by Rosemary Lockie on 2nd July 2012.