Padley

Padley was the home of Anne Eyre (daughter of Sir Arthur Eyre), who married John Fitzherbert (of Norbury), bringing the manor to the Fitzherbert family.

Sir Thomas Fitzherbert was a staunch recusant and spent from 1559 to 1591 in various prisons. He died in the Tower of London on December 1 1591. He had granted tenancy to his brother John during this time. Padley Manor became a missionary haven for priests for almost thirty years.

In 1588, Padley was raided by the Lord Lieutenant of Sheffield, the Earl of Shrewsbury and two priests were found - Nicholas Garlick and Robert Ludlam. They were sent to Derby Jail and eventually found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death. The night before their execution, the pair shared a cell with a fellow priest, Richard Simpson. It is understood that Richard was seriously considering conforming to the Protestant Church but Bls Nicholas and Robert urged him to join them in martyrdom. A woman convicted of murder also shared the same cell. During the night they were able to reconcile the woman to God, and on the scaffold the next day she openly professed her faith. They were hung, drawn and quartered on St. Mary's Bridge, Derby, on July 24 1588.

Nicholas Garlick was born at Dinting near Glossop, North Derbyshire, in about 1555. He went to Oxford University as a student of Gloucester Hall (now Worcester College) at the age of 20 in 1575. He spent no more that six months there probably because from 1559 people taking a degree were required to swear an oath of acknowledgement of the Queen's supremacy as the head of the church in England. Instead, he went back to his home county to Tideswell and ran a free school there.

Nicholas went to the English College at Rheims to start his studies on July 22 1581. He was ordained a priest less than a year later. Ten months passed before he left for the English mission. Nicholas Garlick's movements in England in 1584 were followed by Thomas Dodwell, a former student at Rheims who had turned spy. He was arrested in London, imprisoned and then banished from England. But less then two days after arriving back in Rheims in 1585 he was on the way back into dangerous England. Little is known of his ministry before being arrested a Padley House.

Robert Ludlam was born in the mid 16th century. Two accounts are in conflict about where he was born - one says Whirlow, Sheffield, but another says Radbourne near Derby. He entered St John's College, Oxford in 1572. Eight years later Robert was at Rheims and ordained a year later.

In April 1582 he set out for England. Monk Fr Robert Bagshawe wrote of Robert: "for his majesty and good life and zeal to win souls to God, was beloved of all that love the Catholic Church."

There are striking stained glass windows of both Blessed Robert and Nicholas as well as members of the Fitzherbert family. There is an annual Pilgrimage (started in 1898) to Padley Chapel on the Sunday nearest July 12th each year. (Pictured right above - The Martyrs' window).

An annual pilgrimage to Padley started in the late 19th century and when the Catholic Church acquired the land and chapel in the 1930s a full renovation was started.

The heads of the martyrs were displayed on poles on St Mary's Bridge in Derby, ostensibly for 28 days as a warning to other. The head of Nicholas Garlick however disappeared during the first night and is said to have been rescued by members of the Fitzherbert family and taken to Tideswell Church for burial during the night.

A plaque at the entrance to Tideswell Church confirms the story but the exact location is unknown. (Pictured right - The Garlick window at Padley Chapel).

Tideswell had been a hotbed of resucants for some years. The vicar, William Fieldsend had been driven out in the 1570s, and after being in prison in York and Hull was one of several priests who fled England in 1585),

(Pictured left - the Fitzherbert window in Padley Chapel)

Tideswell was also home to Bishop Pursglove - related to the Eyres - his sister Alice Pursglove had married Edward Eyre of Holme Hall in Chesterfield, and after he left Tideswell he spent his remaining years living with his nephew at Dunston Hall, Chesterfield. (Several Eyres were mentioned in his will).

Bishop Pursglove had founded a grammar school at Tideswell, which still exists (and Nicholas Garlick had been a teacher there).

The original altar stone was discovered buried just yards away from the chapel building and was restored to its original position before the building was re-sanctified and again opened for religious service. (The chapel is currently open to visitors during the summer months on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons from 2pm - 4pm, unless previous arrangements have been made.