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Bentley, Fenny (St. Mary Magdalene)

BENTLEY, FENNY (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the hundred of Wirksworth, S. division of the county of Derby, 2½ miles (N. by W.) from Ashbourn; containing 343 inhabitants. The manor belonged to a branch of the Beresfords of Staffordshire, who settled at this place in the reign of Henry VI. The elder branch of the Beresfords of Bentley, soon became extinct in the male line, and the manor came, by marriage with their heiress, to the Beresfords of Staffordshire, from whom it passed into various hands. Of the manor-house, a castellated mansion, there are still some remains. The parish is situated on the road from Ashbourn to Tissington, and comprises about 1000 acres, mostly good pasture land: there is a limestone-quarry. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 12. 10., and in the gift of the Bishop of Lichfield: the tithes have been commuted for £60, and the glebe consists of 35 acres, with a house. The church is a small structure with a square tower, and has a curious richly-carved screen: it contains a monument, with figures of his sixteen sons and five daughters, to one of the Beresford family, who distinguished himself in the wars with France, and died in 1473.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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