Horsley (St. Clement)
HORSLEY (St. Clement), a parish, in the union of Belper, hundred of Morleston and Litchurch, S. division of the county of Derby; containing, with the townships of Horsley-Woodhouse and Kilbourne, 2278 inhabitants, of whom 571 are in the township of Horsley, 6¼ miles (N. N. E.) from Derby. It is situated on the road to Sheffield, and comprises 2650 acres, of which about 97 are woodland; the surface is diversified with hill and dale, and the soil is in general light. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 5. 5.; net income, £220; patron, E. D. Sitwell, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £170, of which £76. 15. are apportioned to Horsley township. The church is a spacious and handsome building, surmounted by an early spire of excellent workmanship; the clerestory windows are large, and give a peculiar airiness and elegance to the structure: over the porch is an ancient crucifix, in a tolerably perfect state of preservation. On the summit of a hill, about a mile from the church, are the ruins of the baronial castle of Horestan, or Horston, said to have been built in the twelfth century; in the time of Elizabeth, the edifice was in the possession of the Stanhope family, and, it is said, was occupied by them.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.