If you venture to Duffield Castle expecting a grand building rising from the hilltop, then I’m afraid you will be sorely disappointed.
There is, in fact, almost nothing of Duffield Castle left. It is a hill with a few rocks in the shape of a square and an odd little stone igloo – which I still don’t know the purpose of, despite the limited signage and a quick look on Wikipedia.
The ‘monument’ was donated to the National Trust to 1899 as one of their first sites, presumably because no-one else knew what to do with it. Excavations have revealed some Anglo-Saxon items, meaning people have been living on this hill for a really, really long time.
Further history nerds have determined that in 1066, a French chap called Henry de Ferrers built a little castle here, down the road from his main castle in Tutbury.
These history nerds get very excited because this original castle was a Norman motte and bailey castle – built first from wood and then from stone. And then it was knocked down altogether in 1269 (Henry III was coming to the end of his reign before being buried under a Leicester car park), and no-one has bothered to rebuild the castle since. Although there is now a nice bench there to sit and admire the field.
Verdict: If a field with some rocks in floats your boat, this is the National Trust property for you.
A Year of Trust 