The South Derbyshire town of Ilkeston is situated approximately 10 miles east of the City of Derby and 8 miles west of the City of Nottingham. Though a small number of prehistoric and Roman archaeological finds have been made in the area, no evidence of any permanent settlement dating from a time prior to the Conquest has yet been found. Ilkeston itself probably began as an Anglo-Saxon settlement and became part of the Danelaw in the 9th century. The Domesday Book of 1086 records the name of the village as Tilchestune - the 'T' being mistakenly added by a Norman scribe. Domesday tells us that before the Conquest of 1066 the principal landowners were named Ulf Fenisc, Osmund Benz and Toli.
After the Conquest, the manor was handed to Gilbert of Ghent, who in turn sublet the land to Malgar. During the Medieval period, the manor passed through a succession of families, all of whom held other manors either within or without the county. These families included the Muskhams, the Gresleys, the Cantelupes, the Zouches, the Savages and the Manners.
In 1252, King Henry the Third considered the town important and prosperous enough to be granted a charter permitting a weekly market and an annual fair. In 1386, the living of Ilkeston passed into the hands of the Premonstratensian canons of Dale Abbey and who for the next 213 years until the Dissolution, appointed one of their own as the village priest of Ilkeston.
During the Tudor period, ownership of the manor was transferred to the Savage family, the last Zouche having supported King Richard the Third at Bosworth in 1485.