Yay, one of my fields of research!!
That's a pretty substantial manor house, especially with the size of the
gatehouse (what is now the chapel). A quick bit of searching tells me that
Derbyshire was doing pretty well economically in the 14th century, so your
ancestress would have worn some pretty spiffy outfits. You'd be looking at
the high-end wools and linens, the expensive colors, probably a lot of
silver-gilt ornaments (silver-gilt is mostly what you find for the "not as
rich as the Duke of Savoy" types in the 14th century) and probably some
silver as well. Some pearls and gemstones, furs (lots of vair and miniver,
some sable), patterned fabrics, velvets, etc.
Look up "Fashion in the Age of the Black Prince" by Stella Mary
Newton--that will give you a pretty good idea of what Joan was likely to
have worn.
Joan probably had a pretty nice yearly income, at least several hundred
pounds, so think "quite well-off landowner".
/Jen
On Sun, 22 Aug 2010, Michelle Plumb wrote:
Hello, everyone. A cousin of mine is tracing the family tree and hit the
jackpot. I'm a direct descendant of the builders of this manor:
http://www.padley.catholicweb.com/
My ancestor is Joan Padley, and she lived in the 14th century. I'd love to
know how Joan would have been dressed, but I'm not quite certain how she
places on the socioeconomic scale of the times.
Here's some of the information from the website:
"The manor house at Upper Padley was built in the late 13th and early 14th
centuries. It is situated on the north bank of the River Derwent, within a
mile of Grindleford Bridge. The original owners came from Normandy with
William the Conqueror. Their family name was De Bernac. They were given the
lands of Padley, Grindleford and Hathersage by William for services
rendered. They settled in Upper Padley, where their descendants started to
build. They eventually changed their name to Padley. When the sole heiress,
Joan Padley married Robert Eyre of Highlow, there was already a fair sized
manor house. Robert & Joan extended the buildings including the gatehouse."
I would be grateful for any help. Thanks! Michelle
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