Dalbury Lees is a parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in south Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

. It is about six miles (10 km) from both Burton-on-Trent and Derby

Derby

Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

 and just under four miles (6 km) from Egginton

Egginton

Egginton is a village in the local government district of South Derbyshire, England. It is located just off Ryknild Street, otherwise known as the A38, between Derby and Stretton, Burton upon Trent. It is historically a farming community...

. The parish contains the villages of Dalbury and Lees which are just under 2 miles (3.2 km) apart from one another. Dalbury Lees has been known as Dalbury and as Dalbury with Lees, but Dalbury Lees is the preferred term

History

Developing from the Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 deity name Dellingr, Dalbury is mentioned twice in the Domesday book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 where it is spelt Delbebi and Dellingeberie. The book records firstly that there were three bovates which are berewicks of the manor of Mickleover

Mickleover

Mickleover is a suburb located two miles west of the city centre and is the most westerly suburb of the City of Derby in the United Kingdom.-History:...

 which at that time belonged to the Abbey of Burton

Burton-on-Trent Abbey

Burton Abbey at Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire, England, was originally founded in the 7th or 9th century by St Modwen or Modwenna; and later refounded in 1003 as a Benedictine abbey by Wulfric Spott, a thegn possibly descended from King Alfred...

. The Abbey held various manors including Appleby Magna

Appleby Magna

Appleby Magna is a village and civil parish in the district of North West Leicestershire, England.The civil parish, as well as Appleby Magna, includes the small Hamlet of Appleby Parva and the Villages of Norton-Juxta-Twycross, Snarestone and Swepstone...

, Winshill

Winshill

Winshill is a suburb to the east of the town of Burton upon Trent, in the borough of East Staffordshire, England.Flanked to the north and east by the South Derbyshire border, historically the parish of Winshill had always been part of Derbyshire until it was transferred to Staffordshire in the late...

 and Stapenhill

Stapenhill

Stapenhill is an area and civil parish in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire in the UK. Stapenhill was a small village owned by Nigel of Stafford in 1086.The village of Stapenhill has long since been surrounded by new housing developments....

 - these were all within Derbyshire at that time.

Later the book lists under the title of “The lands of Henry de Ferrers

Henry de Ferrers

Henry de Ferrers was a Norman soldier from a noble family who took part in the conquest of England and is believed to have fought at the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and, in consequence, was rewarded with much land in the subdued nation.His elder brother William fell in the battle. William and Henri...

”In Dalbury Godric had two carucate

Carucate

The carucate or ploughland was a unit of assessment for tax used in most Danelaw counties of England, and is found for example in Domesday Book. The carucate was based on the area a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season...

s of land to the geld

Geld

Geld may refer to:* Money, in Dutch or German languages* Danegeld, or any Anglo-Saxon or Norman land tax often based on hides* Weregeld* Gelt, Yiddish for money* Gelding, castrated animal-See also:* Gold * Gel...

. There is land for four ploughs. There are now two ploughs in demesne

Demesne

In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...

 and six villans and one bordar with two ploughs. There is a priest and a church and twenty acres of meadow, woodland pasture one furlong long and half a league broad. TRE worth forty shillings now sixty shillings. Robert holds it.“

Dalbury is the smaller of the two villages with a handful of houses, a church, and during the nineteenth century a school that could take sixty children.

Lees on the other hand is larger with around forty houses and several farms. The Black Cow pub is the communal centre of the village and the green opposite is frequently used for village fêtes and car boot sales. A new village hall was recently completed on the main road through the village.