Britain was ruled by the house of Plantagenet from 1154 to 1485 A.D spanning the reigns from King Henry II to Richard III. In 1284 A.D. The great survey known as Kirby’s inquest refers to the village of Thorpe Salvin as “Rikenild Torp”, and in later records as “Torp Ryonild”. This name is derived from the Rykenild Way, a roman road found to the west of the village, now called Packman Lane. At the time of the survey, the village now belonged to the Knight Ralph Salvain, from which the name Salvin is eventually derived. In 1339 A.D. King Edward III grants Anketin Salvain “free warren in all his domesne lands of Thorp Salvain” (free warren meant the right to hunt, rear, and preserve game); this is the first time the village is refered to as “Thorp Salvain”.

The Salvains, having become prosperous, built their family home, the first Thorpe Manor on the site of the present ruin (their coat of arms is shown), although the date of this is not known. This first manor was probably built of wood, and later passed into the hands of the Sandford family who eventually succeed the Salvains as Lords of Thorpe Manor. The Salvains are thought to have left Thorpe around 1400 A.D. either to Doncaster or London, in both of which they had large holdings.

Sir Thomas Osborne becomes Duke of Leeds, and to match his rising fortune, leaves Thorpe for his a palatial home in Kiveton Park. The Thorpe Hall was never again occupied, and fell into ruin.

One of the great events of English history was the poll tax of Richard II, 1378 AD. This tax, one on the poll or head of all adults in the kingdom, led to revolts all over the country. There is a surviving record of the tax placed on the inhabitants of Thorpe Salvin; the following is an extract:

“Edmund Sandeforth and Idonia his wife, 20/-,
William Herrynge (smith) ang Magota his wife, 6d.
Thomas Colyere and Felissia his wife, 4d.
Elias Milner (souter, ie, shoemaker) and Margaret his wife, 6d.
William Smyth and Magaret his wife, 4d.
Margaret Laundere (washerwoman), 4d.”

This is the first mention of another leading Thorpe family, the Sandeforths, or Sandfords, who eventually succeed the Salvains as lords of Thorpe Manor. The Salvain family house stood on the same site as the present ruined hall. Around 1400 AD, the Salvain family left Thorpe, moving to Doncaster or London. The Sandfords then resided in the hall, and becoming prosperous, one of the family, Brian Sandford, had the originall hall pulled down and built the a Tudor manor house in Queen Elizabeth I’s reign.

Thorpe Manor was designed and built by Robert Smythson. He was the master mason at Longleat House in Wiltshire from circa 1568-1572, which in those days included design work. In the 1580′s he moved to Woollaton in North Nottinghamshire and was responsible for several major buildings in the Bolsover region including Hardwick Hall, Hardwick Lodge, Woollaton Lodge, Worksop Manor Lodge, Doddington Hall, Shireoaks Hall and the Hunting Tower at Chatsworth. A memorial to Robert Smythson can be seen in Wollaton Church.