[3] Hazlebadge is surrounded by the following local areas: The parish is roughly bounded by features such as Castleton Lane to the west, Bradwell Dale and Bradwell Edge to the north, Bleak Knoll to the east, and Stanlow Dale and Durham Edge to the south.
Bradwell Dale and Bagshaw Cavern together is an SSSI noted for its over ground nature and cave system.
Hazlebadge was recorded in the Domesday survey as Hegelebec, and means 'Hazel valley',[7] or 'Hazel brook'[8] (although there are few water features in the area), the place sometimes being alternatively referred to as Hazelbadge.
[12] Hazlebadge was recorded in 1086 at the time of the Domesday survey as owned by William Peverel, being held prior to the Norman Conquest in 1066 by Leofwin.
It was then granted to Ranulph de Gernon, 2nd Earl of Chester who died before it could be accepted, and it reverted to King John ‘Count of Mortain’.
[15][16] Philip de Strelley of the Nottinghamshire family held land in nearby Brough at the mill before the end of the 12th century, having been granted it by the then monarch.
[17] A later heiress, Dorothy, married into the Manners, whose later family became members of the Dukes of Rutland,[15] these owning the manor until it was sold from their wider estates in 1920 due to them being heavily indebted with refurbishment costs of their seats, along with death duties.
[18][19][20] Mining throughout the wider region was an important occupation dating from Roman times, with limestone for building homes and walling uses,[21] along with some zinc,[22] but Hazlebadge was particularly notable for a number of lead pits, with several locations throughout the parish being worked.
The Vernon (later Manners) family acquired the Strelley estate in Castleton in 1421 and appear to have obtained the right to also ‘farm’ the lead, and was indicative of the family’s determination to extend their grip on the lead miners, also obtaining land in Brough and the liberty of Hazlebadge over which they had full rights.
[9] Bradwell parish included Abney, Great and Little Hucklow, Grindlow, Wardlow and Hazlebadge, which was invariably described as a liberty, township and lordship because of its relative freedom.
[29] As well as the regularised agricultural roles because of its rural location, primarily for pasture farming due to the rocky and hilly nature of the land, the area has also supported lead mining and limestone quarrying with several sites throughout the parish until the 20th century.
[30][25] Corn was ground at a millhouse for some centuries where Mill Meadow farm is presently located by Bradwell Hills.
[3] The wider region is known for a range of historical artefacts, and Hazlebadge has a number of prehistoric and Roman locations spread throughout the parish.
[36][37][38] Bradwell Dale and Bagshaw Cavern Site of Special Scientific Interest extends from Bradwell village in the north, bounded by Hartle Dale to the west, Hazlebadge Hall on the right and follows the B6049 road close to Nether Water Farm by the southern edge of the parish.
The dale contains a well-incised limestone gorge, now completely dry, drained by means of the 3000 metres of cave passages within Bagshaw Cavern.