It was a valuable source of timber. Orders are recorded, in 1375 for the delivery of oaks to the Carmelite Friars of Nottingham, the Dominican Friars of Derby, and the Abbott of Darley for building purposes. In September 1405, King Henry IV ordered the chief forester to supply twelve timber oaks towards the repair of Duffield church, and in 1411 to deliver to the tenants of Duffield enough wood for shoring Duffield Bridge (near the present Bridge Inn) while it was rebuilt – using, no doubt, stone from the ruins of the castle. Henry VIII decreed that certain crops should be grown such as flax in modern-day Flaxholme.