Paul Halksworth grew up in the shadow of Sutton Scarsdale Hall and visited the ruins as a boy. Now a historian, Paul traces the families and fortunes – especially those of the Arkwrights – that made Sutton Scarsdale one of the grandest houses in Derbyshire, even rivalling Chatsworth House. It was saved from the wrecker's hammer by Sir Osbert Sitwell of Renishaw Hall who, having had a conversation with Harold Taylor, the Sutton Scarsdale churchwarden, bought Sutton Scarsdale Hall to preserve its architectural identity.