Middleton Hall Blog

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was again undated, but must have occurred sometime between the 6th and the 25th May. It was described as Sir Henry’s reward toward an ale (feast) at Lea in Warwickshire. The amount was 8 pence, which was the equivalent of about £14.71 today. Lea refers to half of the settlement known today as Lea Marston, which directly borders the parish of Middleton to the south-east. For the same reason as

The 20th May 2026 is World Bee Day. To mark it, this post will focus on the description of the Western Honey Bee provided in Historia Insectorum, which was written in Latin. That book was published posthumously in 1710 by the Royal Society under the name of John Ray but it was based on the observations and notes of Francis Willughby. What is commonly known today as the Western Honey Bee was called the Common Honey Bee or Apis domestica seu vulgaris alvearium by Ray and Willug

When the Middleton Estate was sold at auction in 1924, two cottages, known as the Dog Kennel Cottages, were within the boundaries of Lot 1 that included Middleton Hall. These Cottages were located in a single piece of land that covered an area about 1 rood and 6 perches (0.12 hectares). They were located to the south of Middleton Hall and just to the north of Coneybury Farm, on the southernmost edge of the Lot and the southernmost edge of Middleton Park. In 1924, Lord Middlet

Middleton Hall Trust received an enquiry asking whether it was true that the residents of the Church Row Cottages in Middleton Village had been farm workers on the Middleton Estate, maybe circa 1840. The answer is complicated as, yes, they were often inhabited by farm workers who worked on the various farms around the Estate but they were also Estate woodsmen, an Estate carpenter, gardeners, servants, a shoemaker, washerwomen, Chelsea Pensioners and more. St John's Church,

When the Middleton Estate was sold at auction in 1924, Lot 61 contained all the six cottages of Church Row in Middleton Village. These Cottages were located in a single piece of land that covered an area of about 1 acre 3 roods and 3 perches (0.76 hectares). They were directly adjacent to the north of St John the Baptist Church. Map showing in brown Lot 61 "Church Row Cottages" in Middleton Village, from the Auction Catalogue of the Middleton Estate, 1924. In the auction cata

On 31st August 1994, the school in Middleton village, what was at that time called Middleton First School, closed. It is now known as The Old School House Day Nursery and is a childcare facility. The school was located on Church Lane, directly adjacent to the west of St John’s Church, and it had a very long connection with the owners of Middleton Hall. The school was historically part of the Middleton Estate and the property of the owners of the manor. In 1924, when the Estat

The Middleton Estate was broken up into 102 Lots when it was sold at auction in 1924. In the auction catalogue, the particulars of every Lot were explained in detail and their locations marked over two very large maps. It informed the prospective buyer of: the structures present on the land; the purposes of the structures; rooms within the buildings; what materials the buildings were made from; what type of land it was; sources of water; who the tenant was; how much rent the

On 7th June 1924, the Tamworth Herald newspaper reported that Godfrey Ernest Percival Willoughby, 10th Lord Middleton, had announced that he intended to sell a number of the Willoughby family’s ancient manorial estates including Wollaton and Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire and Middleton in Warwickshire. The reason he decided to sell was said to have been as a result of the costs of the death duties that he was required to pay following the death of Digby Wentworth Willough

The 10th May 2026 is the 400th anniversary of a letter in the Middleton Manuscripts, which was written on 10th May 1626 by Dorothy Hastings née Willoughby to her sister, and owner of Middleton, Bridget Willoughby. Bridget was the eldest daughter of Sir Francis I Willoughby and Elizabeth Littleton and Dorothy was their second surviving daughter, according to the family history account of Cassandra Willoughby. In 1587, Dorothy married Sir Henry Hastings and her marriage dowry i

To mark the anniversary of VE Day, this post will focus on the Anderson Shelters that were constructed at Middleton Hall during the Second World War. In the 1850s the moat had been drained from the north bridge, which created a dry moat. The Anderson Shelters were constructed in the northern part of this dry moat channel. Anderson Shelters were invented in 1939 by William Patterson. He was an engineer who was tasked by Sir John Anderson to develop a small cheap bomb shelter.

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was undated. It was described as payment for ale and banners for Cross Week. The amount was 6 pence, which was the equivalent of about £11.03 today. Cross Week was an alternative name for Rogation Week. Major Rogation always occurred on 25th April but Rogation Week occurred from the Sunday to Wednesday that immediately preceded Ascension Day. Ascension Day occurred 40 days after Easter Sunday,

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated Saturday 5th May. It was described as payment at Middleton Church for ale for Sir Henry. The amount was 1 penny, which was the equivalent of about £1.84 today. A church ale was essentially a feast centred around the drinking of ale. Originally, church ales were gatherings established to honour the patron saint of the church. Ales were normally held on a Sunday and in 1526 that would

In the Domesday Book of 1086, it was recorded that a church was present at Middleton. However, the Church present today is believed to have been initially constructed in the 12th century. This was when the Middleton Estate was in the possession of the de Marmion family. They additionally had the advowson of St John’s Church at Middleton. An advowson enabled someone to propose who would hold the ecclesiastical position at a specific church. Advowsons recognised the role of the

May is Local & Community History Month and to mark this, throughout this month, we will be posting numerous articles relating to the history of the Middleton Estate. Today, the Middleton Hall Estate is 42 acres, all of which has been leased to Middleton Hall Trust since 1980. The western boundary of the Estate is the A4091. The northern boundary is formed by the southern edge of the large field, historically called The Park Quarters, which is just north of the entrance drive,

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was probably dated 30th April. It is only probably because it was under the heading of April and was actually dated the 31st. It was described as a reward to someone who brought oranges from Birmingham. The amount was 2 pence, which was the equivalent of about £3.68 today. The last entry we had for oranges was in “ The Middleton Accounts of 1525: #5 ”. As mentioned in that post, Queen Catherin

The next two entries in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 were dated 29th April and came from different sections of the household accounts. The first was described as payment for stuff to make ink and the amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. The second was described as payment for a loaf of sugar that weighed 8lbs (about 3.63kg) and the amount was 4 shillings 2 pence, which was the equivalent of about £91.93 today.

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 28th April. It was described as payment for aqua vitae. The amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. In the Accounts #20, we explained the history of aqua vitae (known today as liquors such as brandy and whisky) and what it was made from. Given the two purchases of aqua vitae in close proximity in the accounts and the nature of how it was used medicinally

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was undated but, given the adjacent entries were dated the 26th and 28th April and this was not stated to have occurred “on the same day”, it can be assumed to be the 27th April. It was described as money paid to one of the Children of the Chapel when he went home to his friends. The amount was 12 pence, which was the equivalent of about £22.06 today. Children of the Chapel were primarily trai

The 27th April 2026 is International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day. To mark this, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Common Raven in Ornithologia. Willughby gave its common English name as the Raven and also knew it as Corvus. In 1758, Carl Linnaeus gave it the taxonomical binominal name of Corvus corax, by which name it is still known today. The Raven in Francis Willughby

The next two entries in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 were dated 26th April. The first was described as Sir Henry’s reward for the christening of the child of “Corssor” and the amount was 12 pence, which was the equivalent of about £22.06 today. It is unknown who Corssor was and no other mention of him has been found. The second entry was a reward to a friar from Coventry that brought aqua vitae to Middleton Hall and the amount was 20 pence