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The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 21st February. It was described as money paid to Mistress Alice to gift in reward at the christening of Hugh Avery’s child. The amount was 20 pence, which was the equivalent of about £36.77 today. The Mistress Alice referred to in this entry was Sir Henry Willoughby’s youngest daughter. She was about 14 years old at the time of this entry and, although already married to Richard Dray

17th February 2026 is the start of the new lunar year and this year is the year of the fire horse. In Chinese astrology an animal is paired with a natural element and the last time the year of the fire horse occurred was 60 years ago. In Chinese culture the horse can represent freedom, power, vitality and perseverance and when combined with fire it can also emphasise passion, leadership and breaking free from past constraints. Horses of all types have been important in many d

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby from 1526 was a bulk folio covering payments for “stuff” bought at Lichfield Fair on 14th February. Only a short extract of this was recorded in the copy of the accounts in the Middleton Manuscripts. When the Willoughby family was based at Middleton Hall, one of the main Fairs they visited for their fresh food produce was Lichfield Fair. The Lichfield Fair that was held in February became known as th

This entry and post are a déjà vu from last year. In this entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby from 1526, we get to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day a day early, yet again! The entry was described as a reward to my Master’s valentine for Saint Valentine’s Day and was dated 13th February. His gift to his valentine was also again 4 pence, which is the equivalent of about £7.35 today. So how was Valentine’s Day observed in Tudor times? St Valen

The next entries in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 were a batch of 17 entries that were described as the bills for the making of woollen cloth at Middleton Hall. This batch was dated as having occurred from the 13th February. In inventories of Middleton Hall, there was reference to a dedicated “Spinning House” and the presence of multiple spinning wheels and equipment for dyeing material was also recorded. The first four entries concerned pa

2026 is the 850th anniversary of the start of the construction of Old London Bridge. The construction was instigated by Peter of Colechurch in 1176 but it was not completed until 1209, which was after Peter had died. So how does this connect to Middleton’s history? Peter was described as the bridge master and a clergyman at St Mary’s Colechurch. Following the murder of Thomas à Becket in 1170, Robert III de Marmion, 2nd Baron Marmion of Tamworth, who owned Middleton between 1

On 28th January 1376, the husband of an owner of Middleton Hall lodged a complaint with the justices in Lindsey, Lincolnshire after he had been attacked whilst carrying out official duties. His name was John Dymoke and he was the husband of Margaret de Ludlow, the great-granddaughter of Philip de Marmion via his youngest daughter Joan. In 1349, Margaret had inherited half of what had been her grandmother’s third of Middleton, but in 1362 Margaret and John had sold her sixth t

The 25th January 2026 is the 300th anniversary of the birth of an owner of Middleton Hall, Francis Willoughby 3rd Lord Middleton, who was born on that date in 1726. Francis was the eldest son of Francis Willoughby, 2nd Lord Middleton, and Mary Edwards. He was educated at Bury St Edmund’s School and then, in 1744, at Jesus College, University of Cambridge. Following his father’s death in 1758, Francis inherited Middleton and the remainder of the Willoughby Estates. He continue

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated as the 22 nd  January. It was again described as money to Sir Henry Willoughby for him to play cards. This time the amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today.   In this post we are providing instructions for another Tudor card game that was mentioned in Francis Willughby’s Book of Games. This time it is the game Laugh and Lie Down. It is a type of “fishing” ga

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 11 th  January. It was described as a payment for the carriage of a tope of figs and another tope of raisins and 2 sugar loaves. The amount was 17 pence, which was the equivalent of about £31.26 today.   A tope is an historical unit of measurement in England, which specifically was used to measure a quantity of dried fruit. In this definition a tope was a basket or a measure equivale

This post contains the next two entries in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526. The first entry was dated 8th January and was described as money to Mrs Mary Fitton, on the commandment of Sir Henry Willoughby. The amount was 6 shillings 8 pence, which was the equivalent of about £147.09 today. Mary Fitton was the daughter of Jane Harbottle née Willoughby and the granddaughter of Sir Henry Willoughby. The second entry was undated. It was described

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated as the 4th January. It was again described as money to Sir Henry Willoughby for him to play cards. The amount was 19 pence, which was the equivalent of about £34.93 today. In the previous post, we explained the origins of card playing and the nature of the deck in Tudor times. However, what type of games were played? It is known that popular card games played in the Tudor era include

Happy New Year to everyone! Welcome to another year of snapshots into the life of Sir Henry Willoughby and those at Middleton Hall through his household accounts. The 1526 accounts that have survived are more extensive than those of 1525 because not only have parts of the general household book survived but also extracts from the books covering food purchases and other Estate activities too. This is the last complete year of accounts from the lifetime of Sir Henry Willoughby

The next three entries in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby for 1525 were dated as the 31st December. All three relate to the festivities held at Middleton Hall on New Year’s Eve. The first entry was described as a reward to the players of Upper Broughton, Nottinghamshire. They received 2 shillings, which was the equivalent of about £44.13 today. The second entry was described as a reward to a player that had come from Lichfield. It was for 16 pence, wh

The next two entries in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby for 1525 were both dated as the 28th December. The first was described as a reward to the child bishop of Lichfield. It was for 6 shillings 8 pence, which was the equivalent of about £147.09 today. The second entry was described as a reward to the bishop’s servants and the amount for this was 20 pence, which was the equivalent of about £36.77 today. These entries refer to a popular English mediev

Recently a special two-part documentary series has been shown on Channel 5 called Ice Age: Apocalypse. One might wonder why this show might have any relevance to Middleton. Over the last few years, we have been researching the much wider history of Middleton and the Ice Age has managed to make repeated and often unexpected appearances. The oldest archaeological discovery at Middleton is a Palaeolithic Acheulian ovate hand axe, which is thought to date to over 200,000 years ag

500 years ago … 1525. King Henry VIII is on the throne and his wife is still Queen Catherine of Aragon. Middleton Hall is owned by Sir Henry Willoughby and it was his principal residence. Sir Henry had been a highly skilled soldier and had been a Knight of the Body to not only King Henry VII but also King Henry VIII. However, Sir Henry was now about 74 years old. In 1911, the Manuscripts Commission published a report providing information on a number of the personal papers be

The next entry for the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was for the 10th February. This was described as a reward paid to a minstrel of the Lord of Derby. The minstrel was paid 12 pence. This was the equivalent of about £22.06 today and at that time was the equivalent, at that time, of a day’s wage for a skilled tradesman. The Lord of Derby referenced in this entry would have been Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby. For centuries, the Earls of Derby

For this entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby from 1525, we get to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day a day early! This entry was described as a reward to my Master’s valentine for Saint Valentine’s Day and was dated 13th February. His gift to his valentine was 4 pence, which is the equivalent of about £7.35 today. Sir Henry Willoughby was married four times. His first wife was Margaret, the daughter of Sir Robert Markham, and she died about 1

Middleton Hall’s continually evolving form is one of its unique architectural characteristics and a large part of the form that it has today is due to John Averill’s Renovation. This Renovation began soon after John Averill, a farmer and industrialist, and his family took up residence at Middleton Hall. Although John had purchased Middleton Hall at auction in December 1924, the purchase did not immediately evict the existing tenant and thus John did not take up immediate resi