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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

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 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

The next three entries in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 were dated 17th April. The first was described as payment for bread and wine at Easter at Drayton Bassett Church and the amount was 6 pence, which was the equivalent of about £11.03 today. The second was described as payment for oil and chrism and the amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. Finally, the third was a payment to Sir William, the parish priest of

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 15th April. It was described as payment for showbread and wine. The amount was 1 penny, which was the equivalent of about £1.84 today. This entry poses a lot of questions that we have been unable to answer. There is no question that Sir Henry Willoughby was a very devout Catholic. However, showbread is categorically not a feature of the Catholic religion. It is only present in the Je

The 15th April 2026 is World Art Day. A number of reproductions of paintings of the Willoughby family are on display at Middleton Hall. To mark World Art Day, this post will focus on the artistic history of two of these paintings. The original paintings of Sir Francis I Willoughby and his wife Elizabeth Littleton were commissioned on 13th September 1573. In the Middleton household accounts, it was recorded that Sir Francis paid 10 shillings (about £119.11 today) for his portr

The 13th April 2026 is the 850th anniversary of the founding of an abbey by an owner of Middleton. On 13th April 1176, Robert III de Marmion, 2nd Baron Marmion of Tamworth, officially founded the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Barbery, which was located in the communes of Barbery and Bretteville-sur-Laize in Calvados, Normandy, about 20km south of Caen. On 14th November 1140, Robert III’s father, Robert II de Marmion, 1st Baron Marmion of Tamworth and Lord of Fontenay-le-Marmion in N

The 11th April 2026 is National Board Game Day and to mark this day we are providing details of a board game from Francis Willughby’s Book of Games: Nine Men’s Morris. This game has been played in England since the Middle Ages, but is believed to date back much further to at least the Roman Empire. It has always been an internationally played game. It had numerous other names in English such as merels, mills and ninepenny marl. The board consisted of three squares drawn insi

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 4th April. It is a repeat of an entry from the previous April and was described as a reward to someone who had brought word of where red deer lay by the side of Maxstoke, Warwickshire. The amount was also 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. This entry is not in the hunting season for almost all types and sex of deer. The hunting season for does (female deer) was S

The next three entries in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 were undated except for the month. However, from their location in the accounts, it can be determined that their date was probably either the 2nd or 3rd of April. The amount for each of these individual entries was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. The first entry was described as a reward to the young men of the town (Middleton village) that gathered for the chur

The next three entries in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 were all made on 1st April, which was Easter Sunday. The first entry was described as a payment at Easter for bread and wine for Middleton Church and the amount was 9 pence, which was the equivalent of about £16.55 today. The second entry was described as a payment for oil and chrism and the amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. Finally, the third entry was