The Natural World

The 5th January is National Bird Day! Birds are a very important historic topic at Middleton Hall and in 2026 they are especially so because it is also the 350th anniversary of the first publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia. In 1672, John Ray made a deathbed promise to Francis Willughby to finish Willughby’s work on natural history. With the publication of Ornithologia (Ornithology), which he compiled whilst still at Middleton Hall, Ray fulfilled part of his promis

29th January 2025 is the start of the new lunar year and this year is the year of the wood snake. In Chinese astrology an animal is paired with a natural element and the last time the year of the wood snake occurred was 60 years ago. In Chinese culture the snake can represent wisdom and agility and when combined with wood it can also emphasise growth and creativity. Therefore, we thought this an opportune time to talk about snakes at Middleton Hall. The Nature Trail at Middle

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

From the time of Francis Willughby FRS in the 17th century to the modern day, the study of birds has been an important activity at Middleton Hall. In 1975, 50 years ago this year, the area around Middleton Pool was registered by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) as a significant habitat for birds. This was two years after it had also been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. At the time that it was registered it was stated that, in the vicinity of Middle

Hanbury Barclay was the tenant of Middleton Hall from 1872 to 1880. During his brief tenancy he made a number of alterations to the grounds of Middleton Hall, many of which are still visible today. Unfortunately, we have no precise date for when he made these alterations and so Middleton Hall Trust has given them the rough date of about 1875. Therefore, to mark the “rough” 150th anniversary, in 2025 we are writing a series of posts to highlight his alterations. Very rarely th

In the Tamworth Herald, on 14th March 1925, it was advertised that an auction was to be held at Middleton Hall on the 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th of March 1925 at the instructions of the executors of the late Egbert de Hamel. The sale was to begin at 11am each day and it added that refreshments were provided. The auction was to include all of the household furniture and, specifically, the contents of the entrance hall, banqueting hall, dining and drawing rooms, library, billiar

There is a partial solar eclipse visible in the UK on 29th March 2025 at 10am. To mark this event, we thought we would do a post about when one of the residents of Middleton Hall studied a solar eclipse all the way back in 1666! Francis Willughby FRS, is most renowned for his interest in nature, in particular zoology, but he was also interested in astronomy. On 22nd June 1666, he officially scientifically monitored and recorded a solar eclipse for the Royal Society. The Royal

This fifth entry in the Middleton household account of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 series contains four entries from the accounts. The first was dated as 29th March 1525 and the remainder just as “at the same time”. The first of these four entries was a reward to someone from Walsall, Staffordshire, who had brought the court rolls in order to have the copy for Richard Hill’s land. All that is currently known about this Richard Hill is that he was a tenant of Sir Henry Willo

It is often said at Middleton Hall that you are a bona fide Middleton historian when you cannot go on holiday or watch a television programme without coming across a connection to Middleton’s history! Recently Channel 5 aired a two-part documentary series called “Volcano with Dara O’Briain”. One may think that there would be little chance of connecting volcanoes with Middleton’s history but in 1664 two residents of Middleton Hall, Francis Willughby and John Ray, happened to b

The last entry for April in the 1525 Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby was described as a reward to someone that had brought Sir Henry news of red deer that lay beyond Meriden, Warwickshire. The amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. It was undated but there are similar entries to this in the accounts in other years, normally dated around the 28th April. Middleton Hall was located in a deer park. The first record of this deer par

In our previous post to mark British Tomato Fortnight, we mentioned that historically the tomato was viewed as poisonous. At Middleton Hall, this then invites the question of what did our famous resident botanist John Ray say about the tomato in the 17th century? John Ray’s masterpiece, Historia Plantarum , contains multiple entries that would be considered as synonyms of the tomato today. One that is particularly interesting is in the appendix to Historia Plantarum volume 2

It is British Tomato Fortnight (27th May-9th June 2025)! We thought that this was an opportune time to highlight another of Hanbury Barclay’s alterations to the grounds of Middleton Hall in about 1875: the construction of the Tomato House. Hanbury’s Tomato House was built within the Large Walled Garden on the western side, just to the south of the 18th century large glasshouse. It was a shallow structure with a brick base and a framed glass top that opened on the western and

20th May 2025 is World Bee Day! Did you know that there is a species of bee named after one of Middleton Hall’s residents? In 1802, the species Megachile willughbiella was named in honour of Francis Willughby FRS. It is commonly known as Willughby’s leaf-cutting bee and Francis was the first person to describe it and its life-cycle. On 5th May 1670, at a meeting of the Royal Society, some specimens were shown of what was thought to be worms wrapped in leaves and lodged in se

The 7th June 2025 is Butterfly Education and Awareness Day and, to mark this, we thought we would write about “Mr Ray’s Purple Streak Butterfly”. This was the English common name given by James Petiver in 1702 to the butterfly that is commonly known today as the Purple Hairstreak (Favonius quercus) . James Petiver was a friend and sometime assistant of John Ray. Petiver was subsequently described as “the father of British butterflies” as a result of his detailed work on the i

This is the last post in the series on the structural alterations that the tenant of Middleton Hall, Hanbury Barclay, made at Middleton Hall in about 1875. It focuses on his Cucumber House. The Cucumber House was constructed in the Small Walled Garden, directly to the south of and parallel to the lean-to glasshouse. Plan of the layout of the structures of the Small Walled Garden in c.1880. Drawn by Richard Jordan. The cucumber originates from India. It was a favourite

It’s National Moth Week 2025 (19th-27th July)! Sycamore Moth (Acronicta aceris) in the Large Walled Garden at Middleton Hall, 2010. Photograph taken by Harvey Skelcher. When John Ray was compiling Historia Insectorum , he wrote that he thought that he had managed to describe every variety of English butterfly, which actually he nearly had, but despaired because he thought he would never manage to describe all of the different species of moths. Small Fan-Footed Wave Moth (Idae

This post contains two entries from the Middleton accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525. The first of these concerned Sir Henry Willoughby’s activity in relation to his commission from King Henry VIII to quell the Lammas Day Rebellion in Coventry. This entry also correlates with the request in the letter by Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, for them to meet in response to receiving their commissions. However, the entry also provides information as to where and when they

The next entry in the Middleton accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 is one of the few remaining ones for this year that specifically refers to the activities of Sir Henry. This entry was dated as 22nd August and was described as being his costs to Feckenham Forest in Worcestershire and rewards to the keepers of the Forest. It added that he had gone there with “my lord prior” of Kenilworth and Sir Edward Ferrers. The amount was 34 shillings 6 pence, which was the equivale

The third entry in December in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby for 1525 was also undated except for the month. It was described as a payment for Chingleton’s costs to go to Leicester Forest to fetch a doe and staying there for three days at the manor of Thomas Grey, 2nd Lord Marquess of Dorset. The amount was 21 pence, which was the equivalent of about £38.61 today. This is the only known record that mentions the servant Chingleton in the Middleton Ma

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was dated the 12 th  October. It was a payment to cover the costs incurred by Mr Swinfen who had, on the commandment of Sir Henry, taken the hawks from Middleton to King Henry VIII in London. The amount was 10 shillings, which was the equivalent of about £220.64 today. In comparative terms, this was the equivalent of about 16 days wages for a skilled tradesman at that time. It is believed that