Middleton Hall Blog

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was described as money paid to Thomas Slade for holy water for the three quarters due to him on Our Lady’s Day. Lady Day was the common English name for the Feast of the Annunciation, which was celebrated on 25th March. The amount was 12 pence, which was the equivalent of about £22.06 today. St John's Church, Middleton, Warwickshire, 2015. Photograph taken by Debbie Jordan. There is some uncer

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was undated except for being in March. It was described as money paid to the wives of Slade and Robert James to cover their costs for watching with a prisoner that was hanged at “Basset Cross”. The amount was 3 shillings 10 pence, which was the equivalent of about £84.58 today. Both Slade and Robert James are known to have been servants and tenants of Sir Henry Willoughby at Middleton. The pla

The 22nd–26th March 2026 is World Osprey Week. To mark this, as well as the 350th anniversary of the year of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Osprey provided in Ornithologia. The Osprey is particularly problematic in Ornithologia. The size and other characteristics of the Osprey caused significant problems for Willughby, Ray and other later naturalists because it was an intermediate species that did no

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 22nd March. It was described as money paid to cover the costs for Sir Henry’s servants, John Lewissay (who compiled the Middleton household accounts) and William Nottman, to go to Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland in order to speak with Dr Thomas Magnus. The amount was 20 shillings, which was the equivalent of about £441.28 today. Dr Thomas Magnus was a churchman, administrator an

The 20th March 2026 is World Sparrow Day. To mark this, as well as the 350th anniversary of the year of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the House Sparrow provided in Ornithologia. World Sparrow Day aims to raise awareness of the declining population of the House Sparrow, which has declined by over 60% since the 1970s in the UK and has faced a similar decline worldwide in the same time period. The cause of

The 19th March 2026 is National Poultry Day. To mark this and the 350th anniversary of the year of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on the various medicinal uses for chickens that were detailed in Ornithologia. It is known that Francis Willughby and John Ray prepared medicines using the stills in the Stone Building at Middleton Hall. PLEASE NOTE: none of the medicinal uses detailed in this post are advised today. However, a few do bear

The 18th March 2026 is World Eagle Day and to mark this, as well as the 350th anniversary of the year of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Golden Eagle provided in Ornithologia. Willughby wrote that the English countrymen called this bird simply the Eagle, without any epithet of distinction, as if it were the Eagle of Eagles. It came to England yearly to build its nest and breed, especially upon the hig

The 8th March is International Women’s Day and the theme for 2026 is “Give to Gain”. This campaign theme aims to improve gender equality through generosity, collaboration and reciprocity via the sharing of resources, knowledge or time. In the spirit of this, a woman from Middleton Hall’s history stands out: Ernestine de Hamel (née Donovan). Ernestine was born on 20th July 1857 in Brighton, Sussex. She was the daughter of Alexander Donovan, Deputy Lieutenant, and Ellen Poulett

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 2nd March. It was described as money paid to Mr Palmer’s servant for his costs, from London and to return to London, when he brought a letter for Sir Henry from King Henry VIII. The amount was 13 shillings 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £294.18 today. Although many letters from King Henry to Sir Henry have survived, it has not yet been possible to definitely associate a s

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

The 2nd February 2026 is World Ostrich Day and to mark this, as well as the 350th anniversary of the year of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on some of the description of the ostrich provided in Ornithologia. Francis Willughby and John Ray had actually seen an ostrich. They saw it on their European Tour, on 30th April 1663, when they were in Brussels, in what is today Belgium. They wrote that between Coudenberg Palace and Bruxelles Pa

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 17th January is World Waterfowl Day, the purpose of which is to raise public awareness, knowledge and interest in various species of waterfowl such as ducks, swans and geese. Therefore, in this post, we will be raising awareness of one species of waterfowl mentioned in Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia that is known today as the Mute Swan. In Ornithologia, Willughby called the Mute Swan the Tame Swan or Cygnus mansuetus . Furthermore, in his earlier Catalogue of English Bi