Middleton Pool provided numerous commercial opportunities at Middleton Hall. One of the less well-known activities was the sale of the ice that formed on it. Few records of this activity at Middleton Hall have survived. The primary evidence of it is from testimonies from members of the de Hamel family, who remembered it being undertaken at the start of the 20th century. It is known with certainty that this industrial activity ceased in the latter years of the de Hamel tenancy

The 3rd June is World Bicycle Day. Middleton Hall has a surprising connection with the history of the bicycle. In 1896, Kathleen de Hamel, who was the eldest daughter of Egbert and Ernestine de Hamel, tenants of Middleton Hall, invented the bicycle flower basket when she was just 13 years old. As a result of her invention, she was featured in the cycling magazine The Wheelwoman on 19th December 1896. The Wheelwoman was a short-lived magazine that was published in the middle o

St John’s Church in Middleton village contains a number of significant memorials and burials that relate to the owners and residents of Middleton Hall. The oldest of these memorials is the brass effigies on the floor of the chancel for Sir Richard Bingham, Justice of the King’s Bench, who died on 22nd May 1476, and his wife Margaret (de Freville/Willoughby), who died on 8th January 1492/3. Margaret had inherited the Middleton Estate from her brother. Brass of Sir Richard Bing

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

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 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

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

The third and final person that our mini-series of posts on people connected to Middleton Hall who served in the Second World War focuses on is Egbert Alexander de Hamel. He was the youngest son of Egbert and Ernestine, who were the tenants of Middleton Hall from 1886 to 1925, and Alexander was born on 30th October 1889 at Middleton Hall. In 1916, Alexander married Evelyn Violet Myddleton-Gavey and soon after moved to Wigginton Lodge in Tamworth. Alexander continued his fathe

Historically there were two mills at Middleton. Both of these were located on the Langley Brook and have now been lost. The first mill was a very ancient one that was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. This mill was lost in the late 16th century, at the same time that Middleton Pool was created. The second mill was constructed by the de Marmion family in the early 13th century and it was located much closer to the river Tame. This mill has been known by various names. In