This post, the twenty-first and last in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the connecting areas specifically named as “The Hall”, “The Gallery”, “The Lobby” and “The Stair Head”. Despite only being connecting areas and passages, some were large enough to even be sub-divided into rooms in themselves. Although the inventory is a useful illustration of the household at Middleton Hall, because the house wa

This post, the twentieth in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the larders. These were specifically named as “The Old Larder”, “The West Larder” and “The New Larder”. In the 1924 auction catalogue of Middleton Hall, there were still only three larders listed, but it is uncertain where these were. There was a suggestion that two may have been located in the small ground floor rooms created on the north a

This post, the nineteenth in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the cellars, which were specifically called “The Coal Cellar” and the “The Old Cellar”. Cellars would have been situated in cool areas and, normally, underground. They were traditionally used to store wine and beer and it was only in the 17th century that they began to be used to store coal. The central courtyard, c.1984, showing two of the

This post, the eighteenth in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the rooms called “The Brewhouse”, “The Bottling House”, “The Buttery” and “The Chamber Over Against The Buttery”. These rooms cover the different stages of alcohol production and storage. Specifically, a brewhouse was where it was made, the bottling house was where it was transferred from its fermenting casks into the drinking barrels known

This post, the seventeenth in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the rooms called “The Dairy”, “The Chamber over the Dairy” and “The Cheese Chamber”. Normally, a dairy was a production room where milk was converted into cream, butter or cheese. It could also be a storage room where they were kept. Similarly, a dedicated cheese chamber could either be where the cheese was stored or made. Both of these ro

This post, the sixteenth in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the rooms titled as “The Bread Room” and “The Kitchen”. Of all the rooms listed in the inventory, the Kitchen contained the most items. A bread room was a specialist production room traditionally known as the bakehouse. This was where bread was made and baked. It was normally situated in a separate building or away from the main house due

This post, the fifteenth in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the rooms involved in textile maintenance. They were called “The Washhouse”, “The Laundry Chamber” and “The Linen Chamber”. In medieval times the washhouse and laundry were the same room, but by the 17th century each of these rooms represented a different isolated stage: the wet Washhouse was where dirty textiles were washed; the dry Laundry

This post, the eighth in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the rooms named as “Frank’s Chamber”, “Chamber Over Against Frank’s Man’s” and two areas called “Space Before The Nursery”. There is no Frank’s Man’s Chamber nor any nurseries specifically listed in the inventory. Thus, this is confirmation that the list of rooms in the inventory was incomplete. Frank was Francis Willoughby, the eldest son of F

This post, the seventh in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the room named as Lady Child’s Chamber. This room can unquestionably be identified as the chamber of Emma Barnard, the widow of Francis Willughby FRS. She married Sir Josiah Child on 22nd August 1676. Thus, the name of this room conclusively dates the inventory to after that date. Interestingly, considering this inventory was made when the hou

Over the centuries, many inventories of Middleton Hall have been conducted. These were normally taken upon the death of an owner. One inventory, although being undated, is believed to date to just after Emma, the widow of Francis Willughby, married Sir Josiah Child on 22nd August 1676. It was unquestionably taken before 1687, which was when a further inventory was taken upon the clearance of certain items from Middleton Hall by Francis and Emma’s children. The inventory would

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 10th October. It was described as a payment allowed to Sir William for sugar to make conserves. The amount was 12 pence, which was the equivalent of about £22.06 today. The Sir William in this entry is believed to have been Sir William Webster (or Webb), who was the private chaplain of Sir Henry and is thought to have been the Master of the Children of the Chapel. In a previous entry

The next three entries in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 were dated 30th September. The first was described as payment to Sir Henry’s brotherhood of Our Lady of the Chapel of the Sea and the amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. The second was described as Sir Henry’s reward to the Friars of Nottingham who had held an ale (feast) and the amount was 8 shillings 8 pence, which was the equivalent of about £191.22 to

One of the key occupations within the domestic household was the cook. Over the centuries there have been innumerable cooks employed at Middleton Hall. The first documented cook at Middleton Hall was in the late 13th century and he was William, the cook of Philip de Marmion, 5th Baron Marmion of Tamworth. However, this post will focus on two specific cooks at Middleton Hall separated by over 300 years: William Darby; and Evelyn Dixon. In medieval and Tudor times, the occupat

A key household servant in a manorial house throughout history has been the butler. However, this role underwent significant change over the centuries to the extent that the role would be effectively almost unrecognisable as the same occupation if viewed across the centuries. This post will highlight two butlers of Middleton Hall: Gilbert Butlo in the 13th century; and Charles Hobby in the 19th century. The first documented butler at Middleton Hall was Gilbert Butlo in the 1

The 16th September is Plover Appreciation Day. To mark this, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the European Golden Plover in Ornithologia. Willughby’s description of the plumage is now known to be accurate for this species in its winter non-breeding plumage. Willughby knew this species by the name of the Green Plover or Pluvialis viridis. He also noted that it was known as Parda

When the occupation of “caterer” is stated today, it is common to think of a person or company that has been hired to provide and serve food. However, this meaning of this occupation only developed in the 19th century. In the historic meaning, which dates from at least the 15th century, it referred to someone who was employed to obtain fresh provisions. The Middleton Manuscripts make many references to the caterer of Middleton Hall, in this historic meaning, but the first cat

The servants that are most frequently recorded in the historic documents of Middleton Hall are the gentlemen servants, especially those that were the stewards or bailiffs. This post will focus on one of them, John Hall, who, for over a decade, was additionally in sole control of Middleton Hall. Although the steward was the chief of the servants, in Tudor times they were not generally considered to be a servant. This was because the steward ran the estate in the absence of t

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was described as payment for pears. These were also purchased for the visit to Middleton Hall of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset. The amount was 20 pence, which was the equivalent of about £36.77 today. This entry was undated but a date of somewhere around the 7th September can be estimated. This is because, due to later Accounts entries, it is believed that the banquet for the Marquess pr

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 6th September. It was described as payment for diverse spices that were purchased for the visit to Middleton Hall of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset. The amount was 9 shillings 9 pence, which was the equivalent of about £215.12 today. The wider Middleton Accounts provide enough evidence to make it possible to draw conclusions about the types of spices the Willoughby family used,

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 3rd September. It was described as payment to Thomas Cokes for his costs when going to Mr Cotes’ for heronsews. The amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. It is uncertain who Mr Cotes was because this is the only record in the Middleton Manuscripts that mentions him. Heronsew was an old English term for both the juvenile and the meat of a heron. It had its