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

Middleton Hall Trust received an enquiry asking whether it was true that the residents of the Church Row Cottages in Middleton Village had been farm workers on the Middleton Estate, maybe circa 1840. The answer is complicated as, yes, they were often inhabited by farm workers who worked on the various farms around the Estate but they were also Estate woodsmen, an Estate carpenter, gardeners, servants, a shoemaker, washerwomen, Chelsea Pensioners and more. St John's Church,

When the Middleton Estate was sold at auction in 1924, Lot 61 contained all the six cottages of Church Row in Middleton Village. These Cottages were located in a single piece of land that covered an area of about 1 acre 3 roods and 3 perches (0.76 hectares). They were directly adjacent to the north of St John the Baptist Church. Map showing in brown Lot 61 "Church Row Cottages" in Middleton Village, from the Auction Catalogue of the Middleton Estate, 1924. In the auction cata

On 31st August 1994, the school in Middleton village, what was at that time called Middleton First School, closed. It is now known as The Old School House Day Nursery and is a childcare facility. The school was located on Church Lane, directly adjacent to the west of St John’s Church, and it had a very long connection with the owners of Middleton Hall. The school was historically part of the Middleton Estate and the property of the owners of the manor. In 1924, when the Estat

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

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.

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

May is Local & Community History Month and to mark this, throughout this month, we will be posting numerous articles relating to the history of the Middleton Estate. Today, the Middleton Hall Estate is 42 acres, all of which has been leased to Middleton Hall Trust since 1980. The western boundary of the Estate is the A4091. The northern boundary is formed by the southern edge of the large field, historically called The Park Quarters, which is just north of the entrance drive,

The chimneys of the Tudor Barn at Middleton Hall are an important visible remnant of the first stage of the construction of Middleton Hall on its current site. This construction phase began in about 1220, during the de Marmion period of ownership and shortly after their lands had been returned to them following the First Barons’ War. This construction phase is very obvious at Middleton Hall because it used a very specific red sandstone to create sandstone plinth foundations.

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

The short answer to this question is no. In fact, many historical surveyors have commented on how they have given up trying to fathom why a lot of things were done in the manner they were during the Georgian Renovation of Middleton Hall! The current front door has been in that location since the last phase of the Georgian Renovation, c.1759. Before that time, that location was actually part of the north wall of the 16th century first floor external Gallery Corridor. In the ea

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

Middleton Hall’s continually evolving form is one of its unique architectural characteristics and a large part of the form that it has today is due to John Averill’s Renovation. This Renovation began soon after John Averill, a farmer and industrialist, and his family took up residence at Middleton Hall. Although John had purchased Middleton Hall at auction in December 1924, the purchase did not immediately evict the existing tenant and thus John did not take up immediate resi

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

One of the claims that has been made about Middleton Hall is that it was the longest continually inhabited domesticated building in Warwickshire. It was a continual residence from about 1220 to 1966. This can be claimed because, from the time of the initial construction of the Hall, there was a continual seamless inheritance or purchase of ownership. Furthermore, due to a period of shared ownership, even when one owner had their share confiscated, another still retained resid

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

The second post in our mini-series of posts about some people connected to Middleton Hall who were involved in the Second World War concerns Arthur White. His name appears on the World War II memorial plaque in Middleton Parish Church. Arthur was born on 8th November 1884 in Birmingham and married May Moore in Tamworth in 1913. In 1921, they were living at 31 East View, Glascote, Tamworth and Arthur was a coal miner at Amington Colliery. The reason Arthur has a relevance to t