2025 is the 80th anniversary of VE Day and to mark this we are posting a series about three people connected to Middleton Hall who served in the Second World War. The first of these is about Michael Guy Percival Willoughby, 11th Lord Middleton. Michael was born on 21st October 1887 and was the second son of Godfrey Willoughby, 10th Lord Middleton, and Ida Ross. He married Angela Hall on 28th April 1920. Following his father’s death on 11th November 1924, and because his elder

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

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

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

Middleton Hall Trust are very pleased to have recently received five previously unseen photographs, which were taken on a visit to Middleton Hall in 1982 by a representative of the CPRE. North view of Middleton Hall, 1982. Courtesy of Nicholas Moore. Inside the Great Hall at Middleton Hall, 1982. Courtesy of Nicholas Moore. The CPRE has a strong connection with Middleton Hall. In 1977, when the Tamworth Civic Society came across the derelict Middleton Hall, they approached th