The 26th September is European Day of Languages and, to mark this, this blog will give a brief history of Middleton Hall in Welsh. Welsh is an important language in the history of Middleton Hall. For centuries, the Willoughby family were Welsh speakers due to their business interactions with the Welsh. Many of their servants were also native Welsh speakers and, as a result, Welsh words are present throughout the Middleton Manuscripts. Furthermore, it is known that Francis Wil

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

It is frequently stated that Middleton has a very long documented history. One example of this is that, as a result of deeds and court records in the late 13th century, it is possible to know the names of some of the workers at Middleton for Philip de Marmion, 5th Baron Marmion of Tamworth. This post will focus on some of them. The relationship between the lord of the manor and his servants and workers was very different in 13th century England to that of later centuries. In

The 9th August 2026 is Book Lovers Day. This is an opportune day to tell the history of a medieval romance story manuscript, Le Roman de Silence. It was part of the noted Willoughby Library, which was kept at Middleton Hall for centuries. Le Roman de Silence is one of the most significant manuscripts within the surviving Willoughby Library Collection, which was purchased by the University of Nottingham from Lord Middleton in 2007. The manuscript of Le Roman de Silence in the

In the 15th century, the Willoughby family began to collect books, manuscripts and documents. This formed the Willoughby Library. The family prized these books, even mentioning them in their wills. Over the generations, the family accumulated numerous valuable medieval texts, manuscripts, leaflets, documents, newspapers and books on a very wide range of subjects from the classics to language, religion, romance, plays, art, history, law, travel, foreign countries, medicine, na

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 4th August. It was described as a payment to Sir Henry’s brotherhood of Saint Thomas of Canterbury. The amount was 8 pence, which was the equivalent of about £14.71 today. St Thomas of Canterbury was Thomas à Becket. The fraternity that bore his name has a long connection with the owners of Middleton Hall. It has also had various names throughout its history. In 1191, at the capture

Historically, what was the primary revenue source generated by the Middleton Estate? This is a frequent question posed to tour guides at Middleton Hall. There is a single answer. For centuries, the principal profit-making resource on the Estate was its timber. Anciently, the Middleton Estate was part of the great Forest of Arden, the edge of which was the nearby Watling Street. This woodland gradually cleared as the settlement developed. Timber is known to have been sold comm

The 18th July to 2nd August 2026 is the Festival of British Archaeology. To mark this, this post will focus on another archaeological discovery at Middleton: The Middleton Jewel. On 10th September 2014, Colin Pearson, a metal detectorist, discovered the Middleton Jewel in a field near the crossroads at the entrance to Middleton Hall. It is an extraordinarily rare find with only a handful of this type of artefact having ever been found in Britain. The Middleton Jewel was subse

The 23rd June is International Widows Day. This Day encourages the celebration of the strength of widows. It also aims to draw global attention to the problems that they face, such as poverty, social exclusion, abuse and discrimination in regard to inheritance rights. Furthermore, it seeks to create opportunities for widows to be able to support their themselves and their families. In the spirit of this, this post will highlight the numerous widows who had ownership of Middle

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was undated but should have been between the 15th and the 22nd June due to the dates provided in nearby entries. It was described as Sir Henry’s offering at Mr Arthen’s burial. The amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. It is not certain who the Mr Arthen mentioned was and there is no other mention of the specific surname Arthen in the Middleton Manuscripts. Given J

The Stone Building is the oldest surviving building at Middleton Hall and was constructed in about 1285. This structure replaced an earlier timber-framed structure on the same site, the foundations of which remain today. However, over the eras extra doorways were added and removed, not all of them obvious today. Stone Building at Middleton Hall, showing the west wall before restoration revealing location of four doorways (2 bricked up), 2007. Photograph taken by Audrey Bagby.

In St John’s Church at Middleton is a 15th century memorial brass of Sir Richard Bingham and his wife Lady Margaret de Freville. This brass is unusual in two ways. Firstly, it is a double brass. These are not very common as the majority of medieval brasses are of single figures, especially amongst those that have survived. However, the second aspect makes the Bingham brass extremely uncommon and very intriguing. The representations of Richard and Margaret are in reversed posi

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

The 22nd May 2026 is the 550th anniversary of the death of Sir Richard Bingham, who died on 22nd May 1476 at Middleton Hall. Sir Richard was the second husband of Margaret de Freville. She had inherited Middleton, and, after their marriage in the summer of 1450, Middleton Hall became their principal residence. Richard is thought to have been born about 1400 in Nottinghamshire and was the son of John Bingham. He was a cousin of Margaret’s first husband, Sir Hugh Willoughby, as

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.

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

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

On 23rd March 1375, Sir Baldwin II de Freville died. To mark the 650th anniversary of his passing, we thought it was an opportune time to tell a brief history of this former owner of Middleton Hall. Baldwin II was born on 15th August 1317 at Tamworth Castle and was the son of Sir Baldwin I de Freville and Elizabeth de Montfort. After his father’s death in 1343, Baldwin II inherited a third of Middleton. This was during the long and very complicated period of Middleton’s owner

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