Football is one of the games included in Francis Willughby’s Book of Games. However, the version he described has some notable differences to the modern game. Hence, this post will aim to place his description in its historical context, which was in the era when the game transitioned from an unstructured “mob” version to a more defined, albeit still violent, version with rules. One of the earliest known references to football was by William FitzStephen in 1174 who described

The 13th June is International Pigeon Day. To mark this, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post focuses on the impact of what the inclusion of numerous fancy pigeon breeds in Ornithologia had. Ornithologia provided information on what Willughby identified as 17 different breeds of fancy pigeons including breeds known today as Runts, Pouters, Fantails, Carriers, Turbits, Barbs, Ringbeaters and Tumblers. What he described wer

The 11th June is International Day of Play. This awareness day was established by the United Nations. It recognises, and attempts to promote and protect, children’s right to play and the essential ability of play to develop cognitive skills, physical skills, social skills and well-being. Francis Willughby’s Book of Games contains numerous games identified as children’s games, some even written in his manuscript by the hand of a child. In this post, the focus will be on part o

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.

The 6th June is Butterfly Education and Awareness Day. To mark it, this post contains the description of the Old World Swallowtail butterfly from Historia Insectorum, which was published posthumously under the name of John Ray in 1710 but was based upon the research and work begun by Francis Willughby. Ray gave this butterfly a descriptive name of “Papilio alis amplissimis, flavicante & nigro coloribus pulcherrime variegatis, interioribus caudatis”, which translates as “A But

The 31st May 2026 is World Parrot Day. To mark this, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will recount a tale of King Henry VIII’s parrot that was published in Ornithologia. In Ornithologia, in the general comments and observations about parrots, it was written that parrots not only imitated the human voice, but in wit exceeded all other birds. The evidence of this had been provided through examples in so many texts that

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 20th May 2026 is World Bee Day. To mark it, this post will focus on the description of the Western Honey Bee provided in Historia Insectorum, which was written in Latin. That book was published posthumously in 1710 by the Royal Society under the name of John Ray but it was based on the observations and notes of Francis Willughby. What is commonly known today as the Western Honey Bee was called the Common Honey Bee or Apis domestica seu vulgaris alvearium by Ray and Willug

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 10th May 2026 is the 400th anniversary of a letter in the Middleton Manuscripts, which was written on 10th May 1626 by Dorothy Hastings née Willoughby to her sister, and owner of Middleton, Bridget Willoughby. Bridget was the eldest daughter of Sir Francis I Willoughby and Elizabeth Littleton and Dorothy was their second surviving daughter, according to the family history account of Cassandra Willoughby. In 1587, Dorothy married Sir Henry Hastings and her marriage dowry i

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

The 27th April 2026 is International Crow and Raven 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 Common Raven in Ornithologia. Willughby gave its common English name as the Raven and also knew it as Corvus. In 1758, Carl Linnaeus gave it the taxonomical binominal name of Corvus corax, by which name it is still known today. The Raven in Francis Willughby

The 25th April 2026 is World Penguin Day. To mark this, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of a description of a penguin in Ornithologia. The species in Ornithologia that actually bore the name penguin was the now extinct species known today as the Great Auk. The Great Auk is considered by many as the “original penguin”. When Western seamen visited the Southern Hemisphere and came across birds with a

The 21st April 2026 is World Curlew 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 Eurasian Curlew from Ornithologia. Willughby gave the common English name of this bird as the Curlew, but noted that the males were often called the Jack Curlew. He also provided an alternative name of Numenius sive Arquata. In 1758, Carl Linnaeus gave it the taxonomical binominal name o

The 20th April 2026 is International Cuckoo 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 Common Cuckoo in Ornithologia. Willughby knew this bird by the name of Cuckow or Cuculus. In 1758, Linnaeus gave it the taxonomical binominal name of Cuculus canorus, which remains its modern name. The Cuckoo in Francis Willughby's Ornithologia In Ornithologia, the Cuckoo’s leng

The 14th April 2026 is World Puffin 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 Atlantic Puffin from Ornithologia. In Francis Willughby’s time, the bird that is known as the Puffin today was not known as it in England. Confusingly, what was known as the Puffin in England in his time is today known as the Manx Shearwater. Ornithologia provides many British folk names

The 11th April 2026 is National Board Game Day and to mark this day we are providing details of a board game from Francis Willughby’s Book of Games: Nine Men’s Morris. This game has been played in England since the Middle Ages, but is believed to date back much further to at least the Roman Empire. It has always been an internationally played game. It had numerous other names in English such as merels, mills and ninepenny marl. The board consisted of three squares drawn insi

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.

The 22nd–26th March 2026 is World Osprey Week. To mark this, as well as the 350th anniversary of the year of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Osprey provided in Ornithologia. The Osprey is particularly problematic in Ornithologia. The size and other characteristics of the Osprey caused significant problems for Willughby, Ray and other later naturalists because it was an intermediate species that did no

The 20th March 2026 is World Sparrow Day. To mark this, as well as the 350th anniversary of the year of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the House Sparrow provided in Ornithologia. World Sparrow Day aims to raise awareness of the declining population of the House Sparrow, which has declined by over 60% since the 1970s in the UK and has faced a similar decline worldwide in the same time period. The cause of