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 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 fourteenth in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on one of the domestic production houses: “The Spinning House”. A dedicated spinning house was where raw fibres were spun into yarn. Spinning had been an activity undertaken on the Estate for centuries, but this inventory confirms that the activity was actually undertaken at the Hall itself. It is uncertain where the Spinning House was located

The Georgian Renovation of Middleton Hall was one of two major renovations in its history that completely changed its appearance. It began in 1707 and was not completed until 1762. This Renovation was started by Thomas Willoughby, 1st Lord Middleton, but he could only begin it with the permission of his mother Emma (nee Barnard) because Middleton Hall was still her dower house at that time. Neither Emma nor Thomas nor even Thomas’ son, Francis Willoughby 2nd Lord Middleton, l