This post, the twentieth in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the larders. These were specifically named as “The Old Larder”, “The West Larder” and “The New Larder”. In the 1924 auction catalogue of Middleton Hall, there were still only three larders listed, but it is uncertain where these were. There was a suggestion that two may have been located in the small ground floor rooms created on the north a

This post, the sixteenth in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the rooms titled as “The Bread Room” and “The Kitchen”. Of all the rooms listed in the inventory, the Kitchen contained the most items. A bread room was a specialist production room traditionally known as the bakehouse. This was where bread was made and baked. It was normally situated in a separate building or away from the main house due

This post, the fifteenth in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the rooms involved in textile maintenance. They were called “The Washhouse”, “The Laundry Chamber” and “The Linen Chamber”. In medieval times the washhouse and laundry were the same room, but by the 17th century each of these rooms represented a different isolated stage: the wet Washhouse was where dirty textiles were washed; the dry Laundry

"Ghost" in the doorway to the Stone Building at Middleton Hall, late 20th century. Courtesy of Philip and William de Hamel. For Halloween, this post will focus on the reported sightings of ghosts at Middleton Hall. The Hall has often played host to ghost-hunting nights and evenings. Understandably, most of these hunts have initially tended to focus on the older buildings of the Hall in the east wing. However, there has not really been a sighting of a ghost there, except for o

2025 is the 350th anniversary of the construction of a specific architectural feature at Middleton Hall: the brick corner fireplaces. We know that these were constructed in the year of 1675 because of the hearth taxes. This recorded that there were 26 hearths at Middleton Hall in 1674 and 30 in 1676. The difference was caused by the addition of the corner fireplaces. Corner fireplaces were first introduced and fashionable for a very short period in the late 17th century. The

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