Hanbury Barclay was the tenant of Middleton Hall from 1872 to 1880. During his brief tenancy he made a number of alterations to the grounds of Middleton Hall, many of which are still visible today. Unfortunately, we have no precise date for when he made these alterations and so Middleton Hall Trust has given them the rough date of about 1875. Therefore, to mark the “rough” 150th anniversary, in 2025 we are writing a series of posts to highlight his alterations. Very rarely th

One of the three structural alterations that the tenant Hanbury Barclay made to the grounds of Middleton Hall in about 1875 was the conversion of the “handsome stone Orangery” into a “modern Conservatory”. These were the words of the tenant Egbert de Hamel just over 25 years later. Hanbury’s Conservatory was constructed on top of the solid base of the 18th century Orangery in the Glade. It had a wooden frame and a cast iron roof. The entire structure was painted white. It wa

It is British Tomato Fortnight (27th May-9th June 2025)! We thought that this was an opportune time to highlight another of Hanbury Barclay’s alterations to the grounds of Middleton Hall in about 1875: the construction of the Tomato House. Hanbury’s Tomato House was built within the Large Walled Garden on the western side, just to the south of the 18th century large glasshouse. It was a shallow structure with a brick base and a framed glass top that opened on the western and

This is the last post in the series on the structural alterations that the tenant of Middleton Hall, Hanbury Barclay, made at Middleton Hall in about 1875. It focuses on his Cucumber House. The Cucumber House was constructed in the Small Walled Garden, directly to the south of and parallel to the lean-to glasshouse. Plan of the layout of the structures of the Small Walled Garden in c.1880. Drawn by Richard Jordan. The cucumber originates from India. It was a favourite

John Peel, a merchant and MP, was tenant of Middleton Hall from 1854 until his death in 1872. The 18th August 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of the death of his daughter Anne, who died on that date in 1875 in an accident that was reported extensively in all the newspapers of the time. Two memorial items were created for Anne and both of these are located at Middleton. John’s eldest daughter, Louisa, had married Edward Stanley Heywood. In August 1875, they, along with two of

Another foreign species of tree that was introduced to Middleton Hall as a specimen tree about 150 years ago, during the tenancy of Hanbury Barclay, was the oriental thuja or Platycladus orientalis . This species is native to northern China and was first introduced to England in 1740. In China, some Taoist groups revered this tree and built temples around specimens of the tree in order to protect them from being cut down. This species, even as recently as the 19th century, wa

Amongst the foreign specimen trees that were introduced to Middleton Hall in about 1875, by the tenant Hanbury Barclay was the deodar cedar, or Cedrus deodara. Deodar cedar in the Glade at Middleton Hall, obscuring the view of the Conservatory, c.1890. The Revised English Landscape Garden Style was influenced heavily by the orient. This extended to the types of species introduced, with gardens of this Style embracing oriental plants. The deodar cedar is just one of these orie

During the tenancy of Hanbury Barclay at Middleton Hall the gardens of Middleton Hall embraced the Revised English Landscape Garden Style. His changes occurred about 1875, roughly 150 years ago. One feature of this Style was specimen trees. With certainty, it is known that three species of foreign trees had been introduced to the grounds of Middleton Hall as specimen trees before the end of the tenancy of Hanbury Barclay. This post focuses on the oldest of these three that we