Local & Community History Month: How have the boundaries of the Middleton Estate changed over time?

May is Local & Community History Month and to mark this, throughout this month, we will be posting numerous articles relating to the history of the Middleton Estate.

Today, the Middleton Hall Estate is 42 acres, all of which has been leased to Middleton Hall Trust since 1980. The western boundary of the Estate is the A4091. The northern boundary is formed by the southern edge of the large field, historically called The Park Quarters, which is just north of the entrance drive, and then the original channel of the Langley Brook to the confluence with the newer Langley Brook channel. From the confluence, the eastern boundary is then a small strip of land to the east of the dam to where it meets the road to the north of the Tudor Barn, then it is the road to the east of the Tudor Barn to where that road meets a lane directly to the south of Middleton Hall. From there, the southern boundary follows the inner edge of the old south and west moat sections, then the southern edge of the Glade and then the old park pale ditch on the southern edge of the Nature Trail until the A4091.

Map showing in blue the extent of the Middleton Estate after the auction sale, from the Auction Catalogue of the Middleton Estate, 1924.

After the sale of the Middleton Estate in 1924, the Estate was about 170 acres in size. The western boundary and the northern boundary were the same. However, the northern boundary extended further east to include all of Kennel Wood and the north-east corner point was the western edge of Newhouse Farm. The eastern boundary then followed the watercourse that headed south, then along the eastern edge of what was Kitchen Garden Wood and then Hop Yard Wood, both of which have been lost to gravel extraction. The southern boundary was formed by the southern edges of Hop Yard Wood and the field called Middleton Park at that time. Only part of that field still survives, but its south-west corner point against the A4091 is in the same position as it was in 1924.

Before the sale, the Middleton Estate was about 3,680 acres in size. The south-west corner point was the junction of Holly Lane and Lindridge Road, then the Langley Brook, then the Collets Brook until Bassetts Pole, which was the north-west corner point. From Bassetts Pole, the northern boundary arced to follow the watercourse to the south of what was Shirrall Gorse. Then it followed the brook directly to the north of Gallows Brook and then Gallows Brook itself from its source to the river Tame, which was the north-east corner point. The Middleton Estate included exactly half of the breadth of the river Tame and it formed the eastern boundary until just north of Cliff so that all of the pools to the south of Cliff today were just outside of the Middleton Estate. The south-east corner point was the canal, roughly opposite the junction of Bodymoor Heath Road with the A4091. The southern boundary cut across the field to Bodymoor Heath Road, which formed the boundary until the watercourse, which became the boundary until it reached the A4091. The boundary was then the A4091 heading south until the next brook that crossed it, then across to Wishaw Lane and then south to the A446. The A446 then formed the southern boundary until Holly Lane and that formed it until the south-west corner point.

An 1865 map shows that the boundary was the same except for the south-west corner, which extended south-eastwards to include the field adjacent to Moxhull Hall.

1762 map of the Middleton Estate. Photograph taken by Wil Goodridge, 2021. Courtesy of Lord Middleton.

The 1762 map shows that the main differences were to the southern and eastern boundaries. The eastern boundary continued beyond the later south-east point to Bodymoor Heath Road. It then followed that Road west until the edge of the watercourse where the boundary went south until it reached Cuttle Mill fishery, which was the south-east corner point. The southern border was then formed by Cuttle Mill Lane, then curved across the area where the Belfry is today to connect to the junction of Grove Lane and the A446. The A446 and Holly Lane then formed the remainder of the southern boundary.

Before that … Most of the western boundary is believed to have been consistent, with Collets Brook and Bassetts Pole forming the boundary. The northern boundary extended further north for a time to include all the area beneath the brook to the north of Gallows Brook, specifically all of Shirrall. Gallows Brook remained a consistent part of the northern boundary. The river Tame consistently formed the eastern boundary but the south-east corner is uncertain because the owner of Middleton, for a lot of history, also owned Kingsbury and Lea Marston. In the 16th century, the entirety of what is now the Belfry, as bounded by the A446, was definitely within the Middleton Estate. Furthermore, it is known that at one point the south-east corner was where the A446 met Kingsbury Road. It has been suggested that at some point the Middleton Estate encroached further south below the A446 and also further towards Sutton Coldfield in the south-west. Deeds confirm that all of Bodymoor Heath and some land in the Drayton Bassett, Kingsbury and Wishaw parishes were at some point considered to be within the Middleton Estate.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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