The Middleton Accounts of 1526: #36

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 23rd June. It was described as payment for bread, ale, wine, kitchen and horsemeat at Meriden when Sir Henry went to London with 20 horses. The amount was 8 shillings 5 pence, which was the equivalent of about £185.70 today.

From his list of payments, bread and ale were the staples with bread being regulated by law to ensure weight and quality and ale being the safer alternative to water. Kitchen does not refer to a room; it refers to cooked food often a stew served from the inn’s main cooking pot. Horsemeat in this context does not mean meat for human consumption, it refers to fodder for the horses such as hay, oats or beans.

In Tudor England, eating actual horse meat was largely taboo. This taboo had its origins in an 8th century edict from Pope Gregory III, who banned eating horses to distinguish Christians from Pagans. Furthermore, in England, horses were considerably much more valuable alive and were regarded as capital rather than livestock. However, this was not the case in Continental Europe, where the taboo was not strictly observed and in many countries eating horse meat became normalised especially during times of famine.

Meriden in Warwickshire has traditionally been known as the geographical centre of England, a claim marked by a wayside cross which has stood there for over 500 years. However, anciently the settlement was called Alspath and was located on the overlooking hilltop, not in the valley below where Meriden grew. It was in the 15th century that the settlement moved towards being based around the London Road, its growth being driven by being a critical waypoint for coaches and riders on the thoroughfare between London and Chester. Given the recent accounts entry on the 14th June of a visit from the minstrels of the Earl of Derby to Sir Henry at Middleton Hall, it is also interesting to note that Meriden belonged to the Earl of Derby at this time.

Ancient wayside cross at Meriden, Warwickshire, 2021. Photograph taken by Harry Mitchell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

From Middleton, it is likely that Sir Henry took the Lichfield Road to Coleshill and from there the short distance to Meriden. From Meriden, his journey then likely took him on to Coventry, Daventry and then along Watling Street to London.

The fact that this entry states that Sir Henry was travelling with 20 horses reveals that this was a substantial journey with a large party. It possibly included wider members of the household, in particular servants and grooms and the horses could even have included pack horses carrying household belongings. If that was the case, the journey would have been slowed down with a result that maybe only 20 miles a day would have been possible.

Further Reading:

W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. p.383.

L. F. Salzman (ed), "Meriden", A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 4, 1947, pp.147-155.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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