Middleton Hall

We met John and Jennie at Middleton Hall near Tamworth.  This is a historic house dating from 1285, though mentioned in the Doomsday Book, has, and is still in the process of, being completed renovated by volunteers following rejection of funds by North Warwickshire Council in 1977.  The house was in a bad state of disrepair due to neglect and vandalism.  I've added a summary from their web site below,

We started in the stable courtyard where a few independent business have set up, including a very nice cafe where we had a spot of lunch.  We then explored the house, which includes a separate Robert Peel exhibition room, and the gardens.  There is also a walled garden centred with a fountain, which was warm being sheltered from the April winds.  The Mulberry tree at the entrance is reported to be 200 years old.

Middleton Hall is set in 42 acres of the peaceful North Warwickshire countryside and run by an independent charitable trust. We are open to the public as a Museum and Gardens, we host public events, Weddings and Private parties. Middleton has two entries in the Domesday book and the oldest building on site dates from 1285. Elizabeth I stayed at the Hall for a week in 1575 and it was home to the father of natural history, Francis Willughby FRS and John Ray. Our more recent history tells the story of the Hall’s restoration by an intrepid group of volunteers who formed the Middleton Hall Trust. We are a Site of Special Scientific Interest with nature trails around the oldest man-made lake in Warwickshire. We have beautiful formal gardens, one of the earliest examples of a heated Walled Garden in the country. We open to the public as an historic house and gardens but also host weddings, private parties and tours



Taken from the Middleton Hall web site - http://www.middleton-hall.co.uk/