Aston Hall is a
Grade I listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
Jacobean house in
Aston
Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre.
History
Aston wa ...
,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, England, designed by
John Thorpe
John Thorpe or Thorp (c.1565–1655?; fl.1570–1618) was an English architect.
Life
Little is known of his life, and his work is dubiously inferred, rather than accurately known, from a folio of drawings in the Sir John Soane's Museum, to whic ...
and built between 1618 and 1635. It is a leading example of the Jacobean
prodigy house
Prodigy houses are large and showy English country houses built by courtiers and other wealthy families, either "noble palaces of an awesome scale" or "proud, ambitious heaps" according to taste. The prodigy houses stretch over the period ...
.
In 1864, the house was bought by
Birmingham Corporation, becoming the first historic
country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
to pass into municipal ownership, and is still owned by
Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom (e ...
. It is now a community museum managed by the
Birmingham Museums Trust and, following a major renovation completed in 2009, is open to the public spring to winter.
History
Using a design by
John Thorpe
John Thorpe or Thorp (c.1565–1655?; fl.1570–1618) was an English architect.
Life
Little is known of his life, and his work is dubiously inferred, rather than accurately known, from a folio of drawings in the Sir John Soane's Museum, to whic ...
, construction was commenced in April 1618 by
Sir Thomas Holte, who finally moved into the hall in 1631. The house was completed in April 1635, and is now Grade I
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
. It sits in a large park, part of which became
Villa Park
Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...
, the home ground of the
Aston Villa football club
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...
.
The house was severely damaged after an attack by
Parliamentary troops in 1643. Some of the damage is still evident, and there is a hole in the staircase where a cannonball went through a window and an open door, and into the banister. The house remained in the Holte family until 1817, when it was sold and leased by
James Watt Jr.
James Watt junior, FRS (5 February 1769 – 2 June 1848) was a Scottish engineer, businessman and activist.
Early life
He was born on 5 February 1769, the son of James Watt by his first wife Margaret Miller, and half-brother of Gregory Wat ...
, son of industrial pioneer
James Watt
James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fun ...
. The house was purchased in 1858 by a private company (the Aston Hall and Park Company Ltd) for use as a public park and museum. After the company ran into financial difficulties, the house was bought by the
Birmingham Corporation in 1864, becoming the first historic country house to pass into municipal ownership.
Aston Hall was visited by
Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...
, who wrote about it as ''
Bracebridge Hall
''Bracebridge Hall, or The Humorists, A Medley'' was written by Washington Irving in 1821, while he lived in England, and published in 1822. This episodic novel was originally published under his pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon.
Plot introduction
As t ...
'', taking the name from Abraham Bracebridge, husband of the last member of the Holte family to live there. Irving's ''
The Sketch Book
''The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'', commonly referred to as ''The Sketch Book'', is a collection of 34 essays and short stories written by the American author Washington Irving. It was published serially throughout 1819 and 1820. The co ...
'' stories described the harmonious warm-hearted English Christmas festivities he experienced while staying in Aston Hall, that had largely been abandoned. An Aston Hall custom the owners afforded the servants of the house on Christmas Eve appeared in ''
The Gentleman's Magazine
''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...
'' in 1795, which said: "the servants have full liberty to drink, dance, sing, and go to bed when they please."
For a few years from 1879, Birmingham's collections of art and the Museum of Arms were moved to Aston Hall after a fire damaged
the municipal public library and
Birmingham and Midland Institute
, mottoeng = Endless Learning
, established = 1854 by Act of Parliament
, city = Birmingham
, province = West Midlands
, country = United Kingdom
, president = Sir David Cannadine
, vice_president = Dr Serena Trowbridge, Sami ...
, which shared a building in Paradise Street, until the building of the current Art Gallery in the
Council House
A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...
complex.
In the 1920s, the
Birmingham Corporation was having financial troubles and had to choose between saving Aston Hall and the nearby
Perry Hall. Aston Hall was saved, and in 1927, the
Birmingham Civic Society
Birmingham Civic Society is a voluntary body in Birmingham, England, and is registered with the Civic Trust.
History
The society was founded at an inaugural meeting on 10 June 1918 in the Birmingham Council House. The first president of the ...
designed formal gardens which were constructed by the city with a workforce recruited from the unemployed and paid for by government grants. The scheme included fountains, terracing and stone urns and a statue of
Pan, by
William Bloye
William James Bloye (8 July 1890 – 6 June 1975) was an English sculptor, active in Birmingham either side of World War II.
Life
Bloye studied, and later, taught at the Birmingham School of Art (his training was interrupted by World War ...
, which the Civic Society paid for itself. In 1934 the finished work was presented to the City Parks Committee and unveiled by the Vice President of The Birmingham Civic Society,
Gilbert Barling
Sir Harry Gilbert Barling, 1st Baronet (30 April 1855 – 27 April 1940) was an English surgeon.
Barling was born at Newnham on Severn, Gloucestershire and educated at a boarding school at
Weston, near Bath. He went to Birmingham in 1875 at ...
. As of January 2011, Birmingham City Council was working on the restoration of the statue, the head of which was missing. The council appealed for old photographs to assist in its reconstruction.
In 1938, the Pageant of Birmingham, with around 10,000 performers, was held in the grounds, to commemorate the centenary of Birmingham becoming a borough.
Current status
Aston Hall is now a community museum managed by
Birmingham Museums Trust, having previously been managed by Birmingham City Council until 2012. Aston Hall is open to the public during spring, summer and autumn months, following extensive renovation from 2006 to 2009. It boasts a series of period rooms which have furniture, paintings, textiles and metalwork from the collections of the
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local h ...
. Visible from the House less than 200 yards to the north is Aston Villa Football club stadium. The hall received 28,804 visitors in 2019.
The easternmost part of the grounds made way for the
A38(M) motorway
The A38(M), commonly known as the Aston Expressway, is a motorway in Birmingham, England. It is long and was opened on 24 May 1972.[M6 motorway
The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...](_blank)
.
In October 2019, the mansion was named as the UK's top haunted site, according to the Spectrum Paranormal Investigations and
National Lottery.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*''Collection of Prints: With Brief Descriptive Notes'', Anastatic Drawing Society, 1858
External links
*
{{Birmingham parks
Houses in Birmingham, West Midlands
Museums in Birmingham, West Midlands
Parks and open spaces in Birmingham, West Midlands
Historic house museums in the West Midlands (county)
Grade I listed buildings in Birmingham
Grade I listed houses
Grade I listed museum buildings
Conservation areas in England
Houses completed in 1635
1635 establishments in England
Birmingham Museums Trust