Dorlestone Hall was a manor house at

Darlaston Darlaston is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Wednesbury and Willenhall. Topography Darlaston is situated between Wednesbury and Walsall in the valley of the River T ...

, a locality also known as Dorlestone, near

Stone, Staffordshire Stone is a canal town and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, north of Stafford, south of Stoke-on-Trent and north of Rugeley. It was an urban district council and a rural district council before becoming part of the Stafford (borough), ...

, England, on the Trent. The Hall was built prior to the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. Prior to 1503, the Hall was leased by Jacobus Colyar, who had probably fought in Spain during the Reconquista, as he was given a letters patent with symbols of prowess in the Crusades. In 1503, the Hall was leased by his son, Robert Colyar. He became a wool trader and married Agnes Venables de Kinderton. His son, Thurston, also leased the Hall. In 1537, its ownership passed from

Burton Abbey Burton Abbey at Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire, England, was founded in the 7th or 9th century by St Modwen or Modwenna. It was refounded in 1003 as a Benedictine abbey by the thegn Wulfric Spott. He was known to have been buried in the ab ...

to Thurston's son, James Collier. The abbey was dissolved two years later. In 1685, a descendant, James Collier, sold the Hall to William Jervis. The property is associated with

Richard Barnfield Richard Barnfield (baptized 29 June 1574 – 1620) was an English poet. His obscure though close relationship with William Shakespeare has long made him interesting to scholars. It has been suggested that he was the " rival poet" mentioned in ...

, who is one of the candidates for Shakespeare's "

Rival Poet The Rival Poet is one of several characters, either fictional or real persons, featured in William Shakespeare's sonnets. The sonnets most commonly identified as the Rival Poet group exist within the Fair Youth group in sonnets 78– 86. Several ...

". A "Richard Barnfield of Dorlestone in the Countie of Stafford Esquire" who died here in 1627, was formerly believed to be the poet, but current thinking is that the death recorded was that of his father whose name he shared.Sonia Massai, ‘Barnfield, Richard (bap. 1574, d. 1620)’,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 20 May 2015
/ref> In 1880 the estate was acquired by the Meakin family from the Jervis family.The White House, Darlaston Hall Estate, Stone
. Staffordshire County Council The house was demolished after the Second World War.

References

6. R. Glover, The Visitation of Staffordshire, 1583, Historical Collections of Staffordshire, Wm. Salt Archaeological Society Publications, Vol. 3-Part 2 at 64. {{Coord, 52.9092, -2.175, display=title Former country houses in England Country houses in Staffordshire