Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Medieval Buildings



Today Lana took Max & I touring some of the medieval period mansions in the area not far from Solihull. These are manor houses of their time. This particular house was owned and occupied by one family , passing from father to son, for about 500 years... eventually being offered for sale in 1940, and now owned by The National Trust.

These photos are of the Baddesley Clinton House. The term Baddesley refers to a Saxon called Baeddi, who first cleared the site in the Forest of Arden. The house became Baddesley Clinton when the de Clinton family dug the moat in the thirteenth century (1200's). John Brome, a wealthy lawyer from Warwick, who acquired Baddesley in 1439, built some of the house from stone quarried on the estate. When John Brome's son, Nicholas, died in 1517, Baddesley passed into the Ferrers family, as Nicholas's daughter and co-heir had married Sir Edward Ferrers.

The first photo shows the original house, and the second is a closer look (with Max & Carol), showing the moat which surrounds the house. Like most of the ancient houses, Baddesley has a complex building history. Most of these ancient structures were much smaller than today, with add-ons over various centuries. It's hard to get a handle on the centuries of history for these buildings... literally going back to medieval times. It started to rain significantly, and we were running out of time, so we did not get to spend time in the vast gardens on the property.

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