Edgbaston Hall () is a
country house
image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire
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 Townhou ...
(albeit now in the middle of the
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
) in the
Edgbaston
Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...
area of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
Description and current usage
Since 1936, through negotiations initiated by The
Birmingham Civic Society with the owner, Calthorpe Estates, it has been the
clubhouse for Edgbaston Golf Club. Edgbaston Hall, and its lodge house, are
Grade II listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
s. The grounds, which includes
Edgbaston Pool
Edgbaston Pool is a Site of Special Scientific Interest located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. It is one of 23 SSSI's in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands. The site has two distinct units (areas) within it. The first is water-related ...
, are now divided into an 18-hole
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...
and a nature reserve.
History
Early in the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, Edgbaston Hall, along with
Hawkesley House, now the site of a council housing estate in Longbridge, was a stronghold of Colonel
John Fox, the so-called "Jovial Tinker". The Edgbaston Garrison musters from August 19, 1645 to April 30, 1646, can be found among the accounts of the
Warwickshire County Committee, which was the Parliamentary Committee of accounts for the County, along with musters, warrants, levy assessments and other documents submitted by field officers and garrison commanders to be examined by the Committee. The garrison muster from 1645 lists about 40 soldiers and officers, including Thomas Rawlins, "a prisoner". The Edgbaston garrison troops had a fearsome reputation, making forays into the sounding villages for provisions and plunder and raiding rival royalist strongholds. They were highly mobile and so could be shifted around to augment the parliamentary garrisons at
Tamworth,
Coventry
Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
and
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
.
In 1717,
Sir Richard Gough purchased the hall from
Thomas Belasyse, 3rd Viscount Fauconberg and began to have it rebuilt. In 1776, Sir Henry Gough commissioned
Capability Brown
Lancelot "Capability" Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783) was an English gardener and landscape architect, a notable figure in the history of the English landscape garden style.
Unlike other architects ...
to lay out the park. It was later home to
William Withering.
Notes
References
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External links
{{Birmingham buildings
Grade II listed buildings in Birmingham
Houses in Birmingham, West Midlands
Edgbaston