History of Madeley Court
2nd April 2011
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  • Madeley means 'Madas' or 'Madda's Clearing'
  • Madda is thought to have been the leader of a small group of Saxons who settled in the area in the early 8th Century
  • A document of A.D. 729 records a certain 'Sigward' sold the estate to the future Saint Milburga, abbess of the Cluniac priory at Wenlock
  • The town of Madeley was established as a town in 1269 and was granted the right to hold an annual fair and a twice-weekly market
  • The earliest structures of the Madeley Court date back to the 12th or earlier 13th Century, although nothing of this date survives above the ground
  • A lease of 1498 refers to Madeley Court as having a chapel, chamber, tower, hall, parlour and outhouses. However by 1508, the buildings were in decay
  • In 1544, the estate was sold to Robert Brooke of Claverley, a lawyer and devout Catholic, whom also went on to become Speaker of the House of Commons and Chief Justice of Commons Pleas duting the reign on Mary I. He was knighted in 1555 and, after his death, the estate was passed to first son John and then Grandson, the noted industrialist and supporter of the Royalist causem, Sir Basil Brooke
  • In 1705, after the delcine of the Brooke family wealth during the civil war, the court and 520 acres were sold for £5400 to Mathias Astley of Staffordshire
  • Abraham Darby I rented part of the house from 1711 until his death in 1717
  • Later it was leased to tenant farmers until 1828 when James Foster, an ironmaster from Stourbridge bought it. Despite his initial wish to restore Madeley Court he instead sunk 17 pits and began mining the area. In 1843 he built three furnaces nearby. There were worked until 1902 and were dismantled two years later. Their former existance is now commemorated by the Three Furnaces public house - still open today
  • The last tenant Joseph Barnett bought the estate piecemeal between 1919 and 1936 and it was farmed by the Barnett family until 1964
  • In 1984 it passed into private ownership and conversion to a hotel began. It changed hands in 1991 and 1998 and was acquired by the Focus Hotels group in February 2009
  • In February of 2011 we franchised into the Mercure brand of the Accor Hotel Group
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About the Author

Helen G

Member since: 14th March 2012

Have worked at Madeley Court Hotel since Jan 2007. Over the years I have met some very interesting people who have told me their stories about the Madeley Court....what's yours?

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