Continued from ‘Park Hall (Part One) – The Manor House’
Within Castle Bromwich was the separate manor of Park Hall. For hundreds of years the Arden family’s moated manor house stood on the land now covered by the Parkfields estate.
Edward Arden – hanged, drawn and quartered
Their great-great-grandson, Edward Arden was born at Park Hall c1542. Since Henry VIII’s break with Rome, the Ardens had always been one of Warwickshire’s recusant Roman Catholic families. Edward Arden, Sheriff of Warwickshire, married Mary Throckmorton of Coughton Court near Studley, a member of another well-known family of recusants who later became involved in the Gunpowder Plot. It is believed that Edward Arden’s gardener at Park Hall was actually Father Hugh Hall, a Roman Catholic priest in disguise.
Hall is believed to have influenced Edward’s son-in-law, John Somerville to plot against Queen Elizabeth. Somerville, who may not have been of sound mind, talked openly of shooting the Queen and headed for London. However, he was soon discovered, put in the Tower of London and when racked, he confessed and named both his father-in-law and Father Hugh as instigators of the plot.
Following indictment at Warwick, Edward, his wife Mary and daughter Margaret, Somerville’s wife, were imprisoned in the Tower, as was Edward himself who was thrown into the cell known as Little Ease, a windowless room measuring just over one square metre in which it was impossible to either stand or sit. The men were all stretched on the rack to extort confessions of treason. All were then tried at the Guildhall, found guilty and condemned to death, as was Edward’s wife. A week later Somerville was found strangled in his cell, it is believed at his own hand. Edward was hanged, drawn and quartered at Smithfield 20 December 1583 proclaiming that his only crime was the profession of the Catholic religion. Mary Arden was released as was her daughter and, remarkably, Father Hugh Hall.
The heads of Edward Arden and John Somerville were set on spikes on London Bridge.
Robert Arden built a new Park Hall
Robert Arden was the son of Edward and Mary Arden. Around this time a new hall was built down in the valley close to the River Tame. This was probably Robert Arden’s doing. Following his father’s execution, the manor was forfeit to the Crown. It may well be that the old hall had fallen into disuse after his father’s death and that when Robert returned to the manor he had a new hall built. It is not easy to understand why this location was chosen. Although the land here is fertile and well-watered, it is also prone to flooding and is still used as a flood plain for the River Tame.
Robert Arden’s sister, Catherine Arden, married Edward Devereux, 1st Baronet of Castle Bromwich, the son of Viscount Hereford. Sir Edward is credited with the building of the predecessor to the present Castle Bromwich Hall. (There may have been an earlier medieval hall on the same site). The couple’s elaborate tomb may be seen in Aston Parish Church; Sir Edward Devereux died in 1622, his wife Catherine in 1627.
Robert’s grandson, another Robert Arden died in 1643 unmarried and without issue and brought male Arden line at Park Hall to an end.
One of Robert Arden’s sisters, Goditha Arden married the Welsh politician and Royalist colonel, Sir Herbert Price, who took up residence at Park Hall. Sir Herbert was the Master of the Household of King Charles II in 1661 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
That hall was rebuilt in brick in the late 17th century possibly by Sir Herbert Price. The hall was large and built in a Dutch style.
In 1704 the hall and manor were bought from Sir Herbert’s son John by John Bridgeman I.In 1884, Castle Bromwich antiquarian Christopher Chattock wrote of Park Hall: “The place could not be surpassed for natural beauty and romantic interest, being sited opposite a hill that was studded with wild cherries, roses and honeysuckle. The river ‘gentle Theomis’ ran by the garden wall and the bottom of the woods, Park Hall woods were filled with gigantic oaks, ash, beech and firs which overhung and darkened the clear crystal water of the River Tame below.”
By the 20th century the hall had deteriorated to being a farmhouse. And by the Second World War much of it was in ruins except for one wing which was still occupied by a farm worker. In living memory there was a holloway leading down from the old moated site to the farm by the river. Most of the remaining buildings were demolished by 1970 although some evidence of brick structures could still be seen on the ground after that date.
The site is now part of Park Hall Nature Reserve and inaccessible to the public.
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