Middleton, Warwickshire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Middleton is a small village in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire, England.[1] The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 630.[2]
At the time of the Domesday Book Middleton was under a Norman Overlord Hugh de Grandmesnil who had several holdings in Warwickshire. When he died it passed to the Marmions of Tamworth. In 1291 the estate was divided into three and Middleton was held by the de Frevilles. In the mid 15th century Sir Richard Bingham married Margaret Willoughb (born Freville) of Nottinghamshire.[3] There is a brass memorial to Sir Richard in the Parish Church. When Margaret died in 1493 she left the estate to her grandson (by her first marriage) Sir Henry Willughby. Ornithologist Francis Willughby was born at Middleton Hall in 1635. The Hall stayed in the family until 1924.
St. John the Baptist Church holds an ornate memorial commemorating Francis Willughby, his parents, Francis senior and Cassandra, and his son, also Francis; this was erected by his second son, Thomas Willoughby.[4] The title of Baron Middleton, of Middleton in the County of Warwick, was created in 1711 by Queen Anne as a hereditary barony in the Peerage of Great Britain for Thomas Willoughby, of Wollaton Hall in the County of Nottingham (1670–1729).
