Middlemore Family Genealogy

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Even life long residents of Northfield may be unaware of this charming rural scene - Hawkesley Farm and its moat, lying completely hidden among the development of the Turves Green Estate. Behind the camera is an electricity transformer station and five-storey blocks of modern flats: beyond the farm buildings are the new houses in Central Avenue.

Dr E.J. Hetherington is pointing out the barn walls of unfaced stone and the traces of a Mass dial which support the claim that the Farm is an historic building, and the scene of a Civil War battle.

The battle of Hawkesley Farm. Northfield's own minor epic of the Civil War is being fought all over again. This time, the besieged may be regarded as a small band of Northfield Survey workers whose researches have led them to the conviction that it is indeed Hawkesley Farm that was the site of the siege in 1645. They say, therefore, that the building and its moat are worth of preservation as an ancient monument. Against them are the big guns of Birmingham Corporation and Her Majesty's Stationary Office, who maintain that the site was at Hawkesley Hall, just off Redditch Road, King's Norton - two miles away.

On the grounds that Hawkesley Farm is of no historical interest whatever, the Corporation proposed demolishing it, and filling in the moat, leaving only a tracing of the watercourse as a sign that it once existed. The Stationary Office are concerned in that on the Ordinance Survey the crossed swords indicating battle "honours" are placed against Hawkesley Hall. The Northfield Survey Group argue that this was a mistake.

Normally one would expect this sort of thing to be argued at a local inquiry into a compulsory purchase order, but as Hawkesley Farm has been in the possession of the Corporation for many years now, that procedure does not arise. The farmhouse stands between Longbridge Lane and West Heath on land which was acquired by the Corporation in 1916 for the erection of 500 temporary bungalows for Austin workers. One of the two ships bringing the materials form Canada was sunk, with the result that only 250 bungalows were built. The Corporation are now engaged in developing the rest of the land. Hence the threat to Hawkesley Farm.

There is no argument that the house which was besieged in 1615 belonged to the Middlemore family, who were staunch Royalists. Early in the Civil War it was captured and garrisoned by Captain Gouge, of the Parliamentarian Army. On May 15th, 1645, Prince Rupert laid siege to it and re-captured it for the King, afterwards setting fire to it. This appears to have been a bad habit of his - it was he who set fire to Birmingham in 1643. Dr. Hetherington who lives in Green Meadow Road, Weoley Hill, and is a prominent member of the Northfield survey, has recently carried out an exhaustive survey into the matter and, as a result, is convinced that Hawkesley Farm is the site of the battle.

The farm and outbuildings not on the site were probably rebuilt in stages as the Middlemore family regained its fortunes after Cromwellian reprisals. There is evidence of antiquity, however, in the lower walls of the barn which are of plain stone and carry traces of what was probably a Mass dial. This suggests that the owners were Roman Catholic-as were the Middlemores-and that a secret chapel may have been maintained here in the days of persecution.

In the King's Norton Tithe Award the houses both at Longbridge and King's Norton are called "Hawkesley Farm and moat." Tredway Nash, in his "History of Worcestershire" had no doubt that the besieged house was half a mile from the turnpike road leading into Birmingham. This could only have been what is now Bristol Road South and, therefore, the house must be Hawkesley Farm, because in 1779 there was no turnpike road anywhere near the house at King's Norton. The house was called Hawkeslow down to the seventeenth century, when it became changed to Hawkesley.

Ann, daughter and heiress to the last of the de Hawkeslow family, married Nicholas Middlemore , who died in 1442 and there is not doubt that the Middlemores lived in a house called Hawkeslow or Hawkesley from that time down to the nineteenth century. Equally there is no doubt, says Dr Hetherington, that that house was Hawkesley Farm at Longbridge. There is no evidence that the Middlemores ever held two houses called Hawkesley, or that they moved. In 1552 John Middlemore sold land in Rednal Yield, Hawkesley farm was in Rednal Yield, whereas Hawkesley Hall was in Headly Yield. In 1575 John Middlemore bought Longbridge Farm, which stood near Hawkesley Farm, and later his son lived there. This suggest that Longbridge Farm was near to John Middlemore's own house and again points to Hawkesley Farm.

The records of the siege say that the house "was called Hawkesley House belonging to Mr. Middlemore and two miles from Cofton Hackett Hall. Hawkesley farm is two miles from Cofton Hall whereas Hawkesley Hall is three. Cannon balls identified as of the Civil War period have been found at Hawkesley Farm and at nearby Longbridge Place. The earliest deeds extant relating to Hawkesley Hall are dated 1708 only 60 years after the siege -- and give the owner a Mr. William Maye, no mention whatever being made of the Middlemores. The house was called Little Hawkeslow, Later Little Hawkesley. This suggest that there was a "Great Hawkesley somewhere else and the most likely place, it is argued is Hawkesley Farm.

In light of all this evidence, Dr. Hetherington describes as ridiculous the suggestion that there is no historical foundation for the theory that Hawkesley Farm was the site of the siege.

Though it can lay no claim to great antiquity, the existing farmhouse is a building of great charm and is probably some 200 years old. The living room contains the traditional feature of the massive fireplace and inglenook, as well as some noteworthy oak timbering. This includes an upright not superimposed on the floor but with the floor laid round it. It is extremely unlikely, sys Dr. Hetherington, that a modern owner would have gone to such length merely to create an illusion of antiquity. Much of the farmland has been taken for building, but the present tenant, Mr. W. Allen, still carries on a thriving business with some 300 head of poultry.