Some local people may be surprised to learn that a modern suburb on the edge of Birmingham still has a lord of the manor. Although the powers and privileges once enjoyed by the medieval lords are long gone, Richard Bridgeman, the 7th Earl of Bradford is nonetheless the lord of the manor of Castle Bromwich.
Lord of the Manor
Unlike the peerage, the title of lord of the manor is not a hereditary one. It may be bequeathed in an individual’s will or may be bought and sold. There were certainly Anglo-Saxon lords of the manor before Norman Conquest, but the feudal system proper was developed from the time of William the Conqueror.
William placed the King at the top of the pyramid with all land and power invested in him. Owing service to him was a large number of overlords who had rights usually over a number of manors. They were then owed service by lords of the manor who paid their dues in cash or kind or, as the King demanded, by supplying knights and men for battle. The inhabitants of the manors then owed onerous dues of payment in labour or in kind (livestock, crops, etc) as well as charges for use of the manorial mill or bakery, for grazing pasture pigs on manorial woodland, and payments on marriage or death. Remnants of the system lasted until the Victorian era.
The de Bromwich family
After the Norman Conquest Castle Bromwich was a sub-manor of Aston. The overlord was the Baron of Dudley, Ansculf de Picquiny, a lieutenant of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. This was one of Ansculf’s many holdings.
Ansculf gave the manor to (presumably) one of his trusted followers, probably one of the knights who had accompanied him at the Battle of Hastings. Ralph was recorded as the lord of (Castle Bromwich) in the Domesday Book in 1086.
The present system of surnames did not exist in the middle Ages. People were given tags to distinguish them from others with the same Christian name. People who had moved from their place of birth and the nobility who were associated with a particular place often took the place name as their ‘surname’.
Sometime during the 12th century the manorial family took de (of) Bromwich as their surname. In 1168 Wido de Bramewic is mentioned, in 1185 Alan de Bromwych and in 1287 both Henry de Chastel de Bromwych and Robert de Brumwyk. This is assumed to be father-to-son descent, but the relationships are uncertain.
De la Roche and Ferrers
Three generations after Robert, Isabella de Bromwich inherited the manor. In about 1350 she was married to Sir John de la Roche, a wealthy Pembrokeshire landowner.
Their son Thomas de la Roche married Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas de Bermingham thus acquiring additional property locally. On the death of his father he inherited lands in Wales and also in Ireland. Thomas was succeeded by his two daughters, Ellen, the younger, receiving Castle Bromwich manor. She was the wife of Sir Edmund Ferrers of Chartley, Staffordshire, a noteworthy knight who had fought at the battle of Agincourt with Henry V.
The Devereux family
When Sir Edmund Ferrers died in 1435 he was succeeded by his son William Ferrers. The latter was succeeded in 1450 by his daughter Anne Ferrers, the wide of Sir Walter Devereux of Weobley in Herefordshire. He was aged 13 at the time of their marriage; she was 6 years old. A strong supporter of the House of York, he was created Lord Ferrers by Edward IV after the Battle of Towton (Wars of the Roses) in 1461. Sir Walter was killed in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth fighting for the last Yorkist king, Richard III. As a result all of his lands, including the manor of Castle Bromwich, were seized by the victorious Henry VII. However, these were later restored to his son John Devereux.
The manor then passed down through the Devereux family. In 1549 Walter Devereux was created Viscount of Hereford and in 1611 his son, Sir Edward Devereux, was created 1st Baronet of Castle Bromwich by King James I. He is attributed with building the first Castle Bromwich Hall. (Evidence does, however, suggest that a medieval predecessor may have stood on the same site). Sir Edward is buried with his Catherine beneath an elaborate monument at Aston church.
The manor then descended, though not straightforwardly, to Anne Devereux who sold both the manor and the hall in 1657 to Sir Orlando Bridgeman. Some parcels of land in Castle Bromwich were passed down through the Devereux family, but the remainder was finally sold in 1712, when a bankrupt linen-draper, George Devereux of Shoreditch sold the last holding of his family. The baronetcy of Castle Bromwich continued to the 9th baronet, Sir Edward Devereux. On his death in 1783 in Montgomeryshire, the title became extinct.
The Bridgeman family
Sir Orlando Bridgeman was a lawyer who held a number of important national posts. A Royalist supporter, he nonetheless successfully survived the uncertainties of the English Civil Wars. Orlando rose under Charles II to become the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, one of the great offices of state.
Orlando had bought Castle Bromwich manor and hall for his son in 1657, Sir John Bridgeman I; it may have been a wedding present. Although a qualified barrister, it was to his father’s regret that he never practised. He lived at Castle Bromwich Hall until his death in 1710 at the age of 80. He is buried in Aston church, and is commemorated with his wife Mary by an elaborate tablet which describes him as ‘a pattern of Christian Piety, a tender Husband, a most affectionate Father, a steady friend, Liberal to the poor and kind to his neighbours.’
His son, Sir John Bridgeman II, also a qualified barrister, inherited in 1710 and subsequently extended and enlarged the hall to its present state. Sir John also had the medieval timber church and its Norman stone chancel encased in brick in the fashionable Renaissance style.
When in 1762 Sir Henry Bridgeman, grandson of the latter, inherited Weston Park, Shropshire from his uncle, he moved the household to this much grander residence making it the family seat. In 1794 Sir Henry was created Baron Bradford by King George III and in 1815 his son Orlando, 2nd Baron Bradford, was created 1st Earl of Bradford.
After the family’s move to Weston-under-Lizard, Castle Bromwich Hall was usually let. However, George, 4th Earl of Bradford spent most of his married life there and his widow, the Dowager Countess, Lady Ida lived here until her death in 1936.
The hall was then let as offices, remaining in the family until 1969 when it was sold. It has now been carefully restored as a hotel.
The present Lord Bradford, Richard Bridgeman, the 7th Earl, is now the lord of the manor and the patron of the living of Castle Bromwich church.
Leave a Reply