Baddesley Clinton - Solihull, Warwickshire
Baddesley Clinton in Warwickshire is a 15th century moated manor house that may have origins from Saxon times when several buildings once stood in the area but now there is almost no trace. Most of the original 15th century house was built in 1459 by John Brome, a lawyer and Under Treasurer of England, who bought the house in 1438. John Brome was Lord of Baddesley Clinton and a burgess in the town of Warwick. In this period the house would have had gun ports and a drawbridge over the moat. By 1461, John had spent most of his life in politics and now wanted to put in an effort to help his 3 children advance in society. He took out a mortgage at a manor house in Woodloes near Warwick for his son Thomas.
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The mortgage was negotiated by John Herthill, steward to the Earl of Warwick, Richard Neville and After a while the Earl wanted the property back. The Earl became angry as Brome refused to part with the property and after trying to negotiate with John Brome many times, John Herthill decided to sort the matter out himself. In 1468 during a trip to London, Brome was visiting White Friars Church to worship when a messenger was sent in to ask him to step outside as someone wanted to speak to him. He went outside and noticed that the person waiting was John Herthill. Brome was angry and refused to let go of the property. Herthill pulled out a knife and stabbed Brome in the heart, leaving him dead.
John Brome’s eldest son, Nicholas was known as a hot headed man with a temper. In anger he vowed to avenge his father’s murder. In 1471, John Herthill was travelling along Longbridge Field towards the village of Barford when Nicholas Brome took him by surprise and killed him. In March 1472, Nicholas was brought before the court in Coventry for the murder. Realising that Herthill had murdered his father, the court had sympathy for Nicholas and was let off providing that he pays for masses at St Mary’s church in Warwick for the souls of John Brome and John Herthill and to pay for masses at Baddesley Clinton. He also had to pay compensation of 33 shillings and fourpence to John Herthill’s wife, Elizabeth. John Brome was buried at White Friars and the inscription on his stone reads:
Lo! Here lies as dust the body of John Brome, a noble and learned man, skilled in the law of the Realm, a child of genius, witness the County of Warwick, who fell by the sword in this church, slain at the time of the mass by the hands of wicked men. He was buried in the tomb November 5, 1468. Kindly father, it is better for him to have eternal rest.
As Nicholas was the oldest of John Brome’s children, he inherited Baddesley Clinton on his mothers death in 1483, as well as the house, he inherited an adrowson, which meant that he had the right to appoint the parish priest, so he appointed William Foster.
One day, Nicholas returned home drunk after a hunting trip to hear noises coming from the parlour. Bursting through the door, he noticed a man sat with his wife ‘chucking’ her under the chin. Without question, he beat the man to death with his bare hands, not realising that it was William Foster, the priest whom he’d appointed 7 years earlier, he had been comforting his wife. Killing a priest was a more serious offence than killing a steward so Nicholas petitioned the King and Pope. A pardon was granted providing that he performed acts of expiation. He built a tower at St James Church which is now St Michaels in Baddesley Clinton and paid for repairs at the nearby church at Packwood after which he was granted a pardon in 1496. Nicholas died on 10th October 1517 and he had ordered that his body was to be buried beneath a stone near the church door at St Michaels so that people may tread on him when they go to the church. There is a still single slab that reads Nicholas Brome 1517 which you have to walk across to enter or leave the church.
After the death of Nicholas, the house was passed on to his daughter Constance and her husband Sir Edward Ferrers. After the death of Constance and Edward Ferrers the house was passed onto their son Edward who passed the property onto his son Henry Ferrers, known as The Antiquary. Henry is believed to have added many additions to the house including the great hall and stained glass which included the families coat of arms. Along with many other Warwickshire nobles, Henry Ferrers remained as Roman Catholic after the reformation. In 1588, Henry was working in London and rented a house near Parliament owner by John Whinniard, the Keeper of the Kings Wardrobe. While Henry was away he rented the Baddesley Clinton out to Anne Vaux and her widowed sister Eleanor Brooksby.
Anne was born in 1562 and was the daughter of devout Catholic’s Sir William, 3rd Lord Vaux of Harrowden and Elizabeth Beaumont. When she around 25, Anne became the protector of Father Henry Garnet, Jesuit Superior of England, a dangerous position to hold at this time, which made him a target to anyone from the newly formed Church of England. Anne and Garnet travelled around the country posing as siblings, Anne used the fake name of Mrs Alice Perkins and they would stay at safe houses, one of these being Baddesley Clinton. While living at the house, Anne and Eleanor had hiding places, known as priest holes, built by the famous Nicholas Owen who was well known for creating priest holes all over the country including Coughton Court near Alcester and Harvington Hall near Kidderminster. One of the priest holes led to the ceiling, one was a door hidden in the wooden panelling, another is an old privy. Priests and monks could slide down a rope that took them through the old garberobe shaft, which is a toilet, and into its sewer which was the length of the house and could probably hold around 12 people.
In 1591, Father Garnet arranged a Jesuit meeting at Baddesley Clinton but protestant priest hunters had got to hear about it as the next morning the house was surrounded. Here is Father John Gerard’s first hand experience which he recorded shortly afterwards:
Next morning, about 5 o clock, when Father Southwell was beginning mass, and the others and myself were at meditation, I heard a bustle at the house door. Directly after I heard cries and oaths poured fourth against the servant for refusing admittance. The fact was that 4 priest hunters, or pursuivants as they are called, with drawn swords, were trying to break the door and force entrance.
The faithful servant withstood them, otherwise we should have all made prisoners. But by this time Father Southwell had heard the uproar, and, guessing what it meant, had at once taken off his vestments and stripped the alter; While we strive to seek out everything belonging to us, so that there might be nothing found to betray the larking of a priest.
We did not even wish to leave boots and swords lying about, which would serve to show there had been many guests, though none of them appeared. Hence many of us were anxious about our beds, which were still warm, and only covered according to custom previous to being made.
Some went and turned their beds over, so that the colder part might deceive any body who put his hand in to feel. Thus while the enemy was shouting and bawling outside, and our servants were keeping the door, saying that the mistress of the house, a widow, had not yet got up, but that she was coming directly and would give them an answer, we profited by the delay to stow away ourselves and all our baggage I a cleverly-contrived hiding place.
At last these leopards were let in. They raged about the house, looking everywhere, and prying into the darkest corners with candles. They took four hours over the business, but failed in their search, and only brought out the forbearance of the Catholics in suffering, and their own spite and obstinacy in seeking. At last they took themselves off, after getting paid, forsooth, for their trouble.
So pitiful is the lot of the Catholics, that those who come with a warrant to annoy them in this or in other way, have to be paid for so doing by the suffering party instead of by the authorities who send them, as though it were not enough to endure wrong, but they must also pay for their endurance of it.
When they were gone, and were now some way off, so that there was no fear of their returning, as they sometimes do, a lady came and summoned out of the den not one but many Daniel's. The hiding place was underground, covered with water at the bottom, so that I was standing with my feet in water all the time. We had there Fathers, Garnet, Southwell and Oldcorne, three future martyrs. Father Stanny and myself, two secular priests, and two or three lay gentlemen. Having thus escaped that days danger. Father Southwell and I set off the next day together, as we had come:
Father Oldcorne stayed, his dwelling or residence being not far off.
The faithful servant withstood them, otherwise we should have all made prisoners. But by this time Father Southwell had heard the uproar, and, guessing what it meant, had at once taken off his vestments and stripped the alter; While we strive to seek out everything belonging to us, so that there might be nothing found to betray the larking of a priest.
We did not even wish to leave boots and swords lying about, which would serve to show there had been many guests, though none of them appeared. Hence many of us were anxious about our beds, which were still warm, and only covered according to custom previous to being made.
Some went and turned their beds over, so that the colder part might deceive any body who put his hand in to feel. Thus while the enemy was shouting and bawling outside, and our servants were keeping the door, saying that the mistress of the house, a widow, had not yet got up, but that she was coming directly and would give them an answer, we profited by the delay to stow away ourselves and all our baggage I a cleverly-contrived hiding place.
At last these leopards were let in. They raged about the house, looking everywhere, and prying into the darkest corners with candles. They took four hours over the business, but failed in their search, and only brought out the forbearance of the Catholics in suffering, and their own spite and obstinacy in seeking. At last they took themselves off, after getting paid, forsooth, for their trouble.
So pitiful is the lot of the Catholics, that those who come with a warrant to annoy them in this or in other way, have to be paid for so doing by the suffering party instead of by the authorities who send them, as though it were not enough to endure wrong, but they must also pay for their endurance of it.
When they were gone, and were now some way off, so that there was no fear of their returning, as they sometimes do, a lady came and summoned out of the den not one but many Daniel's. The hiding place was underground, covered with water at the bottom, so that I was standing with my feet in water all the time. We had there Fathers, Garnet, Southwell and Oldcorne, three future martyrs. Father Stanny and myself, two secular priests, and two or three lay gentlemen. Having thus escaped that days danger. Father Southwell and I set off the next day together, as we had come:
Father Oldcorne stayed, his dwelling or residence being not far off.
Around this time, Robert Catesby of the Gunpowder plot fame found a house near to Parliament, the perfect place to be the centre of operations. This house happened to be the house that Henry Ferrers was renting. Thomas Percy, also one of the plotters, asked his distant relation, Henry Percy to convince Henry Ferrers to move out so that the property could be rented to Thomas Percy. He did so and moved back to Baddesley Clinton.
Eventually in 1606, Father Garnet was captured at Hindlip House near Worcester. He had known about the Gunpowder plot and advised Robert Catesby against it, he couldn’t tell anyone as he was told during confession. On the day of Garnet’s execution in London, Anne Vaux tried to speak to him whilst in the crowd, In his last minutes, someone from the crowd shouted that he was married to Anne, in sympathy, the executioner refused to let him be cut down to be drawn and quartered while he was still alive. Anne died in Derbyshire in 1637 where she had been running a Catholic school.
After the house had been passed down through a few generations, it was eventually inherited by the 17 year old Marmion Ferrers in 1830. In 1867 Marmion married the artist Rebecca Dulcibella Orpen, whose paintings are still on display in the house. Two years later, Rebecca’s aunt Lady Georgiana Chatterton and her 2nd husband Edward Heneage moved into the house where they all shared a passion for the arts and they redesigned the house. They rebuilt the Catholic chapel and refurbished the whole house. Marmion died in 1884 and his widow, Rebecca married the recently widowed Edward Dering a year later. Edward payed off all debts on the estate and he died in 1892 and Rebecca stayed at the house until 1923 when she died. The estate was then passed onto Marmion’s great nephew Edward, who left it to his younger brother Cecil when he died in 1934. Cecil sold the house to a distant relation, Thomas Walker in 1940 who changed his name to Thomas Ferrers Walker. His son took over the property in 1970 and then handed it over to the National Trust in 1980 who are still the guardians.
People who live in the village of Baddesley Clinton have witnessed the figure of a tall man dressed in medieval clothing walking from the front door of Baddesley Clinton to St Michael's church, he then disappears when he reaches the church door. Many people believe that this is the ghost of the murderer Nicholas Brome, cursed to roam the Earth forever. Most sightings have been on the anniversary of his death on the 10th of October every ten years but it has been seen at other times.
A couple were visiting the house one day in 2008, there were a lot of visitors as it can get very busy some days. After they’d finished the tour of the house they decided to go for a walk around the village. They walked to St Michael’s church and were looking at the gravestones when they noticed a man dressed in medieval costume. Believing that he was a guide from the house, they just carried on looking around until they noticed that as he walked towards the church he disappeared.
Many people, guests and staff have reported paranormal events for over 200 years. During her time at Baddesley Clinton, Rebecca Ferrers, the wife of Marmion kept a record of anything strange that happened and also invited witnesses to endorse the notes. Late one night in 1884, a house guest was asleep in the tapestry room when she was abruptly woken up. She reported having an eerie feeling and that she felt that she wasn’t alone. Suddenly a woman with long fair hair, wearing a long black dress floated past her bed and disappeared through a closed door. When staying at the house again three years later she witnessed the same apparition but this time she was staying in the State Room. Again, she was woken up with a startle with the figure wearing the same black dress standing next to a writing desk. She was illuminated by the moonlight that shone through the window and she described her as looking “thoughtful and bearing similar features to her hosts" the Ferrers. This apparition is believed to be one of the Ladies of the Manor from the 18th century.
Other visitors and staff have seen the same lady walking the corridors and in different rooms all over the house. One guest saw her sitting down as he returned to his room after fetching a book.
People have also heard loud footsteps walking around the corridor on the first floor along with loud voices, door handles being turned with no one to be seen when opening the door and rooms that have been messed up when no one has been in them.
One guest, a Miss Henrietta Knight was woken up one night in the early part of the 19th century. She heard loud footsteps walking outside her door. She described it as sounding like a group of around five people were stumbling around and arguing in the corridor. After this disturbance more activity prevailed, loud banging across the walls and floors, and the sound of heavy breathing next to he bed followed poltergeist activity throughout the whole house. After an exorcism the noise calmed down but they didn’t stop, as more people had the similar experiences over the years.
The property manager was working late one night in the office when he heard the loud footsteps walking along the corridor, he opened the door to find no one there.
Rebecca wrote in her diary:
The unnerving experience of hearing that solemn tread, it had an indescribably awful and mournful sound... and affected me deeply... It had very weird effect to hear the handle jerked loudly within a few feet of where you are standing, and see no one.
This spirit is believed to be Major Thomas Ferrers who died in 1817, he fell from the ramparts of a castle in Cambrai in France. A guest once reported seeing his ghost and identified him by a portrait that was hanging in the same room. The same was also reported in the blue room by a different visitor to the house. Rebecca found a miniature figure of Major Ferrers who fitted the description of what people had witnessed. The ghost hasn’t been seen since 1925.
The ghost of a priest has been seen in the chapel, he was reported to have been removing vestments from a box and move them on top of a box in the sacristy. It is believed that this may be the shade of William Foster, the priest who was murdered by Nicholas Brome. When a visitor went to enter the solar, he was stopped saying that he had an overwhelmingly feeling of the unseen presence. The visitor had no previous knowledge of the murder.
A Mr G Howard Heaton who spent a lot of time at Baddesley Clinton and opened up for charity tours in aid of the Red Cross said,:
I, knew the place well, acted as a guide to parties of the visiting public and on several occasions when we passed out of the chapel into the small closet adjoining, we would find a set of priests vestments lying on the floor, as if they had been cast off in a hurry. Once, when I mentioned this to the then owner, she told me she’d had a similar experience and added that she had been into the room in question that morning when everything had been in order. These vestments were kept in a large bow-fronted chest of drawers in the room, so that they could lie unfolded. The theory is that in the days of the persecution of the Catholics, if a priest was celebrating Mass when government troops or officials arrived, he would leave as quickly as possible: and in such a case of urgency he would discard his vestments and use a ladder in the passage under the room, leading to the passage on the ground floor and then he would flee across the moat through a secret opening in the wall. These passages are still open, I believe, and I have been inside them all in those far-off days.