The Manor House - West Bromwich, West Midlands
The medieval manor house in West Bromwich was built in the 1270’s after the death of Richard de Offni, Lord of West Bromwich died. He left the Manor to his two daughters, Sarah, the wife of Walter Devereux, and Margaret, who married Richard de Marnham of Bromwich in 1275. The manor was passed onto the Freeman family in the 14th century and in 1424 was passed onto Alice Freeman who married William Freebody who held the Manor until his death in 1437, who's son, also William inherited the Manor who was only aged 10.
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William's youngest granddaughter, Cecily held the Manor from 1515, aged 13 who passed it on to her husband John Stanley, son of George Stanley, the former High Sheriff of Staffordshire and Eleanor Dudley Beaumont, widow of Sir Henry Beaumont of Wednesbury and daughter of the 1st Baron of Dudley. After John’s death in 1533, the Manor was passed along to many generations of the Stanley family until 1622 when he mortgaged the Manor to his cousin, Richard Shelton and Sir William Hewett. Richard Shelton became solicitor general King Charles the 1st and was also knighted in the same year, 1625. Shelton was pressured to resign as Solicitor General in favour of Edward Littleton and retired to the Manor house in West Bromwich. Richard Shelton died in 1647 and the Manor was then passed onto his nephew, John Shelton who in upturn died in 1665 and was succeeded by his son, also John Shelton. John was a a minor and his inheritance was spent by his stepfather. By 1713 the Manor and estate was put up for sale by Chancery. John died in 1714 and the debt of the estate was unfortunately passed on to his son Joseph. In 1720 the Manor was bought by Sir Samuel Clarke, a very rich merchant from London. The Manor stayed with the Clarke family until 1819 when Thomas Clarke died when the property was put up for sale by Chancery again. The Earl of Dartmouth bought the manorial rights and the house in 1823.
By 1836 the house was split into separate accommodations and three families occupied the building. By the 1940s the house was derelict and was due to be demolished but was saved by the West Bromwich Corporation when they cleared the slums in 1949. The house which has been known by many names such as “The Old Hall, The Hall and Bromwich Hall”, was named the Manor house in 1961 when the Ansells Brewery Ltd took it over and reopened it as a pub and restaurant. It stayed as a pub and restaurant until 2009 when it was returned to West Bromwich council and is now open as a museum run by the Sandwell Museum service.
In the 13th century, two on the son’s of Richard and Margaret de Markham’s sons, Bertram and Nicholas were involved in a dispute after a heavy drinking session with a local lady known as Agnes the weaver. The following was recorded at the Staffordshire assists in 1293:
‘that Nicholas son of Richard de Marnham and Bertram son of Richard were sitting and drinking together with others at the house of Agnes the weaver of Bromwych in Bromwych in the dusk of the evening and contumelious words were used between them, and the said Bertram, who was the younger and humble, out of respect for Nicholas, got up and left the house of Agnes in order to avoid the malice of Nicholas, who was vaide malicious; and Nicholas being irritated at this, got up and followed him with a long knife drawn in is hand, and Bertram ran away between two high hedges as far as the door of Richard de Marnham in that vill; and the door was closed so that he could not enter the house, nor could he climb over the hedges because of their height and he could not evade Nicholas except by defending himself. In self defence he struck Nicholas with his sword on the head and in the breast. He is therefore to be given up to the bishop as not guilty".
It is possible that Bertram was a member of the clergy, perhaps a priest or a monk. Many people have witnessed the figure of a monk walking outside of the house’s chapel area.
In the winter 1970s, a man went to the Manor house for a beer after work. He had 2 pints of beer and left, as he walked out of the building he noticed that someone was standing near the path. He approached the silhouetted figure which gained in detail as he got nearer. He noticed it was a man wearing what looked like a gown and he asked him if he was ok. The figure walked past him and disappeared as he approached the house.
At another time when the house was a pub, a man who was having trouble at home started going in every night for about a week and heavily drinking. He would talk to the barman, telling him his troubles and the barman done his job and listened to him. One night after telling the barman that he was going to divorce his wife, the barman gave him some advice, the man left to go home straight away, in a jolly mood. He returned the day after to find someone else in place of the barman who he’d been speaking to over the last week. He asked the man behind the bar if the other barman was in as he wanted to thank him for listening to him and for the advice he’d given him the night before. The man behind the bar asked him to describe the barman. He said he was tall, think with a residing hairline, wearing a white shirt and a grey waistcoat and always smiling. The man behind the bar said, “You mean Jim? He died years ago mate but he does return from time to time for those in need of his reasoning".
Many members of staff and customers have heard footsteps all around the building, especially in the main bar and sometimes they are accompanied by the apparition of a man dressed in medieval clothing or a young girl.
One night when the pub was holding a celebration night for Halloween, one of the volunteers was putting her make up on in the bar mirror. She reported seeing the face of a girl appear in the mirror so she turned to look who was behind her, no one was there. When she turned back to look at the mirror, the girl was walking away and turned to look back at her.
Now the house is a museum, guided tours are on offer for small groups of people. One day, one of the guides was taking a group around when they went into the small courtyard near to one of the 1960s extensions. The said that she felt someone touch the back of her neck, it wasn’t one of the group as they were all in front of her. They started to move on and she felt it again, repeatedly until she said it felt like two hands grabbed both shoulders and pushed down. When her manager saw her he jokingly asked if she’d seen a ghost, she replied that she hadn’t seen one, just merely felt the presence of one. The same experience happened to another guide in the kitchen area.
In the 1980s and group of amateur paranormal investigators held a vigil at the Manor. Their main aim was to experiment in recording to see if they could capture any spirit voices and any other sounds that were out of place. While recording, one of the group mentioned that her nose had gone really cold, when they listened back to the recordings, they heard the voice of a little girl saying “I know that”, and then laughed loudly after the woman mentioned her cold nose.
They also recorded the sounds of children playing on the lawn around 4am. Children have also been seen on the stairs along with them giggling and running up and down the stairs.
A cat is also been seen on a regular basis with many people saying that they could feel it rub up their legs to look down and not see a cat, other people commenting on how they loved the museums friendly cat.
The ladies toilets have been subject of much paranormal activity too. Children have been seen walking through, and when using the toilet, people have reported seeing the tips of someone wearing black shoes poking under the door.
An old lady wearing medieval clothing and a bearded man have also been seen walking about the house, mainly in the great hall.
I 2012, a young family visited the house for a guided tour. Their daughter was 6 years old at the time and wondered off into the great hall. When her father caught up with her, he asked what she was doing in there on her own, she said that she followed the old lady. When her father looked around in the great hall, a woman dressed in medieval costume walked through another door. He followed her to ask it was her that his daughter followed, he entered the door behind that she went into and the room was empty.