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HOME |
Hillfield
Hall
Families
| Memories | Reunions | History |
Hillfield Hall stands beside a once quiet lane joining Church
Hill Road to Libbards Way.
A house and farm were probably first established in the late 13th century. One of the most
prominent names in Solihull during the medieval period was that of Hawes. Thomas Hawes of
Shirley, a man 'skilled in the law' bought an estate, including the site where Hillfield
Hall now stands, in 1311. The Estate remained in the Hawes family for the next 250 years.
The Hawes placed a tablet over the front door - WHV 1576 'Hic Hospites in Coelo
Cives' - ' Here we are guests, in heaven citizens'. The Initials are those of William and
Ursula Hawes with the date the house was completed. In 1604 Edmund and his lawyer cousin,
Humphrey Cole had bought the lordship of the manor of Solihull from Thomas Throckmorton
for £1,080. They did not retain it for long, however and sold it to Samuel Marrow of
Berkswell.
In 1635 Edmund Hawes sailed for America aboard the ship 'James' and settled in the town of
Duxbury, near Boston. In 1660 the Hall was sold to George Fielding and his wife Mary. The
Estate consisted of five farms totalling 455 acres. Hillfield Hall and farm of 87 acres,
Shelly farm of 154 acres, Twist Farm of 22 acres, Pratts Farm of 21 acres and an unnamed
farm of 150 acres plus a few other field totalling 30 acres. |
| In 1705 Robert
Fielding sold the Hall and 310 acre estate to Henry Greswolde the son of Rev. Henry
Greswolde. He was the Rector of Solihull from 1660 to 1700, and the younger brother of
Humphrey Greswolde who built Malvern Hall. About the time that he bought Hillfield Henry
married Jane Aston, they had six children and lived at the hall throughout their married
life. In 1743 Greswolde added 20 acres of land to the estate by buying five fields called
Sedgeleys. Henry Greswolde died in 1749 leaving the hall and land to his unmarried
daughter, Ann. |
Hillfield Hall in the early 1900's |
She died in 1756 all
her property passing to her cousin, Mary Greswolde, who had also inherited Malvern Hall
where she lived with her husband, David Lewis. From this time Hillfield remained in the
possession of the Greswolde family as part of the Mavern Hall Estate.
In 1805 Stephen Sprigg took the tenancy of Hillfield hall and remained there farming it's
land for about 50 years. Miss Ann Sprig was the tenant in 1851, but by 1861 she had left
and the house was empty. Possibly the farm was no longer a viable unit, for the London -
Birmingham railway line, opened in 1852, had sliced through the Hillfield fields,
splitting the farm and severing the entrance drive. During it's years as a farmhouse the
Elizabethan gatehouse facade had been defaced by the addition of lean-to's. Unfortunately
in 1867 there was a disastrous fire at the Hall and the south front was virtually
destroyed. Hillfield was once again restored. By 1871 the house was occupied by George
Beard, a pin and needle manufacturer. They had a staff of six including a butler.
In 1932 the Everson family bought the house and sold it in 1964 along with it's now only
seven acres of land. Following the sale Hillfield Hall ceased to be a private house and
became a night-club. In 1974 the Hall was converted into a restaurant. |
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