Madeley Court

Madeley Court is recorded in The Domesday Book of William the Conqueror, but it is known that a building had been in existence on the site dating back to Saxon England.

In the 8th century St Milburga is reputed to have bought the Madeley estate from Sigward, a follower of King Ethelbald of Mercia - remaining in the possession of the priory she founded at Wenlock until the dissolution of the monasteries.

The last prior of Madeley was John Bayley; who surrendered the priory and its estates to the commissioners of Henry V111 in 1540. - he was allowed to stay at Madeley Court until his death in 1554.

In 1544 the estate was sold to Robert Brooke - he became Speaker of the House of Commons and Chief Justice for Common Pleas in 1554. He was knighted a year later. On his death in 1558 Madeley passed to his son John, and to John's son Basil in 1598.

Basil Brooke was a staunch catholic and industrialist, and was knighted in 1604. A strong Royalist supporter, one can only wonder how he would have reacted to the fact that Parliamentarian soldiers garrisoned his beloved Madeley Court during the English Civil War?

In 1705 Comberford Brooke sold Madeley Court to Matthias Astley, who leased the property to various tenants - the most notable of which was the first Abraham Darby, who died there in 1717.

After this period the land surrounding Madeley Court was decimated for its mineral deposits - the current day pit mounds a legacy of that upheaval; as was the dilapidated state of Madeley Court itself before its restoration by Telford Development Corporation in 1973.

Parts of the present structure date from the 13th century, with other structures being added in the 16th and 17th centuries - most notably the Gatehouse.

Now converted into an excellent hotel - an ideal base for those wishing to explore Madeley's rich industrial heritage - the modern day visitor can still sense an air of mystery and intrigue associated with this magnificent historical building.