Haden Hill House Museum

Story

The grounds of Haden Hill House, known as Haden Hill Park are situated at Haden Hill, near Halesowen in the heart of the West Midlands, England. Previously privately owned, but soon sold by public subscription and later donated to the local council in 1922, they cover approximately 30 hectares.Within the ground are the Tudor Haden Hall and the Victorian Haden House.HistoryHaden HallThe original family home was Haden Hall, now under restoration, but in 1877 when George Alfred Haden Haden-Best inherited the estate from his uncle, Frederic W. G. Barrs, known as the Squire. His great nephew John Haden Badley has this to say of his funeral:My most vivid memory is of his funeral -- one of the last, I imagine, in the old style, the horses caparisoned in black with black plumes nodding on their heads, and mutes walking on either side of the hearse wearing, as did all the mourners, flowing crepe scarves that reached from their hats down to their heels. After the long drive to the church and back came a sumptuous funeral feast, which all regarded as the central feature of the day. In the afternoon two of my cousins (the elder two sons of Emiline (Best) and Walter Bassano, of whom he has much more to say) and myself stole away into the shrubberies where we could play our games (thought rather shame-facedly on such a day); there at least we could escape from the booming voice of the Rector and the sound evangelical doctrines that he seemed to think this the appropriate occasion for instilling into us