Parish Places - Madeley Court

Madeley Court is recorded in The Domesday Book of William the Conqueror. However, 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. He was a follower of King Ethelbald of Mercia. It remained in the possession of the priory she founded at Wenlock until the dissolution of the monasteries.

The last prior of Madeley was John Bayley. He surrendered the priory and its estates to the commissioners of Henry V111 in 1540. After being allowed to stay at Madeley Court, he died there in 1554.

Sir Robert Brooke

In 1544 the estate was sold to Robert Brooke - Speaker of the House of Commons 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.

Sir Basil Brooke

Sir Basil Brooke was a staunch catholic and industrialist, and was knighted in 1604. He was a strong Royalist supporter. Parliamentarian soldiers garrisoned his beloved Madeley Court during the English Civil War?

Abraham Darby

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

Restoration

After this period the land surrounding Madeley Court was decimated for its mineral deposits. The current day pit mounds are a legacy of that upheaval. Madeley Court itself was restored by Telford Development Corporation in 1973.

Conversion

Parts of the present structure date from the 13th century. Other structures were added in the 16th and 17th centuries - most notably the Gatehouse.

Now converted into an hotel, it is an ideal base for those wishing to explore Madeley's rich industrial heritage.