Sir William Dugdale, the 17th century scholar and landowner from Shustoke, near Birmingham, is arguably the greatest historian of his era. His 1656 classic ‘Antiquities of Warwickshire’ is widely regarded as the model for the birth of modern history writing.

Now a member of the current generation, the latest in a long line of William Dugdales, has inherited his namesake’s old estate, Blyth Hall on the River Blythe near Coleshill and is opening it, for the first time in its history, as a gracious venue for events, conferences, house parties, meetings and historical tours to help fund its upkeep.

The latest William, 31, widely known as Will, is the twelfth generation of the family to live there. He studied history at Manchester University and is fascinated by his family’s distinguished legacy and their four centuries at Blyth. The elder son of Sir (William) Matthew Dugdale and grandson of the colourful war hero, businessman and Aston Villa Chairman who was officially Sir William Dugdale but always known as Bill, Will grew up at the family’s other estate Merevale Hall near Atherstone – unkindly voted the second-ugliest Victorian house in England in a poll for the BBC show ‘Blot on the Landscape’. However he spent some of his childhood at Blyth where Sir Bill, the longstanding chairman of the Severn Trent Water Authority, and his second wife Cylla, neé Mount, David Cameron’s aunt, lived throughout their marriage.

“I grew up living at Merevale which was Gothic, loud and full of estate business,” remembered Will. “Blyth was totally serene and relaxing, by comparison, the historic heart of the estate, set in lush parkland by the dreamy river. I always loved the hearty, fattening Christmasses there, sitting next to my “Pa” (Grandpa) at his end of the long dining table as he joked with me in his gravelly voice. Aston Villa was and is an obsession of ours and there were mementos around the house from his time as Club Chairman. He would take me to Villa games, which was a real thrill. 

His second wife, Cylla, kept a beautiful garden which I’m now slowly restoring. As kids we loved playing Pooh-sticks on the river and watching the family of swans which nest there year after year, like my father and his sisters did when they were kids.”

Since Cylla’s death five years ago, the house has been refurbished sympathetically in colourful but traditional style by Will’s aunt Tilly, wife of the renowned country house artist Marcus May. A 17th century portrait of the original owner dominates the dining room, with pictures of other prominent family members in the drawing room.

“My historian ancestor William Dugdale bought Blyth Hall in 1625 so next year marks the 400th anniversary of our family’s ownership,” explained Will showing me into the bright, reception rooms, “In those days it was little more than a farmhouse with land around it, but he remodelled it and added a new wing. A red sandstone chimney stack facing the river shows the date 1629 – when the chimney was built to heat the new wing. Then William’s son John made more changes in the 1690s, making the hall lighter and more welcoming.

William’s father, also called John, lived in Shustoke opposite the church and he’d tutored a member of the local gentry, William was bright and well-educated which helped to develop his interest in history and antiquities. He became a well-known historian and during the English Civil War in the 1660s, as part of Charles I’s court in Oxford, he used the Bodleian Library to study history and antiquities. He was made a junior herald in the College of Arms, working on genealogy and heraldic coats of arms. Even under Oliver Cromwell after Charles’s execution in 1646, William’s research was considered so important he was allowed to keep working while under house arrest and living quietly at Blyth. He later became the highest-ranked herald in the land, the Garter Principal King of Arms and was knighted for his loyalty.

Our family has always got involved in local activities – business, politics, charities, sport, you name it. In 1832, another ancestor also William Dugdale, stood for Parliament as a Tory and appeared at the rowdy hustings in Coleshill where a mob was gathering to rough him up. He wrote funnily in his diary about how ‘an immense number of persons of the lower order was marched in from Birmingham and Nuneaton in order to crush poor me – however in vain. By quietness and composure I at length obtained a hearing at the day of nomination and parted upon very good terms with the assembled multitude.’ He was elected and served as MP for North Warwickshire for the next 15 years.

The family owned Baddesley Colliery in North Warwickshire and my great-grandfather – also William Dugdale – was made a baronet in 1936 for his service as Chairman of Warwickshire County Council. He expanded the colliery, even though his own father had been horribly burned in a terrible mine explosion there in 1882. He’d bravely gone down the shaft with the mine overseer to try to rescue dozens of miners trapped underground in the first blast but he was caught in a second explosion and died of his burns nine days later. My great-grandfather inherited the estate when he was only 9 and said he never forgot the screams.

“So what now? My job is to bring Blyth into the 21st century and make it pay its way. We’re just a few miles from the airport, the NEC and Birmingham City Centre but in the heart of the country. It’s perfect for weekend house parties, conferences, meetings, dinners, or wedding parties from venues like Shustoke Barn close to Blyth. Guests can use it like their own house and some say it feels like living in a Jane Austen novel – though with nice bathrooms and plumbing that works!

We recently hosted my aunt Laura’s 70th birthday party here – in a big marquee in the park with a converted double decker bus inside as a quirky bar beside the dancefloor. I enjoy living on the estate but I don’t yet have a family of my own, so I’d rather rattle around the house on my own.

That’s why opening Blyth up makes sense, so many more people can experience it – and I really love seeing the place full of people enjoying themselves.”

 For more information on Blyth Hall and estate, its history and details of events there: www.blyth-hall.co.uk/

Article by Sally Jones