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Aston Hall

I remember vividly going there on a school trip in the 1950's, seeing the cannon damage on the staircase etc. I remember one thing in particular which was the guide showing us around.
He got us all to stand still and look at a big portrait, then asked is he looking at you? we all said yes so he then made the whole group move across the floor and asked is he still looking at you now? we were all amazed when we saw that he was and he said very few artists in the world could make eyes follow you across the room. That's total rubbish of course because it's actually very easy and most of the portraits I painted myself do this
 
I remember being told about the eyes. As I remember, the painting was on a balcony at the top of a staircase.

And I’ve been told it about other historic paintings, so yes, not exclusive to the Aston Hall one ! Viv.
 
I didn't notice my funny clip of Marty Feldman swiveling his eyes it different directions had a mild rude word so I removed it
 
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Didn’t know this, but when Queen Victoria visited Aston Hall in June 1858, a temporary train station was built to save her returning via Town. Alright for some. Viv.

38234AFC-5C2D-452F-9C6A-A53E217E5048.jpeg
F5116638-1A0F-4DAE-9CC9-BE1DDB821796.jpegSource: The Lady’s Own Paper 19/6/1858 (British Newspaper Archive)
 
9th April Zoom online visit to Aston Hall, 1100 to 1145. Price 4 Quid.

www.birminghammuseums.org.uk

Online Visit to Aston Hall

While we wait to get you back inside our fabulous Jacobean mansion take a online tour as we explore some of the highlights of this incredible build...
www.birminghammuseums.org.uk www.birminghammuseums.org.uk
 
These screenshots were extracted from a film called “Travels with Pevsner” from 1966. The whole film was posted by Pedrocut and is available here https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/for...de-to-birmingham-and-the-black-country.54520/
The fifth image shows a view from the rooftop, in the film it gives a panoramic view around the Hall. German Greer’s commentary suggests at this time the Hall was more of a dumping ground for artifacts which had no other place. Don’t know if that’s true, but at least they were preserved.

Viv.

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I like this 1907 view of the Hall as it shows clearly the two structures either side of the Hall. But what were they for ? Lodges ? Gatehouses? They seem too close to the house to be lodges or gatehouses.

Seems in 1907 there was a lot of iron fencing at the front. “Keep off the grass” ! Viv.

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I can't remember those lodges, if that's what they were. I do remember the old stable buildings on the right hand side, if you are looking at the hall.
'Keep off the Grass' was still the message in parks when I was young, I still feel slightly guilty if I walk across the grass in any park today!
 
Same here ASparks. I don’t remember the two buildings. And such a lot of effort went into ensuring symmetry with the main building. They were there in earlier images of the Hall. Viv.


1829 showing the building to the right.
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1848 showing the building to the left.
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Mom's brother Sam married a lady who had been born in one of the lodges at Aston Hall. Her father was a gardener. I expect there must have been a great number of staff needed to take care of the grounds as I seem to remember that they stretched up to somewhere near Perry Barr when the hall was first built. No sit-on lawnmowers then!
 
In Oliver Fairclough's book "The Grand Old Mansion", he states that in the 1779s the gardener at the House ranked immediately below the Steward, and that, like his predecessor, he lived in the South lodge. I assume that that was the building on the left in the drawing
 
Haven't found Alice's birth certificate but on her marriage in 1933 her father is listed as 'Hall Attendant' and her address given as 'South Lodge'. Incidentally my mother was a bridesmaid and it was nice to see her signature again as a witness.
 
Would HRH have been travelling up the avenue from (the present day) Albert Road In 1858 in this image ? It seems to be the only approach that makes sense in terms of the Church to the left. Or was there another approach? Viv.

CF6F4FA0-39AF-48E3-8FC6-120A96FF78BA.jpeg03DF9978-901B-481A-AE49-9CA164A6F45D.jpeg
 
I am so proud to have been born and lived the first twenty years of my life in this history packed area and Holte road puts the icing on the cake. Also when my uncle did our family tree found out that we are decedents of the Holte family as many more in that area are.
 
There seems to be an obelisk in this view (between the trees to right of the Hall). Maybe it was for an event. Sorry, no date for this one. Viv.

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Comparing the two pictures. The newly planted trees on my uncle‘s picture have developed more on Viv’s picture, making the date of Viv’s later than my uncle’s.
 
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