HILLFIELD HALL

The land at Hillfield was bought in 1311 by Thomas Hawes, a lawyer. His descendants, whose eldest son was always named Thomas over six generations until 1531, never lived there, preferring Idlicote near Shipston-on-Stour. Hillfield Hall was built by William & Ursula Hawes in 1576. Constructed of expensive brick to a square plan under parallel roofs, it has two polygonal towers with battlements on either side of a pitched roof; its Long Gallery on the top floor predates the famous one at Aston Hall by 60 years. The Hall was a status symbol. William lived there until his death in 1611, when he was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Edmund, and then by his grandson William II. The latter sold the Hall c1665 to George Fielding. The estate comprised five farms: Hillfield had 87 acres, Shelley 145 (sold in 1670) and three others. George added an ‘Italianate’ wing and a new entrance on the east side of the house, with a drive to Widney Manor Road. He was Bailiff of Solihull in 1671/2 and died in office, to be succeeded by his son Robert who lived in London. Robert was charming and extravagant, married two wealthy women in succession and quickly spent all their money. He was pardoned in 1677 for manslaughter, and followed James II into exile. Returning in 1695 he sold Hillfield in 1705. After being imprisoned for bigamy, he died in poverty in 1712 aged 61.

The Rev.Henry Greswold, Rector of Solihull 1660-1700 (who already owned Malvern Hall) bought Hillfield and installed his second son, also Henry (1671-1749), to live there. The latter’s unmarried daughter, Ann, inherited, and on her death in 1756 it passed to her cousin Mary Greswold, the wife of David Lewis of Malvern Hall. The two Halls remained in the same hands until 1896 when Malvern Hall was sold. Hillfield was rented out to tenant farmers. The tenant in 1795 was Peter Wooldridge who had 114 acres at £105pa. In 1805 Stephen Sprigg had the same terms and his daughter later succeeded him. The Birmingham-Oxford Railway cut the estate in half in 1852, and by 1861 the house was empty. A disastrous fire in January 1867 broke out in the evening. The Solihull fire engine eventually arrived, but the water for their hoses was frozen. Help was summoned from Birmingham but it was six hours after the fire had started that their crews arrived. The Italianate east wing was completely destroyed. Restoration of the remainder returned the main entrance to the west front. From 1871-86 George Beard, a pin manufacturer, and his family were the tenants, followed by Frederick Wright and family until1904. Samuel Boddington, a woollen merchant, and his family then took over the tenancy until 1928. All had live-in servants, sometimes up to seven.

In 1932 Oswald Eveson bought the Hall and ran his coal merchant business from there. It was Listed Grade II* in 1949. After his death in the early 1950s, his widow, Florence, continued to live there until 1964 when she sold it (now with only seven acres) for £15,000 to Peter & Marguerite Parry. They ran it as a night club/casino and lived on the upper floors, converting it into an up-market restaurant in 1974. There was a major restoration with new kitchens for which the architect was given a Civic Trust Award. On 22 October 1976 they hosted a memorable Buffet Supper to celebrate 400 years since the building of the Hall, to which Gordon Hawes flew especially from the USA.

Mitchells & Butler bought the Hall in 1984 and used it as a Toby Carvery and pub. In 2001 it was acquired by a developer who applied for Planning Permission to subdivide the building vertically into three apartments, convert the stable block and lodge into three dwellings and build a further 12, ie 18 in all. Despite many objections, permission was granted. The houses were marketed as ‘the finest new addresses in Solihull’ by Fairclough Homes. Those with three bedrooms cost £400,000 and four bedrooms £450,000.