Aston Hall - Definition and Overview

Aston Hall, after the coming of the railways, in 1851

Aston Hall is a Jacobean- style mansion in Aston, Birmingham, England, completed in 1635.

The house was severely damaged after an attack by Parliamentary troops in 1643, some of the damage is still evident. The house was built for Sir Thomas Holte and remained in the family until 1817 when it was leased by James Watt Jr, son of the world famous industrial pioneer James Watt. The house was then purchased by the Birmingham Corporation in 1864.

It was also visited by Washington Irving, who wrote about it as Bracebridge Hall, taking the name from Abraham Bracebridge, husband of the last member of the Holte family to live there.

The house is open to the public and boasts a series of period rooms which have furniture, paintings, textiles and metalwork from the collections of the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Every 2 years the house hosts a christmas celebration called 'Aston Hall by Candlelight', in which actors help bring the period setting alive with mock 17th Century festivities and the house is lit up by 500 candles.