| Thomas de Erdington received Aston, its manor house, demesne, and
'divers tenements' from Ralph de Somery, lord of Dudley, in 1203.
Soon after 1286 the manor (by then if not before, reduced to the bounds
shown on Map 2) was granted to Thomas de Maidenhacche: he gave ten
acres of heath in Aston to the Priory of St.Thomas in Birmingham.
Adam de Grymesawe acquired Aston by marriage in 1320, and his niece
conveyed it to John atte Holte on their marriage in 1367. He already
owned Nechells (inherited 1331) and Duddeston (bought 1365). The Holtes
preferred to live in their fine manor house of Duddeston, and the
fate of Aston's damp one is unknown. The family had begun to prosper
in Birmingham, probably through wool sales. Thomas Holte was a Commissioner
for the Surrender of Monasteries in 1545, and he grew rich through
cheap purchases of church land in the region, including Aston glebe.
Not until the first baronet, Sir Thomas Holte, had built the great
Hall did the family move to Aston in 1631. Despite heavy losses in
the Civil War he was able to purchase Pipe and Erdington manors in
1647. After four centuries and fourteen recorded generations, the
direct line ended in 1782 and after 1818 the Holte estates were in
multiple ownership. |
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