| Duddeston descended with the de Birmingham family into the C16th.
When John de Somery died in 1322 Bordesley passed to his sister, Lady
Joan de Botetourt of Weoley Castle. Her son John settled Haybarn on
Hugh de Segrave in 1370, but two decades later it was reunited with
Bordesley. The Earl of Wiltshire held the manor in 1461. Lady St.
Leger was pleased to style herself 'Domina de Bordesley' in 1571.
This would seem to imply residence. In her day Aston Parish was more
usually known as Great Bordesley, indicating the manor's pre--eminence.
Although the manor house, wherever it stood, may have been occupied
by a steward more often than by its owner, it would not be less fine
than those of its neighbours, like moated Duddeston. The sur-viving
manor house of Selly (moved to Bournville) shows how it may have looked.
If it was moated, the restored manor house of West Bromwich may resemble
it. When Edward Arden of Park Hall in Water Orton acquired Bordesley
in 1563, did he rebuild the house in fashionable brick, or encase
it like Hay Hall in Yardley ?
After Arden's attainder the Crown held Bordesley for nineteen years,
until 1603. Two Ardens succeeded, then the Bordesley estate was
shared between four sisters. In time the quarters passed to the
Bridgmans of Castle Bromwich Hall (later Earls of Bradford), the
Adderleys of Saltley, and the Holtes of Aston. Sir Charles Holte
owned the whole manor at his death in 1782. Thereafter there were
sales and multiple ownership.
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