The Ancient High House is an Elizabethan town house located on the main street in Stafford

Stafford

Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...

. The house was constructed in 1594 by the Dorrington family, from local oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

, which anecdotally came from the nearby Doxey Wood, and is the largest timber framed town house in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Many of the original timbers bear carpenter's marks indicating that the frame was pre-assembled on the ground and the joints numbered to aid the on-site construction. Some timbers have additional joint housings cut into them, which would suggest that they have been reused from an even earlier structure. It was not un-heard of for a building to be dismantled and rebuilt at a different location - hence the expression to 'up-sticks', which means to move house.

At the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, a member of the Sneyd family of Keele Hall, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, was renting the building.

Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

 visited Stafford and stayed at the Ancient High House on 17 and 18 September 1643, not long after raising the Royal Standard at Nottingham, the feudal signal to call his loyal subjects to arms - this act was seen as the start of the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

.

Having made the High House his temporary headquarters, the King talked to his advisers and dictating letters and military orders for the forthcoming campaign (some of these have been preserved in the nearby William Salt Library). While in Stafford the King attended St Mary's Collegiate Church, an account being made by a local woman for the strewing of flowers along his route to the church.

There is a story that while walking in the garden of the High House with the King, Prince Rupert fired two shots through the tail of the weather vane of St Mary's in order to demonstrate the accuracy of a continental Horse Pistol. The weather vane was removed several centuries ago, and so the story cannot be verified, although the pistol Prince Rupert is said to have fired was far more accurate than most of the weapons then in use.

In May 1643, the King's enemies, the Parliamentarians, captured the town and in the following January, the newly established Committee of Stafford ordered:

'... that the High House of Mr Dorringtons in tenure of Mr Lees shall be forthwith assigned to Mr Roberts the Provost Marshall to habite in for the securing of the better sort of prisoners...' These prisoners were Royalist

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

s.

The main room of the house would have been the central room on the first floor, and it is here that guests, including King Charles I and Prince Rupert, would have been entertained. Today a tableau represents the scene during the visit of the King who stayed as a guest of Captain Richard Sneyd. The King was accompanied by his nephew, Prince Rupert of the Rhine (and his Standard Poodle called 'Boy'), who was already an accomplished military commander.

The structure was weakened by renovations to the ground floor in the 19th century. This work included the knocking-through of a stone fireplace to create a corridor and the removal of one of the corner posts, which lead to a splaying of the overhanging upper storeys. A second chimey was demolished to create more space, this taking place following the advent of electricity when the rooms were presumably kept warm in winter by portable heaters.

The Ancient High House is now largely a historic house museum with a collection of period room furnishings and displays, including the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, Edwardian and Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 eras. Three galleries feature changing art, photography and history exhibitions. The museum is operated by the Stafford Borough Council and is free of charge, although donations are welcomed for the up-keep of the building.

The Staffordshire Yeomanry Museum is housed in the attic floor, and features uniforms and artifacts of the Staffordshire Yeomanry

Staffordshire Yeomanry

The Staffordshire Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army.Raised in 1794 following Prime Minister William Pitt's order to raise volunteer bodies of men to defend Great Britain from foreign invasion, the Staffordshire Yeomanry began as volunteer cavalry regiment. It first served overseas at the...

.

The bottom floor is currently flanked by a Savers

Savers (UK)

Savers Health & Beauty is a discount chain based in the UK retailing a variety of health, beauty, household goods and medicines, alongside a range of fine fragrances....

 discount store and Chinese natural remedy shop. It was once also home to a Cancer Research

Cancer research

Cancer research is basic research into cancer in order to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatments and cure....

 charity until its closure in June 2006. The house stands out from the surrounding 20th century structures, including its immediate neighbour - McDonalds. The Ancient High House adjoins 'Shaw's House' and the 'Swan', both of which have Elizabeethan origins, while close-by may be found St Chad's Church and the Collegiate Church of St Mary's, Stafford

External links

• Ancient High House - Stafford Borough Council, official site