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This plaque on High Street, commemorates the Old Hall which was originally built upon the land now occupied by this house and by the school premises. It was built possibly in 1610 and was bought in 1678 by Sir Henry Firebrace, a Church benefactor and courtier to Kings Charles I, Charles ll and James II. This most famous resident of old Stoke Golding is believed to have been born in 1619 at Derby. At the age of 20 he was apprenticed to a notary at All Hallows, Barking and in 1640 he was similarly employed at College Hill, London. In 1643, Basil, Earl of Denbigh, was appointed as the Cavalier Commander in Chief of the Midlands District and Henry Firebrace was selected to take on the duties of Secretary to the Court and Council of War. It is thought that he acted as an intermediary between the King and Earl and from this day he gained the King's friendship. In 1645 he married the first of his three wives, Elizabeth, a daughter of Daniel Dowell of Stoke Golding and thus no doubt began the Stoke Golding connection. After marriage they lived in the parish of St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe in London and in 1647, whilst with the Earl in Newcastle, Henry applied for an appointment in the King's household. The same year he was gazetted to 'serve at the Back Stairs', and he was later with the King at Carisbrooke Castle as 'Page of the Bedchamber'. Here it was that he was instrumental in assisting the King to escape from his imprisonment by the Roundheads at the Castle of Carisbrooke in March 1648, and was shortly afterwards seen as 'Page of the Bedchamber and Clerk of the Kitchen'. He probably assisted the King in various attempts to escape before the King's execution. Amongst the family's heirlooms at Newton Paddox was a ring showing a portrait of the King, which was said to have been received by Firebrace from His Majesty when on the scaffold. Tradition has it that he was present at the dreadful event. With the downfall of the two Cromwells, Firebrace was sworn in as 'Third Clerk of the Kitchen' on 20th July 1660, and served the King, Charles II, and later in 1685 received further advancement when he was made 'Clerk Ordinary' by warrant to the court of King James II. He retired in 1689 after 28 years of continuous Royal service with a pension of £100 a year, no doubt feeling unable to serve the Protestants William and Mary. He retired to Stoke Golding to The Old Hall, where he died on 27th January 1690. The Church was enriched by the gift of communion plate from Sir Henry and his son Basil. In his will he left £20 to buy a gold ring to, ‘My most worthy Aunt Mistress Hester Hodges’ which lady was later to found the Free Grammar School of Stoke Golding. An inventory attached to his will gives a good description of the house. On the ground floor were the hall, dining room (or great parlour), fore parlour, little parlour, study and passage room, plus the servant's hall, kitchen, scullery, cellar and brew house, bake house and stables. On the first floor were the best chamber, chamber over clock parlour, little chamber over passage, chamber over little parlour, garret over great parlour, little garret, another garret, and a store room. This grand building was set in gardens with many fine trees and two ornamental lakes. A report on the school in 1932 states that the lower playground was frequently like a marsh. A set of stone steps led to the Church. The Old Hall was demolished in 1850, and on the site was built a Workmen's Hall and a Reading Room for the benefit of the villagers. In 1866, this building was taken over as a Public Elementary School. One notable feature which remained for some time was the garden wall, known as the crinkle-crankle wall, due to its unusual construction. |
