There appears to have been at least two previous Halls in Pelsall. The earliest one being situated opposite the site of the present Pelsall Hall on Mouse Hill, and in the now fenced off wooded area where the mine used to be, infact the mine working activity in the 1800s seems to have buried any trace of the ancient moated Pelsall Hall. A survey in 1801 by Staffordshire historian/artist Stebbing Shaw stated that part of the moat was still visible but that all other traces had gone due to the mining activity. A natural spring and part of an ancient wall were also said to be visible. The spring would have provided ancient people with drinking water. This fact would strongly suggest that the wooded hill was the location of the earliest settlement which could be much earlier than Anglo Saxon times. Natural Wells & Springs had special importance to the Celts and were viewed as being holy or sacred.
Documents show that the second Pelsall Hall (built on the site of the present one) was in existance in 1616. In 1622 it belonged to a Mr. Dickenson of Pelsall and a Mr.Sparrey of Kings Norton. It is then recorded in 1637 as becoming the property of George Cradock, being given to him by his mother Elizabeth Cradock of Caverswall Castle. In 1638 George Cradock married Dorothy Saunders (later Dorothy Bridgeman). George Cradock died of smallpox in 1643 and Pelsall Hall then became the property of his wife Dorothy Cradock.
In 1647 Dorothy Cradock married Sir Orlando Bridgeman. A document dated 1649 records Pelsall Hall as belonging to Sir Orlando Bridgeman and Dame Dorothy Bridgeman. As well as ownership of Pelsall Hall these documents show that they owned extensive lands in Pelsall including the Common Lands.
Sometime after this (I am still trying to find out exactly when) Pelsall Hall became the property of The Hussey Family of Little Wyrley. They in turn sold the hall to Isaac Charles in 1785, it remained in The Charles Family until it was sold to Walsall Health Authority in 1917.
The original Pelsall Town area - including the site of Pelsall Hall, the site of the original Church (named St. Peters) at Paradise Lane / Mouse Hill and the Wooded Hill (former site of the Coal Mine and most probably the very earliest settlement) is now a Conservation Area. Such a shame that no one in earlier periods of time took the trouble to record what is now lost and valuable historical information which no doubt would have transformed the history of Pelsall from that of an industrial village to a village of more ancient beginnings! .
Dorothy Bridgeman
Important to mention here the kindness of Dame Dorothy Bridgeman who in the 1600s gave land on Mouse Hill to the people of Pelsall, some of it was rented out and the rent money was used to school local children.It is also said that it was Dame Dorothy Bridgeman who gave the land that is now Pelsall Central Common to the people of Pelsall "never to be built on and always to be looked after", a remarkably kind person who never forgot those less fortunate than herself. More about Dorothy Bridgeman
On the 7th of August 1663 a man named James Heane was appointed as Schoolmaster / Curator for the village. In 1665 the population of Pelsall was recorded as being 51 in total. Names of some of the residents in Pelsall during this time period were
John Blest - 1580
Nicholas Tomkis - Yeoman of Pelsall 1647
Edward Lane - Clerk of Pelsall 1649
Thomas Harrison - 1656
