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In 2010 a letter from January 27th 1871 was discovered. Written by Adela Bootle Wilbraham to Piers Egerton Warburton, it described a visit to their mutual cousin, Robert Bateman and his friend ‘Fitzroy’ at Biddulph Old Hall.
“How snug they are in Biddulph Hall – such a quantity of quaint rooms which they are furnishing by degrees. They were busy till the frost came in laying out the gardens.”
This particular quotation was puzzling on two counts. Firstly, nothing was known of ‘Fitzroy’; and secondly all trace of the garden that he and Robert had made around the Hall seemed to have vanished. Curiosity aroused, Adela’s letter led to the discovery that Robert had created a lovely and highly regarded garden at his later marital home, Benthall Hall in Shropshire. Following a visit to Benthall, it was clear that part of the grounds at Biddulph had been laid out in the same highly individual pattern as the main flower garden there.
Shortly afterwards, another reference to the grounds of Biddulph was discovered in a history of Congleton published in 1887:
“Such is the eventful history of Old Biddulph Castle, as we Congleton folk love to call it. Now every sight and sound is suggestive of restful quietude, and as the visitor turns away from the crumbling stones, pensive, it may be with the reminiscences they wake up, should curiosity lead him down the sloping bridle path (The Yew Walk) seen from the principal entrance he will shortly enter a very paradise of woodland scenery…”
