Moreton Hall

Charles T. Garland was an Eton-educated American whose father died in 1900 leaving him and his siblings several million dollars between them. In 1903, he married Margaret, whose father, Francis Williams (1845-1901) J.P., manufactured pins at Edgbaston and employed 347-people. Mrs Garland was born and bred in Warwickshire and when they were married she was living at Watchbury House in Barford which her father had rented in 1897 to the Chicago department store millionaire, Marshall Field, and his wife Delia.

Moreton Hall was reputed to have cost Garland $500,000 to build and it cost him a further $50,000 a year to run. Inside, it was noted for its beautiful plasterwork - particularly in the Dining Room, Library, and barrel-vaulted Great Hall - and wood panelling. The landscaped gardens were also laid out by the architect and included a blue garden, rockeries, a sunken Italian garden and a drive lined with Wellingtonia trees that are still seen today. The hall also had extensive stables, its own private polo and cricket grounds, and a real tennis court. Major Bouch recalled of Garland and Moreton Hall:

"Our new neighbour hunted hard. He played polo; he took a grouse moor and deer forest on the Atholl Estate; he entertained sumptuously; he married an English wife; he persuaded Walter Buckmaster – who may be termed the W.G. Grace of polo history – to come and live in the old Manor House with its monastic fishponds; he made his own polo ground where the best players of America and England and India competed in his tournaments; he provided a lordly village cricket ground with pitches smoothly rolled and a suitable rustic pavilion; he erected a Real Tennis court, which is probably the most modern in existence – and many think the best in the world".