Himley Hall, situated between Kingswinford and Wombourne, started life in the 18th century when a medieval manor house on the site belonging to the Earl of Dudley was demolished to make way for a great Palladian mansion. The 180 acres of grounds were designed by Capability Brown to include a great lake fed by a series of waterfalls from a higher chain of smaller pools.
The Hall, owned by the Ward family, received regular royal patronage. In 1934 the Duke and Duchess of Kent honeymooned at Himley and The Prince of Wales (The Duke of Windsor, later Edward VIII) spent his last weekend there before his abdication.
