1942-1967

            The Mortons entertained quite frequently at Agecroft Hall, as evidenced by the guest book now displayed in the Williams Library. This red leather-bound book boasts an impressive list of guests ranging from popular musicians to service members....

Rising exuberantly above the roofline towards the sky, Agecroft Hall’s fanciful red brick chimneys are a striking contrast to its black timbers and white exterior and, also, a fine example of Tudor-era architectural magnificence. Many modern visitors do not give much t...

Much of the credit for Agecroft Hall’s elegant gardens belongs to the designer who originally laid them out: Charles Gillette. Beginning his career in New York, Gillette was a landscape architect best known for his work in the South during much of the first half of the...

In 1925, T. C. Williams, Jr. purchased Agecroft Hall, sight unseen, at an auction in England. The house was then dismantled, shipped to the United States and rebuilt in Richmond, VA. Mrs. Elizabeth Williams Morton (affectionately known as Bessie) lived in the home unti...

Agecroft Hall is rich with history and boasts an outstanding collection of objects from the Tudor and early Stuart periods, 1485-1660. The grandest and most impressive object within its collection, however, is the house, itself. Idyllically situated on the banks of the...

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We hold in our collection a universal pardon dating to January 15, 1559, the date of Queen Elizabeth I’s coronation. This pardon was purchased by Sir Robert Langley of Agecroft, Lancashire, Eccles Parish, for 26 shillings, 8 pence, quite a significant amount of money...

Christmas during the 1940s was, obviously, much different than the previous decade. Traditions changed throughout the decade as circumstances changed. World War II and, especially, the attack on Pearl Harbor had a great effect on how families celebrated Christmas in th...

One of the objects in Agecroft’s collection is a wooden tobacco box. Made in the late 19th century in the Netherlands, this fruitwood box is covered in detailed carvings—different symbols, representations of domestic life, names and the date 1654. The odd carvings on t...

One of the most impressive, though small, pieces in our collection is our 17th century laundry counter, also known as a laundry tally. By turning the brass wheels, the counter was used to record how many pieces of each type of laundry were sent out to be cleaned or sta...

The common law legal landscape in 16th century England was a patchwork of courts and traditions where participants received different treatment based on their social status, location and even the year. The courts were not unified into a single, hierarchical system, and...