| Description | In her reply to Ethel Impey, Elizabeth Taylor Cadbury provides a brief history of the Manor House, describing the alterations which the Cadbury family had made to the building after purchasing the property from a Mr. Adkins in 1894.
Remarking that 'Woodbrooke was much too small in those days for our large family', Elizabeth Taylor Cadbury expresses her regret that Impey thought the house looked 'so very new'. The letter reveals that the Cadbury family had enlarged a number of rooms and added a new staircase to the Manor House 'necessitating a new kitchen and other service departments'. The Cadburys had also converted the attic into bedrooms but Elizabeth Taylor Cadbury suggests that the 'old oak' flooring in the house gave 'evidence of its date'. The letter concludes with remarks about Elizabeth Taylor Cadbury's dispute with the Ecclesiastical Commissioners concerning the redistribution of parish boundaries which would have moved the Manor House from Northfield into Weoley Castle. |