de hagley lords of the manor first appeared in 1130, a connection lasting until 1411. intermittent ownership followed until the 1590s, when members of the lyttelton family took up residence, a connection that has lasted until the present day. among these, sir john lyttleton was implicated in essex's rebellion and his brother humphrey was hanged, drawn and quartered for sheltering men involved in the gunpowder plot on his hagley estate, including his nephew stephen. the most notable member of the family was the statesman and poet george lyttelton, 1st baron lyttelton, who landscaped the grounds at hagley and replaced the old half-timbered hall with the present palladian mansion. his brother charles, eventually bishop of carlisle, was also born at hagley and was buried there in the family church of st john the baptist. another of the family, william henry, served as rector there from 1847 to 1884.