Its occupants included Dud Dudley, whose 17th-century experiments in smelting iron ore with coal were carried out nearby.

Following damage to Dudley Castle during the Civil War, Himley Hall became the principal family home.

The current hall dates from the 18th century when John Ward demolished the medieval manor to make way for a great Palladian mansion.

Changes in Brown's 1779 plans included the addition of a lake, fed by a series of waterfalls from a higher chain of smaller pools.

After the Second World War, the property was sold to the National Coal Board for £45,000 in January 1947, only two hours before it was set to go on the auction block.

The house was unoccupied when fire broke out, and all of Lord Dudley's art and furnishings had been removed three days prior.

In 1966, it was purchased jointly by Dudley and Wolverhampton County Borough Councils − despite existing within the Seisdon Urban District (and then South Staffordshire from 1974).