After the final battle of the English Civil War, the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, King Charles II escaped and was on the run from Parliamentarians. Charles arrived at the back door of Moseley Old Hall in the early morning of 8 September, after the journey from Boscobel House. He arrived cold and wet, disguised in workman's clothing and ill-fitting shoes that had made his feet bleed. He was welcomed by Thomas Whitgreave, the owner of the house, Alice Whitgreave, Thomas's mother, and John Huddleston, the Catholic priest of the house. They gave Charles dry clothes, food,and a proper bed (his first since Worcester on 3 September).
Charles was hidden in the priest-hole on the afternoon of 8 September while a confrontation between Whitgreave and parliamentarians took place outside the Hall. He later rested on a four-poster bed in the Hall. He left the house two days later, having planned out the rest of his escape. He was accompanied by the family's Catholic priest John Huddleston who cleaned and bandaged the King's feet.
