The name Middleton is of
Old English origin and means middle farm or middle settlement. Tyas is a
Norman family name but there seems to be no evidence that Middleton Tyas once belonged to a family of that name. The village lies on a substratum of
limestone, which has been extensively
quarried. Limestone quarrying still takes place at the nearby Barton roundabout. There was also an 18th-century
copper mine and works near the village. Just outside the village is the Middleton Lodge Estate.
Middleton Lodge itself was built in 1760 and is a
listed building. It also has a number of Grade II listed buildings and of parkland.
St Michael and All Angels' Church, Middleton Tyas lies just outside the village on the road towards
Moulton. It is an ancient structure, with
Norman arches and pillars on the north side and Early English on the south. It was restored and renovated between 1867 and 1879 under the direction of Sir
George Gilbert Scott. A
Primitive Methodist chapel was erected in the village in 1877; only three years later it was sold to the
Wesleyans. It is no longer used as a church, having been closed down in 1984.
Notable people The fraudster
Sir Edmund Backhouse, 2nd Baronet, and his brother, the naval officer
Roger Backhouse, were both born in the village.
Lady Alicia Blackwood lived in the village, as did
Arthur Francis Pease, who also died there. The two brothers
Almroth Wright and
Charles Theodore Hagberg Wright were born in the village. Top poker player
Keith Hawkins currently lives in the village ==Amenities==