Built in 1618, Aston Hall was damaged by Parliamentary troops during the English Civil War, some of which can still be seen. There is a hole in the staircase where a cannonball went through a window, an open door, and in to the bannister. In 1817 the house was sold to the son of industrialist James Watt, in whose hands it remained until being bought by a private company in 1858. However financial difficulties forced the company to sell the house to Birmingham City Council in 1864, making it the first stately home to pass in to municipal ownership. The hall is now a community museum for Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery.