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CROPTHORNE
Cropponthorne,
Croppethorne (viii cent.); Croppanhorne (ix cent.); Croppethorne (xii cent.).
The parish of Cropthorne lies in the south-east of the county and is bounded on
the north by the Avon and a stream called Merry Brook, the latter also forming
the greater portion of the eastern boundary of the parish and flowing into the
Avon on its left bank. (fn. 1)
The area of the parish of Cropthorne, excluding Charlton and Netherton, is
1,538 acres, (fn. 2)
of which 777 acres are arable land, 515 acres are permanent grass, and 23 acres
are wood. (fn. 3)
The soil is light and sandy in some parts, in others it is stiff clay; the
subsoil is sand, gravel, clay and blue limestone. The north of the parish lies
in the valley of the Avon, but to the south the land rises, reaching a height
of 200 ft. at Haselor Hill in the south of Charlton. The chief crops are wheat,
beans and barley, but much of the land in the parish is used for market
gardening.
Cropthorne village, which lies in the valley of the Avon, is extremely picturesque
and contains many interesting examples of half-timber work. The church stands
at the eastern end of the village and in the churchyard are the remains of a
stone cross. Adjoining it on the north-east are the grounds of Cropthorne
Court, an 18th-century house, with later additions, which possesses no features
of architectural interest. The manor-house, which is on the west side of the
churchyard, is a good brick house of the 18th century. Upon the same side of
the road a little further to the west is a small two-storied cottage of
half-timber with a thatched roof, which is probably 14th-century work, the
framing being of quite an early type. On the opposite side of the road, near
the modern schools and parish room, is a good half-timber house, now divided
into cottages, which is probably of similar date. Here, too, the roof is
thatched. Near this spot, which is about the middle of the village, upon a
blind lane leading northwards, is an interesting small two-storied house of the
early 17th century. It is of half-timber, L-shaped on plan, and stands upon a
basement course of stone. A triple chimney stack of the same material rises
from the centre of the ridge roof of the main block. A weather-mould of typical
section follows the slope of the roof on either side of the ridge, having at
the apex a simple circular finial. The stacks are crowned by a small cornice of
the same section as the weather-mould. Above this is one course of stone
crowned by later brickwork. The gabled end of the projecting wing has been
refaced with brick, probably towards the latter part of the 17th century, when
the small stone-mullioned windows of this portion were inserted. A small barn
near the house has framing of the same type, and is probably contemporary with
it. The main street slopes sharply to the westward, and at the foot of the
hill, where it turns to the south to join the Worcester road, is a fine
half-timber farm-house. The earlier part of the building appears to have been
of an L-shaped plan, and is certainly of a date anterior to the 16th century.
Early in the 17th century a second wing was added at the opposite end to the
original wing, by which the type of plan has been transformed. The ground story
walls of this addition are of stone with mullioned windows. Externally the
whole has been covered with rough-cast, including the half-timbered upper
story, which has had wood-mullioned windows inserted to match those of the
ground story. In a large upper room, now cut up by modern partitions, is a
stone fireplace with a straight-sided four-centred head and jambs of stone.
Elsewhere the older open fireplaces have been built up and small modern grates
take their place. The original stairs remain in this wing.
Half-timber Cottage in
Cropthorne Village
Charlton, which
comprises the eastern portion of the ancient parish of Cropthorne, was formed
into a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1882, (fn. 4)
and has an area of 1,599 acres, of which 17 acres are covered by water, 917
acres are arable land, 678¾ acres permanent grass and 5 acres woodland. (fn. 5)
The village or hamlet of Charlton lies about a mile to the east of Cropthorne
proper, and is situated on both banks of Merry Brook. The osier-bordered stream
which runs down the centre of the street imparts a quaint and unusual air. Some
of the cottages are half-timbered. Charlton House is a brick mansion of the
latter half of the 17th century, containing no features of extraordinary
interest. There is a square stone pigeon house, much restored. At the entrance
of the drive are fine stone gate-piers.
Netherton, which includes the southern part of the parish of Cropthorne, was
annexed to the parish of Elmley Castle for ecclesiastical purposes in 1864. (fn. 6)
Near Chapel Farm in Netherton, now forming part of the out-buildings and in a
lamentable state of ruin, are the remains of a mid-12th-century chapel. The
building consisted of a chancel measuring internally about 16 ft. by 13 ft. and
a nave about 44 ft. by 15 ft. The walls are of rubble masonry about 2½ ft.
thick. At some period early in the 17th century the chapel was converted into a
dwelling-house and a floor was inserted which has since disappeared, though the
pockets for the joists are clearly to be seen on the inside of the nave walls.
At the same time a chimney stack containing one fireplace for each floor was
built into the west wall of the nave and a wing was built out on the north side
of the nave. The north wall has been cut away for this purpose immediately to
the east of the north doorway, and made good again with fragments of 12th-century
moulded stones. The stone paving of this wing is still in situ.
Two square-headed windows in the south wall of the chancel, now blocked, appear
also to belong to the 17th-century alterations. The east window, which is a
single light with a cusped head and ribbed rear arch, is probably a late
13th-century insertion. Between the two square-headed windows in the south wall
above referred to is a very early 13th-century lancet, with external rebates
for shutters. The accompanying illustration, taken from a photograph of four
years ago, shows a similar window in the north wall, but this portion has since
fallen. A broken fragment of masonry shows the position of the west wall of the
chancel, and there are the remains of a buttress at this point on the south
wall. The corresponding portion of the wall on the north side is gone. (fn. 7)
The north doorway of the nave, now blocked, is a beautiful specimen of late
Norman work. The arch, which springs from keeled jamb shafts with delicately
carved capitals, is of two orders externally, the outer enriched with the
cheveron and lozenge, each lozenge inclosing a sculptured leaf or flower. More
than half the stones of the western limb of the arch have fallen out, and the
jamb shaft on this side has disappeared. The inner order is also enriched. The
doorway itself had a square head, and the tympanum, carved with a wyvern, is
now lying in a stable hard by. The rear arch is enriched with a double
cheveron. In the eastern half of the south wall the jambs of two original
windows may be traced. The blocked south doorway seems to have been of the same
character as that on the north, but only the external jambs of its inner order
remain, and these seem to have been reset. To the west of this, apparently
reset in the blocking of a 17th-century window, is a plain narrow round-headed
light, the head formed of a single stone, which may be a survival from a
smaller and earlier chapel.
The west wall is now partly occupied by the stone fireplaces added in the 17th
century, the chimney stack projecting externally. At the south-west is an angle
buttress, probably of the 15th century. What remains of the roofing of the
chancel appears to be of the same date. The wall-plates are moulded. Of the two
remaining trusses, the eastern, or wall, truss is of the simple tie-beam and
collar construction. The western truss has the collar stiffened by curved
braces forming a two-centred arch. The roofing of the western portion of the
nave, which is otherwise roofless, is modern. In the wall of a neighbouring
stable is a reset small round-headed light of the 12th century.
The road from Pershore to Evesham runs through the parish from west to east,
and from it at a short distance from the village of Cropthorne a road branches
off southwards to Smoky Farm. Salt Way (fn. 8)
runs from north to south through Netherton, a branch from it running west
through the village into the Elmley Castle Road, which passes through the
southern portion of the parish from west to east.
The following place-names occur in the 14th century:— Rokkeplace and Lynneplace
(fn.
9) ; and in the 16th century Twenty Lands and Witche Meadow Furlong in
Estfield, (fn. 10)
Inch Meadow, Colhill Way, Sharforde Meadow. (fn. 11)
A bronze celt of early type has been found at Cropthorne, (fn. 12)
and at Charlton an urn containing charred bones 6 ft. below the surface. Near
it was a bronze celt. (fn. 13)
MANOR
In 780 Offa, King of Mercia, is said to have granted 7 manentes at CROPTHORNE
to the church of Worcester, (fn. 14)
but this charter may be a forgery. (fn. 15)
Cropthorne was still a royal estate in 841, when King Beorhtwulf dated from
there a genuine charter giving land in Wychwood to Bishop Heahbeorht of
Worcester. (fn. 16)
The 50 hides at Cropthorne (fn. 17)
which then comprised the hundred of Cuthbergehlawe were included in the
spurious charter of 964, ascribed to King Edgar, granting the hundred of
Oswaldslow to the church of Worcester. (fn. 18)
In 1086 the church held Cropthorne with Netherton. (fn. 19)
The manor was confirmed
to the prior and convent by Bishop Simon in 1148. (fn. 20)
King Stephen is said to have freed 5 hides in Cropthorne from taxes. (fn. 21)
The manors of Cropthorne and Netherton seem to have been leased early in the
13th century to William de Wetmora, for on his death in 1212 they returned to
the prior. (fn. 22)
A grant of free warren here was made to the prior in 1256, (fn. 23)
and in 1291 he held 7 carucates of land at Cropthorne and Netherton. (fn. 24)
The prior increased his holding in Cropthorne by various purchases during the
14th century, (fn. 25)
and in 1355 the grant of free warren was confirmed. (fn. 26)
On the dissolution of
the priory in 1539–40 (fn. 27)
the manor passed to the Crown and was granted to the dean and chapter in 1542.
(fn.
28) This grant was confirmed in 1609. (fn. 29)
The dean and chapter continued to hold the manor of Cropthorne until it was
sold under the Commonwealth in 1649 to Thomas Kempe. (fn. 30)
The site and demesne
lands of the manor were sold in the following year to William Dineley, (fn. 31)
and his nephew Edward Dineley of Charlton was in possession in 1658, (fn. 32)
and was dealing with half the site of the manor in 1676–7. (fn. 33)
At the latter date he was probably a tenant under the dean and chapter, for
their estates had been given back to them at the Restoration, and the manor of
Cropthorne was confirmed to them in 1692. (fn. 34)
The manor remained with the dean and chapter (fn. 35)
or their lessees until 1859, when their estates were transferred to the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners. (fn. 36)
In 1861 the Commissioners sold to Francis Holland, lessee of the Cropthorne
Court estate, the reversion of Cropthorne Court manor-house and the lord's
interest in certain copyhold lands. In 1864 and 1866 Mr. Holland purchased the
Commissioners' interest as lords of the manor in other lands, and his grandson
Francis Corbett Holland is now lord of Cropthorne. (fn. 37)
Up till 1859 a court leet was held yearly for the manor of Cropthorne.
In 1086 there was a mill
at Cropthorne which paid 10s. and 20 'stiches' of eels yearly. (fn. 38)
In 1240 the Prior of Worcester owned a mill there, which paid 35s. and
30 'stiches' of eels yearly, (fn. 39)
and he had two other mills. (fn. 40)
In 1261 the prior bought of William de Beauchamp a quarter of a virgate of land
and half of two mills at Cropthorne, (fn. 41)
and this gift was confirmed by John son of Nicholas de Pebbesworth, who had
sold the mills to William de Beauchamp. (fn. 42)
The mill of Cropthorne is again mentioned in the time of Queen Elizabeth, (fn. 43)
and there is still a water corn-mill to the north of the village.
CHARLTON
CHARLTON (Ceorletune, viii, xii, cent.; Chereleton, xiii
cent.; Cherlinton, xiv, xv cent.) was included in King Offa's probably spurious
charter of 780 granting Cropthorne to the church of Worcester. (fn. 44)
Heming the monk in his chartulary says that the villa called Ceorlatun
belonged to the church of Worcester, half, of it being held by the monks, and
the other half, though possedded by strangers, owing service to the monastery.
He goes on to say that the latter part which the Frenchmen possessed—namely, 7
hides—had been leased to a certain rich man for three lives, and after his
death was held by his son, who was succeeded by a certain Godric, surnamed
Finc. After his death Bishop Wulfstan received it back again, and because
certain of the Normans who invaded the estates of the English strove to oppose
him he went to the king and gave him a golden goblet of great worth, and after
he had got a writ from the king under his seal he returned and possessed this
part of Charlton. Later, however, he tells us, Robert le Despenser, brother of
Urse the sheriff, seized it with the assistance of the queen, and so the church
lost it, but Robert still professed to be ready and willing to do service to
the church for it. (fn. 45)
In 1086 Robert le Despenser held these 7 hides at Charlton (fn. 46)
under the manor of Cropthorne. Later this manor became annexed to the manor of
Fladbury, and was held of that manor during the 12th and 13th centuries. (fn. 47)
In 1541 the manor was said to be held of the manor of Cropthorne, (fn. 48)
but in 1624 the jurors did not know of whom it was held. (fn. 49)
On the death of Robert
le Despenser his lands were divided, and the early 12th-century survey of the
hundred of Oswaldslow shows Robert Marmion as owner of these 7 hides at
Charlton. (fn. 50)
The overlordship remained in the Marmion family (fn. 51)
until the death of Sir Philip Marmion about 1292. (fn. 52)
The Marmions' interest in the manor then seems to have lapsed.
Under the Marmions the
manor was held from very early times by the Botelers of Oversley. Robert
Boteler held the manor of Robert Marmion about 1182. (fn. 53)
It was probably his son Ralph who in 1140 endowed the abbey of Alcester with
half the tithes of his lordship of Charlton. (fn. 54)
The mesne lordship of Charlton remained in this family (fn. 55)
until about 1380, when William Boteler died, leaving a daughter Elizabeth, who
married Robert de Ferrers. (fn. 56)
They were succeeded by their daughter Mary, who married Ralph Nevill. (fn. 57)
The estate passed from Ralph about 1457–8 to his son John Nevill, (fn. 58)
who died in 1482, (fn. 59)
leaving as his heir Sir William Gascoigne, son of his daughter Joan (fn. 60)
and William Gascoigne. (fn. 61)
In 1484–5 Sir William brought an action against Robert Throckmorton and John
Hardwyk on a 'plea why they took away William Dineley a minor,' son and heir of
William Dineley, who had been seised of the manor of Charlton and had held it
as of the manor of Oversley by the service of a knight's fee. (fn. 62)
This is the last mention of the Gascoignes' interest in the manor.
The manor of Charlton
does not seem to have been held by the Botelers in demesne. As early as the
12th century Robert son of Hubert held the manor of Robert Boteler. (fn. 63)
Nothing more is known of the tenants of the manor until 1240, when William de
Handsacre held it. (fn. 64)
In 1267–8 he was accused of carrying off the goods of Thomas de Arderne from
this manor. (fn. 65)
William did not appear to answer the plea, and the sheriff was commanded to
take all his lands and tenements into the king's hands. (fn. 66)
William had evidently fallen under the king's displeasure before this time, for
in 1266 he was granted a safe conduct coming to the king's court to stand his
trial. (fn. 67)
William paid a subsidy of 30s. at Cropthorne in 1280, (fn. 68)
and was holding the manor in 1292 and in 1299. (fn. 69)
Sir Simon Handsacre, possibly his son, is said to have been lord of Charlton in
1331–2, (fn. 70)
and William de Handsacre was in possession in 1346. (fn. 71)
Sir Simon, who succeeded William, died before 1383–4, leaving three daughters,
Eleanor wife of Richard Dineley, Elizabeth wife of Roger Colmon, and afterwards
of Peter de Melburn, and Isabel wife of Lawrence Frodley. (fn. 72)
Richard Dineley and Elizabeth were dealing with a third of the manor in 1386–7,
(fn.
73) and three years later the co-heirs conveyed the manor to trustees, (fn. 74)
evidently for the purpose of settling it on the Dineleys, to whom the whole
afterwards passed.
Handsacre. Ermine three
chess-rooks sable.
Dineley. Argent a fesse
sable with a molet between two roundels sable in the chief.
A pedigree of the family
of Dineley is given in the worcestershire visitation of 1569. (fn. 75)
According to this pedigree Thomas Dineley, who held Charlton in 1431, (fn. 76)
was the son of Richard and Eleanor. Thomas married a member of the family of
Throckmorton, (fn. 77)
and seems to have settled Charlton upon himself and his wife. (fn. 78)
He was succeeded by a son and grandson, both named William. (fn. 79)
The latter was a minor in 1484–5, (fn. 80)
and in 1498 was in controversy with the Prior of Worcester as to common of
pasture in Penmere. (fn. 81)
In 1514 he settled the manor on his son John on his marriage with Elizabeth
Tate, daughter of Roger St. Nicholas of Thanet. (fn. 82)
John died in 1541, when his son Sir Henry succeeded to the manor. (fn. 83)
He was Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1553 and 1568. (fn. 84)
On 5 July 1575 Henry Dineley settled the manor on his son Francis on his
marriage with Elizabeth Bigge, daughter of Thomas Bigge of Lenchwick. (fn. 85)
Francis Dineley, who was Sheriff of Worcester in 1597, (fn. 86)
died 28 October 1624 seised of the manor of Charlton, his heir being his
grandson Edward, son of his elder son Henry. (fn. 87)
Edward died in 1646, (fn. 88)
and his son and successor Samuel died about 1654, leaving two daughters, Mary,
who afterwards married Henry Collins, and Elizabeth wife of Whitlock Bulstrode.
(fn.
89) In 1674 Mary Dineley conveyed her moiety of the manor to her uncle
Edward Dineley, (fn. 90)
who acquired the other moiety in 1676 from Whitlock Bulstrode and Elizabeth. (fn. 91)
Edward Dineley was knighted in 1681, (fn. 92)
and served as Deputy Lieutenant for Worcestershire in 1682. (fn. 93)
His daughter and heir Helen or Eleanor married Edward Goodere of Burhope in
Herefordshire, who was created a baronet in 1707 and died in 1739, at the age
of nearly ninety. (fn. 94)
He was followed by his eldest surviving son John, who having succeeded to the
Charlton estates took the name of Dineley about 1708. (fn. 95)
He married Mary daughter and heir of — Lawford of Stapleton in Gloucestershire,
(fn.
96) by whom he had a son, who joined with him in disentailing the estate
and died soon afterwards. (fn. 97)
Samuel Goodere, who was a captain in the Royal Navy and at that time commanded
a ship called the Ruby, expected to inherit the manor from his brother
Sir.John Dineley, but the latter threatened to disinherit him and leave his
property to his nephew John Foote of Truro in Cornwall, the son of his sister
Eleanor.
It so alarmed and disgusted the said Samuel that he came to the bloody
resolution of murdering him, which he executed on the 17th Jan. 1741. A friend
at Bristol who knew their mortal antipathy had invited them both to dinner, in
hopes of reconciling them, and they parted in the evening in seeming
friendship, but the captain placed some of his crew in the street near College
Green with orders to seize his brother, and assisted in hurrying him by
violence to his ship, under pretence that he was disordered in his senses,
where when they arrived he caused him to be strangled in the cabin by White and
Mahony, two ruffians of his crew, himself standing sentinel at the door while
the horrid deed was perpertated. (fn. 98)
But the cooper of the ship and his wife happened to be in the next cabin, and
by the help of an open crevice saw the whole transaction. (fn. 99)
Samuel Goodere and his accomplices, Mahony and White, were arrested, and,
having been tried in Bristol on 26 March and found guilty, were executed on 15
April 1741. (fn.
100) John Foote succeeded his uncle and took the name of Dineley. He was
dealing with the manor in 1741 and 1745, (fn.
101) but Dame Mary Dineley-Goodere, Sir John's widow, held the Charlton
estate in dower (fn.
102) and married William Rayner, a printer in White Friars, London. He
alleged that he became owner of the manor of Charlton by the purchase from John
Foote-Dineley of his reversionary interest, and sold it to Joseph Biddle of
Evesham, (fn.
103) from whose executors it was purchased in 1774 by Thomas Beesley,
Richard Sockett, William Lilly, and Timothy Bevington of Worcester. (fn.
104) They or their descendants were the owners in 1775–6, (fn.
105) and in 1787 Thomas Beesley, Timothy Bevington, Richard Sockett, Thomas
Griffith, clerk, and Thomas Brewster conveyed the manor to John Sparling,
Robert Rolleston and Thomas Barton. (fn.
106)
About this time one wing of the manor-house was burnt down. In 1825 Robert Dent
was the owner. (fn.
107) The manor had been purchased before 1868 by Henry Workman, (fn.
108) who sold it in 1873 to William Carey Faulkner. His second son James
Faulkner is now lord of the manor.
The other half of the vill of Charlton which was said by Heming to have been
kept by the church of Worcester was probably included at the time of the
Domesday Survey in the manor of Cropthorne. It may, however, have been the land
at Charlton which, having been lost by the college of Westbury, was restored in
1093 by Bishop Wulfstan when he refounded the college and made it subject to
the church of Worcester. (fn.
109) Charlton was, however, confirmed to the prior and convent by Bishop
Simon in 1148, (fn.
110) and formed part of the manor of Cropthorne in 1240. (fn.
111) On the dissolution of the priory in 1539–40 (fn.
112) the manor of Charlton was granted to the dean and chapter. (fn.
113) The grant was confirmed in 1608–9, (fn.
114) and in 1641 the dean and chapter granted a lease of the manor to
Edward Dineley for the lives of his children, John, Edward, and Joyce. (fn.
115) In 1649 this manor was sold by the Parliamentary commissioners to
William Dineley, (fn.
116) the uncle of Edward Dineley of Charlton, but was recovered by the dean
and chapter, to whom it was confirmed in 1692. (fn.
117) The manor remained with them until the manorial rights lapsed, the
last mention of it being in 1779. (fn.
118) It was then held under a lease from the dean and chapter by Mr.
Dineley, and was not easily distinguishable from the other manor of Charlton,
since the lands of the two manors were intermixed. (fn.
119)
An estate at Charlton
was held by the nuns of Pinley in Warwickshire. There is no record of any grant
to them of this land, but in 1291 they held rents of assize at Charlton, (fn.
120) and in 1535 their estate there and at Beoley was valued at 30s.
4d. yearly. (fn.
121) These lands, which fell to the Crown at the Dissolution, were granted
to Henry Best in 1589–90. (fn.
122)
NETHERTON
NETHERTON (Neotheretune, viii cent.; Neotheretune, xi
cent.) is included with Cropthorne in King Offa's supposed forged grant of 780
to the church of Worcester, (fn.
123) and at the date of the Domesday Survey the church held Netherton. (fn.
124) In the Register of the priory of 1240 it is stated that Netherton
'gelded' with Cropthorne, and that there were 2 carucates in demesne. (fn.
125) In the Taxation of 1291 Netherton is included in Cropthorne. (fn.
126) In 1255–6 the prior obtained a grant of free warren at Netherton, and
it was confirmed in 1355. (fn.
127) After the dissolution of the priory in 1539–40 (fn.
128) the manor of Netherton was granted in 1542 to the Dean and Chapter of
Worcester, (fn.
129) and this grant was confirmed to them in 1609. (fn.
130)
In 1549–50 the manor was
granted by the dean and chapter to George Willoughby at a fee-farm rent of £20
8s. 2d. (fn.
131) This rent was sold by the Parliamentary trustees in 1655 to Richard
Salwey, (fn.
132) but was restored to the dean and chapter at the Restoration, and was
still held by them in 1779. (fn.
133) After the death of George Willoughby the manor passed to his widow
Anne Willoughby. (fn.
134) She married as a third husband Sir Francis Bulstrode, who was
concerned in several suits in Chancery as to this estate. (fn.
135) Sir Francis Bulstrode and Anne his wife and Paul Raynsford, who had
married Frances second daughter of George Willoughby, (fn.
136) sold the manor to Henry Willoughby in 1569–70. (fn.
137) He sold it to William Savage of Elmley Castle in 1591–2. (fn.
138) The manor then followed the same descent as that of Elmley Castle (fn.
139) until the manorial rights lapsed, the last mention of it being in
1822, when Robert Clavering Savage was the owner. (fn.
140)
CHURCHES
The church of ST. MICHAEL consists of a chancel about 34 ft. by 14½ft.,
nave 47 ft. by the same width, north and south aisles 9½ ft. and 9 ft. wide
respectively, south porch, and a western tower 11 ft. square. These
measurements are all internal.
The earliest portion of the present building was begun about the year 1100, and
appears to have been a rebuilding of an earlier structure, beginning with the
north arcade and aisle, followed soon afterwards by those on the south side.
About 1170 the chancel arch was inserted, and a few years later the tower
added, the chancel being rebuilt and widened about 1200. The church stood thus,
with chancel, nave with narrow aisles, and west tower, till the middle of the
14th century, when the chancel was again rebuilt and the nave aisles widened.
Late in the 15th century the church seems to have been much altered, and it is
not improbable, from the character of the bases, that the north arcade was then
rebuilt with the old stones before the clearstory was added. The tower also was
raised to its present height, with the intention of adding a spire, but the
last work was never carried out. The south porch seems to be the work of a
later date, probably with older materials, and in the 18th century the north
range of clearstory windows was renewed in the 'churchwarden' style of the
time. In 1894 the chancel was rebuilt with the old materials, and the church
also underwent restorations in 1900 and 1903, and a further one has lately been
completed.
The three-light east window has modern tracery, but the jambs belong to the
14th century. On either side are plain brackets in the east wall, and in the
north-east corner is a square plastered recess with a shelf.
In the north wall is a small lancet window dating from about the year 1200, and
on the south side are three square-headed windows, each of two lights; the heads
of the two eastern are modern, while the third is of later date than the
chancel. Under the easternmost window is a 13th-century piscina in the form of
a round moulded capital.
The chancel arch has 12th-century jambs, of two orders, the inner with an
engaged shaft on the west angle. The outer order has been cut away on the west
face. The engaged shafts have scalloped capitals, but the arch, of two
chamfered orders, is of much later date and is very unevenly built, and above
it the wall is set back on the west face.
The north arcade of the nave consists of four bays with circular piers and
semicircular arches of two square orders. The western respond, and the second
pier from it, have meagre 12th-century moulded capitals, but the others are
apparently later copies. The south arcade is also of four bays and has
half-round arches of two orders, and circular piers with moulded capitals and
bases differing somewhat from those opposite. The tower arch has jambs and a
pointed arch of two chamfered orders with a square and chamfered abacus carved
with tooth ornament.
In the clearstory on the north side are three large plain windows with square
panes and arched heads, of 18th-century design. On the south side the three
windows, of late 15th-century date, are each of two lights with blank spandrels
within a square internal head and an external elliptical head. The
square-headed east window of the north aisle is of three lights, and the two
windows in the north wall are of two lights under square heads, differing slightly
in design. The 14th-century north doorway has a two-centred chamfered arch,
considerably restored.
The east window of the south aisle differs but slightly from that of the north,
and the three side windows are each of two ogee-headed lights. The 14th-century
south doorway has a two-centred arch of one chamfered order. The remains of an
old piscina basin still exist in the south-east corner of the south aisle, with
an arch over, of much later date. In the east wall is a square recess with
rebated jambs. A large groove in the north wall of the aisle, next to the east
wall, seems to suggest that the wall has been reconstructed east of its
original position.
The south porch seems to have been much altered in the late 15th century. The
outer doorway has jambs and an elliptical arch of two continuous chamfered
orders. In the side walls are narrow rectangular lights, the western one being
blocked. The diagonal buttresses are modern, and the wall over the archway
finishes abruptly with a plain horizontal parapet in front of the gabled roof.
The tower is of three stages, the lower two dating from the 12th century and
the upper being a late 15th-century addition. The lowest stage has shallow
buttresses in the middle of the three outer walls. They reach only to the first
offset and are pierced by small round-headed windows, with wide splays inside.
The second stage has a small round-headed 12th-century light in its west wall.
The belfry is lit by transomed windows of two lights with vertical tracery, the
lights beneath the transoms having trefoiled heads and quatrefoil spandrels.
The labels are returned round the tower as a horizontal string at the transom
level. The parapet is embattled with continuous coping and grotesque gargoyles.
At the angles are small square pinnacles. The walling of the church generally
is rubble with dressed quoins, &c., parts of it being rough-cast.
The chancel has a modern open timbered roof, while the nave and aisles have
plastered ceilings.
The font is also modern. Some of the traceried bench ends and front and back
panelling to the nave seats date from the 15th century.
There are several large tombs in the church. The most prominent, to Edward
Dineley, 1646, is placed asked in the first bay of the north arcade, and is of
Renaissance design, with kneeling figures under a flat canopy, supported on
marble columns of the Corinthian order. On the front face of the base are the
kneeling figures of four sons and three daughters in high relief. Above the
canopy is a cleft pediment with a shield bearing the Dineley arms impaling
those of his wife. The pedestals at the angles also support shields. The tomb
is evidently not in its original position, and was probably removed from the
chancel.
At the east end of the north aisle is another alter tomb to Francis Dineley,
died 1624, with recumbent effigies of a man and woman, the former in armour. On
the base are the kneeling figures of nine sons and seven daughters, and cradles
for three children, who died in infancy.
In the north wall, to the west of the first windows, is a 14th-century tomb
recess with a flattened ogee arch, enriched with ball flowers. The arch springs
from square blocks of stone supported on carved corbels, and at the apex is a
human head. In the recess is an ancient slab carved with a long round-headed
cross, a hand and a chalice, but it is apparently not in the original position.
There are many other slabs of 18th-century date and other modern wall
monuments.
There are six bells: the first by Abel Rudhall, 1746; the second, 1898, by Bond;
the third, 1703; the fourth by Abel Rudhall, 1750; the fifth by Bond, 1898, and
the sixth by Rudhall, 1746.
The plate consists of a very small cup of 1571 with a cover paten without a
hall mark, but inscribed 1571, and a plated modern set of a cup, two plates,
standing paten and a flagon.
The registers are as follows: (i) mixed entries 1557 to 1717 and burials 1752
to 1754; (ii) baptisms and burials 1718 to 1812, marriages 1718 to 1756; (iii)
marriages 1754 to 1801; (iv) marriages 1801 to 1812.
The modern church of ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, Charlton, is a small
rectangular building of stone, designed in the style of the 13th century. It
was converted from an old barn by Mr. Workman and was opened by licence in
1872. (fn.
141) The ecclesiastical parish of Charlton was formed from Cropthorne in
1882, and the church was consecrated in the following year. (fn.
142) The patronage was vested in Henry Workman for life, and then in the
Bishop of Worcester. (fn.
143)
ADVOWSON
In 1086 there was a
priest at Cropthorne, who had half a hide with one plough. (fn.
144) The Prior and convent of Worcester were patrons of Cropthorne until
the Dissolution. (fn.
145)
In 1350 the prior and convent received a licence from the Crown to appropriate
the church of Cropthorne, according to a Bull of Pope Clement. (fn.
146) The vicarage was ordained in 1365. (fn.
147) In 1427–8 the church was valued at £7 6s. 8d., (fn.
148) and it was worth £21 4s. 8d. in 1535. (fn.
149) After the dissolution of the priory in 1539–40, (fn.
150) the advowson of the church of Cropthorne was granted to the Dean and
Chapter of Worcester in 1542. (fn.
151) This grant was confirmed in 1609, (fn.
152) and the dean and chapter have presented ever since, (fn.
153) with the exception of once in 1642, when they granted the presentation
to Francis Kite and Stephen Richardson for that turn only. (fn.
154)
Chapels at Charlton and Netherton, which belonged to the church of Cropthorne,
are mentioned in the 13th century. (fn.
155) This seems to be the only reference to them in the records. Netherton
chapel was in ruins in the middle of the 17th century, (fn.
156) and some remains of it can still be seen in a farm-house at Netherton
(see above).
There is a mission Baptist chapel at Charlton in connexion with Cowl Street,
Evesham.
CHARITIES
The Window Lye's Charity.
—It appears from the
church table in the parish of All Saints in Evesham that the Window Lye gave a
tenement in Cowl Street, the rent to be distributed in bread to the poor of the
parish of St. Lawrence and the town of Cropthorne for ever. A sum of about £9
10s. is annually received from Evesham St. Lawrence, which is applied in
the distribution of bread and money.
Holland's School.
—In 1735 Mrs. Mary
Holland, by her will, bequeathed £50 to be laid out in building a schoolhouse.
The testatrix likewise bequeathed £200 as an endowment.
The trust property now consists of the old schoolhouse and garden and 1 r.
20p., producing £10 per annum, and £175 13s. 2d. consols with the
official trustees, producing £4 7s. 8d. yearly.
The church land consists of 2 a. of land which has been in the possession of
the parish from time immemorial. The rents, amounting to £1 15s. yearly,
are carried to the churchwarden' accounts.
Footnotes
|
1
|
There is another
unnamed stream which runs through the parish from south to north and joins
the River Avon near the village of Cropthorne.
|
|
2
|
16 acres are covered
by water.
|
|
3
|
Statistics from Bd. of
Agric. (1905).
|
|
4
|
Lond. Gaz. 22 Aug. 1882, p. 3911.
|
|
5
|
Statistics from Bd. of
Agric. (1905).
|
|
6
|
Parl. Papers (1872), xlvi, no. 345, p. 3.
|
|
7
|
Prattinton (Coll. Soc.
Antiq.), who visited Cropthorne in 1817, gives a full description of the
chapel. At that period the north wall of the chancel was intact, and there
was a 'stone bell-turret, capable of holding two bells.' He also states that
there was an 'additional building added on the north.' As mentioned above,
the floor of this building alone survives at the present day.
|
|
8
|
Not the Roman road so
called.
|
|
9
|
Prattinton Coll. (Soc.
Antiq.), Deeds of D. and C. of Worcester, no. 252.
|
|
10
|
Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2),
bdle. 158, no. 36.
|
|
11
|
Ibid. bdle. 51, no.
37.
|
|
12
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 194.
|
|
13
|
Ibid.
|
|
14
|
Heming, Chartul.
(ed. Hearne), i, 95; ii, 319; Birch, Cart. Sax. i, 327.
|
|
15
|
Mr. Round supposes
that this charter was forged by the monks for production in the dispute with
the Abbot of Evesham with regard to Hampton and Bengeworth (V.C.H. Worcs.
i, 254–5).
|
|
16
|
a Birch, op. cit. ii,
6, 7.
|
|
17
|
In Offa's grant was
included land at Netherton, Elmley, Criddesho, Charlton, Hampton and
Bengeworth, together making up 50 or rather 49 hides.
|
|
18
|
Hale, Reg. of Worc.
Priory (Camd. Soc.), 22b; Heming, op. cit. ii, 519; Birch, Cart.
Sax. iii, 377.
|
|
19
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 296b. Robert le Despenser held
Elmley Castle and Charlton of this manor (ibid.), and the Abbot of Evesham
held Hampton and Bengeworth (ibid. 297a) in the same way.
|
|
20
|
Thomas, Surv. of
Worc. Cath. App. no. 18.
|
|
21
|
Heming, op. cit. ii,
526; Nash, Hist. of Worcs. i, 271.
|
|
22
|
Ann. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 401.
|
|
23
|
a Cal. Pat.
1354–8, p. 266.
|
|
24
|
Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 227b.
|
|
25
|
Adam son of Guy de la
Folye granted to the Prior of Worcester a messuage, a carucate of land and 20s.
rent in Cropthorne in 1305 (Cal. Pat. 1301–7, p. 361; Chan. Inq. p.m.
33 Edw. I, no. 145; Inq. a.q.d. file 52, no. 21); John de Bransford gave land
in 1336 (Cal. Pat. 1334–8, p. 222; Inq. a.q.d. file 228, no. 23); and
in 1345 Alexander, vicar of the church of Hallow, Richard de Hindlip,
chaplain, John de Totenham, chaplain, and John Trenchefoil, clerk, gave 34s.
9d. rent in Cropthorne (Cal. Pat. 1343–5, p. 449).
|
|
26
|
Cal. Pat. 1354–8, p. 266.
|
|
27
|
V.C.H. Worcs. ii, 111.
|
|
28
|
L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvii, g. 71 (29); Pat. 33 Hen. VIII, pt. v.
Ralph Parsons was their tenant for life in 1560 (Chan. Proc. [Ser. 2], bdle.
52, no. 26).
|
|
29
|
Pat. 6 Jas. I, pt.
xii, no. 2.
|
|
30
|
Close, 1649, pt. xiv,
no. 15.
|
|
31
|
Ibid. 1650, pt. xxxiv,
no. 23.
|
|
32
|
Feet of F. Worcs.
East. 1658.
|
|
33
|
Ibid. Mich. 28 Chas.
II.
|
|
34
|
Pat. 4 Will. and Mary,
pt. i, no. 6.
|
|
35
|
Nash, op. cit. i, 271;
Priv. Act, 19 Geo. III, cap. 33.
|
|
36
|
Lond. Gaz. 16 Dec. 1859, p. 4757, confirmed by Stat. 31
& 32 Vict. cap. 19.
|
|
37
|
Inform. by the late
Mr. J. H. Hooper and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
|
|
38
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 296b. There were twenty-five eels
to a 'stiche.'
|
|
39
|
The parson of
Cropthorne received the tithes of the mill and eels.
|
|
40
|
Hale, Reg. of Worc.
Priory (Camd. Soc.), 70a. There is a charter in this register by
which the prior and convent granted to Hugh de Furches a virgate of land in
Cropthorne in exchange for the moiety of the mill in Cropthorne and the land
which attached to it, Hugh paying the priory 8s. a year. This charter
is undated (ibid. 73b).
|
|
41
|
Ann. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 447.
|
|
42
|
Prattinton Coll. (Soc.
Antiq.), Deeds of D. and C. of Worc. no. 207; Add. MS. 28024, fol. 128a.
|
|
43
|
Chan. Proc. Eliz. Pp.
2, no. 35.
|
|
44
|
Birch, Cart. Sax.
i, 327; Heming, op. cit. i, 70; and see ante.
|
|
45
|
Heming, op. cit. i,
268–9.
|
|
46
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 296b and n.; J.H. Round, Feud.
Engl. 176.
|
|
47
|
Habington, Surv. of
Worcs. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), i, 226; Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.),
41b; Worcs. Inq. p.m. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), i, 42.
|
|
48
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), lxiv, 103.
|
|
49
|
Ibid. ccccxxiii, 74.
|
|
50
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 325b
n.
|
|
51
|
For a pedigree of the
Marmions see Round, op. cit. 191.
|
|
52
|
Round, loc. cit.; Worcs.
Inq. p.m. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), i, 42; Habington, op. cit. i, 226. Lady
Avice de Charlton, who held the manor early in the 13th century (Testa de
Nevill [Rec. Com.], 41b), was probably the widow of Robert
Marmion.
|
|
53
|
Habington, op. cit. i,
226; Red Bk. of Bishopric of Worc. (Eccl. Com. Rec. Var. bdle. 121, no.
43698), fol. 81, 253.
|
|
54
|
Dugdale, Hist. of
Warw. 854; Dugdale, Mon. iv, 172, 175. In 1240 these tithes were
still paid to the abbey (Hale, Reg. of Worc. Priory [Camd. Soc.], 70a),
and are last mentioned in 1291, when they were worth £7 6s. 8d.
(Pope Nich. Tax. [Rec. Com.], 217b).
|
|
55
|
Worcs. Inq. p.m. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), i, 42.
|
|
56
|
Dugdale, Hist. of
Warw. 854.
|
|
57
|
Ibid.
|
|
58
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. 36
Hen. VI, no. 21.
|
|
59
|
Ibid. 22 Edw. IV, no.
26.
|
|
60
|
Ibid.; De Banco R.
Trin. 2 Ric. III, m. 317.
|
|
61
|
De Banco R. Trin. 2
Ric. III, m. 317.
|
|
62
|
Ibid.
|
|
63
|
Red Bk. of Bishopric
of Worc. fol. 253.
|
|
64
|
Hale, Reg. of Worc.
Priory (Camd. Soc.), 70a.
|
|
65
|
Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 170b, 175b.
|
|
66
|
Ibid. 175b.
|
|
67
|
Cal. Pat. 1258–66, p. 533.
|
|
68
|
Lay Subs. R. Worcs. 1280 (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 71.
|
|
69
|
Worcs. Inq. p.m. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), i, 42; Habington, op.
cit. i, 228.
|
|
70
|
Visit. of Worcs. 1569 (Harl. Soc. xxvii), 50.
|
|
71
|
Feud. Aids, v, 309.
|
|
72
|
De Banco R. 491, m.
204 d.
|
|
73
|
Feet of F. Div. Co.
Mich. and East. 10 Ric. II.
|
|
74
|
Ibid. East. 13 Ric.
II.
|
|
75
|
op. cit. (Harl. Soc.
xxvii), 50.
|
|
76
|
Feud. Aids, v, 332.
|
|
77
|
Visit. of Worcs. 1569 (Harl. Soc. xxvii), 50.
|
|
78
|
De Banco R. Trin. 2
Ric. III, m. 317.
|
|
79
|
Ibid.
|
|
80
|
Ibid.
|
|
81
|
Ibid. Hil. 14 Hen.
VII, m. 416.
|
|
82
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), lxiv, 103.
|
|
83
|
Ibid.
|
|
84
|
P.R.O. List of
Sheriffs, 158.
|
|
85
|
Feet of F. Div. Co.
Mich. 17 & 18 Eliz.; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxxiii, 74.
|
|
86
|
P.R.O. List of
Sheriffs, 158.
|
|
87
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), ccccxxiii, 74.
|
|
88
|
Metcalfe, Visit. of
Worcs. 1682, p. 42.
|
|
89
|
Ibid.
|
|
90
|
Ibid.; Feet of F.
Worcs. Hil. 25 & 26 Chas. II.
|
|
91
|
Feet of F. Worcs.
Mich. 28 Chas. II.
|
|
92
|
Shaw, Knights of
Engl. ii, 256.
|
|
93
|
Nash, op. cit. i, 272.
|
|
94
|
G.E.C. Complete
Baronetage, v, 5.
|
|
95
|
Ibid.
|
|
96
|
She later set up a
fraudulent claim to the Charlton estate (as his widow) on behalf of an
alleged surviving son (J. Latimer, Annals of Bristol in the Eighteenth
Century, 233–4).
|
|
97
|
G.E.C. Complete
Baronetage, v, 5.
|
|
98
|
Nash, op. cit. i,
272–3.
|
|
99
|
The Bristol
Fratricide, printed by J.
Hart, 1741, p. 11.
|
|
100
|
There is in the
library of the British Museum a full report of the trial published by H.
Goreham. The History of the Life and Character of Samuel Goodere, the Bristol
Fratricide, and The fratricide, or the Murderer's Gibbets, published at the
Bristol Mirror office in 1839, also refer to this case.
|
|
101
|
Recov. R. Hil. 15 Geo.
II, rot. 193; Mich. 19 Geo. II, rot. 468.
|
|
102
|
Sir John Dineley, the
fifth and last baronet, who was insane, described himself as of Charlton (Dict.
Nat. Biog.), but had no claim to the estate.
|
|
103
|
a It was contended
that no rights passed in this sale, as Samuel Goodere when in prison on the
charge of murder accepted surrender of all leases and regranted them on
payment of very light fines. After long litigation the court annulled the
contention, holding that while in treason the attainder dated from the
commission of the offence, in felony it begins with the actual sentence.
|
|
104
|
Nash, op. cit. i, 273.
Included in the sale were the mansion-house and over 1,000 acres of land. The
soil is said to be 'chiefly of the best of that kind which farmers call
Turnep Land' (Prattinton Coll. [Soc. Antiq.]).
|
|
105
|
Priv. Act, 16 Geo.
III, cap. 47.
|
|
106
|
Feet of F. Worcs. Hil.
27 Geo. III.
|
|
107
|
Recov. R. Hil. 5 &
6 Geo. IV, rot. 138.
|
|
108
|
Noake, op. cit. 104.
|
|
109
|
Heming, op. cit. 422.
|
|
110
|
Thomas, op. cit. App.
no. 18.
|
|
111
|
Reg. of Worc.
Priory (Camd. Soc.), 70a,
71a.
|
|
112
|
V.C.H. Worcs. ii, 111.
|
|
113
|
Pat. 33 Hen. VIII, pt.
v; L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvii, g. 71 (29).
|
|
114
|
Pat. 6 Jas. I, pt.
xii, no. 2.
|
|
115
|
Close, 1650, pt.
xxxiv, no. 23.
|
|
116
|
Ibid.
|
|
117
|
Pat. 4 Will. and Mary,
pt. i, no. 6.
|
|
118
|
Nash, op. cit. i, 273.
The dean and chapter are mentioned as lords of one of the manors of Charlton
in the Inclosure Act for Charlton dated 1775–6 (Priv. Act, 16 Geo. III, cap.
47).
|
|
119
|
Nash, op. cit. i, 273.
|
|
120
|
Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 230. The entry is cancelled and
against it is written 'hoc est error qub pauper et mendicans.'
|
|
121
|
Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iii, 90.
|
|
122
|
Pat. 32 Eliz. pt. ix.
|
|
123
|
Heming, op. cit. i,
95; ii, 319; and see ante note.
|
|
124
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 296b.
|
|
125
|
Reg. of Worc. Priory
(Camd. Soc.), 72b.
|
|
126
|
Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 227b. The place is here
spelt 'Setherton,' and each carucate is said to be worth £1 a year (ibid.).
|
|
127
|
Cal. Pat. 1354–8, p.266.
|
|
128
|
V.C.H. Worcs. ii, 111.
|
|
129
|
Pat. 33 Hen. VIII, pt.
v.
|
|
130
|
Ibid. 6 Jas. I, pt.
xii, no. 2.
|
|
131
|
Ibid. 3 Edw. VI, pt.
ix; Close, 1656, pt. xii, no. 2.
|
|
132
|
Close, 1656, pt. xii,
no. 2.
|
|
133
|
Nash, op. cit. i, 273.
|
|
134
|
Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2),
bdle. 4, no. 37, 57.
|
|
135
|
Ibid. bdles. 148, no.
16; 4, no. 37, 57; 186, no. 94; 5, no. 8.
|
|
136
|
Ibid. bdle. 148, no.
16.
|
|
137
|
Feet of F. Div. Co.
Trin. 12 Eliz.
|
|
138
|
Ibid. Worcs. Hil. 34
Eliz. The sale was confirmed by Robert Willoughby in the following year
(ibid. East. 35 Eliz.).
|
|
139
|
Chan. Inq. p. m. (Ser.
2), ccclvi, 121; cccclxvii, 186; Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 21 Chas. II. For
the pedigree of the Savages see Elmley Castle.
|
|
140
|
Recov. R. Hil. 2 &
3 Geo, IV, rot. 123.
|
|
141
|
P.O. Dir. Worcs. 1872.
|
|
142
|
Parl. Papers (1890–1), lxi, no. 386, p. 38; Lond. Gaz.
22 Aug. 1882, p. 3911.
|
|
143
|
Lond. Gaz. 22 Aug. 1882, p. 3911.
|
|
144
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 296b.
|
|
145
|
Ann. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 428, 434, 539; Reg. G.
Giffard (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 507; ibid. W. Ginsborough, 145; Cal.
Pat. 1348–50, p. 573.
|
|
146
|
Cal. Pat. 1348–50, p. 573; Cal. Papal Pet. i,
195; Cal. Papal Letters, iii, 334; Heming, op. cit. ii 544; Hist.
MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. viii, 168. Nash gives the licence and the Bull
in full (op. cit. i, 276–7).
|
|
147
|
Worc. Epis. Reg.
Carpenter (1443–76), i, fol. 193.
|
|
148
|
Lay Subs. R. Worcs. 1427, 1429 (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 11.
|
|
149
|
Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iii, 222.
|
|
150
|
V.C.H. Worcs. ii, 111.
|
|
151
|
L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvii, g. 71 (29); Pat. 33 Hen. VIII, pt. v.
|
|
152
|
Pat. 6 Jas. I. pt.
xii, no. 2.
|
|
153
|
Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
|
|
154
|
Ibid.
|
|
155
|
Hale, Reg. of Worc.
Priory (Camd Soc.), 70a.
|
|
156
|
Habington, op. cit. i,
180.
|
FLADBURY
'Parishes: Cropthorne', A
History of the County of Worcester: volume 3 (1913), pp. 322-329. URL:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43131. Date accessed: 04
November 2008.
Fledanburg, Fledanbyrig
(vii cent.); Fladbyrig (viii cent.); Fledanburh (ix cent.); Fledebirie (xi
cent.); Fladdebir (xiii cent.).
The parish of Fladbury
lies in the south-east of the county between Evesham and Pershore and was
described in the 17th century as 'a paryshe very large, richly seated in the
vale of Evesham.' (fn. 1)
The area of the parish with its hamlets and chapelries is 6,879 acres, (fn. 2)
of which 1,573 acres lie in Fladbury, 1,368 in Hill and Moor, 1,522 in
Throckmorton, 381 in Wyre Piddle, 1,151 in Stock and Bradley, and 884 acres in
Ab Lench. (fn. 3)
In Fladbury, including Hill and Moor, 1,070 acres are arable land, 1,234 acres
are permanent grass and 93 acres are woodland. (fn. 4)
Throckmorton includes 1,017 acres of arable land and 492 acres of permanent
grass; Wyre Piddle, 270 acres of arable and 161 acres of permanent grass; Stock
and Bradley, 90 acres of arable land and 945 acres of permanent grass. (fn. 5)
The soil is chiefly light clay with a little sand; the subsoil is Lower Lias,
producing crops of wheat, beans, barley, hops, market garden produce and fruit.
Vines were formerly grown at Fladbury, for in the register of Worcester Priory
occurs the statement that the sacrist received two parts of the tithes of the
land where vines once grew at Fladbury, Ripple and Westbury. (fn. 6)
At the end of the 18th century about 2 acres of land called the Vineyard
belonged to the rector of Fladbury. (fn. 7)
The Avon forms the
southern boundary of the parish, and from the valley of the river the land
rises slightly to the north. The highest point in the parish is Craycombe Hill
to the north-east of the village of Fladbury, about 300 ft. above the ordnance
datum.
The main road from
Worcester to Evesham runs through the parish from west to east. On a branch
from this road on the right bank of the River Avon is the village of Fladbury.
A bridge over the Avon to the south of the village, erected in commemoration of
the 1897 Jubilee, connects it with Cropthorne. In the open space between the
Anchor Inn and the church a market is said to have been held in former times on
Wednesdays. (fn. 8)
The rectory was built by the son of Bishop Lloyd in 1710. (fn. 9)
There are several half-timber and brick houses dating mostly from the 17th
century; one opposite the church, the front of which has been covered with
rough-cast, has a good oak stairway with moulded handrails and turned balusters
of about 1700; another near the junction of the roads has an early 18th-century
brick front with original window frames and leaded lights in small squares. A
half-timber barn on the roadside north of the village has been much repaired
and modernized, but probably dates from the 15th century.
The hamlet of Wyre
Piddle in the west of the parish contains some good half-timber houses. The
Avon bounds it on the south, PiddleBrook, a tributary of that river, forming
its western boundary. In the centre of this hamlet is the shaft and base of an
old stone cross. It was restored in 1844, and is now surmounted by an iron
cross.
Of the hamlet of Hill
and Moor the most populous portion is Lower Moor, which lies near the railway
to the south of the Worcester road. It contains one or two interesting old
house. At Hill, in the north of this hamlet, is Court Farm, which bears the
date 1681 on the weather vane.
The chapelry of
Throckmorton is to the north of the parish of Fladbury. To the north-east of
the church is a moated inclosure, and to the south of Court Farm are the
remains of another moat.
The village of Ab or
Abbots Lench, formerly a hamlet and chaperly of Fladbury, but since 1865 (fn. 10)
ecclesiastically part of Church Lench, is completely isolated from Fladbury,
part of the parish of Bishampton lying between them. It is divided from
Bishopton by Whitsun Brook, over which there is a bridge called Stakamford
Bridge. The village consists of a few houses on a branch road from that leading
from Rous Lench to Fladbury.
The now separate parish
of Stock and Bradley is also completely cut off from Fladbury, of which it was
formerly a part, and lies to the west of the parish of Feckenham. The Salt Way,
now the high road from Droitwich to Alcester, runs through it from west to
east, and from it a road runs south along the eastern border of the parish to
the village of Bradley. A stream forms part of the western boundary of Stock
and Bradley, and another brook flows through the parish from east to west,
being crossed south of the village of Bradley by Priest Bridge. In 1680 this
bridge was first built of stone, and an agreement was made between the
inhabitants of Bradley and the lord of Fladbury Manor by which the latter found
the materials and the former supplied the labour. The lord of Fladbury was
relieved of liability to further contributions in consideration of his payment
of a lump sum. (fn. 11)
Bradley Green is to the north of the parish, and Stock Green lies to the south
on the Inkberrow boundary.
The disafforestation of
the forest of Horewell, which formerly covered part of the parish of Fladbury,
took place in 1229 (fn. 12)
; the parish is still, however, well wooded.
An Inclosure Act was
passed for Fladbury in 1788, and the award is dated 23 May 1789 (fn. 13)
; for Stock and Bradley in 1825, (fn. 14)
for Hill and Moor in 1832, (fn. 15)
for Throckmorton in 1772, (fn. 16)
and for Wyre Piddle in 1836 and 1840, the award being dated 5 August 1841. (fn. 17)
MANORS
There was a monastery at
FLADBURY in early times. It was given, together with 44 cassati
of land at Fladbury, to Bishop Oftfor in 691–2 by King Ethelred, (fn. 18)
for the welfare of his soul and that of his wife Osthryth. (fn. 19)
In the early part of the 8th century Bishop Æcgwine, Oftfor's successor,
exchanged the monastery and its lands with a noble named Æthelheard for 20 cassati
at Stratfordon-Avon. (fn. 20)
He explained the apparently unprofitable nature of the exchange by pointing out
that he and the king had agreed that both places should revert to the church
after the death of the noble. (fn. 21)
In the Annals of Evesham, however, we are told that Bishop Æcgwine, who was the
founder of Evesham, gave up Fladbury to Æthelheard in order to secure
Stratford, both vills being claimed by Æthelheard as heir of Queen Osthryth. (fn. 22)
The monks of Evesham further stated that Fladbury had been given by Ethelred to
Æcgwine and the abbey of Evesham in 703, and attributed their inability to
recover it to the superior strength of the Bishop of Worcester. (fn. 23)
About 780 Bishop Tilhere consented and subscribed to a deed by which Aldred, subregulus
of the Hwiccas and a descendant of Æthelheard, granted the monastery of
Fladbury to his kinswoman Æthelburh for her life, with reversion to the church
of Worcester. (fn. 24)
At about this time Bishop Tilhere made a great feast for King Offa and his
chieftains at Fladbury, where the king granted to the church the royal vill of
Cropthorne with land amounting to 50 mansae and a very choice Bible with
two clasps of pure gold. (fn. 25)
After Æthelburh's death the monastery reverted to the church of Worcester and
was confirmed in the early part of the 9th century to Bishop Deneberht by
Coenwulf, King of Mercia, in an undated charter, (fn. 26)
by which he also granted to the bishop the reversion after his death of the
land of thirty tributaries at Fladbury. (fn. 27)
The see of Worcester continued to hold the manor until the date of the Domesday
Survey, when it paid geld for 40 hides. (fn. 28)
In the 12th century the bishop still held these 40 hides at Fladbury. (fn. 29)
Richard I freed 13½ acres from essartum, (fn. 30)
and King John confirmed this grant. (fn. 31)
On 15 March 1214 he gave leave to the bishop to plough up 29½ acres of his
wood. (fn. 32)
In 1254 the bishop received a grant of free warren at Fladbury. (fn. 33)
The manor was confirmed to the church by Pope Gregory in 1275, (fn. 34)
and in 1291 was worth £29 6s. a year. (fn. 35)
It remained in the possession of successive Bishops of Worcester, (fn. 36)
and was in 1535 worth £53 1s. 2d. yearly. (fn. 37)
In 1632 the bishop granted a lease of it to William Sandys for his life and
that of his brother Thomas, and of William's wife Cicely daughter of Sir John
Steed. (fn. 38)
During the Civil War the manor was seized by Parliament, and a survey was taken
in 1648. (fn. 39)
In the same year the manor was sold to Robert Henley and Edward Smith for
£1,082 9s. 6d. (fn. 40)
After the Restoration the Bishop of Worcester recovered the manor, which he
then seems to have leased to the Henleys and afterwards to the Hales. (fn. 41)
The lease was purchased by Nicholas Lechmere in 1681, (fn. 42)
and four years later he sold to Thomas Earl of Plymouth, the lease then running
for the lives of Robert Henley of the Grange (co. Hants), of George brother of
Sir John Hales deceased, and of William Peck. (fn. 43)
In 1699 the lease was held by Other Windsor Earl of Plymouth, grandson and
successor of Thomas. (fn. 44)
His daughters sold the remainder of the lease to George Perrott, one of the
barons of the Exchequer, who died 28 January 1780. (fn. 45)
Old House at Lower Moor,
Fladbury
The manor remained with
the successive Bishops of Worcester until it was taken over by the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners under the Act of 1860, (fn. 46)
and they are still lords of the manor, (fn. 47)
but the lease remained in the Perrott family until 1861, when it passed by
exchange to the Commissioners. (fn. 48)
There was a mill at
Fladbury in 1086 which was worth 10s. and 20 stiches (fn. 49)
of eels a year. (fn. 50)
Bishop William of Blois purchased a mill there from Adam de Evesham in the
early part of the 13th century. (fn. 51)
In 1302 there were two mills at Fladbury farmed at £3 19s. 6d.,
and the fishery in the Avon brought in a rent of 19s. 6d. (fn. 52)
Two water corn-mills were included in the sale to Robert Henley and Edward
Smith. (fn. 53)
There is now a corn-mill in Fladbury, to the south of the village on the Avon,
and Wyre Mill is a corn-mill on the Avon in the south of Wyre Piddle.
AB LENCH or ABBOT'S LENCH
(Abeleng, xi cent.;
Habbelenche, xiii cent.; Hob Lench, xvi and xvii cent.; Abs Lench, xviii cent.;
Abbot's Lench, (fn. 54)
xviii and xix cent.) seems to have belonged to the church of Worcester from an
early date, and was probably comprised in the 5 mansae at Lench which
Oswald gave to Gardulf for three lives in 983. (fn. 55)
It appears in the Domesday Survey as the property of the bishop, of whom it had
been held by Godric. It is said that he did 'service for it to the bishop (on
such terms) as he could obtain.' (fn. 56)
At the actual time of the Survey Urse D'Abitot, the Sheriff of Worcestershire,
held it of the bishop as of his manor of Fladbury. (fn. 57)
It appears to have afterwards passed to Urse's descendants, the Beauchamps, and
may possibly have been included in the 22 hides which Walter de Beauchamp held
of the bishop in Fladbury early in the 12th century. (fn. 58)
The overlordship of Ab
Lench descended in the Beauchamp family until the 16th century, (fn. 59)
but the superior lordship of the Bishops of Worcester seems to have lapsed in
the 13th century. (fn. 60)
The manor of Ab Lench
was held towards the end of the 12th century under William de Beauchamp by
Stephen de Beauchamp. (fn. 61)
It must shortly afterwards have passed to William de Belne, who was said in a
survey of Fladbury taken at about that time to be holding these 5 hides, which
gelded at only 1 hide and had formerly been pasture for kine. (fn. 62)
It was afterwards held
by Roger de Lench, who, according to the Testa de Nevill, held one
knight's fee and 2 hides of William de Beauchamp, who held of the Bishop of
Worcester. (fn. 63)
The entry probably refers to Ab Lench and Rous Lench, both of which the Lay
Subsidy Roll of 1346 conclusively proves to have been held by Roger de Lench. (fn. 64)
Possibly it was this
Roger who with Stephen de Lench successfully resisted the encroachment of the
Abbot of Halesowen on the common pasture of Ab Lench in 1230. (fn. 65)
Ankaretta de Beauchamp paid a subsidy of 20s. at Ab Lench in 1280. (fn. 66)
In 1299–1300 Ab Lench
had passed into the hands of Simon le Bruyn, (fn. 67)
to whom the Belnes' land at Belbroughton also passed. He was still in
possession of it in 1315, according to the inquisition taken on the death of
Guy de Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, which states that he held half a knight's fee
there. (fn. 68)
John le Bruyn paid a subsidy at Ab Lench in 1327, (fn. 69)
and in 1346 he or a descendant of the same name paid 20s. for half a
knight's fee in Ab Lench which Roger de Lench had formerly held. (fn. 70)
Henry Bruyn of Brians
Bell held land in Ab Lench in 1405–6, (fn. 71)
and it passed by the marriage of his 'cousin' and heir Joan to Sir Nicholas
Burdett, (fn. 72)
Great Butler of Normandy, who was slain in 1440. (fn. 73)
His son Thomas Burdett (fn. 74)
was a servant or follower of George Duke of Clarence; on 20 April 1474 he was
attainted of high treason (fn. 75)
and executed in the early part of 1477. (fn. 76)
One of the charges brought against the Duke of Clarence on his attainder in the
same year was that he sent his servants 'into diverse parties of this Royaulme
to assemble the King's subjects to Feste theym and chere theym and by theise
policies and reasonyng enduce them to beleve that the said Burdett was
wrongfull excuted and so to putte it in noyse and herts of the People.' (fn. 77)
Burdett's lands were forfeited, but the attainder seems to have been afterwards
reversed, as on 17 June 1478 the custody of his son and heir Nicholas, a minor,
and of all his possessions was granted to Sir Simon Mountfort. (fn. 78)
Nicholas died without issue and was succeeded by his brother John Burdett, (fn. 79)
who in 1483–4 released to his half-brother Richard Burdett and others all his
right in the manor of Ab Lench. (fn. 80)
Burdett. Azure two bars
or with three martlets gules upon each bar.
On 1 October 1487 the
manor was settled upon this Richard Burdett and Joyce his wife and his heirs. (fn. 81)
Richard died in 1492, leaving his son Thomas, aged fourteen years and more, as
his heir. Joyce survived her husband, (fn. 82)
and held the manor until her death under the terms of the deed referred to.
Thomas Burdett, who was
in possession of the manor in 1534, (fn. 83)
died without issue, and it passed to his sister Anne, (fn. 84)
who became the wife of Edward Conway. (fn. 85)
She predeceased her husband, who held the manor by courtesy until his death in
1546. John Conway, their son and heir, was stated to be then thirty-five years
of age. (fn. 86)
He was knighted in 1560, (fn. 87)
and sold the manor in 1565 to John Rous (fn. 88)
of Rous Lench, with which manor Ab Lench has since descended, (fn. 89)
Dr. William Kyle Westwood Chafy, D.D., of Rous Lench Court, being the present
lord of the manor.
In 1227 Warin son of
William de Upton granted jointly with his wife Hawisia 40 acres of land in AB
LENCH to the Abbot and convent of Halesowen, with common of pasture, (fn. 90)
and his grant was confirmed by William Marshal Earl of Pembroke for the souls
of himself and Eleanor his wife on condition that a rent of 4s. should
be paid yearly at his manor of Inkberrow. (fn. 91)
He afterwards relinquished his claim to this rent in favour of the abbey. (fn. 92)
The Abbot and convent of
Halesowen were in possession of property in Ab Lench in 1228–9, when they were
fined 20s. (fn. 93)
The abbot is stated to have afterwards erected houses for the storage of grain
on the common pasture of Ab Lench, and an action was brought against him by
Roger and Stephen de Lench, perhaps on behalf of the inhabitants; they
recovered seisin of the pasture, and the houses were ordered to be removed, but
on 18 September 1230, on the petition of the abbot, leave was granted for the
houses to remain standing until 2 February in the next year. (fn. 94)
On 20 September 1233 the abbot paid 2s. for assarts made at Lench, (fn. 95)
from which it would appear that his land included a part of the woodland
mentioned in Domesday. In 1272–3 the abbot conveyed to Ralph de Hengham a
messuage and land in Church Lench and Ab Lench. (fn. 96)
Though land at Ab Lench is not mentioned among the possessions of the abbey in
1291 (fn. 97)
or in 1535, it is possible that they retained some estate there, which passed
in the same way as their manor of Church Lench to the Scudamores, for John
Scudamore held in 1596 a manor called Hob Lench, (fn. 98)
which passed with the manor of Church Lench until 1627, when it is mentioned
for the last time. (fn. 99)
In a catalogue of the charters
of the monastery of Worcester there is mentioned one by Wulfstan called the
Archbishop, who was Bishop of Worcester from 1062 to 1095, relating to three mansae
at
THROCKMORTON
(fn.
100) (Throcmortune, xi cent.; Trokemardtune, xii cent.; Trockmerton,
Trochmerton, xiii cent.; Throkmarton, xiv cent.), but the nature of this
charter is not known. Throckmorton is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey,
being then probably included in Fladbury, of which it was part until the 15th
century. (fn.
101) After 1415 the manor was held of the Bishops of Worcester at a
fee-farm rent of £12. (fn.
102)
Throckmorton gives its
name to the family of Throckmorton, who were tenants of the Bishop of Worcester
at an early date, Reoland Throckmorton appearing as a juror for the hundred of
Oswaldslow in the middle of the 12th century. (fn.
103) Raulyn, who held 2½ hides in Throckmorton about 1182, may have been a
member of this family, possibly identical with Reoland. (fn.
104) Adam de Throckmorton apparently owned land in Worcestershire in
1174–5, (fn.
105) and John and Joscelin de Throckmorton appear in 1175–6 and 1176–7, (fn.
106) but it is not known that they held land in Throckmorton. Henry son of
John de Throckmorton at the beginning of the 13th century obtained from Mauger
Bishop of Worcester (1199–1212) half a hide of land in Fladbury, (fn.
107) and he is probably the Henry son of John who is mentioned in the Testa
de Nevill as holding a virgate of land in Throckmorton. (fn.
108)
Throckmorton. Gules a cheveron
argent with three gimel bars sable thereon.
Adam son of Robert, who
also held at that time a virgate of land in Throckmorton, (fn.
109) was possibly the Adam de Throckmorton who was dealing with a third of
a fee in Upton and Throckmorton in 1232–3. (fn.
110) According to a pedigree of the family given by Nash, Adam died before
1248, and was succeeded by his son Robert, who was alive in 1252. (fn.
111) Robert appears to have been succeeded before 1266 by a son Simon. (fn.
112) Robert de Throckmorton, who obtained a dispensation from the Bishop of
Worcester in 1275, (fn.
113) was son of Simon. (fn.
114) He was living in 1315–16, (fn.
115) and is perhaps identical with the Robert de Throckmorton who in 1333–4
settled four messuages and land in Throckmorton upon his son John and Maud his
wife, with remainder to his other children, Nicholas, Sybil, Alice and Joan. (fn.
116) The manor of Throckmorton seems, however, to have passed to Robert's
son Giles, for a messuage and 2 carucates of land in Throckmorton were settled
in 1341–2 upon Giles and his wife Agnes, and upon their sons Robert, John,
Thomas and Richard in tail-male. (fn.
117)
Thomas Throckmorton,
who, according to the pedigree of the family given in the Visitation of
Warwickshire, (fn.
118) was a son of John Throckmorton, was of the retinue of Thomas Beauchamp
Earl of Warwick in 1396, was escheator for the county of Worcester in 1402, and
Constable of Elmley Castle in 1404–5. (fn.
119) He seems to have made a lease of the manor in 1410–11, (fn.
120) and was succeeded by his son Sir John Throckmorton, (fn.
121) who was also of the retinue of the Earl of Warwick. (fn.
122) In 1415 the Bishop of Worcester obtained licence to grant fourteen
messuages and 2 carucates of land in Throckmorton to Sir John de Throckmorton,
to be held of the bishop at a feefarm rent. (fn.
123) This was probably the estate which the bishop had held in demesne in
the 12th century. (fn.
124) Habington evidently refers to this transaction when he says that John
Carpenter, who succeeded as Bishop of Worcester in 1444, so much disliked the
alienation of Throckmorton that he threatened to excommunicate the Prior and
monks of Worcester on account of it, whereupon they sued to the Archbishop of
Canterbury to send for Thomas son of John Throckmorton (fn.
125) and command him to give satisfaction to the Bishop of Worcester. But
'thys lounge contention beeinge in the end utterly extinguished, thys good
Bishopp entred into such a leauge of fryndshyp with Thomas Throckmorton as in
Testimony of his charitye he enterteyned him to be Stuarde of all hys
Castelles, Mannors etc. with a fee of 10 li. per annum.' (fn.
126) In 1440 Sir John was styled chamberlain of the Exchequer and under-treasurer
of England. He died in 1445, and was buried in the church of Fladbury, where
there is an inscription to his memory. (fn.
127) Sir John Throckmorton was succeeded by a son Thomas, (fn.
128) who in 1467 obtained a general pardon for all offences committed by
him before 23 June. (fn.
129) He died in 1472, (fn.
130) and his son Sir Robert was in possession of the manor in 1500. (fn.
131) Sir Robert died in 1518, and was succeeded by his son George, (fn.
132) who settled the manor of Throckmorton on his son Robert on his
marriage with Elizabeth Hungerford. (fn.
133) Robert succeeded his father in 1552, (fn.
134) and died in 1581, leaving a son Thomas. (fn.
135) Thomas Throckmorton was involved in difficulties owing to his
religious opinions, his estate being frequently sequestrated and his person
imprisoned. (fn.
136) He died in 1615, and was succeeded by his grandson Sir Robert Throckmorton,
(fn.
137) who was created a baronet in 1642, (fn.
138) and suffered severely at the hands of the Parliamentary forces during
the Civil War. (fn.
139) He died 16 January 1650, and was followed by his son Sir Francis
Throckmorton, (fn.
140) who died 7 November 1680. (fn.
141) His eldest surviving son Sir Robert, (fn.
142) who was one of the 'Catholic non-jurors,' died 8 March 1720–1, (fn.
143) and was succeeded by his only surviving son Sir Robert, (fn.
144) on whose death on 8 December 1791 the manor probably passed to his
grandson and successor to the title Sir John Courtenay Throckmorton. (fn.
145) He died without issue in 1819, and his brother and successor Sir
George also died issueless in 1826. (fn.
146) The manor of Throckmorton then seems to have passed to his nephew
Robert George Throckmorton, who was dealing with it in that year. (fn.
147) He succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his uncle Sir Charles in
1840, (fn.
148) and in 1862 the manor passed from him to his eldest surviving son Sir
Nicholas William George Throckmorton, ninth baronet, who is now lord of the
manor of Throckmorton. (fn.
149)
At the date of the
Domesday Survey
HILL
(Hulla, xiii cent.;
Hulle near Fladbury, xiv cent.) and MOOR was part of the 5 hides
formerly belonging to Keneward held by Robert le Despenser of the Bishop of
Worcester's manor of Fladbury. (fn.
150) Hill and Moor has apparently always been part of the manor of
Fladbury. (fn.
151)
At the beginning of the
13th century an agreement was made between Henry son of John Throckmorton and
Mauger Bishop of Worcester by which half a hide of land at Hill passed into the
possession of Henry, who was to hold it of the bishop. (fn.
152) Henry afterwards granted a virgate of this land to William Heye for
life, and in 1237–8 Richard and Adam Roland were in controversy as to the
ownership of this estate, which Richard claimed as grandson of Henry
Throckmorton. The suit was terminated in favour of Richard. (fn.
153) He died in 1254, (fn.
154) and his widow agreed with Richard Cristot in 1254–5 that a third of a
tenement in Throckmorton and Hill which Emma held for life should revert to him
on her death. (fn.
155) In the previous year Richard had agreed with the Bishop of Worcester
that he should hold a carucate of land in Hill and elsewhere by suit at the
bishop's court of Worcester, the bishop giving a warranty against the claims of
Emma wife of Richard Roland for dower if she survived Richard. (fn.
156) The whole or part of the Rolands' estate at Hill afterwards passed to
Simon Chamberlain, who had it in frank marriage by gift of Henry Roland. (fn.
157) The Chamberlains also held land in Hill and Fladbury under the Poers
of Wichenford, (fn.
158) and it was probably this estate which Richard Poer held in Hill of the
bishop's manor of Wick early in the 13th century. (fn.
159) Simon le Chamberlain was holding a virgate of land in Fladbury in
1221–2, (fn.
160) and Nicholas le Chamberlain held a so-called manor at Fladbury in
1291–2. (fn.
161) In 1299 Sir Simon le Chamberlain, brother and successor of Nicholas, (fn.
162) held 3 virgates of land in Fladbury and 1 in Hill of Sir John Poer,
besides the halfhide which came to his family through the Rolands. (fn.
163) Sir Simon le Chamberlain still held an estate at Fladbury in 1301–2, (fn.
164) but the Chamberlains afterwards exchanged this land for that of John
de Haseley in Wichenford. (fn.
165) Possibly this name should be Basely, for that family was already in
possession of land at Fladbury. In 1278–9 Henry Basely was successful in
proving his right to an estate there which he had inherited from his father
Roger against Maud la Turre, (fn.
166) and in 1280 he paid a subsidy of half a mark at Fladbury. (fn.
167) This seems to have been the same estate which afterwards passed to the
Sodingtons. (fn.
168) According to Habington, Richard de Sodington was at one time the
owner. (fn.
169) In 1327 Isabel de Sodington paid a subsidy of 3s. 4d. in
Fladbury, (fn.
170) and about 1337–8 William de Sodington and his wife Elizabeth bought an
estate at Fladbury of the Bishop of Worcester. (fn.
171) Elizabeth died in 1371 holding a cottage called Baselond in Fladbury
of the king for the service of a seventh part of a knight's fee, her heir being
her daughter Isabel wife of Robert Aleyn. (fn.
172) Before this time, however, part of the estate held by the service of a
tenth of a knight's fee had passed to Alexander de Besford. (fn.
173)
A parcel of land in Hill
was forfeited in 1396 by Thomas Earl of Warwick. (fn.
174) The earl had granted it for life to his bastard brother John de
Athereston, and the king granted the reversion in 1397 to Sir John Russell. (fn.
175)
An estate at Hill
consisting of 2 hides was given by Bishop Samson (1096–1112) to Frederick or
Freri de Bishopsdon. (fn.
176) William de Bishopsdon held the estate early in the 13th century, (fn.
177) and it followed the same descent as the manor of Waresley in
Hartlebury (q.v.), passing with it to the Catesbys. (fn.
178) The estate at Hill and Moor was sold in 1501 by George Catesby to
Robert Throckmorton. (fn.
179) The Throckmortons were dealing with land in Moor in 1558, (fn.
180) and the estate seems to have remained with them until about the middle
of the 19th century, for Sir Charles Throckmorton was said to be lord of the
so-called manor of Hill and Moor in 1832. (fn.
181) The manor-house is a 17th-century half-timber building with good
panelled rooms. Cromwell is said to have slept here in 1651. It was acquired by
Benjamin Johnson, town clerk of Worcester, before 1832. He died in 1835 and
left it by his will to Thomas Henry Bund, whose grandson Mr. John Willis-Bund
now holds it.
WYRE PIDDLE
(Pidele, xi and xiii
cent.; Wyre Pydele, xiv cent.; Wirepedill, Werpedell, xv cent.; Werepedyll,
Wyre Pydle, xvi cent.; Wire Puddell, Warpdale, xvii cent.). At the date of the
Domesday Survey Robert le Despenser held 5 hides at Wyre Piddle and Hill and
Moor of the Bishop of Worcester's manor of Fladbury. (fn.
182) The overlordship of the bishop was still recognized at the end of the
13th century, but it afterwards seems to have lapsed. (fn.
183)
The manor followed the
same descent as Elmley Castle until 1487–8, when it passed into the hands of
Henry VII. (fn.
184) It remained in the Crown (fn.
185) until 1550, when it was granted by Edward VI to Ralph Sadleir and
Lawrence Wenington. (fn.
186) They seem to have conveyed it to Bartholomew Hales, who sold it to
John and Thomas Folliott in 1571. (fn.
187) John Folliott died on 7 March 1578 seised of the manor of Wyre Piddle,
(fn.
188) which then passed with the manor of Stone in Halfshire Hundred (q.v.)
in the Folliott family, and subsequently to the Courteens and Rushouts. (fn.
189) On the death of Sir James Rushout in 1711 this manor, instead of
passing with Stone to his sister Elizabeth St. John, passed with the baronetcy
to his uncle Sir John Rushout, and from that time followed the same descent (fn.
190) as Northwick Park in Blockley (q.v.). Lady Northwick, widow of George
third Lord Northwick, held the manor until her death in 1912, when it passed by
will to her grandson Mr. George Spencer Churchill.
Folliott. Argent a lion
purpure with a forked rail and a golden crown.
Courteen. Or a talbot
passant sable.
The rent of £5 reserved
from the manor of Wyre Piddle in the grant of 1550 was vested in trustees for
sale in 1070–1. (fn.
191) It was sold by them in 1672 to John Jones of Whitehall, (fn.
192) and in 1807 it belonged to Frances Hearne Bettesworth. (fn.
193)
BRADLEY (Bradanleah, Bradanlege, viii cent.; Bradelege,
xi cent.; Bradeleghe, xiii cent.), afterwards STOCK and BRADLEY.
In the pontificate of Wilfrid (717–43) Ethelbald, King of Mercia, gave 6
cassates of land in Bradley to Cyneburh. (fn.
194) As this grant is included among the charters of the monastery of
Worcester, (fn.
195) and Ethelbald is said to have given Bradley to the church, (fn.
196) it may be supposed that after Cyneburh's death these 6 cassates at
Bradley passed to the see of Worcester.
At the famous Council of
Celchyth in 789 Heathored, Bishop of Worcester, proceeded against Wulfheard,
son of Cussa, who had endeavoured to deprive the church of land at Bradley
which had been bequeathed to it by Hemele and Duda. The bishop proved his right
to the lands, but agreed that Wulfheard should hold them for life, and that at
his death they should be restored to the church where the bodies of Hemele and
Duda were buried. (fn.
197)
In 962 Bishop Oswald
granted to his servant Eadmaer the wood from Bradley necessary for the
preparation of salt in four vats at Droitwich which belonged to certain land in
Bentley which the bishop had granted to Eadmaer. (fn.
198) At the date of the Domesday Survey Aelfric the Archdeacon held a hide
at Bradley of the bishop's manor of Fladbury. (fn.
199) The manor seems to have remained with the see of Worcester (fn.
200) until the reign of Edward VI, when by some means it passed to the
Crown. Edward VI granted it in 1553 to John Earl of Bedford and Edmund Downing.
(fn.
201) On 1 February 1554 Edmund sold it to Roger and Robert Taverner of
London. (fn.
202)
The date at which the
manor returned to the possession of the Bishops of Worcester is not known. It
was perhaps before 1628, when an agreement was made by which the bishop and Sir
William Sandys conveyed to the king 110 acres of the waste of Bradley in
Feckenham Forest on condition that they should hold the remainder on certain
terms. (fn.
203) In 1825 the Bishop of Worcester claimed the hamlet of Stock and
Bradley as a member of his manor of Fladbury. (fn.
204) The Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who took over the estates of the see
of Worcester in 1860, (fn.
205) are now the principal landowners in Stock and Bradley.
In the time of Henry II,
Randolph son of Roger (of Rous Lench) held a hide of land at Bradley. (fn.
206) Roger son of Ralph de Lench gave the tithes of Bradley which belonged
to the chapel of Chadwick to the hospital of St. Wulfstan, Worcester, his grant
being confirmed in 1232 by the king. (fn.
207)
In the time of Bishop
Baldwin (1180–90) Alured Levet claimed to hold of his nephew (nepos),
the son of Ralph de Levet, a hide of land at Fladbury. (fn.
208) It was probably this estate which was held at the time of the Testa de
Nevill by William of Bradley as a hide at Bradley. (fn.
209) An estate at Bradley belonged about the middle of the 13th century to
the Walton or Wauton family. Master Simon de Walton purchased half a carucate
of land in Bradley of Richard le Archer in 1244–5, (fn.
210) and in 1248–9 he acquired land there from John Copty, Stephen Alewy,
Hugh de Seler, (fn.
211) Ralph de Eccleshal (fn.
212) and Ralph Marsh. (fn.
213)
In 1253 Master Simon
obtained from Henry III a grant that his garden with the grove therein which he
had caused to be inclosed in the circuit of his house at Bradley in the forest
of Feckenham should remain inclosed, bounded by a hedge without a deer leap
like a park, with the 'beasts of the wood' in the park if he liked. (fn.
214) Simon de Wauton appears to have been succeeded by John, who was
dealing with land at Bradley in 1274–5, (fn.
215) and paid a subsidy of 8s. in 1280 at Bradley. (fn.
216) John de Wauton, who in 1294 obtained licence from Simon Bishop of
Norwich to do homage to the chief lords for land in Bradley and elsewhere, (fn.
217) was perhaps son of John above mentioned. John Knight held a hide of land
in Bradley in 1299, (fn.
218) and Robert Knight paid a subsidy of 1s. there in 1327. (fn.
219) In 1346 William Knight of Bradley was in possession of the land at
Bradley which William de Bradley had held, (fn.
220) but it is not certain that this was the same estate as that held by
the Wautons, and its further descent has not been traced.
In 1086 the priest at
Fladbury held half a hide of land. (fn.
221) In 1772 the rector of Fladbury received an allotment in consideration
of 70 acres which he held in Throckmorton as part of the RECTORY MANOR.
(fn.
222) In 1788, when Fladbury was inclosed, he obtained a further allotment
in consideration of his right of common in Fladbury belonging to the rectory
manor. (fn.
223) Nash in his History of Worcestershire mentions that it was a
custom of the rectory manor for the rector to grant for three lives and the
widow to have her free bench. (fn.
224) The manorial rights have now apparently lapsed.
CHURCHES
The church of ST.
JOHN BAPTIST consists of a chancel 38½ ft. by 19½ ft., a modern north
vestry and south organ chamber, nave 57 ft. by 20 ft., north aisle 9 ft. and
south aisle 8½ ft. in width, south porch and a western tower 12½ ft. wide and
13½ ft. deep; all the measurements are internal.
A church stood here in
the 12th century, but of this building only the tower remains, the three lower
stages dating from that period; it was probably attached to an aisleless nave
and chancel. About the year 1340 the whole of the pre-existing structure
(except the tower) was swept away to make room for the new work. The present
nave with both its aisles, and the chancel with a vestry to the north-east of
it (which has now disappeared), were then erected, the clearstory being added
immediately afterwards. The south porch was built with the south aisle, but it
was refaced some time in the 17th century, and since that period has undergone
restoration. A board in the ringing-chamber records that the steeple (fn.
225) was taken down and the parapet to the tower built in 1752, and that
galleries were added in 1783 and 1824. Much restoration work has been carried
out in modern times, chiefly in 1865 and 1871. The east and south walls of the
chancel, the vestry and the organ chamber are all of recent date, as are also
several of the windows and doorways and other parts specifically mentioned below.
The present four-light east window replaced a seven-light one, probably itself
of no great age; the gable wall over is pierced by a small quatrefoil opening.
In the south wall is a modern double piscina in 14th-century style and a sedile
formed by the window-ledge; the two windows in this wall, both modern, have
each two lights with cusped piercings over in a pointed arch. There is also a
small priest's doorway with a pointed head. On the north side is a 14th-century
window of two lights with a cusped opening over in a pointed head. The doorway
into the vestry appears to be of 14th-century workmanship, but has probably
been reset, and has two continuous moulded orders. To the east of the vestry,
outside, in the north wall of the chancel is an original 14th-century piscina,
the basin of which has been removed. The chancel arch and the arch opening into
the organ chamber are both modern.
Fladbury Church Tower
from the North-west
The 14th-century nave
arcades consist of four bays, the first three of each being of equal span and
the fourth pair narrower. The arches are of two pointed chamfered orders, and
the columns are octagonal with moulded bases and bell capitals; there are no
respond shafts, the inner order springing from moulded corbels except at the
north-west, where it dies on to the wall of the tower stair turret. The two
eastern corbels are modern. The original doorway into the tower stair turret
opens towards the east into the nave, but a modern one has been inserted in the
west aisle wall outside. The tower arch has three continuous chamfered orders,
and over it is a wide opening into the ringing chamber with a pointed segmental
arch, which is evidently modern, as above it a similar arch is visible, now
filled in. The clearstory has four windows on either side, of two lights each,
with square heads; the westernmost pair are modern, the others original.
The three-light east and
west windows of the north aisle are modern, as is the westernmost of the four
two-light north windows, the other three being of late 14th-century date.
In the south wall of the
south aisle next the arch opening into the modern organ chamber is a small
locker with rebated edges, and west of it are the remains of a piscina with a
concave back and pointed head. The two south windows of the aisle are both in
part old, each with two lights in a square head. The south doorway has been
completely modernized, and to the east of it is a small square blocked doorway,
which evidently once opened to a stair leading to a room over the porch. The
jambs only of the west window are old, and above it externally is a
string-course, all modern except the piece at the south-west corner, carved
with the head and shoulders of an angel. Above the string-course are remains of
a blocked opening, probably connected with an 18th-century gallery. The south
porch, although much repaired, is of the same date as the aisle and has a
ribbed vault, springing from corner shafts with moulded bases and capitals. In
the east wall is a window of two small lancets and in the west a quatrefoil
window, both partly renewed. The outer archway appears to be an 18th-century
rebuilding, and this again has been repaired in modern times. Over the doorway
is a circular traceried piercing with a square moulded label. The front wall of
the porch is finished with a curved pediment, capped by a pedestal sundial.
The tower is of four
stages, the lowest being strengthened by shallow clasping and intermediate
buttresses, the latter pierced by small round-headed lights, surrounded
internally by large shallow recesses with pointed arches. The next two stages
are both pierced by narrow rectangular lights, and on the west face of the
third stage is a clock. Here the outlines of the former belfry windows can
still be traced; these were evidently filled in when the tower was heightened.
The top stage or bell-chamber is lit by a two-light window in each wall with a
plain spandrel in a pointed arch. The parapet is embattled with a continuous
coping, the lower part being panelled and the merlons pierced with trefoiled openings.
At the angles are square panelled pinnacles with smaller ones in the centre of
each face. The walling of the church is mainly of rubble, but the tower is
ashlar faced and the clearstories, above the windows, are built of red brick.
The buttresses of the
north aisle wall are original, but most of the others are modern. The roofs are
also modern, the chancel and nave having low-pitched gables; the roof of the
latter is ceiled. The aisle roofs are flat, lead covered, and plastered
internally. All the roofs have eaves with stone cornices.
The altar table, marble
reredos, stone pulpit and font are all of recent date.
Under the tower is a
large altar tomb of grey marble to John Throckmorton, who died in 1445, Eleanor
his wife, and Thomas his son. It was moved from its former position in the
chancel at the last restoration of the church. The sides of the tomb are
panelled and the moulded plinth contains a band of quatrefoils. In the slab are
the brass figures of a man in armour and a lady with five shields, one of which
is missing; the other four have the arms of Throckmorton impaling Azure a fesse
or with three pheons thereon. In the chancel floor is a slab with the half
figure of a coped priest in brass and an inscription below to Thomas Mordon,
Bachelor of Law and Treasurer of St. Paul's, London, a former rector of this
church, who died in 1458. The arms in the shields over are a cheveron between
two molets in the chief and a lion in the foot.
A second brass has a Latin inscription to William Plewine, M.A., rector, who
died in 1504, whose figure is represented in mass vestments; and a brass
inscription commemorates Olive wife successively of Edward Harris and John
Talbot, who died in 1647.
At the west end of the nave is a brass to Edward Peyton, in armour, the figures
of the wife and children with three shields being missing. Another undated
Latin inscription is to Godytha (Bosom) wife of Robert Olney (her daughter
Margaret married Thomas Throckmorton) surrounded by three reversed shields. The
other monuments include one, in the vestry, to Bishop William Lloyd, 1707, and
another in the south aisle to John Darby, 1609.
In the north-west window of the chancel are six shields of 14th-century glass,
of the arms of Beauchamp, Mountford, Moigne, Mortimer, Montfort, and Despenser.
They were removed from the east window to make way for the present
stained-glass window, and are said to have come from the abbey of Evesham at
the Dissolution. They are mentioned in Symond's Diary in 1644. (fn.
226)
There were a number of encaustic tiles about the church; most of them have been
collected and placed in the north doorway, now blocked.
In the churchyard is a fine row of yew trees with a pathway between it and the
old brick boundary wall.
There is a ring of six bells, all cast by Mears in 1807, and in addition a
small sanctus bell hung in the south window with a black letter inscription,
'Sancta Katerina Ora pro me Edwardo Gregion.'
The old communion plate
was in 1801 removed to the chapels of Throckmorton and Wyre Piddle. (fn.
227)
Throckmorton Church from
the South-west
The registers are as
follows: (i) baptisms and marriages from 1560 to 1630, burials 1560 to 1629;
(ii) baptisms and burials from 1630 to 1713, marriages 1630 to 1712, with gaps
from 1640 to 1660 in this book; (iii) baptisms and burials from 1713 to 1803,
marriages 1713 to 1753; (iv) marriages from 1754 to 1812; (v) baptisms and
burials from 1804 to 1812.
The church of THROCKMORTON
consists of a chancel 12½ ft. by 16 ft., a central tower 11½ ft. by 13½ ft., a
nave about 45 ft. by 17½ ft., and a small south aisle 4½ ft. in width. These
measurements are all internal.
The chancel is of the
13th century, but the tracery of the windows is all modern, the eastern being
of three lights, with one of two lights in each side wall. The trefoiled
piscina at the east end of the south wall has a square head with pierced
spandrels and a half-octagonal bowl. The eastern arch of the contemporary
central tower which is included within the chancel is of two chamfered orders,
the outer order dying upon the walls and the inner springing from plain
corbels. The western arch is similar, with the exception that the inner order
also dies upon the face of the responds, and a little above its springing it is
interrupted on both sides by large plain corbels which must have originally
supported the rood-beam. In the south wall of the tower is a window of two
trefoiled lights with modern tracery. The projecting chamfered course on the
north and south walls evidently supported a floor below the level of the crowns
of the arches.
In the north wall of the
nave is a window of similar form to the east window of the chancel. The north
doorway is of the 14th century and is of two chamfered orders. The south arcade
of the nave is of five bays with two-centred arches of two plain chamfered
orders and dates from the 13th century. The centre bay is considerably narrower
than the rest. Above the columns where the labels, had they existed, would have
intersected, are face-corbels. These have been recently placed in this position
for their better preservation. They were formerly lying loose in the building,
and had probably been detached from the fabric at some repair or restoration.
The columns are quatrefoil on plan with moulded capitals and water-holding
bases. The three-light west window dates from early in the 14th century.
Both aisle windows are
modern. The south doorway is reset 14th-century work and has a chamfered
two-centred head and jambs. The embattled tower is three stages high, with good
gargoyles at the angles. The belfry is lighted by two-light windows, and the
stage below by two small square-headed lights in the south wall.
Externally the chancel
is built of coursed rubble with an intermixture of brick and tile. The walls of
both chancel and nave have been heightened in brick. The nave and tower are
both covered with rough-cast, and the south aisle is modern.
The cylindrical font
with its thick tapering stem is perhaps of 14th-century date.
The tower contains four
bells: the first is uninscribed, the second has fallen from its frame and is
broken at the crown, the third is dated 1622 with the churchwardens' names, the
fourth is cracked and inscribed,
'Be it known to all that
shall us see
That Henrie Farmer made we 4 of 3.'
The plate consists of an
Elizabethan cup with cover paten without hall mark, a small paten of plain
beaten silver, also without hall mark, and an almsdish of brass.
The registers before
1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms from 1546 to 1717, marriages 1545 to 1717,
and burials 1661 to 1717; (ii) baptisms from 1717 to 1812, burials 1721 to
1750, and marriages from 1718 to 1754.
The church at WYRE
consists of a chancel 14½ ft. by 15½ ft., nave 41½ ft. by 18 ft., and a north
porch.
The walls appear to
follow the plan of a 12th-century building, but the whole structure has been
rebuilt in modern times. The three-light east window is in 14th-century style
with modern tracery and original jambs. In the north wall is a modern two-light
window. The first window on the south side is of three lights in the style of
the 14th century and the second is modern. In the same wall is set half of a
13th-century capital, used as a credence table, and a typical 12th-century
pillar piscina, with square bowl. The chancel arch is round-headed, of one
plain order, with a chamfered label, and springs from square chamfered impost
mouldings. On each side of it is a square squint.
All the nave windows are
modern restorations, there being three in the north wall and four in the south.
The western pair are modern lancets; the remaining windows are each of two
lights, the eastern pair having quatrefoil tracery. The north door is the only
entrance to the nave, and is covered by a modern porch. The 15th-century west
window is of two lights and contains some fine pieces of contemporary stained
glass. The font is circular, with a moulded rim and cheveron ornament below.
The stem and base are also circular, and beneath the bowl are fluted scallops.
In a recess in the north wall are preserved some fragments of early work, with
the boss of a shield and a light spearhead, discovered in the churchyard. There
is also one of a pair of 14th-century candlesticks in the churchwarden's house.
The chancel floor is largely paved with mediaeval tiles, the better preserved
being within the altar rails.
The church has a
bellcote above the chancel, with spaces for two bells. The work is contemporary
with the chancel, but has been restored. It contains one 18th-century bell by
Rudhall.
The plate includes a
reconstructed cup, the old stem Elizabethan, the cup itself comparatively
modern, a plain plate hall-marked 1673 and a large flagon of 1651.
The registers before
1812 are as follows: in one book, baptisms 1670 to 1709, burials 1680 to 1713,
marriages 1684 to 1709. (fn.
228)
The church of ST.
JOHN BAPTIST, Bradley, consists of a chancel, nave, north porch and
north-east tower. The church was erected in 1864–5 on the site of a former
building, which is stated by Nash to have been of timber with a wooden tower. (fn.
229) The materials are Inkberrow stone, and the design is in the style of
the early 14th century. The east window of the chancel is of three lights with
tracery over, and the nave is lighted from the west by a large rose-window. The
tower is surmounted by a broach spire of stone. The north porch contains
portions of two mediaeval tomb slabs. The earliest of these has a double cross
with a wheel head, and probably dates from about 1300. The later and more
elaborate slab has a cross approximating to the Maltese shape, and upon its
stem a shield charged with three crosslets upon a bend. In the church is a
monument from the former building to Joseph James, who died in 1776.
There is one bell of
1865, replacing three cast in 1771.
The plate consists of a
chalice and cover of Reformation pattern, the cover (usable as a patern)
bearing the date 1571, a paten dated 1865, and a modern metal flagon, never
used.
The registers before
1812 are as follows: (i) mixed entries 1562 to 1644; (ii) 1645 to 1718; (iii)
1719 to 1812.
ST. THOMAS'S Church at Lower Moor was opened on 21 December
1869. It was built on a site given by Robert Wagstaff, and service is held
there every Sunday afternoon by the rector and curates of Fladbury. Parish
rooms at Fladbury, Moor and Wyre Piddle are used for meetings.
ADVOWSONS
There was possibly a
church at Fladbury in 1086, as there was then a priest there. (fn.
230) The advowson has always belonged to the see of Worcester. (fn.
231) In 1291 the church was valued at £26 13s. 4d. (fn.
232) In 1317 the Crown presented owing to the vacancy of the see of
Worcester, (fn.
233) and in 1535 the presentation was granted to Thomas Cromwell and others
on the petition of Thomas Bagard, LL.D., vicar-general of Worcester. (fn.
234) In 1535 the rectory of Fladbury, with the chapels attached to it, (fn.
235) was worth £81 0s. 8d. yearly. (fn.
236) In 1543 Christopher Hales, the rector, received a licence to travel
abroad for seven years, and take with him one servant and two horses. (fn.
237)
On 14 May 1448 (fn.
238) Eleanor wife of John Throckmorton and her son Thomas obtained licence
to found in the parish church of Fladbury a chantry of one chaplain to
celebrate divine service daily at the altar of St. Mary. The chantry was to be
called 'Throkmerton Chaunterie,' and Eleanor and Thomas were to endow it with
rents to the value of £10 a year. (fn.
239) The advowson belonged to the lords of the manor of Throckmorton. (fn.
240) In 1535 the chantry was valued at £9 3s. 4d. (fn.
241) William Lane, the chantry priest, obtained licence in 1547 to grant
all the lands belonging to the chantry to George Throckmorton. (fn.
242) Two years later the chantry was dissolved, and the chantry-house seems
to have been granted to Stephen Hales, for he and his wife Joan conveyed a
messuage called the Chantry House in 1553 to John Ayland, (fn.
243) and in 1588 the chantry of Fladbury was granted by the queen, at the
request of Edward Dyer, to Edward Wymarke. (fn.
244) In 1601 it was granted to Robert Stanford or Stamford. (fn.
245)
There was an obit in the
church in connexion with this chantry supported by a sum of 5s. from the
endowment of the chantry. (fn.
246) There was also a rent of 4d. from an acre of land in Fladbury
given for the maintenance of a lamp in the church. (fn.
247)
A chapel, to which the
rectors of Fladbury presented, was in existence at Ab Lench as early as 1269,
when the first presentation of which we have any record took place. (fn.
248) Presentations were made to this vicarage until 1419. (fn.
249) The remains of the chapel were visible in 1812, (fn.
250) and are still remembered by some of the inhabitants. Carlisle, writing
in 1808, mentioned a demolished chapel. (fn.
251) Ab Lench was annexed to Church Lench for ecclesiastical purposes in
1865. (fn.
252)
The chapels of
Throckmorton, Bradley and Wyre Piddle were mentioned in the Valor of 1535. (fn.
253) The chapels of Throckmorton and Wyre Piddle are still annexed to
Fladbury. Bradley was separated from Fladbury in July 1862, (fn.
254) and the living was declared a rectory in 1866. (fn.
255) It is in the gift of the Bishop of Worcester.
CHARITIES
The amalgamated
charities are administered by the rector and churchwardens, comprising
1. The charity known as
Holt's charity, consisting of £49 13s. 6d. consols, representing
donations mentioned on the church table of £5 each by Miss Martin, Nicholas
Perks and Mrs. Hester Jones, improved by offertories to £50.
2. The charity of
Richard Bourne Charlett, will 1821, also mentioned on the church table, trust
fund, £100 consols.
3. The charity of
Mrs.Joyce Evans, will proved at Worcester 15 July 1848, trust fund, £44 14s.
consols.
4. The charity of Robert
Wagstaff, will proved at Worcester 26 July 1880, trust fund, £500 consols.
The several sums of
stock are held by the official trustees, the annual dividends of which,
amounting to £17 7s., were in 1908–9 applied in gifts of 4s. to 8s.
among twenty-eight widows, 10s. each to two poor residents and other
money gifts.
In 1825 the Rev. Martin
Stafford Smith by deed gave a sum of £1,125 1s. consols with the
official trustees, the annual dividends, amounting to £28 2s. 4d.,
to be distributed in coals, bread and meat, and religious books to the poorest
inhabitants of Fladbury, Hill and Moor, Wyre Piddle and Throckmorton on or
about 23 December. Contributions to the income are made by residents, the
distributions being made chiefly in coal by the rector and churchwardens, and
Bibles, Prayer books and hymn books by the rector.
In 1865 the Rev.
Frederick Gauntlett by deed gave £100 consols (with the official trustees), the
annual dividend of £2 10s. to be applied towards the support of the
parochial schools.
The Church
Lands—referred to on the church table as the gift in 1403 of Thomas Wilcox and
Grysels his wife, and devise by will of John Hopkins, 1710—now consist of 11
acres let in allotments, acquired by exchange on the inclosure in 1787 for
other lands called the Cherry Orchard and Rick Ground; also 2 acres in the
hamlet of Hill and Moor. The net rental of about £18 yearly is carried to the
churchwardens' accounts.
Hamlet of Hill and Moor.
—In 1681 William White
of London, vintner—as appeared from the church table—gave £5 for the use of the
poor, subsequently augmented to £17.
In 1841 William George,
by will proved in the P.C.C., left £50 for the poor. These gifts are now
represented by £72 8s. 8d. consols.
In 1885 Miss Mary
Wagstaff, by will proved at Worcester, left £200, which was invested in £198 10s.
2d. consols.
In 1888 Miss Ann
Wagstaff, by a codicil to her will proved at Worcester, left £200, invested in
£206 9s. consols.
The several sums of
stock are held by the official trustees, the annual dividends of which,
amounting to £11 18s., are applied proportionately in pursuance of the
trusts of the respective charities. The distribution is made in bread and money
in the month of January in each year, a preference being given to widows. In
1909 sixteen needy families benefited under Miss Ann Wagstaff's charity.
This hamlet also
participates in the benefit of the charity of the Rev. Martin Stafford Smith.
(See under parish of Fladbury.)
Chapelry of Stock and Bradley.
— The Poor's
Land—referred to on the church table as the gift in 1621 of William Jones and
in 1653 of Henry Collier—now consists of 2½ acres, known as the Parish Close,
and two plots of garden land, containing together 1 acre, or thereabouts, of
the annual rental value of £8 10s., which is applied in the distribution
of bread, beef and coal.
The Church Lands.
—The chapelry has been
in possession from time immemorial of about 5½ acres of land, now let at £19 a
year, which is carried to the chapel-wardens' account.
Hamlet of Wyre Piddle.
—The Chapel Lands
consist of a garden plantation containing 1 a. 2 r. 8 p. let at £8 a year,
which is applied towards the repair of the chapel, the sum of 10s. being
paid to the rector as tithe.
This hamlet also
participates in the benefits of the charity of the Rev. Martin Stafford Smith.
(See under the parish of Fladbury.)
Footnotes
|
1
|
Habington, Surv. of
Worcs. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), i, 225.
|
|
2
|
Of which 49 are
covered by water. This includes Ab Lench now in Church Lench.
|
|
3
|
Census of Engl. and
Wales Worcs. 1901, pp. 22, 23.
|
|
4
|
Statistics from Bd. of
Agric. (1905).
|
|
5
|
Ibid.
|
|
6
|
Hale, Reg. of Worc.
Priory (Camd. Soc.), 110b.
|
|
7
|
Nash, Hist. of
Worcs. i, 446.
|
|
8
|
Noake, Guide to Worcs.
164.
|
|
9
|
Inscr. on the monument
of Bishop Lloyd in the vestry.
|
|
10
|
Parl. Papers (1872), xlvi, 27.
|
|
11
|
Prattinton Coll. (Soc.
Antiq.).
|
|
12
|
Cal. Chart. R. 1226–57, p. 102.
|
|
13
|
Priv. Act, 28 Geo.
III, cap. 16; Blue Bk. Incl. Awards, 190.
|
|
14
|
Priv. Act, 6 Geo. IV,
cap. 1. The award is dated 11 July 1829 (Blue Bk. Incl. Awards, 191).
|
|
15
|
Priv. Act, 2 & 3
Will. IV, cap. 13. The award is dated 12 Dec. 1833 (Blue Bk. Incl. Awards,
190).
|
|
16
|
Priv. Act, 12 Geo.
III, cap. 37. The award is dated 31 Oct. 1772 (Blue Bk. Incl. Awards,
191).
|
|
17
|
Blue Bk. Incl.
Awards, 192. The Inclosure
Acts for Wyre Piddle have not been found among the printed Acts of
Parliament.
|
|
18
|
Heming, Chartul.
(ed. Hearne), 21; Birch, Cart. Sax. i, 110.
|
|
19
|
In a forged Evesham
charter the land is said to have belonged to Ethelred in right of his wife
(Birch, op. cit. i, 193).
|
|
20
|
Ibid. 111; Heming, op.
cit. 590.
|
|
21
|
Dugdale, Mon. Angl.
i, 585; Heming, op. cit. 591; Birch, op. cit. i, 111, 191.
|
|
22
|
Chron. of Evesham (Rolls Ser.), iv, 73.
|
|
23
|
Ibid. 18, 71, 73, 95.
|
|
24
|
Birch, op. cit. i,
331; Heming, op. cit. 591, 585. This deed is certainly genuine.
|
|
25
|
Birch, op. cit. i,
328. This charter is, however, a forgery. See above under Cropthorne.
|
|
26
|
Arch. Journ. xix, 247.
|
|
27
|
Birch, op. cit. i,
507; Heming, op. cit. 25.
|
|
28
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 289b. The bishop had all the
proceeds of hunting and honey as well as the timber used for the salt-pans at
Droitwich (ibid.).
|
|
29
|
Ibid. 324a.
|
|
30
|
Cart. Antiq. RR 15.
|
|
31
|
Ibid. I 31.
|
|
32
|
Thomas, Surv. of Cath.
Ch. of Worc. 123; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. viii, 194.
|
|
33
|
Cal. Pat. 1247–58, p. 345. This grant was confirmed in
the following year (Cal. Chart. R. 1226–57, p. 443). The warren was
probably made on Craycombe Hill, where it remained until the commons of
Fladbury were inclosed in 1788 (Priv. Act, 28 Geo. III, cap. 16).
|
|
34
|
Thomas, op. cit. 138.
|
|
35
|
Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 225b.
|
|
36
|
Feud. Aids, v, 306, 318.
|
|
37
|
Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iii, 218a.
|
|
38
|
Close, 24 Chas. I, pt.
xiv, no. 5. In 1639–40 William Sandys and his wife Cicely conveyed the manor
to Henry Sandys, who had married William's sister Jane (Feet of F. Worcs.
Trin. 15 Chas. I; Visit. of Worcs. 1569 [Harl. Soc. xxvii], 124). This
William Sandys spent £20,000 in making the Avon navigable for vessels of 50
tons from Tewkesbury to Stratford, a distance of 24 miles (Cal. S. P. Dom.
1635–6, p. 280; Noake, Guide to Worcs. 164; Nash, Hist. of Worcs.
i, 446–7).
|
|
39
|
Nash, op. cit. i, 447.
There were then twenty-four copyhold tenants in the manor (ibid.).
|
|
40
|
Close, 24 Chas. I, pt.
xiv, no. 5.
|
|
41
|
In 1671–2 Sir John
Hales and his wife Anne and Richard Hopkins and his wife Mary were dealing
with six parts of the manor of Fladbury (Feet of F. Worcs. Mich. 23 Chas.
II).
|
|
42
|
Shirley, Hanley and
the House of Lechmere, 47.
|
|
43
|
Recov. R. D. Enr.
East. 1 Jas. II, m. 3. The bishop reserved from the lease the advowson of the
church and the rights to 'chase, hawke and hunt' upon the premises.
|
|
44
|
Nash, op. cit. i, 447a.
In 1700 the manor was valued at £450 a year (Diary of Francis Evans
[Worcs. Hist. Soc.], 25). In 1749 the manor of Fladbury was conveyed by
Valens Comyn and his wife Mary, widow of Francis Colston, to Hugh Watson
(Feet of F. Worcs. Hil. 23 Geo. II; Close, 23 Geo. II, pt. iii, no. 23).
|
|
45
|
Dict. Nat. Biog.
|
|
46
|
Stat. 23 & 24
Vict. cap. 124.
|
|
47
|
Inform. supplied by
Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
|
|
48
|
Ibid.; Priv. Act, 28
Geo. III, cap. 16; 6 Geo. IV, cap. 1; 2 & 3 Will. IV, cap. 13.
|
|
49
|
There were 25 eels to
the stich.
|
|
50
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 289b.
|
|
51
|
Thomas, op. cit. A
129. In 1291 the mill of Fladbury was worth £2 (Pope Nich. Tax. [Rec.
Com.], 225b).
|
|
52
|
Mins. Accts. bdle.
1143, no. 18.
|
|
53
|
Close, 24 Chas. I, pt.
xiv, no. 5.
|
|
54
|
The name Abbot's Lench
is a corruption unknown until about 1796. Dr. William Kyle Westwood Chafy,
who now owns this hamlet, is desirous of restoring the ancient name Ab Lench.
The county council tried to get this done, but the Ordnance Survey officials
refused.
|
|
55
|
Heming, op. cit. 187;
Kemble, Cod. Dipl. no. 637.
|
|
56
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 289b.
|
|
57
|
Ibid.
|
|
58
|
Ibid. 324a.
|
|
59
|
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 41; Cal. Inq. p.m. 1–9 Edw.
II, 403; Exch. K. R. Misc. Bks. xxii, fol. 1; Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII,
i, 345; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxv, 98.
|
|
60
|
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 41.
|
|
61
|
Red Bk. of Bishopric
of Worc. (Eccl. Com. Rec. Var. bdle. 121, no. 43698), fol. 252. Church scot
at Ab Lench was given by Stephen de Beauchamp to the nuns of Cookhill (Nash,
op. cit. ii, 17).
|
|
62
|
Red Bk. of Bishopric
of Worc. fol. 81.
|
|
63
|
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 41.
|
|
64
|
Lay Subs. R. 1346 (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 19; Feud. Aids,
v, 307.
|
|
65
|
Cal. Close, 1227–31, p. 373.
|
|
66
|
Lay Subs. R. Worcs. c. 1280 (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 35.
|
|
67
|
Habington, Surv. of
Worcs. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), i, 326.
|
|
68
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Edw.
II, no. 71; Cal. Inq. p.m. 1–9 Edw. II, 403.
|
|
69
|
Lay Subs. R. 1327 (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 6.
|
|
70
|
Ibid. 1346 (Worcs.
Hist. Soc.), 19; Feud. Aids, v, 307.
|
|
71
|
Habington, op. cit. i,
326.
|
|
72
|
Feud. Aids, v, 319, 333.
|
|
73
|
Habington, loc. cit.;
Dugdale, Hist. of Warw. 847; Visit. of Warw. (Harl. Soc. xii),
101.
|
|
74
|
Visit. of Warw. (Harl. Soc. xii), 101.
|
|
75
|
Pat. 17 Edw. IV, pt.
i, m. 8 d.
|
|
76
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. 17
Edw. IV, no. 66.
|
|
77
|
Parl. R. vi, 193.
|
|
78
|
Pat. 18 Edw. IV, pt.
i, m. 9.
|
|
79
|
Visit. of Warw. (Harl. Soc. xii), 101.
|
|
80
|
Dugdale, Hist. of
Warw. 847; De Banco R. Chart. Enr. East. 1 Ric. III, m. 2.
|
|
81
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen.
VII, i, 345.
|
|
82
|
Ibid.
|
|
83
|
Recov. R. Hil. 26 Hen.
VIII, rot. 144.
|
|
84
|
Dugdale, Hist. of
Warw. 847.
|
|
85
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), lxxv, 98; Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 291, no. 69.
|
|
86
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), lxxv, 98.
|
|
87
|
Metcalfe, Bk. of
Knights, 117.
|
|
88
|
Feet of F. Worcs.
East. 7 Eliz. A second conveyance took place in 1585 (ibid. Mich. 26 & 27
Eliz.).
|
|
89
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), cccxxvi, 48; Recov. R. Trin. 4 Geo. II, rot. 14; 2 Geo. IV, rot. 148;
Feet of F. Worcs. Mich. 11 Chas. I; Div. Co. Hil. 1650; East. 5 Anne.
|
|
90
|
Will. Salt Arch. Soc.
Coll. iv, 227.
|
|
91
|
Jeayes, Lyttelton
Chart. no. 7.
|
|
92
|
Ibid. no. 8.
|
|
93
|
Nash, op. cit. ii,
App. xx, quoting Pipe R. 13 Hen. III.
|
|
94
|
Cal. Close, 1227–31, p. 373.
|
|
95
|
Nash, op. cit. ii,
App. xx, quoting Fine R. 17 Hen. III, m. 2.
|
|
96
|
Feet of F. Worcs. 1
Edw. I, no. 1.
|
|
97
|
Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 230.
|
|
98
|
Feet of F. Div. Co.
Trin. 39 Eliz.
|
|
99
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), cccciv, 114; Feet of F. Worcs. Trin. 3 Chas. I.
|
|
100
|
Heming, op. cit. ii,
580.
|
|
101
|
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 41b; Mins. Accts. bdle.
1143, no. 18; Cal. Pat. 1413–16, p. 340; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),
xiv, 6; Exch. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), file 1179, no. 1.
|
|
102
|
See below.
|
|
103
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 291. According to Sir William Dugdale a
John Throckmorton was lord of the manor of Throckmorton in 1130, but there seems
to be no authority for this assertion (Betham, Baronetage of Engl. i,
486).
|
|
104
|
Habington, Surv. of
Worcs. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), i, 226; Red Bk. of Bishopric of Worc. fol.
81. The bishop, who at this time held a manor at Throckmorton in demesne, had
other tenants at Throckmorton; Norman held half a hide of land and Osmund the
Chamberlain half a hide (ibid.). In a later survey the heir of Osmund the
Chamberlain was holding at Throckmorton a hide and a half of land which
Osmund son of Gervaise held of him. Bishop John (c. 1151) confirmed this
tenement to Osmund for the service which Malgetus did for it (ibid. 255).
Osmund son of Gervaise still held a virgate at Throckmorton at the beginning
of the 13th century (Testa de Nevill [Rec. Com.], 41b).
|
|
105
|
Pipe R. 21 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc.), 130.
|
|
106
|
Ibid. 22 Hen. II,
36; 23 Hen. II, 65.
|
|
107
|
Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. viii, 194.
|
|
108
|
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 41b. William son of
Joscelin held a virgate in Throckmorton at this time (ibid.).
|
|
109
|
Ibid.
|
|
110
|
Feet of F. Worcs. 17
Hen. III, no. 14.
|
|
111
|
Nash, op. cit. i, 452.
|
|
112
|
Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii, 447.
|
|
113
|
Reg. G. Giffard (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 81.
|
|
114
|
Habington, op. cit. i,
227. In 1299 Robert was holding 3 virgates in Throckmorton which had belonged
to William de Westhill, and he also held 2½ hides for which he had to defend
the manor of Fladbury from suit at the county court (Red Bk. of Bishopric of
Worc. fol. 69). John de Pikersham held in 1299 a hide of land in Throckmorton
which afterwards passed to the Throckmortons (Habington, op. cit. i, 227,
228; Red Bk. of Bishopric of Worc. fol. 69).
|
|
115
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. 10–20
Edw. II, 409.
|
|
116
|
Feet of F. Worcs. Hil.
7 Edw. III, no. 9.
|
|
117
|
Ibid. Trin. 15 Edw.
III, no. 5. In 1346 John Huband was said to be holding a fifth of a knight's
fee at Throckmorton corresponding to the 4 virgates of the Testa de Nevill (Feud.
Aids, v, 309). Members of this family paid subsidy at Throckmorton in
1280 and 1327 (Lay Subs. R. Worcs. 1280 [Worcs. Hist. Soc.], 36; ibid.
1327, p. 5), and in 1332–3 John Huband granted a messuage and a carucate of
land in Throckmorton to Thomas de Morton and Denise his wife for life at a
rent of a rose, with reversion to John (Feet of F. Worcs. Mich. 6 Edw. III,
no. 41).
|
|
118
|
op. cit. (Harl. Soc.
xii), 87.
|
|
119
|
Betham, Baronetage of
Engl. i, 487.
|
|
120
|
Feet of F. Worcs. 12
Hen. IV, no. 26.
|
|
121
|
Cal. Pat. 1446–52, pp. 168, 169.
|
|
122
|
Dict. Nat. Biog.
|
|
123
|
Cal. Pat. 1413–16, p. 340. This fee-farm rent was
doubtless the £12 received from the manor by the Bishop of Worcester in 1535
(Valor Eccl. [Rec. Com.], iii, 218). It was still paid to the bishop
in 1685 (Recov. R. D. Enr. East. 1 Jas. II, m. 3).
|
|
124
|
a See note 4 above.
|
|
125
|
b John Throckmorton
had died in 1445 (see M. I. in church).
|
|
126
|
Habington, op. cit. i,
425.
|
|
127
|
Dict. Nat. Biog.
|
|
128
|
Cal. Pat. 1446–52, pp. 168, 169.
|
|
129
|
Ibid. 1467–77, p. 20.
|
|
130
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. 12
Edw. IV, no. 33.
|
|
131
|
Ibid. (Ser. 2), xiv,
6.
|
|
132
|
Exch. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), file 1179, no. 1.
|
|
133
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), xcviii, 75.
|
|
134
|
Ibid.
|
|
135
|
Ibid. cxciii, 89.
|
|
136
|
Burke, Peerage
(ed. 1906).
|
|
137
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), ccclxvii, 100.
|
|
138
|
G.E.C. Complete
Baronetage, ii, 197. In 1637–8 Robert Throckmorton obtained a grant of
two-thirds of the manor of Throckmorton, in the king's hands on account of
the recusancy of Robert, for forty-one years if the manor remained in the
king's hands so long (Pat. 13 Chas. I, pt. xxiii, no. 7).
|
|
139
|
G.E.C. op. cit. ii,
198.
|
|
140
|
Ibid.; Feet of F. Div.
Co. Hil. 1654; Hil. 21 & 22 Chas. II.
|
|
141
|
G.E.C. loc. cit.
|
|
142
|
Feet of F. Div. Co.
Hil. 36 & 37 Chas. II.
|
|
143
|
G.E.C. loc. cit.
|
|
144
|
Feet of F. Worcs. Hil.
6 Geo. I; Recov. R. Mich. 10 Geo. I, rot. 239; East. 16 Geo. II, rot. 254.
|
|
145
|
G.E.C. loc. cit.
|
|
146
|
Ibid.
|
|
147
|
Recov. R. Mich. 7 Geo.
IV, rot. 264, 183. The baronetcy passed to Charles brother of Sir George
(G.E.C. op. cit. ii, 199).
|
|
148
|
G.E.C. loc. cit.
|
|
149
|
Ibid.
|
|
150
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 290b.
|
|
151
|
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 41b; Habington, op. cit.
i, 227; Priv. Act, 2 & 3 Will. IV, cap. 13.
|
|
152
|
Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. viii, 194.
|
|
153
|
Maitland, Bracton's
Note-Bk. iii, 235–6; Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 105.
|
|
154
|
Feet of F. Worcs. 38
Hen. III, no. 16; 39 Hen. III, no. 28.
|
|
155
|
Ibid. 39 Hen. III, no.
28.
|
|
156
|
Ibid. 38 Hen. III, no.
16.
|
|
157
|
Habington, op. cit. i,
228; Red Bk. of Bishopric of Worc. fol. 69.
|
|
158
|
Habington, loc. cit.
|
|
159
|
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 41b. This land had been
given as 2 hides and a virgate in Fladbury by Bishop Samson (1096–1112) to Illi
de Turre and passed with Norton in Bredon from Turre to Poer (Red Bk. of
Bishopric of Worc. fol. 243). It was held about 1182 by Walter de Turre
(ibid. fol. 81).
|
|
160
|
Feet of F. Worcs.
East. 6 Hen. III.
|
|
161
|
Add. MS. 28024, fol.
172, 172 d.
|
|
162
|
Ibid. 172 d.
|
|
163
|
Habington, loc. cit.;
Red Bk. of Bishopric of Worc. fol. 69.
|
|
164
|
Add. MS. 28024, fol.
171.
|
|
165
|
Red Bk. of Bishopric
of Worc. fol. 69.
|
|
166
|
Assize R. 1029, m. 1
d.
|
|
167
|
Lay Subs. R. Worcs. 1280 (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 36. Other members
of the Basely family paid subsidies at Fladbury at this date (ibid. 36, 37).
|
|
168
|
Habington, loc. cit.
|
|
169
|
Ibid.
|
|
170
|
Lay Subs. R. Worcs. 1327 (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 4.
|
|
171
|
Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 114, 134; Cal. Pat.
1338–40, p. 260.
|
|
172
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. 49
Edw. III, pt. ii (1st nos.), no. 34a.
|
|
173
|
Feud. Aids, v, 308. Richard Poer had once held this
estate. John de Besford paid a subsidy of 1s. 6d. at Hill in
1327 (Lay Subs. R. Worcs. 1327 [Worcs. Hist. Soc.], 4).
|
|
174
|
Cal. Pat. 1396–9, pp. 314, 359.
|
|
175
|
Ibid.
|
|
176
|
Red Bk. of Bishopric
of Worc. fol. 243; see also fol. 81.
|
|
177
|
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 41b.
|
|
178
|
Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A
7245, 5908, 5883; Close, 49 Edw. III, m. 20 d.; Feud. Aids, v, 308,
320, 333; Habington, op. cit. i, 227.
|
|
179
|
Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A
6470.
|
|
180
|
Com. Pleas D. Enr.
East. 4 & 5 Phil. and Mary, m. 15.
|
|
181
|
Priv. Act, 2 & 3
Will. IV, cap. 13. At this time the lord of Fladbury and the lord of the
manor of the rectory of Fladbury both claimed rights in Hill and Moor, as
their respective manors extended into that hamlet.
|
|
182
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 290b. One Keneward had held it in
the same manner (ibid.). Pidelet Radulfi mentioned in the 12th-century survey
of Pershore Hundred has been wrongly identified as Wyre Piddle in a former
volume (ibid. 328a).
|
|
183
|
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 41b; Habington, op. cit.
i, 228; Red Bk. of Bishopric of Worc. fol. 69.
|
|
184
|
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 41b; Feud. Aids, v,
306, 318, 332; Cal. Pat. 1396–9, pp. 314, 359; Feet of F. Div. Co.
Mich. 6 Edw. IV; Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. IV, no. 47; Close, 3 Hen. VII, m.
11. Early in the 13th century the manor, with Moor, was held of William de
Beauchamp for the service of a knight's fee by William Fitz Warin (Testa
de Nevill [Rec. Com.], 41b), and in 1230 William son of this
William leased certain meadow land above Piddle called 'La brode dole' for
eighteen years to the sacristan of Pershore (Anct. D. [P.R.O.], D 282). In
1240 William leased the 'manor' of Piddle for twenty-three years (Cur. Reg.
R. 122, m. 10 d.), but this may have been the manor of Wick Piddle held by
the Fitz Warins (see St. Andrew, Pershore, V.C.H. Worcs. iv).
|
|
185
|
Duchy of Lanc. Mins.
Accts. bdles. 10465, 10467, 10468; L. and P. Hen. VIII, i, 3613; ii
(2), 3483.
|
|
186
|
Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt.
iv, m. 26. A rent of £5 was reserved to the Crown.
|
|
187
|
Feet of F. Worcs.
Mich. 13 & 14 Eliz.; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxxiii, 96.
|
|
188
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), clxxxiii, 96.
|
|
189
|
Ibid. ccclxxviii, 137;
cccclxxix, 96; Feet of F. Worcs. Mich. 22 Jas. I; Div. Co. East. 12 Chas. I;
Worcs. Trin. 6 Will. and Mary; Pat. 22 Chas. II, pt. ii (1st roll).
|
|
190
|
Recov. R. Trin. 4 Geo.
I, rot. 116; Hil. 1 Geo. III, rot. 298.
|
|
191
|
Pat. 22 Chas. II, pt.
ii (1st roll).
|
|
192
|
Close, 24 Chas. II,
pt. xxix, no. 10.
|
|
193
|
Recov. R. Mich. 48
Geo. III, rot. 417.
|
|
194
|
Birch (Cart. Sax.
i, 221) dates this charter 723, 729, 735 or 740.
|
|
195
|
Heming, op. cit. 15.
|
|
196
|
Dugdale, Mon. Angl.
i, 607.
|
|
197
|
Birch, op. cit. i,
356; Heming, op. cit. 16, 17, 18. This charter was confirmed by Bishop
Deneberht at the Council of Clovesho in 803 (Heming, op. cit. 19; Dugdale, Mon.
Angl. i, 587). In the Worcester chartulary there is a note of a charter
dated 789 by Ceolwulf (afterwards King of Mercia) relating to land at Bradley
(Heming, op. cit. 579), but it was probably only a confirmation of this
agreement (see Dugdale, loc. cit.).
|
|
198
|
Heming, op. cit. 144;
Birch, op. cit. iii, 318.
|
|
199
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 290b. Archbishop Ealdred had leased
it to his reeve in the time of Edward the Confessor (ibid.).
|
|
200
|
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 41b; Valor Eccl.
(Rec. Com.), iii, 217.
|
|
201
|
Pat. 7 Edw. VI, pt.
xiii, m. 7.
|
|
202
|
Cal. S. P. Dom. 1547–80, p. 58.
|
|
203
|
Ibid. 1628–9, p. 248.
|
|
204
|
Priv. Act, 6 Geo. IV,
cap. 1.
|
|
205
|
Stat. 23 & 24
Vict. cap. 124.
|
|
206
|
Habington, op. cit. i,
316; Red Bk. of Bishopric of Worc. fol. 81.
|
|
207
|
Cal. Chart. R. 1226–57, p. 172.
|
|
208
|
Red Bk. of Bishopric
of Worc. fol. 257.
|
|
209
|
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 41b.
|
|
210
|
Feet of F. Worcs. 29
Hen. III, no. 10.
|
|
211
|
Ibid. 33 Hen. III, no.
21.
|
|
212
|
Ibid. no. 44.
|
|
213
|
Ibid. no. 29.
|
|
214
|
Chart. Ant. QQ 7; Cal.
Pat. 1247–58, p. 180.
|
|
215
|
Feet of F. Worcs. 3
Edw. I, no. 17.
|
|
216
|
Lay Subs. R. Worcs. 1280 (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 38.
|
|
217
|
Reg. G. Giffard (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 443; see also p. 445.
|
|
218
|
Red Bk. of Bishopric
of Worc. fol. 69; Habington, op. cit. i, 228.
|
|
219
|
Lay Subs. R. Worcs. 1327 (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 42.
|
|
220
|
Feud. Aids, v, 309.
|
|
221
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 289b.
|
|
222
|
Priv. Act, 12 Geo.
III, cap. 37.
|
|
223
|
Ibid. 28 Geo. III,
cap. 16.
|
|
224
|
op. cit. i, 449a.
|
|
225
|
Which was of wood.
|
|
226
|
a op. cit. (Camden
Soc.), 25.
|
|
227
|
Prattinton Coll. (Soc.
Antiq.), Church Notes.
|
|
228
|
Some earlier
17th-century entries will be found in the Bishops' Transcripts.
|
|
229
|
op. cit. i, 453;
Prattinton Coll. (Soc. Antiq.).
|
|
230
|
V.C.H. Worcs. i, 289b.
|
|
231
|
Worc. Epis. Reg.
Bransford (1339–49), ii, fol. 12; Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
|
|
232
|
Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 218.
|
|
233
|
Cal. Pat. 1313–17, p. 657.
|
|
234
|
L. and P. Hen. VIII, viii, g. 962 (24).
|
|
235
|
See below.
|
|
236
|
Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iii, 268.
|
|
237
|
L. and P. Hen. VIII, xviii (1), g. 623 (69).
|
|
238
|
The actual foundation
does not appear to have taken place until 1460 (Chant. Cert. 25, no. 16).
|
|
239
|
Cal. Pat. 1446–52, pp. 168, 169.
|
|
240
|
Worc. Epis. Reg.
Morton (1486–97), fol. 41; Silvester de Gigliis (1498–1521), fol. 29 d.
|
|
241
|
Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iii, 266.
|
|
242
|
Pat. 1 Edw. VI, pt.
iii, no. 57.
|
|
243
|
Feet of F. Worcs.
Mich. 1 Mary.
|
|
244
|
Pat. 30 Eliz. pt. vii,
m. 1.
|
|
245
|
Ibid. 43 Eliz. pt. vi,
m. 26.
|
|
246
|
Chant. Cert. 25, no.
16.
|
|
247
|
Ibid. 60, no. 40.
|
|
248
|
Reg. G. Giffard (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 7.
|
|
249
|
Ibid. 446; Sede
Vac. Reg. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 184, 232; Worc. Epis. Reg. Reginald Brian
(1352–61), fol. 27; Nash, Hist. of Worcs. ii, 83.
|
|
250
|
Prattinton Coll. (Soc.
Antiq.).
|
|
251
|
Carlisle, Topog.
Dict. under Hob Lench. Lewis, writing in 1849, says, 'Here was a chapel
which fell into decay about two centuries ago. Divine service is performed in
a cottage by the rector of Fladbury' (ibid.).
|
|
252
|
Parl. P. 1872, xlvi, 27.
|
|
253
|
Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iii, 267.
|
|
254
|
Parl. P. 1872, xlvi, 21.
|
|
255
|
Lond. Gaz. 3 Apr. 1866, p. 2210.
|
ALCESTER
'Parishes: Alcester', A
History of the County of Warwick: Volume 3: Barlichway hundred (1945), pp.
8-22. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=56974. Date
accessed: 04 November 2008.
Acreage: 1,782.
Population: 1911, 2,168;
1921, 2,259; 1931, 2,195.
Alcester is a long,
narrow parish extending to the south-western boundary of the county, which is
here formed by the Ridgeway. The town lies in the southeast corner, near the
junction of the Alne and the Arrow. The hamlet of Kings Coughton is about ¼
mile to the north, beyond the junction of the Birmingham and Droitwich roads,
and there are one or two scattered farms.
ALCESTER Sketch Plan of
town showing positions of ancient buildings 1938
The main road from
Stratford to Worcester enters the parish at Oversley bridge and runs through
the town from east to west. The greater part of the town lies to the north of
this road. High Street branches off from it at right angles and leads up to the
church. The broad lower part of High Street was known as the Bull Ring, (fn. 1)
and the late Georgian houses on the east side clearly represent an encroachment
on an original open space. (fn. 2)
High Street continues, as Church Street, round the eastern side of the
churchyard and so into Henley Street, which leads northwards out of the town
over Gunnings Bridge. Henley Street was from earliest times the site of the
market, which is said to have been held between the house formerly belonging to
Richard le Rous and Gunnyld bridge in a charter of c. 1274. (fn. 3)
High Street and Henley Street are also connected on the west of the church by
Butter Street, a short, narrow passage not used for wheeled traffic, with the
houses on the east side abutting on to the churchyard. This is the sole remnant
of a range of buildings which once encircled the churchyard and was known as
the Shop Row. (fn. 4)
Parallel with High Street on the east side is Malt Mill Lane, running from
Church Street into Gas House Lane, which joins the Stratford road. On the east
side of Henley Street is Meeting House Lane, so called from the Baptist Chapel
built c. 1735–6. Its earlier name was Tibbetts Lane, and two centuries
ago it appears to have circled round the back of Church Street and joined it at
the top of Malt Mill Lane. (fn. 5)
Leading off from High Street are several passages or, in the local phrase,
'cheweries'. One of these, Bull's Head Yard, on the west side near the top, is
the old Colebrooke Lane. (fn. 6)
To return to the Stratford road; Bleachfield Street branches off southward from
it opposite High Street and leads into what is now a field-path to Oversley
Mill. The Bleachfield seems always to have been the poorer quarter of the town.
A little farther west another turning, Birch Abbey, leads directly to the Mill
past the old Grammar School. (fn. 7)
Between the two the Stratford road, here called Swan Street, forks to the right
up Priory Road to Birmingham and to the left to Evesham and Worcester, with
Seggs Lane (fn. 8)
continuing in a straight line between the two branches. Seggs Lane crosses the
railway line and then becomes Allimore Lane, leading to the Gorralls and Cold
Comfort Farm. (fn. 9)
Two fields on the right of Priory Road, behind the cemetery, are named Abbey
Meadow and Priory Close and mark the site of the ancient Abbey of Alcester.
Nothing now remains above ground, but excavations begun in 1938 partially
revealed the plan of the abbey.
The site of Alcester has
been occupied since very early times. Neolithic remains were discovered in
Meeting House Lane in 1927 (fn. 10)
and evidence of Roman occupation has been accumulating since the 17th century,
(fn.
11) though no systematic excavation of the whole area has yet been
attempted. The most notable of recent finds is a 1st-century vase, 16 in. high,
which was discovered in 1925 at Blacklands, a meadow by the Arrow, south-west
of the town. (fn. 12)
Roman tesserae have been found on different sites, such as Blacklands, Meeting
House Lane, and Folly Field (just over the boundary in Arrow parish), and coins
carry the history of the settlement down to the time of Honorius. (fn. 13)
Such long-continued occupation may be partly explained by the meeting-place of
roads here: that from Stratford coming in on the east, (fn. 14)
and the Ryckneild Street, running from the Fosse near Bourton-on-theWater to
'Letocetum' near Lichfield, crossing the Arrow near Oversley Mill (fn. 15)
and entering the town approximately along the line of Bleachfield Street. (fn. 16)
By the early 19th
century there were five turnpiked roads in the parish—to Stratford, (fn. 17)
Bromsgrove, Wootton Wawen, Droitwich, and Evesham. Alcester acquired a certain
importance in coaching days from its situation on one of the main routes from
London to Shrewsbury and Holyhead. Most of the coaches called at the Swan,
which was obviously rebuilt during this period. (fn. 18)
Coaches were running as late as 1850, (fn. 19)
but a station was opened on the Evesham-Redditch Railway in 1866, and the
present G.W.R. line from Bearley was opened ten years later.
Two bridges, known as
Gunnings Bridge and Oversley Bridge, cross the Arrow at the entrances into the
town from Henley-in-Arden and from Stratford, respectively. Each is on the site
of an earlier structure. 'Gunnyld bridge' being mentioned in 1274. (fn. 20)
In the early 16th century the supervision of these bridges seems to have
devolved upon the priest of St. Mary's Chantry. By an agreement of 1543 between
Sir Fulke Greville, lord of the manor, and Roger Metcalfe the priest, the
latter was to receive, in compensation for certain rights in dispute between
them, an annual rent of 20s. towards the maintenance of the bridges,
which was to be augmented, if necessary, by means of 'a testimoniall signed and
sealed by the said Sr Fo. Greville & other to gather the
devoucõn of people for the same'; and if these two sources proved inadequate,
Sir Fulke was to bear the extra charge himself. (fn. 21)
In 1612 the Hundred jury presented Gunnings Bridge at Quarter Sessions as being
'in great decaye to the anoyance of the said Towne being a greate markett
Towne', but stated that it was not known who was liable to repair it. Sir Fulke
Greville (grandson of the Sir Fulke above mentioned) thereupon offered to build
at his own expense 'a good Stone Bridge lyklie to enduier to Posterytie' and
his offer was accepted by Quarter Sessions in 1613. (fn. 22)
A further presentment in 1667, however, led to a prolonged dispute between Lord
Brooke and the justices as to liability for repair. (fn. 23)
The map of 1752 shows only a very narrow bridge here, and the present one, of
three arches in red brick with stone dressings and modern parapets, may well
have been built after the road to Wootton Wawen was turnpiked in 1814. Oversley
Bridge had become acknowledged as a county bridge by 1659 and considerable
repairs, at a cost of £165, were carried out then and in the following year. (fn. 24)
The present bridge, of three main and three smaller arches, has a stone bearing
the date 1600 built into the south parapet. Part of the walling and the main
arches on this side, which are of lower lias stone, may well be of that date,
and there are remains of two cutwaters. These are shown, together with four on
the north side, on the map of 1752. But the bridge has been widened on the
north to about twice its original width. The parapets are modern.
The Town Hall, a
two-storied building of 17th-century date, stands to the north of the church.
The lower story consists of a stone colonnade, filled in in 1873, and was built
about 1618, in which year Sir Fulke Greville, lord of the manor, gave £300 to
build a Market House for the town. (fn. 25)
It was originally intended to build the whole in stone, but this was found to
be too costly (fn. 26)
and it was decided to make the upper story of timber. This was not completed,
however, until 1641. The architect for the lower part was Simon White of
Chipping Campden, who agreed to make eighteen pillars for the colonnades in his
quarries there. The inhabitants were to supply the rest of the stone from the
quarries at Great Alne—and this lower lias appears in the spandrels of the
arches. In 1919 the Town Hall was bought from the lord of the manor by the town
as a war memorial.
The colonnades have
Doric shafts, with a marked entasis and semicircular arches with key-stones.
The sides have six bays, the ends two bays, but the southwestern bay is a solid
one containing the modern staircase and former lock-up, with a doorway in the
west wall. All the arches have been walled up, with doorways and windows in the
blockings. The top of the masonry has a moulded string-course.
The upper story, which
is gabled at the north and south ends, has the original timber work covered
with modern plaster and false framing; the windows are modern. It has a long
hall of five bays divided by the four main trusses of the roof. These have
moulded wall posts and stop-moulded tie-beams supported by curved braces. The
tie-beams have had their middle portions cut away so that they now form
hammer-beams and carry queen-posts and curved braces under the collarbeams;
most of the queen-posts are re-used timbers. The tie-beams have varied ornament
on their sides and on one is carved the date 1641. The ceiling was formerly
plastered at the collar-beams but was uncovered in 1938.
The oldest house appears
to be 'The Old Malthouse' at the corner of Church Street and Malt Mill Lane,
which dates probably from about 1500. It has close-set timber-framing and tiled
roofs. It is of L-shaped plan with elevations to north and east, with jettied
upper stories, now underbuilt on the north front. This front has two
gable-heads, a little apart; the eastern, forming the end of the east range, is
original and has a heavy tie beam, &c. The barge-board is moulded and
decorated with sunk trefoiled arches, each middle foil containing a blank
shield. The other gable, although of close studding, was probably a later
16th-century addition to provide for an attic chamber; it has a diapered
bargeboard of that period. Bay windows have been added to the lower story.
Through the middle of the front is a passage way to the back courtyard. It is
entered by an archway in the brickwork, but retains within it, at the original
plane of the ground story, an oak arched and square-headed doorway.
The long east side,
towards Malt Mill Lane, used as a storehouse, is divided into ten approximately
7½-ft. bays, indicated by the projecting ends of the main beams and the main
posts to the ground story. The north-east angle has a diagonal beam, but the
post below it and the next two posts have been replaced by brickwork. The other
eight posts have small pilasters cut out of the solid on the face of each and
curved brackets under the beams. The fourth and fifth bays have close studding,
the others rectangular framing with altered windows.
The upper story has a
moulded bressummer resting on the ends of the projecting beams and joists. No
significance is given to the bays in the upper story, all the studs being
alike. It has four original windows, of which the second and the southernmost,
unglazed, have each three diamond-shaped mullions. The framing towards the
courtyard has rectangular panels and no overhang. The chimney-stacks are
modern.
The front block is
divided into two tenements, each with a shop. The eastern has chamfered beams
and wide flat joists to the lower story. The front room above has an
early-17th-century plastered ceiling with enriched ribs and floral ornament.
The eastern part of the western tenement was the original two-storied
hall-block. The lower room (now a shop), off which the through passage has been
cut, has an original ceiling with moulded beams and joists, and the roof to the
room above has cambered tie-beams supported by curved braces, and side-purlins
and collar-beams supported by posts from the ties. The western part was
remodelled in the 17th century and the wing extended to the rear: this
extension contains a wide fire-place, but all the other fire-places are modern
insertions.
Adjoining the south end
of the east range is a house, probably slightly later, also of close studding
on stone foundations and with a jettied upper story and taller roof. The
bressummer to the overhang is boarded. It is of three 7½-ft. bays with main
posts and brackets; the southernmost post has a pilaster with a moulded capital
to carry the bracket.
Nos. 18 and 19 Church
Street, farther west, were a mid-16th-century house, of about 48-ft. frontage,
now in two tenements. The upper story of the north front, which has two
gable-heads, was jettied but is now underbuilt with 18th-century brick. The
framing is of fairly close-set studding with plastered infilling. Both gables
have barge-boards with diaper carving, like that to 'Malt House', and
pendant-posts at the apices. The window in the east gable, to the second floor,
has moulded oak mullions. The roof is tiled, and above the middle part is a
late-16th-century brick chimney-shaft of star-shaped plan. The central passage
through the building shows wide flat ceiling joists. At the back of No. 19 is a
17th-century gabled wing of rectangular framing with a jettied upper story,
partly underbuilt.
No. 5 Church Street was
formerly the Angel, once the principal inn in the town. It is mentioned in
1628, (fn. 27)
but the present house has a late Georgian front on a red brick building of
about a century earlier. Only the broad carriage way at the side remains to
indicate its original function.
The house now Nos. 20
and 21, of about 28-ft. frontage, is an early-17th-century building of
squarepanelled framing and two gable-heads of geometrical panels. The lower
story has had an 18th-century bay built out in front containing two doorways
and wide windows.
The house adjoining, No.
2 High Street, is similar in front, with square framing and two gables with
geometrical panels, but a plaster panel below the junction of the two gables
bears the date 1625, and the gables have barge-boards carved with scroll
patterns. The ground story has been underbuilt.
The remainder of the
buildings in the High Street have 18th- to 20th-century fronts, but a number
are of 16th- or 17th-century origin, the evidence being found in the interiors
or in the back parts of the premises. The buildings are numbered from north to
south, with the even numbers on the east and odd numbers on the west side.
On the east side Nos.
26, 30, 32 (formerly the Talbot Inn), 36 and 38, 40, and 42 ('Stone House', so
called from its front of coursed ashlar), all have remains of 17th-century
construction.
No. 12 is a low
two-storied house of timber-framing; the upper story is plastered, but above
the shop front some of the framing is visible, and there are 17th-century beams
in the ceiling of the shop, and in the through passage south of it. The
extension to the back is of square timber-framing.
The Corn Exchange,
occupying the site of No. 22, was built in 1857 and is said to have displaced
several ancient thatched cottages. There was a 'chewery' north of it now
abolished.
The Bear Inn is a low
building covered with roughcast cement and having four gabled dormers to the
upper story. At the back is a timber-framed wing with a gabled roof, and there
are old ceiling beams inside. On the front is a porch in the open sides of
which are incorporated some 17th-century turned balusters.
No. 34 was formerly the
Three Tuns Inn. The front, formerly jettied, has a plastered upper story; the
back wall is of 17th-century timber-framing. A central chimney-stack has three
shafts above the roof with V-shaped pilasters, and inside are wide fire-places
back to back, and ancient ceiling-beams. A late-17th-century extension behind
has stop-chamfered beams and joists.
The Royal Oak Inn, the
last house on this side, is probably an ancient building entirely renovated
except for a chimney-stack of late-17th- or 18th-century bricks.
Of the older houses on
the west side most of the visible evidence is in the north half of the street.
Nearly all have modern shop fronts.
House, Nos. 3 and 5, has
a plastered or rough-cast front but shows 17th-century framing in the gabled
north side and in the extension behind the south half (No. 5). There are old
ceiling-beams inside.
No. 7 has a plastered
front with a jettied upper story, but has been heightened to three stories and
much modernized. The south side-passage has a late-16thcentury entrance with a
moulded oak frame and the remains of one of the brackets of the overhang. The
passage has a side wall of close-studding and old ceilingbeams, but none is
visible in the shop. The back wall is gabled and faced with plaster: above its
roof is a late16th-century square chimney-stack with four shafts of brick with
V-shaped pilasters.
No. 9, now a shop, was
formerly the Bull's Head Inn. It has a brick front, but was timber-framed with
a jettied upper story. The south side, to Bull's Head Yard, has old
ceiling-beams and framed walls. The long back extension is of late-16th-century
timberframing, much altered in the lower story, on stone foundations. Some of
the small upper windows remain, with moulded mullions. The rear-most part, now
a storehouse, divided by story-posts and beams into three 6-ft. bays, has an
enriched plastered ceiling to the lower story with mouldings and scroll
ornament to the main beams. Each bay has three moulded square panels containing
a central Tudor rose surrounded by four single roses and four shields enclosing
flower patterns. The first floor is cemented. The roof has collar-beams and
side-purlins and had a second story lighted by gabled dormer windows.
House, Nos. 11 and 13,
is brick-fronted and of three stories: the back part of it is of timber-framing
and has a chimney-stack of c. 1600 with three square shafts in line,
with V-shaped pilasters. The extension behind this is also of 17th-century
timber-framing and has a brick gabled west wall.
House, Nos. 17 and 19,
is of brick, but each half has at the back a 17th-century timber-framed
extension.
No. 29 is modern
brick-fronted, but the shop has chamfered ceiling-beams. The back part is of
the 16th century and has a gabled west end with a jettied upper story of close
studding, and moulded ceiling-beams inside; a wide fire-place has been reduced.
A further extension behind the north part (printing works) is of 17th-century
framing and has a chimney-stack with two square shafts set diagonally.
No. 31 was probably an
inn and has on its north side a heightened wide passage way for coaches. This
shows old timber-framing in its side-walls, and blocked doorways, the southern
with a four-centred head. The ceiling is of very wide flat joists. There is
also framing in the back wall, but the front is of 18th-century brick.
The houses to the south
are of late-18th-century or later brick, except No. 55 (Midland Bank) which is
of earlier 18th-century brickwork with a plastered coved eaves-cornice to the
tiled roof.
A house which has side
elevations to Swan Street and Gas House Lane and its west front to the short
road between the two is built on the lines of a medieval building, with a
middle block and gabled cross-wings, but dates probably from the early 17th
century. The wings had jettied upper stories on the west front; these have been
underbuilt, and the wall continued in the same plane across the front of the
main block, which is thus recessed above. The whole front is plastered and the
doorways, windows, and barge-boards are modern. The side elevations are
timber-framed in the upper stories and of brick in the lower. The south side
has some leaded lights. The building is now divided into eight or more
tenements.
Two cottages farther
east in Gas House Lane, one on either side of the road, also have 17th-century
framing.
A house of two stories,
on the north side of Swan Street close to the Birmingham road, now divided into
three or four tenements, shows some 17th-century timber-framing in the west
half. Another, opposite, is also probably of the early 17th century. It has a
timberframed north front, many of the timbers renewed, with a middle block of
two stories, and end wings with jettied upper stories. The east wing is gabled
and has been underbuilt; the west wing is jettied on modern beams and brackets,
but it has been heightened and the gable turned the other way.
No. 2 Malt Mill Lane,
opposite the 'Old Malt House', has a modern front block, but the back wing,
which has a date 1610 on an internal beam, is of timberframing and plaster with
a jettied upper story on its north side. It has bow windows to the lower story
and three-sided oriel windows to the upper on shaped brackets. The south side,
also of framing, has no overhang. Inside are stop-chamfered beams and one room
is lined with late-17th-century panelling. The roof is tiled.
The next house to the
south, Nos. 4 and 6, is a 16thcentury building with a jettied upper story
towards the street, partly of close-set studding, and with an oriel window. The
north part of the overhang has been underbuilt with brick. Inside are heavy
wide ceiling joists. A back wing, of timber-framing, has chamfered beams.
The next house, No. 8,
is a taller timber-framed building of the late 17th century and has a plastered
coved cornice at the eaves.
Other houses in the lane
are of the 18th century or later and of brick.
Butter Street has
18th-century and later buildings on its west side. The Rectory, a three-storied
brick house at the south end, was built in 1796. (fn. 28)
On the east side, bordering the churchyard, are three houses, the middle one of
which shows some 17th-century framing.
Henley Street is more
unspoilt than the High Street; about half the buildings retain their 17th-century
or earlier fronts and about half the remainder are of the 18th century.
Churchill House, at the
junction with Butter Street, has a red brick front block of 1688. It is of two
stories and attics. The upper story has an iron-railed balcony on to which
opens a doorway of stone with an architrave, entablature, and broken curved
pediment. The main cornice is of wood enriched with carvings and modillions. In
the roof are flat-topped dormers. Inside, the room south of the middle entrance
passage is lined with early-17th-century panelling and has an overmantel with
round-headed carved panels. The room above it has a fine plastered ceiling
dated 1688 and with the initials L / TE (fn. 29)
: the ornament is bold and the heavy cornice has scrolls and flowers; the room
is lined with bolection-moulded panelling. The main staircase behind this block
has square newels and twisted balusters.
The back part of the
house is of earlier 17th-century timber-framing and has a gable-head: inside
are chamfered ceiling-beams.
A lower extension is
also of framing with wattle-anddaub infilling.
A little farther north
is a building of c. 1600, of two stories, the upper jettied and of
framing in square panels. Only a few old timbers remain in the lower story;
dividing it into three unequal bays are the main posts, with pilasters worked
on them and carrying enriched scrolled brackets under the overhang. The
bressummer is moulded.
The Red Horse Inn,
formerly the Greyhound's Head, (fn. 30)
has a gabled back wing of square framing and curved braces of about the same
period. Northwards are four or five other 17th-century houses: one shows
timber-framing, others have been plastered or otherwise refronted.
On the east side are
four 17th-century houses. No. 44 at the south corner of Meeting House Lane is
probably of mid-to-late 17th century with square framing and a gabled north
end. Nos. 40 and 42 is an early-17thcentury house with a jettied upper story on
its long side towards the street and on the gabled south end; the bressummers
are moulded and posts with carved scroll brackets divide it into three bays.
Farther north is a refronted plastered house with a 17th-century brick chimney,
and next north of that is an early-17thcentury house of square framing with two
gables, formerly jettied, now underbuilt with brick.
In Meeting House Lane,
on the north side, is an early-17th-century house, 'Oak House', of square
framing with a jettied upper story in its long south front on the ends of
projecting joists and four moulded brackets. The east and west ends are
half-gabled. A back wing has a projecting chimney-stack of the same period.
Bleachfield Street is a
street of small houses divided into tenements. Four houses are of square
framing of the second half of the 17th century. Nos. 7, 9, and 11 on the west
side and Nos. 12, 14, and 16 on the east are of two stories and attics with
gabled dormers. Nos. 21, 23, and 25 and Nos. 59, 61, and 63 are lower buildings
of one story and attic with gabled dormers. All have tiled roofs.
A long brick building,
Nos. 73, 75, 77, and 79, at the south end of the west side, of one story and
attic with gabled dormers, is probably of the late 17th century. It has a
square plinth, a string-course at the first-floor level, and the steep-pitched
tiled roof has north and south gable-ends with brick copings. There are two
chimney-stacks of 17th-century bricks.
School Road, leading
from Henley Street to the Birmingham road, has one 17th-century timber-framed
cottage (No. 2) with a reconditioned front, and old gable-ends.
In Evesham Street, on
the north side, No. 21 shows old framing in the west gable-head and in the back
extension, and No. 21 has front and back walls of old framing and a large
projecting chimney-stack. Behind the last is another small cottage of similar
framing.
In Seggs Lane is a mid-
to late-17th-century cottage of two tenements and of one story and attic,
wholly of square timber-framing.
Beauchamp's Court, about
¾ mile north-west of the church, on the Birmingham road, marks the site of the
ancient manor-house of Alcester. In 1340 Giles de Beauchamp obtained a licence
to crenellate his manorhouse here and to surround it with a wall of stone and
lime. (fn. 31)
It was apparently rebuilt or enlarged in the reign of Henry VIII, for Leland
notes (1545) that Fulke Greville 'now buildithe at Beauchamp's Hawle, and
takythe stones from Alcestre priorie'. (fn. 32)
It ceased to be the principal seat of the Grevilles after the 1st Lord Brooke
had acquired and restored Warwick Castle in the reign of James I. The last
member of the family to occupy it was probably William Greville who died in
1653. (fn. 33)
It was empty in 1665 and by 1667 had been partly pulled down and the remainder
let as a farm-house. (fn. 34)
Some farm buildings of 17th-century timber-framing still survive, but the
present house is comparatively modern and is said to have been rebuilt with
materials from the manor-house at Pophills in Salford Priors parish (q.v.)
which was demolished in 1848. (fn. 35)
It lies outside the moat.
Moat Farm, ¼ mile
farther north, is of L-shaped plan. The two-storied main block, running east
and west, is of the late 17th century. The wing extending to the north is of
one story and attic and of the late 16th century. It retains some of its
original timbers in the west side and north gable-end and has two gabled
dormers. Inside are wide flat ceiling joists and heavy beams, and a fire-place
8½ ft. wide with corner seats: above it is a chimney-stack of thin bricks.
Kings Coughton Farm
farther north has a late-18thcentury main block facing the road, with a red
brick west front and slate roof. Behind it is the original lower 17th-century
house of timber-framing, of L-shaped plan with gables to the south and east;
the roof is tiled.
Alcester Heath Farm,
about ½ mile west of Kings Coughton, is an old farmstead with a timber-framed
barn attached to the house, which is also timber-framed but much altered.
Alcester Lodge opposite
is a late-16th-century timber house encased in 18th-century brickwork and
enlarged: it has chamfered beams and a 9-ft. wide fire-place of stone, above
which is a chimney-stack of thin bricks with stone quoins and four square
shafts, of brick, set diagonally. The farm buildings are of timber-framing,
partly with close-set studding.
Alcester Warren, about
1½ miles farther north-west, is a three-storied house of red brick, of the late
17th century; it has tall mullioned and transomed oak window frames. The farm
buildings, including a granary and two three-bay barns, are of
early-17thcentury timber-framing with tiled roofs.
Borough
Alcester may be 'the
celebrated place called Alne' where an ecclesiastical council was held, c.
709, to consecrate the foundation of Evesham Abbey by Ecgwin, Bishop of
Worcester. (fn. 36)
According to the Evesham Chronicle (c. 1125) Ecgwin preached to the
wealthy, hardhearted people of Alcester, but the many smiths in the place
drowned his words with the sound of their hammers and anvils. He therefore
invoked Divine retribution upon them in the form of an earthquake, which
swallowed up both town and smiths; the site of the town was given to Evesham
Abbey and though many had since tried to follow the trade of a smith there,
none had succeeded. (fn. 37)
Rous (d. 1491) records a similar legend relating to St. Chad, which was still
current in Leland's time. (fn. 38)
Chad came to preach at Alcester but was driven forth by the inhabitants;
deciding that he had to deal with beasts and not men, he therefore laid a curse
upon them, as a result of which the monastery there was removed to another
place.
Alcester owed tallage of
3 marks in 1199. (fn. 39)
A tenure in burgage, at an annual rent of 2½d. is mentioned in a grant
of land to the abbey in 1207, (fn. 40)
and in 1251–2 the town is described as having been a free borough from the time
of Henry I. (fn. 41)
Like many other small places in Warwickshire, it sent members to the Parliament
of 1275, (fn. 42)
and in the following year occurs the first mention of a borough court. (fn. 43)
There were twelve burgesses, each paying a rent of 8d., in the Botreaux
moiety of the manor in 1304. (fn. 44)
The charter granted to Sir John de Beauchamp, lord of the whole manor, in 1446
included the right to hear pleas of piepoudre and other pleas of debt and
trespass and conferred upon the tenants freedom from toll, stallage, pontage,
pavage, pondage, murage, quayage, and cheminage throughout the king's
dominions. These privileges, together with the market and fairs, of which the
history is traced below, were confirmed by Philip and Mary and by Elizabeth.
But by 1612 the original charter of 1446 had been lost and the inhabitants
petitioned Sir Fulke Greville to obtain a renewal of it. (fn. 45)
A new charter was therefore granted in 1617. (fn. 46)
In addition to the usual manorial officers—of whom the High and Low Bailiffs
are still annually elected—there were also, in the 17th and 18th centuries, two
Proctors, who appear to have been chosen by the parish vestry. (fn. 47)
Their functions, so far as they can be deduced from their few surviving
accounts, seem originally to have corresponded to those of the Chamberlains in
a corporate borough. They administered a revenue of some £19 a year derived
from town houses and lands—including the Moors. Out of this they provided,
among other things, for legal charges, the repair of the Grammar School, and
the occasional entertainment of eminent persons passing through the town. But
by the later 17th century the office is becoming merged in that of
churchwarden: one person often serves in both capacities and their accounts are
not infrequently combined. The last reference to the Proctors occurs in 1709. (fn. 48)
The town possesses a
bailiff's mace of the late 17th century. It is about 2 ft. in length, with a
hemispherical knob at one end, and at the other a flat circle, 2¼ in. in
diameter, engraved with the Stuart royal arms.
Economic And Social History
There appears to have
been a market at Alcester at a very early date, for Walter de Beauchamp, c.
1274, granted to his free burgesses and tenants here the right to hold their
weekly market on a Tuesday, as in ancient time, and in addition a Thursday market
as well. (fn. 49)
This second market, however, is not again referred to. In 1359 John de
Beauchamp complained that Sir William le Botiller of Wem, the younger, Robert
de Knightele, and others had prevented him from holding his market at Alcester
by driving away twenty of his cows, carrying away other goods, and assaulting
his men. (fn. 50)
In 1292 Walter de Beauchamp obtained from Edward I a grant of an annual fair to
be held in Alcester on the eve, day and morrow of St. Giles and for five days
following. (fn. 51)
The date was changed to St. Faith in 1302, (fn. 52)
and again, to the vigil and feast of St. Barnabas and the six following days,
in 1320. (fn. 53)
The charter to Sir John Beauchamp in 1446 confirmed the market and the annual
fair, which was then held on the Sunday after St. Faith, and added another fair
on the eve, feast and morrow of St. Dunstan. (fn. 54)
All these privileges were confirmed and a third fair—to be held on the eve,
feast and morrow of St. Giles and for five days following—was granted by the
charter of 1617. (fn. 55)
In 1792 the three fairs were held on the Tuesdays before 25 March, 15 May, and
17 Oct. (fn. 56)
Both fairs and market were still being continued in 1831, (fn. 57)
and though the market is described in 1830 as small, (fn. 58)
they probably survived for some years afterwards, since the Corn Exchange was
built in 1857. But by 1888 they had all fallen into abeyance, (fn. 59)
no doubt as the result of the agricultural depression of the '70's. The October
fair now survives as Alcester Mop.
In 1304 the market tolls
were worth 10s. (fn. 60)
In the early 16th century they were being paid to the priest of St. Mary's
Chantry, but in 1543 the lord of the manor re-established his right to them. (fn. 61)
In 1652 they were valued at £13. 13s. 4d. (fn. 62)
In 1765 the Earl of Warwick surrendered the tolls of fairs and market for the
benefit of the town. (fn. 63)
The goods permitted to
be sold in the market under Walter de Beauchamp's charter comprised animals,
flesh, wheat, rye, barley, oats, beans, pease, woollen and linen drapery,
bread, iron goods, tallow, grease, fish, leather goods, baskets, hides, wool,
linen, geese, hens, cheese, bacon, eggs, salt, and spices. The name of
Bleachfield Street bears witness to a linen industry which can be traced back
to the early 13th century. (fn. 64)
A John le Lyndraper, and a Juliana la Dyare, occur in 1332, (fn. 65)
and in 1440 there is mention of William Botreaux, lyndraper, (fn. 66)
presumably a member of the family which then held half the manor. Weaving long
flourished here and the Rev. Samuel Clarke, rector 1633–45, speaks of the town
as consisting of knitters. (fn. 67)
Of those contributors to the 1663 Hearth Tax whose occupations can be traced,
about a quarter belong to some branch of the cloth trade. In 1691 we find the
parish officers buying looms, (fn. 68)
no doubt to 'set the poor on work', a policy which in general was becoming rare
at that date. The 1663 list also includes two salters and three glovers—both of
them industries we might expect to find here from the proximity, respectively,
of Droitwich and Worcester. The mention, in 1767, of an inn called the Glove
and Cross (fn. 69)
is further evidence of the gloving trade in Alcester, which survived well into
the last century. But the prosperity of the town must always have depended very
largely on its position in the centre of a corn-growing district. In 1597 the
Warwickshire Justices complained to the Privy Council of the 'extreame want and
scarsety of graine' among the poor at Stratford and Alcester, which they
attributed to the farmers of the neighbouring counties, who had used to supply
those markets, having taken their produce elsewhere. (fn. 70)
Alcester is noted by a traveller in 1746 as 'a very good market for corn'. (fn. 71)
A natural product of the corn trade was malting, which, after the manufacture
of needles, became perhaps the most important industry in Alcester in later
times. Within living memory there were seven malting kilns working here, (fn. 72)
but they are now all closed down. The earliest dated evidence of needle-making
in Alcester occurs in 1678. (fn. 73)
By the early 19th century the industry was said to employ between 500 and 600
persons. (fn. 74)
Out of the 189 charity children of Alcester apprenticed 1802–27, 61 were bound
to needle-makers, 38 of them to 14 different firms—apparently of very varying
sizes—within the town. (fn. 75)
The fact that only 3 of these 14 appear among the 9 needle-makers recorded here
so soon afterwards as 1830 (fn. 76)
reflects the conditions of swift, competitive expansion with its accompanying
instability which for a time must almost have transformed the traditional
economic life of the town. There is some evidence that in the late 17th and
early 18th centuries nail-making and gun-making were also carried on
here—though probably on quite a small scale—and attracted a certain number of
migrants from the Black Country. (fn. 77)
To-day the only industries in Alcester are a needle mill and a spring factory,
the latter a branch of Messrs. Terry and Sons of Redditch.
Alcester must have
suffered severely in the Black Death, for an inquisition on Elizabeth wife of
Reynold de Botreaux in 1350 shows tenements to the value of 100s. in
rent in the hands of the lord owing to the deaths of the tenants. (fn. 78)
From the 15th to the 17th century there is recurring evidence of Welsh
immigration, which was no doubt due to the position of the town on or near
several important roads leading from the Principality. In 1413 two Welsh
residents of Alcester, Geoffrey Taillour and Mathew Carpenter, were exempted
from the Royal Proclamation of that year ordering all Welsh and Irish in
England to return home. (fn. 79)
In the parish register for the reigns of Elizabeth and James I a number of
families bear obviously Welsh names, (fn. 80)
some of which appear to have become anglicized by the second or third
generation. There are a few such entries as late as the Civil War. The 17th
century witnessed a considerable growth of prosperity in Alcester, the copyhold
rents of the manor increasing by approximately four times in value between 1610
and 1684. (fn. 81)
The other side of this picture, however, is shown in the threat of Lord
Conway's tenants here in 1623 that they would leave unless their rents were
abated. (fn. 82)
The population, c. 1670, seems to have been about 1,200–1,300. (fn. 83)
It rose slowly throughout the 18th century, (fn. 84)
and in 1801 stood at 1,625. During the next thirty years, however, it increased
by about 50 per cent., and the rising proportion of persons per house shows
especially the influence of the wave of semi-industrialization during this
period. A description in 1830 states that 'the town generally speaking, has
become very much increased in size and appearance, there being many new
buildings recently erected'. (fn. 85)
But during the '30's the population began to decline and has on the whole continued
to do so down to the present time. (fn. 86)
As with many small country towns of its type, the coming of the railway must
have deprived it of much of its former importance.
Common Fields And Inclosures
The single common field
of the manor, known as Alcester Field, lay east and south of the town, between
the Arrow and the Birmingham road. There were in addition two tracts of common
and waste. One of these, the Moors, lay immediately behind the High Street and
the Birmingham road, being bounded on the north by what is now School Road.
This is now divided into gardens and paddocks. North of the town, and extending
to the western limits of the parish, was Alcester Heath. Kings Coughton had at
one time its separate common fields—the Upper and Lower Field—but by 1771, when
the Inclosure Act (fn. 87)
was passed, these had been divided by hedges, though they were still reputed
Lammas land. About the middle of the 16th century Sir Fulke Greville had
converted a large part of the heath into a park (fn. 88)
—the situation of which is indicated by Alcester Park Farm. Still earlier, in
1525, Sir George Throckmorton had taken 18 acres of land belonging to Alcester
into his park at Coughton. (fn. 89)
There must have been much more early inclosure, for the Award of 1771 covered
only 616 acres—about a third of the parish. Of this the heath comprised 229 and
Alcester Field 233 acres. There were in 1771 282 'ancient messuages' in the
town to which common rights were attached, held by 74 different proprietors—110
of them by the lord of the manor. But between the Act and the Award a good deal
of consolidation took place, with the result that the number of proprietors was
reduced to 31. Altogether 38 persons received allotments in the Award. The
chief beneficiaries were the lord of the manor (226 acres, including 159 in the
Heath) and the rector, who received 94 acres in lieu of tithe. The two next
largest holdings, totalling 101 acres, in Kings Coughton, seem to have been
formed mainly by the acquisition of common rights above referred to. Altogether
it seems unlikely that more than 8 or 10 of the proprietors had held land in
the open field, apart from rights of common. The cost of inclosure was £910 14s.
9d., an average of £1 9s. 7d. per acre.
Manors
The manor of Alcester is not described in Domesday, but later evidence
clearly shows it to have been of the ancient demesne of the Crown. (fn. 90)
It was given by Henry I to Robert Corbet, lord of a large fee in Shropshire,
for his services. (fn. 91)
One of Robert Corbet's two daughters and co-heirs was the mother of Reynold,
Earl of Cornwall, by Henry I, and a charter of Reynold, dating between 1163 and
1175, (fn. 92)
confirms to William the son of Alice Corbet, his aunt, lands in Cornwall
originally given as a marriage portion to Alice and her husband William de
Botreaux (Boterell'). Reynold probably held the whole manor of Alcester
for several years until his death in 1175. (fn. 93)
It then escheated to the Crown, and so remained until 1190. (fn. 94)
Half of Alcester, together with Broom, was held sometime between 1190 and 1197
by Henry de la Penne, and this portion of the manor was again in escheat from
1197 to 1201. (fn. 95)
Shortly after this the two parts into which the manor must have been divided
after 1175 were held separately by the descendants of the two daughters of
Robert Corbet. The mother of Reynold had married Herbert FitzHerbert, son of a
chamberlain of Henry I, and Alice her sister had married William de Botreaux. (fn. 96)
Herbert died in 1155, and his son Herbert in 1204, (fn. 97)
when Peter son of Herbert got by royal grant half the manor of Alcester which
his father had held. He was pardoned the 20 marks which he was to have paid to
the king, and Hamo Falconer, who had evidently succeeded Henry de la Penne here
as he had at Broom (q.v.) in Bidford, was compensated elsewhere for the loss of
this estate. (fn. 98)
Peter was deprived of Alcester by King John in 1216, probably for disloyalty
during the civil strife, and his fee there was given to William de Campvill to
hold as long as the king should please, but in 1217 Peter recovered his moiety
of Alcester, having made his peace with Henry III. (fn. 99)
FitzHerbert. Gules three
lions or.
The de Botreaux moiety
of the manor of Alcester was held by William son of William and Alice de
Botreaux in about 1212. (fn.
100) His elder son William died in 1243, when his Warwickshire estates went
to his brother Reynold, (fn.
101) who held this moiety of Alcester in 1251. (fn.
102) Reynold joined the Barons against Henry III, and at the inquiry held
into the lands of the rebels in 1265 he was said to have land in Alcester worth
£5. (fn.
103) Seven years before his death in 1274 he enfeoffed his son and heir
William with his moiety of Alcester. (fn.
104) This William died in 1302, and his son, also William, (fn.
105) in 1321 transferred the manor to Reynold de Botreaux, (fn.
106) presumably his brother. (fn.
107) Reynold and Isabel his wife in 1330 settled it on themselves in tail
male. (fn.
108) When their son Walter de Botreaux became lord of Alcester in 1349, as
he was still in his minority, the wardship was granted to Ralph Sabecot. (fn.
109) Walter became 21 on 12 March 1353, and, in proof of his age, it was
shown that William Grym, rector of Alcester, had entered Walter's name at birth
in a missal of St. Nicholas Church, at Alcester, where he was born. (fn.
110) In 1364 Walter paid £16 for a royal licence to grant for life to John,
son of Giles de Beauchamp, and John le Rous of Ragley rents from arable and
meadow lands, from a shop and tenements in Alcester, worth annually £8 19s.
3d., with remainder of the lands to them on the death of any of the
tenants. (fn.
111) This grant was probably of the site and demesnes of the de Botreaux
moiety, for when Christiana, widow of John Rous, died in 1416, she was said to
be seised of half the manor of Alcester, held in chief by military service and
worth 10 marks annually. (fn.
112) Because of the minority of her grandsons and successive heirs, William
and John Rous, the estate was in the King's hand from 1416 to 1428, when John
was declared to be the heir. (fn.
113) In 1523 Thomas Rous died seised of the reversion of half the site of
Alcester manor, held of the heirs of Lord Beauchamp. (fn.
114) The lordship meanwhile evidently remained with the Botreaux, as Thomas
Botreaux, in 1444, had licence to grant to Sir John Beauchamp of Powick and his
heirs, a moiety of the manor of Alcester, to be held in chief. (fn.
115)
Botreaux. Argent a
griffon gules.
In 1211–12 Peter
FitzHerbert and William de Botreaux, as tenants in chief, held their fees in
Warwickshire, presumably the whole manor of Alcester, as three parts of a
knight's fee. (fn.
116) In 1251 each of the two portions of the manor was held of the king by
serjeanty, and was worth £14 in annual value. (fn.
117) In 1274 Reynold de Botreaux was said to have held his part of the
manor of Alcester by service of finding in the king's army a moiety of a
serjeant for forty days. (fn.
118) The total value of this moiety of the manor in 1304 was £7 13s.
7d. (fn.
119) In 1361 a knight's fee in Alcester, representing the overlordship of
both moieties, was included in a settlement made by Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of
Warwick, (fn.
120) and from this time the manor of Alcester was held as of Elmley Castle.
(fn.
121)
The moiety of the manor
of Alcester which Peter FitzHerbert held between 1204 and 1221 passed to
Herbert, son and heir of Peter, to whom Emma, the widow of Hamo de Brome (or
Hamo Falconer), in 1240 remitted all claims to a third of his moiety as dower
of the freehold of her husband in Alcester, for 15 marks. (fn.
122) The manor was perhaps leased by Herbert before his death in 1248 to
Robert de Chaundos, who in 1249 claimed a tenement in Alcester against
Herbert's brother Reynold FitzPeter, (fn.
123) and was holding the manor in 1252. (fn.
124) It seems to have been enfeoffed to Walter, son of William de Beauchamp
of Elmley, before 1263, when Reynold, then lord of the manor, brought a plea
for the moiety of Alcester against Walter in the king's court. Walter failed to
appear and the manor was taken into the king's hand. (fn.
125) In 1266 Walter sought the recovery of the manor from the Crown, and in
1272 bought the half manor for £100, to hold of Reynold and his heirs by doing
the foreign service of ½ knight's fee for all service. (fn.
126) From this time the Beauchamp family held this half manor of Alcester
and Walter de Beauchamp describes himself as lord of Alcester, c. 1274.
(fn.
127) Walter was permitted by the king in 1291 to bring 60 acres of his wood
in Alcester within the forest of Feckenham into cultivation, and in 1300 the
king granted him free warren in his demesne lands of Alcester. (fn.
128) His eldest son Walter, joint lord of Alcester with William de Botreaux
in 1316, (fn.
129) died in 1328. His brother, Giles, who was said in 1329 to hold it as ½
knight's fee of Reynold FitzPeter, (fn.
130) was granted in 1340 the right to fortify and embattle his manorhouse
at Alcester. (fn.
131) The acquisition of the other portion of the manor of Alcester by Sir
John Beauchamp of Powick in 1444 from Thomas Botreaux made him lord of the
whole manor. In 1446 Sir John was confirmed in his possession of the manor and
town of Alcester by royal charter, and also in a long list of liberties, which
he and his ancestors had always had there. (fn.
132)
Beauchamp of Powick.
Gules a fesse between six martlets or.
In the following year
Sir John Beauchamp was raised to the peerage as Lord Beauchamp of Powick. He
died in 1475 (fn.
133) and was succeeded by his son Richard. Richard, who was married to
Elizabeth Stafford in 1449 in the oratory of his father's manor-house at
Alcester, (fn.
134) died in 1503, leaving three daughters and having settled the manor on
Robert, Lord Willoughby de Broke, the husband of Elizabeth, the eldest. When
Lord Willoughby died in 1521 his three granddaughters, Elizabeth, Anne, and
Blanche, were his heirs, for his son Edward had predeceased him. (fn.
135) They were all minors and the wardship of Elizabeth, the eldest, was
granted to Sir Edward Greville of Milcote, who married her to his second son,
Fulke. (fn.
136) In 1526 Fulke and Elizabeth (who was still a minor) obtained livery of
a third part of the manor of Alcester and other lands of Robert, Lord
Willoughby, (fn.
137) and in 1536 they acquired the whole, Elizabeth's sister Anne having
died a minor in the wardship of the Crown. (fn.
138) Theirs is the alabaster tomb in the church. Sir Fulke died in 1559 and
his widow in 1565 holding the manor of Alcester of William Savage as of the
manor of Elmley Castle. She left as her heir her son Fulke, then aged 20. (fn.
139) Fulke died in 1606 and was succeeded by his son, the 3rd Sir Fulke Greville
(fn.
140) (1554–1628), the poet and friend of Sir Philip Sidney and the most
famous of his line. In the year before his father's death he had obtained from
the Crown a grant of Warwick Castle, which thereafter became the chief seat of
the family. In 1621 he was created Baron Brooke of Beauchamp's Court. His death
without issue caused a break in the direct line and he was succeeded in his
title and estates by his cousin Robert Greville, whom he had appointed as his
heir. (fn.
141) In the family of Greville, Lords Brooke (created Earls Brooke in 1746
and in 1759 Earls of Warwick), the manor of Alcester continued to descend until
1813, when George, 2nd Earl of Warwick, sold it to the Marquess of Hertford. (fn.
142) The 8th Marquess of Hertford is the present lord of the manor.
Willoughby. Or fretty
azure.
Greville. Sable a cross
engrailed or charged with five roundels sable all within a border engrailed or.
Seymour, Marquess of
Hertford. Quarterly: I and 4, Or a pile gules between six fleurs de lis azure
with three leopards or upon the pile; 2 and 3, Gules a pair of wings or.
An estate sometimes
described, in the mid-16th century, as the manor of Alcester is probably to be
identified with the possessions of the priory in the town. These were granted
after the Dissolution to Thomas Cromwell and escheated to the Crown upon his
attainder. (fn.
143) Henry VIII leased them to Fulke Greville in 1541, (fn.
144) but in 1544 made a grant of them—under the description of the manor of
Alcester, the site of the priory, and various lands and tenements belonging to
it—to William Sewster and his son John. (fn.
145) In the same year John Sewster acknowledged the receipt from Lady
Elizabeth Greville of £237 18s. 10½d. in part payment of a fine
for the purchase of 'the scite and manor of Alcester' then in the tenure of
Elizabeth and her husband on a lease for their lives from the king. (fn.
146) The transaction was completed in the following year, the total fine
being £437 18s. 10½d. (fn.
147)
In 1545 the 'Rentes of
the pryore late disolvyde' amounted to £6 5s. 6d. out of a total
for the manor of £17 7s. 10d. (fn.
148) They seem still to be separately accounted for, as 'the Kinges
Landes', in 1610. (fn.
149) Their value had then fallen to £4 14s. 2d., no doubt
because part of them was already reckoned in with the chief manor. In time
these priory estates would naturally lose their separate identity and it
appears from the rental of 1684 that the process of absorption was by then
complete. (fn.
150)
BEAUCHAMP'S COURT is described as a manor soon after the
Dissolution, when it is said to have been held successively by Lord Beauchamp and
Lord Brooke. (fn.
151) It is so described also in several documents, as late as 1741. (fn.
152) An annual portion of 20s. out of Beauchamp's Court was payable
to Evesham Abbey in 1535 (fn.
153) and was still being paid, to the Commonwealth, in 1650. (fn.
154) The manor of Beauchamp's Court, if such it was, may have comprised the
hamlet of Kings Coughton.
Mill
In 1241 William de Botreaux and Peter FitzHerbert each granted to the monks of
Alcester their half of the mill which the monks had constructed outside their
court and of the meadows called Halimede and Mulneholme belonging to it. (fn.
155) The medieval mill therefore must have been close to the site of the
present one, which is on the Arrow, near where the Abbey stood. One Bartholomew
was paying 5d. chief rent for the mill in 1545. (fn.
156) A horse mill is mentioned in 1560. (fn.
157) In 1805 the Priory Mill was conveyed by the Earl of Warwick to the
Marquess of Hertford (fn.
158) and it seems about this time to have been used for needle-making as
well as for grinding corn. (fn.
159) It is now known as Ragley Mill.
The manorial fishery was
in the Alne and is described in 1800 as extending from the place where the
river entered the manor to Oversley Bridge. (fn.
160)
Church
The parish church of ST.
NICHOLAS consists of a chancel, north and south chapels, nave, north and
south aisles, and a west tower.
The west tower is of the
14th century with a 15thcentury doorway in it. The north and south aisles, i.e.
the whole interior of the body of the church, were rebuilt 1729–33 by Edward
and Thomas Woodward of Chipping Campden, at a total cost of £1,020, (fn.
161) but some parts of the north and south walls of the aisles of the
medieval church seem to have survived this drastic reconstruction. The east end
was rebuilt in 1870, replacing an 18th-century chancel which was little more
than an altar recess. (fn.
162)
The chancel (28½ ft. by
18½ ft.) has a modern east window of five lights and tracery, and in each side-wall
is a single trefoiled lancet. West of them are arcades to the chapels, of
13th-century style, each with a wide bay between two narrow bays. In the south
wall are two sedilia and a piscina recess without a basin, all of modern
stonework. Both the north chapel, or organ chamber, and the south chapel have
an east doorway and a side window of three lights and tracery. In the north
wall of the former is reset an ancient piscina basin of quatrefoil circular
form in a modern recess. The modern chancel arch has shafted responds and the
west arches to the chapels plain responds.
The nave (c. 68
ft. by 18 ft.) has on either side a colonnade of five bays with Doric columns
on high square stone bases; they carry horizontal plastered architraves or
lintels from which rises the coved ceiling of the nave: the aisles have flat
plastered ceilings. Both aisles have five side windows tallying with the
colonnades; they are each of three cinquefoiled lights and modern tracery of
early-14th-century character in fourcentred heads: the moulded jambs of the
windows appear to be medieval—perhaps dating from about 1500. The walls are
cemented externally, but the moulded plinth may also be of c. 1500.
Buttresses divide the walls into five bays, those at the angles being set
diagonally: on them are restored pinnacles. In the west wall are round-headed
doorways of the c. 1730 period, entrances to former galleries. The
battlemented parapets are modern.
The west tower (13¼ ft.
square) is of the 14th century in the lower half, which is built of coursed
ashlar, and perhaps rebuilt or refaced later in the upper half, which is of
rubble with an intermixture of squared stones in courses. There are pairs of
square buttresses at the west angles, and at the south-east a semi-octagonal
projecting stair-turret. Moulded string-courses occur at the springing level of
the west window, at the base of the bell-chamber, and at the parapet, which is
probably of the 18th century: it is embattled and has pinnacles above the
angles and in the middle of each side.
The archway from the
nave is a plain one of three chamfered orders, continuous in jambs and
two-centred head. The west doorway is a 15th- or early-16thcentury insertion
with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head, and with plain
shields in the spandrels: it has been much repaired with cement. The
14th-century west window is of three trefoiled lights—the middle with an ogee
head—and leaf-tracery in a two-centred main head, with an external hood-mould
rising from the moulded string-course: the internal splays are of squared
rubble and the pointed rear-arch is chamfered. In the south wall is an
ogee-headed doorway to the stair-turret: there is also an outer doorway to the
turret, probably a modern piercing: the turret is lighted by plain loops. The
next story is lighted by lancet windows: higher up, but below the bellchamber,
is a modern clock-dial set splay-wise across the south-west angle so as to be
seen from the main street of the town. The bell-chamber has in each wall a
window of the 14th century, of two trefoiled ogeeheaded lights and a quatrefoil
in a two-centred head.
The font and other
furniture are modern. A screen at the east end of the north aisle—to the organ
chamber—contains the mutilated remains of a screen of c. 1500, mostly applied
to modern woodwork: they include a number of elaborately traceried heads of
bays, foiled circles with rosette centres, twelve paterae with roses or
foliage, six lengths of running foliage ornament (two vine-leaf), a length of a
cornice with vine foliage, &c. A chest with a rounded lid is probably of
the late 16th century: it is bound by iron straps and has three staples, one
for a lock and two for padlocks.
Fixed on the south wall
of the tower is a benefaction board fitted with painted doors in the form of a
triptych. The list of charities from 1562 to 1904 is inscribed on parchment or
paper and enframed under glass in a shallow cupboard. This has an enriched top
rail and cornice and a moulded bottom rail carried on brackets: below it is
another rail carved with half-sunflowers and foliage. The interesting feature
of this fitting is the doors, which are each of two panels covered with
paintings. On the internal faces are four pictorial subjects representing acts
of charity, with the participants dressed in the costume of c. 1600. In
the dexter upper panel are five bearded men, two donors and three tradesmen, a
barber with scissors and comb, a carpenter with saw and square, and a butcher
with cleaver and axe. A panel above the figures is inscribed in black letter:
'Blessed is he that considereth the poore and needy. Psalme 41: 1.' The lower
panel has three donors and two beggars. The donors—all men—hold clothing, food,
and washing utensils: one beggar is blind and holds an alms-tray and white
staff: the other is a cripple with a wooden leg. The inscription reads: 'He
that hath pittie upon the poore lendeth unto the Lord. Pro: 19: 17.' The
sinister upper panel represents a school with two gowned teachers, and six boys
and girls at their lessons: one holds a horn-book with the alphabet: there is a
large fire-place with a sway and pot. The text reads: 'To do good and to
communicate forget not. Heb: 13:16.' The lower panel is a prison scene, the
prison being a battlemented structure of stone with two prisoners appearing at
the windows. The donors are a man and woman accompanied by their maid who wears
cap and apron and carries a tray of food. The man holds a flask and cup, and
the woman a basket (of eggs?). The text reads: 'The mercifull doeth good to his
owne soule. Pro: 11: 17.' The external faces are painted with black-letter
inscriptions. The upper dexter panel reads: 'Behold within this table are the
names with the memorable acts of those who have most liberally extended their
bountye to help tradesmen and releeve poore and aged people dwelling within the
Towne and Parish of Alcester.'
The others are texts,
and the retouched date 1683, which was evidently 1603.
At the west end of the
north aisle is a well-preserved altar-tomb (fn.
163) with the alabaster effigies of Sir Fulke Greville, 10 Nov. 1559, and
Lady Elizabeth (Willoughby) his wife, 156–. (fn.
164) The knight wears the full plate armour of his younger years, sword and
dagger: his hands are in prayer and his feet rest on a lion: about his
shoulders is a chain with a pendent cross. He wears three rings on the fingers
of each hand. His head rests on his helmet, which bears a crest of a
greyhound's head. His armour is painted black with gilded enrichments. The
lady, on his left, wears a close-fitting cap and veil, a small ruff and a
necklace. The tight bodice is held by knotted cords, and has slashed and puffed
sleeves, also pendent false sleeves with cheveron ornament: an overskirt is
folded back revealing the pleated underskirt. From her waist is a pendent chain
with a flat round sachet. Over all she wears a mantle loosely tied across her
breast by pendent cords with tasselled ends. Her head rests on a cushion. Her
hands are in prayer and she wears three rings on each. At her feet is a tiny
dog biting the end of her overskirt. The effigy has remains of colouring, the
mantle being red; the other garments were probably black. The top slab has
moulded edges in which is the carved inscription. At the angles of the sides of
the tomb are round shafts with spiral ornament, and similar intermediate shafts
divide the longer sides into three bays. Each middle bay bears a shield of arms
in a garter, the dexter Greville, the sinister Willoughby. In the other bays
are represented the children as weepers: the dexter bays have three and four
sons respectively, the eldest in armour, the others in gowns, except the sixth
who is shown in grave-clothes. On the sinister side are eight daughters, the
sixth being in grave-clothes. At the head end of the tomb is a quartered shield
of Greville in a garter with nude men as supporters. At the foot end, under the
wording: 'Arma Richardi dni. de bello campo, baronis de Powick & dni. de
Alincester' are (1) a shield with the quartered Greville arms, (2) a lozenge
with the twenty Willoughby quarterings, and between them (3) a small shield of
Beauchamp quartering Ufflete. The quarterings of Greville and Willoughby are
repeated on small shields below the top string.
Above the tomb, fixed to
the respond of the colonnade, is a funeral helmet with a comb and beaver, and a
painted framed wooden panel charged with the Greville arms.
There are eight other
funeral monuments of the 18th and 19th centuries, the oldest being Timothy
Howes, 1709. One to John Brandis 1724 is signed by Edward Woodward of Campden,
another to Sir Hamilton Seymour, G.C.B., with his seated effigy is signed
'Gleichen, 1882'. In the south chapel is a reclining effigy of Francis Ingram
Seymour Conway, Marquess and Earl of Hertford, died 1822, by Sir Francis
Chantrey.
In the nave is a brass
candelabrum with two tiers of arms inscribed 'Ye gift of ye Rt Revd
Father in God Dr John Hough Ld Bp. of Worcester, 1733'.
There are six bells of
1735 by Abel Rudhall.
The church plate is
modern, dating from 1884.
The registers begin in
1560.
Advowson
The church of Alcester is not included among the grants to the abbey in Ralph's
original foundation charter, which is at Coughton Court. Nor is it mentioned in
the confirmation of this charter by Robert, Earl of Leicester, (fn.
165) and by King Stephen early in 1140. (fn.
166) The only evidence that the abbey ever possessed it is contained in an
undated confirmation charter of the reign of Henry II. (fn.
167) It must in any case have been lost soon afterwards, as were many other
of the possessions of that house during its early history, for Henry II is said
to have granted it to the Priory of Cookhill. (fn.
168) In 1227 the advowson was in dispute between the Prioress of Cookhill
and Peter FitzHerbert and William de Botreaux, lords of the two moieties of the
manor. (fn.
169) In 1247 the church was said to belong to Cookhill, (fn.
170) and the priory continued to present down to the Dissolution. (fn.
171) The advowson then passed to the Crown and was granted, with the site
of Alcester Abbey, to William Sewster and his son John in 1544. (fn.
172) Though not mentioned, it may have been included in Sewster's
conveyance of this property to Fulke and Elizabeth Greville in the following
year. Fulke Greville the second presented in 1578 (fn.
173) and the advowson thenceforward follows the descent of the manor,
though three successive presentations, in 1619, 1620, and 1623, were made by
the Crown. (fn.
174)
In 1247 (fn.
175) and 1291 (fn.
176) the church was valued at £8. In the latter year the nuns of Cookhill
were said to enjoy a portion in it of £113s. 4d. The same
valuation is given in 1341, the glebe being then worth £3, (fn.
177) and again in 1428. (fn.
178) In 1535 it is rated at £14 2s. 10½d., including £1 6s.
8d. for the glebe; a pension of 10s. 5d. was then payable
to the Prioress and Convent of Henwood. (fn.
179) In 1646 the Committee of Plundered Ministers ordered the living to be
augmented out of the sequestrated profits of the rectory of Brailes, belonging
to William Bishop, a Papist. (fn.
180)
The present dedication,
in honour of St. Nicholas, appears in 1227 (fn.
181) and 1333. (fn.
182) But in 1428 the church was said to be dedicated in honour of St.
Faith. (fn.
183) According to Dugdale the change was made on the occasion of a
rebuilding. (fn.
184) It is not known when the original dedication was restored.
There were two chantries
in the church, dedicated respectively in honour of St. Mary and of All Saints.
The former was probably founded by John Boteller, who presented to it one
Robert, his chaplain at Oversley, in 1286. (fn.
185) The priest was required to sing mass daily at 6 o'clock in the morning
in the parish church of Alcester and to pray for the souls of the founders. In
1547 the endowment of the chantry was valued at £6 11s. 6d., out
of which rents to divers persons were payable to the amount of 16s. 5½d.
No land had been sold and there were no goods, plate, or ornaments. (fn.
186) The property comprised 13 houses and cottages, 9 tenements, an inn and
a shop and lands in Alcester, a croft in Oversley and Lady Meadow, and land in
the common fields in Kinwarton. (fn.
187)
The advowson of this
chantry descended with the manor of Oversley (q.v.) until the end of the 15th
century, when it came into the hands of the Beauchamps, Lord Beauchamp
(presumably Richard) presenting in 1490. (fn.
188) The original chantry was in the parish church, but about this time it
is said to have been rebuilt, at the request and expense of the rector and
principal inhabitants, on land granted to them by Lord Beauchamp. The town
seems thus to have acquired the advowson, which was held by the rector and
eight others, presumably townsmen, in 1513. (fn.
189) One reason for rebuilding the chantry may have been to provide a
school, since it is stated that Richard Norman, who became priest in 1490,
'kept a scole there according to the Foundacyon'. (fn.
190) This school survived the dissolution of the chantry, for in 1562 Queen
Elizabeth granted to the Lady Elizabeth Greville a sixty years' lease of some
of the former property of the chantry including 'A house . . . which was
formerly the preist's house . . . and is now occupied as a school house' and
the grant contained 'A covenant not to convert the preistes Chamber to noe
other use then a schole.' (fn.
191) Walter Newport's bequest of 1591, which has been regarded as the
foundation of Alcester Grammar School, may therefore have been made to maintain
a school which had already been in existence for more than a century. (fn.
192)
The chantry of All
Saints was founded by John son of Giles de Beauchamp, who obtained licence of
alienation in mortmain to the extent of £5 to assign to a chaplain to celebrate
daily in the parish church of Alcester; in part satisfaction whereof in 1362 he
granted to Henry le Walkere, chaplain, 11 messuages, a shop, 11 acres of land
and 4 of meadow, worth £2 11s. 8d., to hold as of the annual
value of £3. (fn.
193) John Merton and Robert Canell, chaplains, granted to Henry Eorle,
chaplain of this chantry, 4 messuages and 4 acres of land in 1411. (fn.
194) The advowson of this chantry descended with the manor of Alcester. (fn.
195) The endowment in 1547 amounted to £5 7s. 4d., including
reprises, paid to the king, of 9s. 3d. (fn.
196) No land had been sold and there were neither goods nor ornaments. (fn.
197) The property comprised a house and a shop, 13 tenements and land in
the common fields in Alcester, and 9 acres of land in Kinwarton. (fn.
198) At this time there were said to be over 460 houseling people in
Alcester and the chantry priests were wont to help daily in the administration
of the sacraments, since 'without the helpe of them the person there is not
able to serve the seyd cure'. (fn.
199) In 1553 a pension of £5 was being paid to the former priest of St.
Mary's Chantry and of £4 18s. to the former priest of All Saints. (fn.
200) Grants of part of the former possessions of the chantries were made to
John Hulson and Bartholomew Brokesby, citizens and scriveners of London, in
1549, (fn.
201) and to Edward Aglionby of Balsall and Henry Higford of Solihull in
1553. (fn.
202) By 1562 other portions of the property of both chantries had come into
the hands of Lady Elizabeth Greville. (fn.
203) Several houses, shops, and cottages formerly belonging to both
chantries were granted by the Crown to Francis Phillips and others in 1611. (fn.
204)
In 1333 Pernell widow of
Robert Squier of Alcester gave 3 messuages and land and rent to maintain a
priest celebrating daily in the church of St. Nicholas for the souls of Edward
III, herself, and her husband and their families; (fn.
205) but no more is known of this chantry.
Nonconformity
The beginnings of Nonconformity in Alcester may be attributed to the Rev.
Samuel Clarke, rector 1633–45. When he first came here, so he tells us, the
town was the rendezvous of the 'many great Papists' of the neighbourhood and
the inhabitants were so 'much given to Swearing, Drunkenness, and prophanation
of the Sabbath, opening their Shops; and selling Wares (especially Meat)
publickly' as to earn it the name of 'Drunken Alcester'. Clarke energetically
set himself to reform this laxity and was the only one, even of the Puritan
clergy of the neighbourhood, who refused to read to his congregation the Book
of Sports of 1633. His ministry was attended with such success—aided by the
Divine vengeance which followed upon disregard of his precepts—that, in his own
words, the town became 'Exemplary and eminent for Religion all over the
Country'. (fn.
206) The steward of the manor, Matthew Bridges, was a major in the
Cromwellian army and one of the most active justices on the Warwickshire bench
during the Interregnum. In 1657 he was commissioned by Quarter Sessions to
remove 'the Rood loft and all superstitious paint' from the church. (fn.
207)
There were three
Dissenting congregations in Alcester in the 17th century—the Presbyterians,
Baptists, and Quakers. They must however have been largely drawn from the
surrounding district, since the Compton Census of 1676 records only 16
Nonconformists in a total of 299. (fn.
208) The Presbyterian church was probably founded by Clarke's successor,
Samuel Tickner, who continued to live and preach here after his ejection from
the rectory in 1662 and died in 1685. (fn.
209) But the first recorded minister was Joseph Porter, (fn.
210) whose house was licensed for worship in 1689 (fn.
211) and who died in 1721. He established an academy in his house for the
instruction of young men for the ministry. (fn.
212) The chapel in Bull's Head Yard, now derelict, bore on a rainwater head
the date 1723; but there is said to have been a chapel on the site already in
use in 1693. During the 18th century the congregation adopted Unitarian tenets.
Except for an interval of eleven years, 1882–93, the chapel was in use until
1901, when it was dismantled. The fittings, which included a fine
late-17thcentury three-decker pulpit, brought from the church after the
restoration of 1870, and other good woodwork of the period, were sold by
auction and the income was handed over to the Trustees of the Presbyterian
chapel at Evesham. (fn.
213)
The Midland Baptist
Association met at Alcester in 1657. The first minister here was John Willis,
who attended the Assembly in London in 1689 and died about 1705. In 1712 the
church had 98 members, of whom rather less than half came from outside
Alcester—11 of them from Henley-in-Arden. The first meeting-house was licensed
in 1736. The present chapel, which occupies the same site, dates from 1869.
Separate churches were formed from this congregation at Henley-in-Arden in 1803
and at Astwood Bank in 1813. (fn.
214)
The Friends' Meeting at
Alcester was founded in 1660 by Richard Hubberthorne and in 1677 the
Viscountess Conway became a member of it. In the latter year a meeting-house
was secured on lease. It was rebuilt in 1699 (fn.
215) and may perhaps have been the house of Richard Laggett for which a
licence for Quaker worship was issued in 1701. (fn.
216) In its early days the congregation was subject to much persecution (fn.
217) and seems never to have been a very flourishing one. In 1835 the
meeting-house was converted into a private dwelling and let. (fn.
218) It stands in one of the courts on the east side of High Street.
The first reception of
Methodism in Alcester was even less favourable than that which the inhabitants
were traditionally said to have accorded to the preaching of St. Egwin, more
than a thousand years before. In 1812 a Methodist minister, Michael Cosin, who
came to preach here, was attacked and beaten by a mob, and about the same time
a Mr. Heaton who came from Redditch with the object of establishing a church,
was similarly treated and dragged along the gutter. A Methodist congregation
was in existence however by c. 1840 (fn.
219) and the present chapel in Priory Road was built in 1872.
The Roman Catholic
Church in Priory Road was built in 1888.
Charities
John Bridges in 1659 gave a close containing about 1½ acres called Maggotts,
together with the four alms-houses (called Priory Almshouses) adjoining in
Priory Lane, for the use of four widows for ever. The close is now let on a
lease expiring in 1997 at a rent of £6 15s.
George Ingram in 1680
gave the four almshouses in the Bleachfield (called Bleachfield Almshouses),
and a close adjoining, for the use of poor unmarried men or women aged 50 years
or upwards. Part of the close was sold under the authority of the Charity Commissioners
in 1927 and the proceeds invested in 3½ per cent. Conversion Stock, producing
£5 8s. 10d. annually. The remainder of the close, consisting of
garden land, is let at the total rent of £6 per annum.
Brooke Bridges' Charity.
By indenture dated 29 Nov. 1780 it was recited that Brooke Bridges by codicils
to his will dated 30 Sept. 1700 gave sums of £400 and £600 to purchase lands,
and that out of the profits thereof 40s. per annum should be paid to the
persons inhabiting the almshouses of Alcester given by his father and his
uncle, George Ingram, and the residue should be applied to the repair of the
almshouses and to poor persons. The estate purchased at Alne Hills, Great Alne,
containing some 127 acres. is let at a yearly rate of £108 (approx.).
Thomas Lucas in 1706
gave a house in Feckenham (co. Worcester), the profits to be equally
distributed among the four poor people inhabiting the four almshouses in
Bleachfield. The endowment is now represented by a rentcharge of 15s.
per annum out of land in Feckenham.
The above-mentioned
charities are administered by trustees, three of whom are appointed by the
parish council of Alcester, and the annual income, amounting to £140 (approx.),
is applied in payments to the almspeople and in maintaining the eight almshouses.
Molly Hodgetts by will
proved 23 Jan. 1833 gave the sum of £100, the interest, now £2 10s., to
be paid to the four tenants of the four almshouses in Priory Lane.
John Watts by will
proved 5 June 1847 gave £100 to the Trustees of the Bleachfield Almshouses, the
income to be distributed to the almspeople. The endowment is now represented by
£78 4s. 11d. Consols held by the Official Trustees of Charitable
Funds and the income amounts to £1 19s. 4d.
William Smallwood
(Almshouse) Trust. By an indenture dated 23 Jan. 1895 it was recited that
William Smallwood gave £2,000 to build almshouses for the poor of Alcester, and
£2,000 for endowing the same. Six almshouses were built at a cost of £1,340 18s.,
the residue of the bequest being invested. The almshouses are held upon trust
for the accommodation of poor persons resident in the parish, with a preference
for tradesmen and their widows in reduced circumstances. Stipends are paid to
the almspeople at the discretion of the trustees, who have power to provide
water, gas, fuel, medical attendance, and funeral expenses. The endowment now
consists of the almshouses and stock held by the Official Trustees of
Charitable Funds producing an annual income of £117 6s. 6d. and
the charity is administered by seven trustees appointed by an Order of the
Charity Commissioners.
Penelope Morgan in 1720
gave £10, the interest to be given to the church poor of Alcester.
William Oakes by will
dated 19 Mar. 1766 and Elizabeth Oakes by will dated 29 Sept. 1769 each gave
£100 to purchase land, the profits to be expended in bread for the poor. In
1872 £200 was applied in paying off a mortgage on Moor Fields, interest at 4
per cent. being paid.
Samuel Dobbins in 1766
bequeathed £20, the interest to be paid to the poor. The endowment produces 18s.
10d. annually.
William Gibbs in 1759 by
will gave 40s. per annum charged on a house in Evesham Street called the
White Lion for distribution to the poor. The rentcharge is received regularly.
Lovel Hodgett in 1816
gave £200, the interest to be distributed in bread to the poor. The endowment
produces £5 2s. 8d. annually.
Angel House Charity. The
origin of this charity is unknown; it consists of a rentcharge of 10s.
issuing out of Angel House.
The six above-mentioned
charities are administered by the Rector of Alcester and two trustees appointed
by the parish council, and the income amounting to £16 11s. 6d. a
year is distributed to the poor in groceries.
Lady Elizabeth Greville
in 1562 gave twelve black gowns to twelve poor widows for ever. In the returns
under Gilbert's Act in 1786 this gift is said to have been a rentcharge of £5
10s. given by will and to have been paid by the Earl of Warwick. The
endowment is now represented by a charge of £6 issuing out of land in Alcester
now forming part of the estate of the Marquess of Hertford and is expended in
accordance with the terms of the bequest.
Robert Wilcox by will
dated 24 Dec. 1627 gave his house and close at King's Coughton for the
maintenance of three sermons, the residue to be given to the poor of the
parish. The property was sold in 1922 and the proceeds invested in 3½ per cent.
War Stock held by the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds. The interest
amounting to £6 1s. 10d. annually is applied by the High and Low
Bailiffs in accordance with the trusts.
Thomas Wilson by will
proved 19 Feb. 1863 gave £100 to the churchwardens, the interest to be applied
in bread and meat for twenty-five poor and aged widows. The endowment is now
represented by £146 16s. 6d., 3 per cent. Local Loans producing
£4 8s. yearly, which is applied as directed by the will, by two trustees
appointed by the parish council in place of the churchwardens.
Francis Mosley Spilsbury
by will proved 2 Jan. 1879 gave £100, the interest to be paid in equal shares
to twelve poor persons living in Alcester, with a preference to those of the
Roman Catholic religion. The charity is administered by the rector and one
trustee appointed by the parish council, and the income amounts to £2 10s.
8d.
Richard Fisher by will
proved 28 July 1884 gave £200, the income to be distributed to the poor in
bread, beef, and coal. Owing to an insufficiency of assets the original bequest
was reduced and the endowment is now represented by £46 3s. 2d.
Consols held by the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds. The interest is
applied under an order of the Charity Commissioners dated 16 Nov. 1905. The
Rector is now sole trustee.
Gould's Gift. John
Granger Gould by will proved 29 Oct. 1904 bequeathed £1,000 to the vicar and
churchwardens of St. Nicholas' Church, Alcester, the interest, now £41 1s.,
to be distributed to twelve poor persons over 60 years of age resident in the
parish and church persons.
Hawes Close. By deed
dated 8 Aug. 1655 it was recited that the close called Hawes Close adjoining
Priory Lane and one ridge of land were in 1665 purchased by the town stock of
John Bridges, the yearly profits to be applied to the discharge of public
duties of the church and town. The land was sold in 1920 and the proceeds
invested in 3½ per cent. Conversion Stock producing an annual income of £38 1s.
By an Order made under section 75 (2) of the Local Government Act 1894 it was
directed that half of the income should constitute the endowment of the Church
Charity and the remainder the endowment of the Town Charity. The charities are
administered as directed, the Church Charity by the rector and churchwardens
and the Town Charity by the rector and two trustees appointed by the parish
council.
Moor Fields Charity. The
origin of this charity, the endowment of which consisted of two closes called
the Moors, which were taken out of the common moor by Sir Fulke Greville, lord
of the manor, is unknown. By an indenture dated 16 Nov. 1733 the trustees were
empowered to raise moneys and to apply the same together with the rents and
profits of the lands for the use of the church, churchyard, and mounds if there
should be any occasion, but if not to apply the rents for the use of the parish
in general. The land is now let at a yearly rent of £24 (approx.), which is
applied in paying interest at 4 per cent. on a sum borrowed to repay a
mortgage, the residue being paid to the Parochial Church Council for
application in accordance with the trusts. The trustees are the rector,
churchwardens, and High Bailiffs.
Church Street Property.
The origin of this charity is unknown. A lease dated 21 Mar. 1787 recites that
the Bailiffs and churchwardens were entitled to the freehold of five houses in
Church Street as trustees for the inhabitants and that such endowments had from
time immemorial been administered for such purposes as the major part of the
inhabitants in vestry assembled had from time to time thought proper to direct.
The houses are let at a yearly rent of £60 (approx.) and the income is spent in
grants for public purposes.
Footnotes
|
1
|
Ragley MSS., deed of
1784. The Bull Ring is also mentioned 1685 (Churchwardens' Accounts in Parish
Chest).
|
|
2
|
The houses are shown
on an estate map of 1752, formerly at Ragley (photostat, B.R.L. 379051).
|
|
3
|
S.-on-A., Compton
Verney MSS. 6992.
|
|
4
|
A 'Piece of ground in
Alcester in ye Shoprowe there on the Southe side of the Churchyard' is
referred to in 1602 (B.M. Egerton Ch. 1747). The Shop Row, both north and
south of the churchyard, is mentioned in the Inclosure Awd. 1771. It had
disappeared, however, by c. 1815, when the drawings in the Aylesford
Collection (B.R.L.) were made.
|
|
5
|
Cf. Beighton, 1725.
This evidence appears to be confirmed by the boundaries of property given in
a deed of 1661 (Warwick MSS. 2107).
|
|
6
|
Cf. Ragley MSS. (deed
of 1634); Inclosure Awd. 1771. The Cole Brooke was probably the stream of
which evidence was discovered during sewage repairs in 1870 and which has
sometimes been thought to have been the original course of the Arrow. It ran
down behind the High Street on the west side and, turning eastward, flowed
under the Midland Bank and the High Street into the Arrow near the east end
of the present Recreation Ground (ex inf. Mr. A. J. Gwinnett).
|
|
7
|
a This
late-17th-century building was in use until 1912, when the school was taken
over by the County and the present School buildings on the Birmingham Road
were erected (ex inf. Mr. T. Lear Caton, headmaster).
|
|
8
|
Seggs Lane is referred
to in 1368 (P.N. Warw. 194). It is probably a personal name; Richard
Segge occurs in a rental of 1545 (B.R.L. 272798), and the family is
frequently mentioned in the 16th- and early-17th-century Registers.
|
|
9
|
Probably the Gorehales
lane mentioned in 1439 (Warwick MSS. 149).
|
|
10
|
Ex inf. the late Mr. B. W. Davis.
|
|
11
|
V.C.H. Warw. i, 236–7.
|
|
12
|
Ex inf. Mr. B. W. Davis.
|
|
13
|
Ibid.
|
|
14
|
Between Alcock's
Arbour and Oversley bridge the road makes a wide detour northwards from its
original course.
|
|
15
|
For its course to this
point see under Wixford, p. 189.
|
|
16
|
Ex inf. Mr. B. W. Davis.
|
|
17
|
The
Stratford-Alcester-Bromsgrove Turnpike Trust was set up by an Act of 1753,
renewed in 1781 and 1801: vol. of Returns of Turnpike Trusts, Shire Hall,
Warwick.
|
|
18
|
The Swan is first
mentioned in 1586: Book of John Fisher (ed. Kemp), 174. It was granted
by Ralph Willis of Alcester to Fulke Madley of Alcester, vintner, in 1597:
Ragley MSS.
|
|
19
|
White, Direct. of
Warw. 750.
|
|
20
|
a S.-on-A., Compton
Verney MSS. 6992.
|
|
21
|
b Shire Hall, Warwick,
D 19/3.
|
|
22
|
Ibid. D 19/4, 5.
|
|
23
|
a Warw. Co. Rec.
v, 64, 86, 100, 117.
|
|
24
|
b Ibid. iv, 77, 84,
115.
|
|
25
|
List of benefactions
recorded on the triptych in the church. A draft of the contract and a
covering letter from a Mr. Halett to Sir Fulke Greville are preserved at
Warwick Castle (Warwick MSS. 1326).
|
|
26
|
It is difficult to
reconcile this statement in the letter with the fact that Simon White was
only to receive £52 for his work on the lower story.
|
|
27
|
B.R.L. 272809.
|
|
28
|
Bps. Reg. Wore.
1787-1826, fol. 50.
|
|
29
|
The initials are
probably those of Thomas Lucas and Elizabeth his wife, whose marriage is
recorded in the registers in 1665. Thomas Lucas was several times Bailiff of
Alcester and died in 1706.
|
|
30
|
Cf. Ragley MSS. (deed
of 1766). The name first occurs c. 1670 (Davis, Token Coinage of
Warw. 90).
|
|
31
|
Cal. Chart. R. 1327–41, p. 466.
|
|
32
|
Leland, Itin.
(ed. Toulmin Smith), ii, 51.
|
|
33
|
Parish Registers. He
was brother of the 2nd Lord Brooke and was of Beauchamp's Court Lodge in 1642
and 1646 (Ragley MSS.).
|
|
34
|
Hearth Tax Returns.
The house is assessed in 1665 at 16, in 1667 at 7, and 1670–3 at 8 hearths.
In 1667–70 it is occupied by Charles Johnson.
|
|
35
|
Ex inf. Mr. E. W. Jephcott.
|
|
36
|
Haddan and Stubbs, Councils,
iii, 281, 283. It is called a celebrated place in Cotton MS. Nero, E 1, fo.
27.
|
|
37
|
Chron. de Evesham (Rolls Ser.), 24–7.
|
|
38
|
Leland, Itin.
(ed. Toulmin Smith), ii, 51, 159–60.
|
|
39
|
Pipe R. Soc. (New ser.), x, 252.
|
|
40
|
Transcripts by J. H.
Bloom of deeds relating to Alcester Abbey, in Warwick MSS., no. lvii (in
B.R.L.).
|
|
41
|
Bk. of Fees, 1275.
|
|
42
|
McKizack, Parlm.
Representation of English Boroughs during the Middle Ages, 5.
|
|
43
|
Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 226.
|
|
44
|
Alcester Abbey
Transcripts, B.R.L., no. lxxvi a. For other references to burgage
tenements see Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), no. 867; Cal. Inq. p.m.
vi, no. 250.
|
|
45
|
Catalogue of Warwick
MSS., nos. 1530–1.
|
|
46
|
Pat. R. 15 Jac. I, pt.
2, no. 16. There is a copy of the charter, which recites the previous
confirmations, in the parish chest at Winchcombe (no. 5 in list).
|
|
47
|
The parish chest
contains eleven annual accounts of Proctors or Proctors and Churchwardens,
dating 1658–85.
|
|
48
|
Document in parish
chest.
|
|
49
|
S.-on-A., Compton
Verney MSS. 6992.
|
|
50
|
Cal. Pat. 1358–61, p. 223.
|
|
51
|
Cal. Chart. R. 1257–1300, p. 430.
|
|
52
|
Ibid. 1300–26, p. 27.
|
|
53
|
Ibid., p. 426.
|
|
54
|
Ibid. 1427–1517, pp.
88–90.
|
|
55
|
Pat. R. 15 Jac. I, pt.
2, no. 16.
|
|
56
|
Report of Royal Comm.
on Markets and Tolls, 1888–91, App. p. 211.
|
|
57
|
Lewis, Topog. Dict.
i, 16–17.
|
|
58
|
Smith, Hist. of
Warw., 287.
|
|
59
|
Report of Royal Comm.
on Markets and Tolls, 1888–91, App. p. 211.
|
|
60
|
J. H. Bloom, Transcripts
of deeds relating to Alcester Abbey (B.R.L.), no. lxxvi a.
|
|
61
|
a Shire Hall, Warwick,
D 19/3.
|
|
62
|
Parlm. Surveys, Warw.,
no. 1.
|
|
63
|
Inscription in Town
Hall.
|
|
64
|
Cf. P.N. Warw.
194.
|
|
65
|
Lay Subsid. R. (Dugd. Soc. vi), 6. In 1351 John le Deyare
granted to John de Drome and others the whole of his tenement in Mill Street
(Coughton MSS.).
|
|
66
|
Warwick MSS. 160.
|
|
67
|
Geographical
Description of all the Countries in the Known World, 167.
|
|
68
|
Document in parish
chest.
|
|
69
|
Ragley MSS.
|
|
70
|
Acts of the Privy
Council, 1597–8, pp. 315–16.
The distress at Alcester was probably due also to plague. The burial entries
in the Registers for 1597 number 75—between 2 and 3 times the annual average
for the period.
|
|
71
|
Simpson, The Agreeable
Historian, 1016.
|
|
72
|
Ex inf. Mr. George Haynes.
|
|
73
|
Settlement certificate
of Richard Badson, needle-maker from Studley, in parish chest: ex inf.
Dr. R. A. Pelham. For a general account of the industry in Warwickshire see V.C.H.
Warw. ii, 234–7.
|
|
74
|
Warwickshire: a
concise Topographical Description, c. 1811–20, p. 14; Lewis, Topog. Dict., 1831, i, pp. 16–17.
Smith, Hist. of Warw., 1830, p. 287, puts the number at 'nearly a
thousand'. All these estimates are probably too high, however, since the 1831
Census Returns give 350 for the whole county, mostly at Alcester, Shedley,
Ipsley, and Sambourne (quoted V.C.H. Warw. ii, 235).
|
|
75
|
Register of
Apprentices in parish chest.
|
|
76
|
West, Direct, of Warw.
491–4.
|
|
77
|
Settlement
Certificates, 1688–1718, in parish chest: ex inf. Dr. R. A. Pelham.
|
|
78
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. ix, no. 100.
|
|
79
|
Cal. Pat. 1413–16, p. 125. In 1432 an Irish chaplain,
Robert Fyngall of Alcester, received a similar dispensation: ibid. 1429–36,
p. 266.
|
|
80
|
Ap Rice, ap Prise, ap
Gryffen ap Lewis, Gwillim.
|
|
81
|
Cf. Warwick MSS. 1344
and 1918. Exact computation is impossible since the later rental must include
some of the 'Kinges Landes' which are separately listed in 1610.
|
|
82
|
Cal. S.P. Dom., 1619–23, p. 557.
|
|
83
|
Hearth Tax Returns.
|
|
84
|
Thomas's figures,
which are usually fairly reliable, imply a total population of rather more
than 1,500 in 1730: Dugd. 771.
|
|
85
|
Smith, Hist. of
Warw. 287.
|
|
86
|
Cf. table in V.C.H.
Warw. i, 184.
|
|
87
|
10 Geo. III. c. 66.
Copy of Award, dated 1 Feb. 1771, in parish chest.
|
|
88
|
Dugd. 766.
|
|
89
|
Leadam, Domesday of
Enclosures, ii, 662.
|
|
90
|
Bk. of Fees, 1275; Cal. Close, 1234–7, p. 208.
|
|
91
|
Bk. of Fees, 1275.
|
|
92
|
Dugd. 762; Cartae
Antiquae (Pipe R. Soc.), no. 38.
|
|
93
|
R. W. Eyton, Antiquities
of Shropshire, vii, 151, 181–2. In the Pipe Rolls for 1178 to 1189
Alcester is described as formerly belonging to Earl Reynold.
|
|
94
|
Pipe R. Soc., vols. xxv-xxxviii; Pipe Roll for 1 Richard
I (ed. J. Hunter, 1844).
|
|
95
|
Pipe R. Soc., vols. for 8, 9, 10 Rich. I, 1, 2, John.
Dugdale suggests that Henry was deprived of Alcester for taking part against
the king with his enemies in Normandy: Dugd. 762.
|
|
96
|
Dugd. 762. Cartae
Antiquae (Pipe R. Soc.), no. 38. Eyton identifies William de Botreaux as
sheriff of Devon: Eyton, op. cit. vii, 156.
|
|
97
|
Ibid. 148.
|
|
98
|
Pipe R. 6 John, m. 17
d; Rot. Litt. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 3, 39; Rot. de Oblatis,
200.
|
|
99
|
Rot. Litt. Claus. i, 280, 314. Peter was pardoned in 1221 six
marks for scutage, as he and his men had served in the king's army in 1214:
ibid. i, 456.
|
|
100
|
Red Bk. Exch. ii, 469.
|
|
101
|
Exc. e Rot. Fin. i,
400.
|
|
102
|
Bk. of Fees, 1275.
|
|
103
|
Cal. Inq. Misc. i, no.
927.
|
|
104
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, no. 47.
|
|
105
|
See pedigree, Eyton,
op. cit. 159.
|
|
106
|
Cal. Pat. 1317–21, p. 584.
|
|
107
|
Dugdale, Baronage,
i, 629.
|
|
108
|
Cal. Pat. 1327–30, p. 529; Feet of F. (Dugd.
Soc. xv), no. 1693.
|
|
109
|
Cal. Fine R. 1347–56, pp. 176–7.
|
|
110
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. x, no. 119.
|
|
111
|
Cal. Pat. 1361–4, p. 482.
|
|
112
|
Chan. Inq. p.m., 4
Hen. V, no. 41.
|
|
113
|
Ibid. 3 Hen. VI, no.
13.
|
|
114
|
Ibid. (Ser. 2) xli, 7.
|
|
115
|
Cal. Pat. 1441–6, p. 273.
|
|
116
|
Red Bk. Exch. ii, 550. Cf. Feud. Aids, v, 191.
|
|
117
|
Bk. of Fees, 1275.
|
|
118
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, no. 47. From a return made in 1304 the
serjeant thus maintained for twenty days seems to have been a mounted archer:
J. H. Bloom, Transcript of Deeds, Alcester Abbey (B.R.L.), no. lxxvi a.
|
|
119
|
Ibid.
|
|
120
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. xii, p. 309; Cal. Pat. 1361–4, pp. 48,
105. Herbert FitzJohn, grandson of Reynold FitzHerbert, made over his rights
in the lordship to Guy, Earl of Warwick, on 5 May 1315 (Dugd. 768), but when
Guy died, on 10 Aug. 1315, the fee is not named among those which he held.
|
|
121
|
e.g. Chan. Inq. p.m.
(Ser. 2), xli, 3; ibid. cxliii, 2.
|
|
122
|
Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), 595.
|
|
123
|
Cal. Close, 1247–51, p. 229.
|
|
124
|
Bk. of Fees, 1275.
|
|
125
|
Curia Regis R. 173, m.
14 d. Walter was the brother of William, Earl of Warwick.
|
|
126
|
Cal. Close, 1264–8, p. 353; Curia Regis R. 180, m. 16; Feet
of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), 901.
|
|
127
|
S.-on-A., Compton
Verney MSS. 6992.
|
|
128
|
Cal. Close, 1288–96, p. 173; Cal. Chart. R.
1257–1300, p. 489. Walter de Beauchamp was then steward of the king's
household. In 1359 John, son of Giles de Beauchamp, is described as lord of
the town of Alcester: Cal. Pat. 1358–61, p. 223.
|
|
129
|
Feud. Aids, v. 178.
|
|
130
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. vii, 176. This must be an error for 'the
representatives of Reynold FitzPeter (d. 1286)', as there was no Reynold at
this time, and the family had parted with the lordship to the Earl of Warwick
in 1315: see above.
|
|
131
|
Cal. Chart. R. 1327–41, p. 466.
|
|
132
|
Ibid. 1427–1517, pp.
88, 89, 90.
|
|
133
|
Dugd. 766.
|
|
134
|
Worc. Epis. Reg.,
Carpenter, fol. 47.
|
|
135
|
Chanc. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), xli, 3; Exchq. Inq. p.m. 1129/7.
|
|
136
|
Dugd. 766.
|
|
137
|
L. and P. Hen. VIII, iv, g. 2132 (11).
|
|
138
|
S.-on-A., Compton
Verney MSS. 1411 (copy of Letters Patent).
|
|
139
|
Chanc. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), 143 (2).
|
|
140
|
Dugd. 766.
|
|
141
|
Dugd. 767.
|
|
142
|
Ragley MSS.
|
|
143
|
Dugd. 767.
|
|
144
|
L. and P. Hen. VIII,
xvi, g. 779 (9).
|
|
145
|
Ibid. xix (2), g. 690
(58); Pat. R. 36 Hen. VIII, pts. 4 and 24.
|
|
146
|
B.M., Egerton Ch.
1746. The receipt is dated 22 Oct. 1544, but the grant to Sewster in L.
and P. was not made until Nov. 28 following.
|
|
147
|
Transcripts by J. H.
Bloom of deeds in Warwick MSS. relating to Alcester Abbey, no. cxxxvii a
(B.R.L.).
|
|
148
|
B.R.L. 272798.
|
|
149
|
Warwick MSS. 1344.
|
|
150
|
Ibid. 1918.
|
|
151
|
Ibid. 1526.
|
|
152
|
Cf. L. and P. Hen.
VIII, xix (2), 690 (58); Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 11 Jac. I; Warwick
MSS. 2558; Recov. R. Mich. 14 Car. II, ro. 116; ibid. 14 Geo. II, ro. 236.
|
|
153
|
Val. Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iii, 251.
|
|
154
|
Warwick MSS. 2558.
|
|
155
|
Cal. Chart. R. 1226–57, p. 256.
|
|
156
|
B.R.L. 272798.
|
|
157
|
Feet of F. Mich. 2 and
3 Eliz.
|
|
158
|
Ragley MSS.
|
|
159
|
Ibid.
|
|
160
|
Ibid.
|
|
161
|
Note in Parish
Register, by Rev. Francis Palmer, rector, 1825. A copy of the contract is in
the parish chest.
|
|
162
|
Churches of Warw. ii,
105.
|
|
163
|
Figured inaccurately
in Dugd. (p. 770) and described and illustrated in Birm. Arch. Soc. Trans.
xlviii, 158–61.
|
|
164
|
The date of her death
was filled in in paint, now faded. The Registers give the date of burial of
Sir Fulke Greville as 10 Nov. 1560, and of his wife as 15 Nov. 1562. But
Henry Machyn in his Diary (Camden Soc. 1847, p. 219) records Sir
Fulke's funeral on 11 Dec. 1559; and his widow did not die until 20 Nov.
1565: Chanc. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), 143 (2).
|
|
165
|
Dugd. Monasticon,
iv, 176, no. 2.
|
|
166
|
Ibid., no. 5.
|
|
167
|
Ibid. 177, no. 6;
assigned to 1155: Eyton, Itin. of Henry II, 7.
|
|
168
|
Bk. of Fees, ii, 1394.
|
|
169
|
Cal. Pat. 1225–32, p. 167.
|
|
170
|
Bk. of Fees, ii, 1394.
|
|
171
|
Dugd. 768–9.
|
|
172
|
L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (2), g. 690 (58).
|
|
173
|
Dugd. 769.
|
|
174
|
P.R.O. Inst. Bks.
|
|
175
|
Bk. of Fees, ii. 1394.
|
|
176
|
Tax. Eccles. (Rec. Com.), 218.
|
|
177
|
Nonae R. (Rec. Com.), 445.
|
|
178
|
Feud. Aids, v. 188.
|
|
179
|
Val. Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iii, 91.
|
|
180
|
Add. MS. 35098, fol. 3
d.
|
|
181
|
Cal. Pat. 1225–32, p. 167.
|
|
182
|
Ibid. 1330–4, p. 472.
|
|
183
|
Feud. Aids, v. 188.
|
|
184
|
Dugd. 768.
|
|
185
|
Reg. Giffard (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 300. The following
chaplains occurin addition to those given by Dugdale (769–70): 1354, William
son of Nicholas le Chaundeler, v.p.m. Richard le Leigh (Transcripts by J. H.
Bloom of Deeds in Warwick MSS. relating to Alcester Abbey. B.R.L. no. xcvii):
1378, William Spryke, v.p.m. William son of Nicholas le Chaundeler (ibid.,
no. cvii): John Whitehead, late 15th century, called by Mayyowe 'the first
prist that sange in the seid chauntrye after it was buylded' (Shire Hall,
Warwick, D. 19/2): 1535, Roger Medcalff, mentioned Val. Eccl. (Rec.
Com. iii, 93). He was the last chaplain and was 71 years old in 1547 (Chantry
Certifs. 59, no. 42).
|
|
186
|
Chantry Certifs.
P.R.O. 53, no. 23. See also ibid. 57, no. 42 and 31, no. 37, where slightly
different valuations are given, and Val. Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iii, 93.
|
|
187
|
Warwick MSS. 217.
|
|
188
|
Dugd. 770.
|
|
189
|
a Shire Hall, Warwick,
D. 19/2: examination of John Mayyowe, 1544; Dugd. 770: 3 of these 8 are among
the 5 principal inhabitants mentioned by Mayyowe.
|
|
190
|
Shire Hall, Warwick,
D. 19/2. Norman, however, was not, as is there stated, 'put into the said
Chantrie' by the townspeople, but by Lord Beauchamp. (Dugd. 770.)
|
|
191
|
Shire Hall, Warwick,
D. 19/3: (late-16th-century copy of 'An Indenture written in a fayre old
Hand').
|
|
192
|
a The earliest
recorded master is William Traunter, who occurs in the parish registers in
1614 and 1616. William Mede, 'schoolmaster at Alcester', signed 'The
Warwickshire Ministers' Testimony' of 1648. The Rev. John Kaye occurs as
headmaster of the Grammar School in 1771 (Inclosure Award), and the Rev.
Matthew Booker in 1792 (Universal Brit. Direct.). Under the long
headmastership of Richard Harbridge in the late 19th century classical
instruction was given and the school is said to have contained at one time 30
boarders (ex inf. Mr. E. W. Jephcott).
|
|
193
|
Cal. Pat. 1361–4, p. 197; Inq. ad q. d. 342, no. 7.
|
|
194
|
a Cal. Pat.
1408–13, p. 284.
|
|
195
|
Dugd. 770–1.
|
|
196
|
Chantry Certifs.
P.R.O. 53, no. 23. See also ibid. 31, no. 38, 57, no. 43, and Val. Eccles.
(Rec. Com.), iii. 93, where slightly different values are given.
|
|
197
|
Chantry Certifs. 31,
no. 38.
|
|
198
|
Warwick MSS.
|
|
199
|
Chantry Certifs. 31,
no. 38.
|
|
200
|
Dugd. 771.
|
|
201
|
Cal. Pat. 1548–9, p. 230.
|
|
202
|
Ibid. 1553, p. 238.
|
|
203
|
Warwick MSS. 1309.
|
|
204
|
Pat. R. 9 Jac. I, pt.
3.
|
|
205
|
Cal. Pat. 1330–4, p. 472.
|
|
206
|
Samuel Clarke, Lives
of Sundry Eminent Persons, 4–5.
|
|
207
|
Warw. Co. Rec. iv, 6.
|
|
208
|
At the Salt Library,
Stafford. The basis of the figures is, however, uncertain. They may refer to
families.
|
|
209
|
Matthews, Calamy
Revised, 486; Hearth Tax Returns, 1667–74; Par. Reg.
|
|
210
|
G. E. Evans, Midland
Churches, 10.
|
|
211
|
Q.S. Minutes, 1682–96,
fol. 173.
|
|
212
|
G. E. Evans, Midland
Churches, 10.
|
|
213
|
Ex inf. Mr. A. J. Gwinnett.
|
|
214
|
Baptist Church Book.
|
|
215
|
Ex inf. Mr. A. J. Gwinnett.
|
|
216
|
Q.S. Minutes,
1696–1709, fol. 96.
|
|
217
|
Cf. White, Friends
in Warw., 33–4, and entry in Constable's Account, 1676 [in parish chest],
'pd ffor a warrant to disturbe the Quakers 6d'.
|
|
218
|
Ex inf. Mr. A. J. Gwinnett.
|
|
219
|
Ibid.
|
ARROW
'Parishes: Arrow', A
History of the County of Warwick: Volume 3: Barlichway hundred (1945), pp.
26-31. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=56976. Date
accessed: 04 November 2008.
Acreage: 2,634.
Population: 1911, 317; 1921, 339; 1931, 293.
The parish of Arrow is bounded on the east by the River Arrow as far north as
Oversley Mill, and then by the Spittle Brook, running south-east from
Coldcomfort Wood, where the boundary turns west to reach the Redditch-Evesham
road, which forms the western boundary. On the south the limit of the parish is
the line of the road from Wixford to Weethley Gate. From the river, where the
elevation is only about 120 ft., the ground rises rapidly to the west and
north, reaching 300 ft. in the south-west corner and 415 ft. in the north-west
corner of the parish.
The village lies on the road from Wixford to Alcester, with the church, the
rectory, and a farm between the road and the river. Another road branches
westward from the village to Worcester. Between this road and Weethley Gate
lies Ragley Park (500 acres in extent) with the Hall, a large lake, apparently
constructed in 1630, (fn. 1)
and extensive woods on the edges of the park. The manor at the time of the
Domesday Survey had woodland 1 league by 2 furlongs in extent, (fn. 2)
and there is reference to the assarting and inclosure of land in Arrow in 1230.
(fn.
3) The parish is still well wooded; north of the Worcester road are Three
Oak Hill Wood and Old Park Wood, the latter perhaps representing the woodland
in Arrow which Robert Burdet was licensed to impark in 1333. (fn. 4)
Arrow Rectory is partly of 16th-century origin but has been much altered and
enlarged. It faces south and has an approximately symmetrical front: the west
cross-wing shows some close-set studding in the lower story of the west
elevation, the upper being plastered, and there are traces of other framing
inside. A stonebuilt chimney-stack has a modern shaft. A coved ceiling in the
upper story has grape-vine ornament in the cornice, probably of the 17th
century, but other parts are of the 18th century and later.
On the main road to Alcester are several ancient buildings. One, opposite the
roadway to the church, is a 17th-century house, with a jettied east gable-end
towards the road, and on the north side is an original projecting chimney-stack
of thin bricks with two diagonal shafts, each with small square pilasters on
the four faces.
Another, farther north, at the corner of the Worcester road, is a long building
of one story and attics, all of square framing of the 17th century, and another
a few yards farther north is similar: both are divided into tenements. Nearer
to Alcester on the same side is a house of similar framing but with a north
lower and narrower extension that has close-set studding in the upper story and
in the north gable-head, probably of the late 16th century.
Two small thatched cottages on the west edge of the parish near Weethley Church
have remains of 17thcentury framing.
Ragley Hall (fn. 5)
is a large building about 175 ft. by 120 ft., facing east and west. The walls
are of squared rough ashlar with rusticated angle-dressings. It consists of a
basement and two upper main stories, with attics or roof-space above. Some of
the fabric of the original house of 1598 may be incorporated in the building,
but as it stands to-day the mansion dates from about 1680 (fn. 6)
when it was built or rebuilt from designs by Dr. R. Hook, Curator of the Royal
Society. The work was incomplete when the Earl of Conway died in 1683, and it
was continued by the trustees of his heir. A view of the house in 1697–9,
engraved by Kip, shows it much as it is now, except for the later alterations
to the middle bay and the roofs; it then had a forecourt and side wings, which
were pulled down about 1780. In 1813 the architect Wyatt was called in. He
built the portico with the colonnade to the middle bay of the east front and probably
it was he who heightened the great hall by taking in the story above it and
furnishing it with the vaulting. The whole of the roofs have also been altered
either by him or subsequently: they are covered with slates. Many repairs were
effected in 1891, the date that appears on many of the rainwater-pipe heads.
The east front of five bays has moulded stringcourses marking the floor-levels
and a cornice with enriched brackets and open-balustraded parapets. The
late-17th-century windows of the upper stories have eared architraves,
pulvinated friezes, and moulded cornices. The middle bay projects slightly and
has a portico of c. 1813 with four Ionic columns carrying a pediment.
The first-floor windows behind it are round-headed, evidently also part of the alterations;
the second floor has square-headed windows. The windows of the ground floor or
basement have rusticated architraves and flat arches, and the walling is
generally in better condition than the upper. The first floor of the middle bay
containing the entrance to the great hall is approached by a double flight of
steps. The west front is similar, but without Wyatt's portico: all the windows
are of the 1680 design, tall and narrow. The only addition is an attic story
over the middle bay, which has three bull's-eye windows and is treated with
swag and festoon ornament. The north and south elevations are of three bays,
the middle deeply recessed. The projecting bays have original windows as in the
fronts, but in the recessed bays they are round-headed and probably later
alterations.
The plan is of the utmost symmetry. It is based on a great cross about 45 yards
east to west (containing the great hall and smaller hall west of it) and about
55 yards north to south. In the angles of this are smaller chambers forming the
second and fourth bays of the main fronts, and beyond these are wings, about 13
yards square, projecting at the angles of the mansion. The main staircases
occupy the west halves of the north and south arms of the basic cross plan. The
great hall is divided into five bays by three by Corinthian pilasters below an
entablature with a frieze enriched by ribbonbound oak leaves, and a moulded
cornice which marks the original second-floor level. Above this is the later
semi-vaulting of the heightening, with rococo ornament.
Generally the interior decoration, chimney-pieces, and main staircases appear
to be not earlier than the second half of the 18th century, but the small
chamber south of the hall on the east front—the Library—has bookcases of Charles
II period, and there are one or two secondary staircases of the same date. In
some alterations in the north half of the house some brickwork has been exposed
in the room east of the north main staircase. These bricks are larger than the
usual bricks of 1680, in red and black, and every fourth or fifth course is of
stone: there are also remains of round arches on the east and west walls that
appear to belong to earlier construction than the 1680 walling. It is possible
that this is part of the Elizabethan house. Several beams now covered up but
revealed during recent repairs are also claimed to be of the earlier period.
The basement below the hall is built with a series of piers and vaults, but
these do not appear to be earlier than 1680.
The original stables and coach-houses and the lodgings of the outside staff
stand north-east of the mansion, and were built symmetrically about courtyards.
The stables, now altered to dwellings, were on the east and west sides of a
large square quadrangle. On the south side are three residences with doorways
that have rusticated jambs and entablatures. The wall is divided into five bays
by pilasters and in front of it is a covered way with a colonnade of fifteen
bays with Doric shafts and an enriched entablature. On the north side is a
round-headed archway leading to the north courtyard. This is of semicircular
plan and contained the coachhouses: the round arches to these are now mostly
walled up, but a few are used for motor-cars. The gateway between the
courtyards and that at the north of the arc are of similar treatment, the round
archways being flanked by round-headed niches and having pediments over them.
Above the intermediate gateway is a clock and above the north gateway an
octagonal attic. The arc springs from short wings that are treated with the
same motif as the gateways, but the round arches are blanks or recesses and
contain doorways like those of the southern range. One coach-house on the east
side of the arc has been cut through to form another gateway. In the centre of
the quadrangle is another Doric shaft as a post with a ball and iron ornament
on top of it. The walls towards the courts are of stone; externally they are of
plain brickwork. The roofs are covered with slates.
On the river, ¼ mile south of the village, is Arrow Mill, presumably on the
site of the mill mentioned in Domesday (fn. 7)
and in 1210. (fn. 8)
About the same distance north of the village is Oversley Mill; there was a mill
here in 1086, (fn. 9)
and 'mills' in about 1155, (fn. 10)
two watermills and a fishery being attached to the manor in 1287. (fn. 11)
A court roll of 1585 mentions £5 12s. 4d. rent 'of the milners of
Oversleie Milles'. The mill was used as a needle mill by the firm of Holyoake
of Redditch from 1825 to 1844, when they transferred to the Hoo Mill at
Haselor. (fn. 12)
Somewhat higher up the river is Oversley Bridge, connecting Oversley Green and
Alcester.
The hamlet, or civil parish, of Oversley (Acreage: 1486. Population: 1911, 306;
1921, 276; 1931, 293) was part of Arrow until 1909, when it was joined, for
ecclesiastical purposes, to the parish of Alcester. It lies on the opposite
bank of the Arrow and extends north of Alcester to the boundaries of Coughton
and Kinwarton.
At Oversley Green is a 17th-century farm-house; the gabled east cross-wing is
of square timber-framing with a central chimney-stack and tiled roof; the
western cross-wing has rough-cast and brick walls but has an original brick
chimney-stack on its west side, with two square shafts with V-shaped pilasters.
The middle block is modernized.
A little farther to the south-west is a group of four timber-framed cottages of
the same period. The easternmost and latest of them has a tiled roof and gabled
dormer window. The others are thatched and have low flat-topped dormers.
Manors
In 710, according to the chronicles of the abbey of Evesham, Ceolred, King of
Mercia, gave land in ARROW to the abbey. (fn. 13)
It was subsequently wrested from them but regained by Abbot Agelwy II (fn. 14)
(1070–7), only to be lost again to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, (fn. 15)
who at the time of the Domesday Survey held 7½ hides in Arrow, which he sublet
to Stephen. At this time the manor contained a mill worth 6s. 8d.,
30 acres of meadow, and some woodland. (fn. 16)
Odo subsequently granted his lands in Arrow to Robert Marmion, (fn. 17)
from whom they descended to Geoffrey Marmion, whose daughter Auberée married
William de Camville, of Clifton, Staffordshire. (fn. 18)
He held them in 1195, when he sued Ralph Boteler and two others for stealing
goods from his land in Arrow while he was on the king's service in Wales. (fn. 19)
In 1220 Auberée was holding half a knight's fee here of Robert Marmion (fn. 20)
for life, with reversion to her son William de Camville. (fn. 21)
He was in possession in 1229, when he was fined for cutting down woodland at
Arrow which was then in the king's forest. (fn. 22)
In 1231–2 he had to defend his right to the manor against Maurice le Boteler, (fn. 23)
and two years later against Richard de Camville, the son of his brother
Geoffrey, (fn. 24)
whose descendants held the mesne lordship of this fee. He was holding half a
knight's fee in Arrow of the fee of Robert Marmion in 1235–6, (fn. 25)
and in 1275 jurors reported that William de Camville, who was now dead, had
withdrawn his tenants of Arrow from suit at the hundred and county courts and
had paid an annual fee of ½ mark to the sheriff for this privilege. (fn. 26)
At this time Arrow was in the possession of his brother (fn. 27)
Thomas de Camville, who paid to Geoffrey de Camville, of Clifton, Staffs.,
grandson of the earlier Geoffrey, scutage for half a knight's fee, homage, and
relief. (fn. 28)
He was succeeded by his son, Sir Gerard de Camville, who held Arrow in 1288,
when it was seized by the king for his default against the Bishop of Worcester.
(fn.
29) Sir Gerard died in 1303 and lies buried in Arrow Church. He left as
heir a daughter Elizabeth, (fn. 30)
but the manor appears to have come into the possession of a Henry de Camville,
who was patron of Arrow Church in 1309 and 1311; (fn. 31)
he had possibly married Elizabeth and taken her name, as in 1312 he complained
against Robert Burdet for abducting his wife Elizabeth from Arrow. (fn. 32)
Elizabeth later married Robert Burdet, (fn. 33)
who was summoned before the King's Council in 1326 to answer concerning the
wood pertaining to his manor of Arrow. (fn. 34)
The next year he obtained a grant of free-warren in Arrow, (fn. 35)
and in 1333 a licence to impark his woods. (fn. 36)
Robert was succeeded by his son Gerard, who died in 1349 holding the manor of
Sir Richard Stafford, the representative of the elder branch of the Camville
family at Clifton. His son and heir, Sir John Burdet, was at this time 21 years
old. (fn. 37)
He held the manor in 1379, (fn. 38)
but by 1390 had been succeeded by Sir Thomas Burdet, (fn. 39)
who died before 1428, (fn. 40)
being followed by his son Sir Nicholas. This latter was dead by 1448, (fn. 41)
and Thomas Burdet, his son, was executed for treason in 1477, when the manor
passed to his wife Margaret, with reversion to his second son John. (fn. 42)
In 1485 Arrow was conveyed to John's half-brother Richard and his wife Joyce,
who upon his death married Sir Hugh Conway and held one-third of the manor in
dower, while the remainder was held by her daughter and heir Anne, who married
Sir Hugh's younger brother Edward. (fn. 43)
Camville. Azure three
lions passant argent.
Burdet. Azure two bars
or with three martlets gules on each bar.
Conway. Sable a bend
cotised argent with a rose between two rings gules on the bend.
Edward Conway died in
Aug. 1546 seised of the manor of Arrow, his son John being his heir. (fn. 44)
Sir John Conway was succeeded by his son Sir John, who died in Oct. 1603,
leaving the manor to his son Edward, who obtained a grant of freewarren there
in 1619. (fn. 45)
He was created successively Baron Conway of Ragley and Viscount Killultagh and
Conway, and died in Jan. 1631, being succeeded by his son Edward. (fn. 46)
On the death of his son Edward, who had been created Earl of Conway in 1679,
the estates passed to his second cousin Popham Seymour-Conway. He died in 1699,
being succeeded by his brother Francis, who was created Baron Conway of Ragley
in 1703. He died in 1732 while his son Francis was still a minor. Francis was
created Viscount Beauchamp and Earl of Hertford in 1750 and Earl of Yarmouth
and Marquess of Hertford in 1793. His descendant, the Marquess of Hertford, is
the present lord of the manor.
The manor of RAGLEY
seems to have been a distinctive part of the parish of Arrow from a very early
date, for the Evesham chronicler claimed that Ceolred, King of Mercia, had
given land in Ragley to the abbey in 710. (fn. 47)
Towards the close of the
11th century the monks certainly had land there, (fn. 48)
part of which was held by Wybert Trunchet in Henry II's time. With the consent
of the abbey he granted it to Roger son of William, from whom it descended to
Ralph son of Nicholas of Kingley, who held the estate in 1325. (fn. 49)
In 1370 John Rous of
Ragley exchanged with the abbey lands in Ombersley, Worcs., for land and rent
in Ragley and Kingley. (fn. 50)
In Dec. 1381 he received a pardon for crenellating a house above the gate of
his manor of Ragley without licence, and was given leave to crenellate the
remainder of the manor. (fn. 51)
John Rous died before the close of 1396, followed shortly after by his eldest
son John. (fn. 52)
The elder John had held the manor jointly with his wife Christiane, on whose
death in 1416 it descended to their grandson William, a minor of 7 years. At
this time the overlordship of the manor belonged to Sir Thomas Burdet of Arrow.
(fn.
53) William died in 1420 while still under age, being succeeded by his
brother John, then 15 years old. (fn. 54)
John Rous died in 1476 holding the manor jointly with his wife Margaret, who
outlived him. (fn. 55)
His son Thomas died in 1499 and lies buried in Quinton Church with his wife
Maud. (fn. 56)
On the death of their son Thomas Rous in 1523, Ragley passed to their daughter
Margaret, wife of John Brome of Halton. (fn. 57)
In Oct. 1591 her grandson George Brome sold this manor with that of Pophills to
Sir John Conway for £3,000. (fn. 58)
Ragley became the principal seat of the Conway family in the 17th century and
follows the same descent as the manor of Arrow.
Rous, of Ragley. Sable
two bars engrailed argent.
During the abbacy of
Abbot Adam (1160–91) the monastery of Evesham acquired the reversion of an
estate in KINGLEY which Wybert Trunchet had held and granted to Roger
son of William. (fn. 59)
Roger's descendants held the estate until the early 14th century, when Nicholas
of Kingley disposed of it to Malcolm Musard, who released all his rights to the
abbey in 1316. (fn. 60)
The abbey held also 150 acres in Kingley which in 1221 they let to Stephen of
Ragley. (fn. 61)
In 1290 the Abbot of Evesham successfully claimed view of frankpledge in his
manor of Kingley and exemption of his tenants from suit at the county and
hundred courts. (fn. 62)
The land in Kingley obtained in 1370 by John Rous with Ragley (see above) by
exchange with the abbey (fn. 63)
descended to his grandson William, (fn. 64)
whose brother and heir John (fn. 65)
may have alienated it to Sir Nicholas Burdet, the holder of Arrow, for it does
not appear in the inquisition taken after John's death in 1476, (fn. 66)
and in 1485 Thomas Burdet's widow Margaret, then the wife of Thomas Woodhull,
and his son John, settled the estate with that of Arrow on John's brother
Richard and his wife Joyce. (fn. 67)
On the marriage of their daughter Anne, the manor passed to the Conway family
and follows the same descent as Arrow.
At the Domesday Survey
the Count of Meulan, later created Earl of Leicester, held 3 hides of land in OVERSLEY,
(fn.
68) and until the close of the Middle Ages the manor remained part of the
honour of Leicester. In 1086 Fulk held the estate, but it later passed to one
of the second Earl of Leicester's officials, Ralph le Boteler, who probably
built a castle there, making it his principal seat. (fn. 69)
In the middle of the 12th century the earl and Ralph jointly founded the
monastery of Alcester, and granted to it lands in Oversley. (fn. 70)
The abbey of Bordesley
also acquired lands in Oversley about the same time by the gift of Walter of
Stanes. (fn. 71)
Ralph le Boteler's descendant William died shortly before 11 Dec. 1283 holding
the manor of Oversley of the Earl of Leicester, and lands there also of the
Abbot of Bordesley. (fn. 72)
One-third of the manor was assigned to his wife Angareta in dower; his son and
heir John died in 1287, (fn. 73)
and his brother Gawain shortly after him. Their younger brother William held
the manor in 1293, being then a minor in ward to Walter de Langton. At this
time Alice the widow of Gawain, Angareta, now married to Robert de Neville, and
Eleanor, sometime the wife of John le Boteler and now of John de la Mare, all
held land in the manor in dower. (fn. 74)
William le Boteler died in 1334, being succeeded by his son William, (fn. 75)
who died in 1361; (fn. 76)
and on the death of his son William in 1369 (fn. 77)
without male heirs the manor passed to his daughter Elizabeth, wife of Sir
Robert Ferrers. (fn. 78)
She died in 1411, leaving two daughters, Elizabeth wife of John, Lord
Greystock, and Mary wife of Sir Ralph Nevill, younger son of the Earl of
Warwick. (fn. 79)
In the division of her lands, Oversley was assigned to Mary. (fn. 80)
Boteler. Gules a fesse
checky argent and sable between six crosses for my argent.
On her death in 1458
Mary was succeeded by her son John Nevill. (fn. 81)
He died in 1482 and Oversley passed to his grandson Sir William Gascoigne of
Gawthorpe, Yorks. (fn. 82)
On the marriage of his second son Henry with Elizabeth daughter of Sir Henry
Boynton, the manor was settled on him and became the subject of a series of
law-suits in Chancery in the early years of the 16th century. (fn. 83)
In 1537 Sir William Gascoigne and his son Sir Henry sold the manor to Sir
Thomas Cromwell. (fn. 84)
After Cromwell's attainder Henry VIII granted Oversley, in exchange for lands
in Bedfordshire, to Sir George Throckmorton of Coughton, who had been anxious
to acquire it for several years. (fn. 85)
From this time the manor follows the same descent as Coughton (q.v.).
Oversley was a valuable
and extensive manor, comprising in 1566 the present parishes of Exhall and
Wixford, part of Grafton and part, at least, of King's Broom; (fn. 86)
presentments from all four townships were made at the manor court of Oversley
in 1385, and from the 16th century onwards the constables, tithingmen, and
supervisors of the fields of Wixford, Exhall, and Broom were elected there. The
manor was divided from Bidford on the south by a holding known as the 'Twenty
Hide Meere', which was claimed in 1595 as part of Bidford lordship, but which
was no doubt the 'balliva viginti hidarum' granted by the lord of Oversley to
William de Brome at a rent of 8s. yearly in 1321. (fn. 87)
The northern boundary of the manor, in 1566, with Coughton and Kinwarton, seems
to have been that of the present parish. The manor was valued, c. 1320,
at £53 0s. 11¼d. It then comprised 872 acres, of which 387 were
in the park and another 375 consisted of demesne scattered in the east, west
and north fields. In 1541 the rents of Oversley alone amounted to £51 17s.
4d., and those of Exhall, Wixford, Grafton and Broom to £9 18s.
6½d. By 1603 the value of the manor had risen to £237 19s. 0½d.,
including £100 for the park. Lands held by indenture accounted for £80 19s.
4d. and the customary rents of Oversley Green, Exhall, Broom and Wixford
for £22 6s. 3d. (fn. 88)
The park referred to c. 1320 is mentioned in 1283, when William le
Boteler died holding a park and two gardens in Oversley of the abbot of
Bordesley as of the manor of Bidford Grange, paying 5s. yearly for
housebote. (fn. 89)
By James I's time it is referred to as Oversley Park or the New Park, (fn. 90)
though there is no evidence that its boundaries had been extended or a second
park made; a great part of its extent is now covered by Oversley Wood. The sale
of timber became a very important source of profit to the lord of the manor in
Elizabethan times, amounting in 1581, for instance, to £146 4s. 0d.,
compared with a rental of £173 19s. 8d., and this may explain
why, in 1603 and 1608, Thomas Kempson was holding the park at the high rent of
£100. (fn. 91)
Church
The parish church of ST.
JAMES consists of a chancel with a north chapel and vestry, nave, north
aisle, and west tower.
The building dates from the 12th century, but the only evidence of this period
is the south doorway, which may have been reset at a later period. The nave has
windows of the end of the 13th century, and the chancel appears to have been
rebuilt from early-to mid-14th century. The west tower is said to have been
added or rebuilt in 1767. The north aisle was added in 1865 and the rest of the
building restored.
The chancel (32 ft. by 15½ ft.) has an east window of three trefoiled lights
and vertical tracery in a twocentred head: the jambs may be of the 14th
century, the other stonework is modern: the two-centred reararch is chamfered.
In the south wall are two windows and in the north wall one, each of two
cinquefoiled lights and mid-14th-century leaf tracery (partly restored) in a
two-centred head with a moulded external label and chamfered pointed
rear-arches. Between the south windows is a priest's doorway with moulded
jambs, two-centred head, and label. In the west half of the north wall is a
modern arcade of two bays to the north chapel. The chancel arch is modern. The
north wall is of squared rubble; the gabled east wall and the south wall are
rough-cast. The walls have an old moulded plinth, and at the east angles are
diagonal buttresses of ashlar. The roof is tiled and has modern timbers.
In the south wall is a 14th-century piscina with ogee head and semi-octagonal
sill with a shallow basin. The chancel floor has been raised four steps and the
altar pace two steps more, so that the piscina-sill is now only 9½ in. above
floor-level.
The modern north chapel has two north windows, the eastern of which resembles
those of the chancel and has been reset here.
The nave (49 ft. by 20 ft.) has a modern north arcade of three bays. In the
south wall are three windows: the easternmost is of c. 1300 and has
three plain pointed lights and intersecting tracery in a two-centred head with
an external hood-mould. This has carved headstops, the western a woman's with a
veil head-dress, the eastern probably a man's with a gorget or high collar. The
window is recessed down to the floor inside and has in it a tiny piscina, only
6¾ in. wide and 5½ in. deep: this has an ogee head with trefoiled soffit cusps
and a moulded projecting sill and basin. The second window is of three
trefoiled lights and tracery of early14th-century character but all of modern
stonework. The third is similar to the first, but all modern. The south
doorway, between the second and third windows, has 12th-century square jambs
with shafts or edge-rolls worked in the solid: they have moulded bases and
plain cushion capitals with modern chamfered abaci. The head is half round and
of two orders, the inner is square and the outer has a roll-mould. A modern
inscription has been cut in the face of the inner order. The round rear-arch is
plastered. The doorway is of a hard yellow stone, the windows of a soft grey
limestone. The walling east of the doorway is of a rubble of rough irregular
stones, except near the east end, where there is a vertical band of grey stone
ashlar which may be another relic of the 12th-century walling. West of the
doorway the wall is rough-cast. At each end of the wall is a square buttress;
the eastern, perhaps of the 16th century, is of red stone; the western, later,
is of grey stone.
The tower is of three stages and has an embattled parapet with angle pinnacles.
The walls are rough-cast. The modern archway from the nave has a
segmentalpointed head. In the west wall is a Tudor doorway and over it a
bull's-eye window. The bell-chamber has two-light pointed windows.
The modern north aisle has three north windows. Reset below the easternmost of
the three is a pair of tomb recesses with moulded jambs and three-centred
arches: the recesses are 1 ft. 10 in. deep. In the spandrel between their
arches is a tiny recess 8 in. wide with a pointed arch 7 in. high: it is 1 ft.
3 in. deep and may have been made to serve as a reliquary. In the eastern
recess is set a tapering coffin-lid on which is carved a cross with a
wheel-head, slender stem, and stepped base. The edges are chamfered: on that of
the dexter edge is the inscription:
CI: GIT: GERARD: DE: CANVILL (fn. 92)
On the north wall of the chancel are two small shield-shaped brass plates. One
reads:
Here is ye right Honoble Edward Lo: VicesCount Conway
& Killultagh Lo: Presidnt of his Mats most honoble
privee Councell, Lo: Lieutenant of ye County of Southampton &
Captaine & Governor of the Ile of Wight who discharged wth much
honor & fidelitie great offices of trust, att home principal Secretary of
State abroad Ambassador extraordinary unto Germanie. His strength was exercis'd
in honble Atcheevement of warr in ye time of Queene Elizab: His age
imployed in Councells of State under King James & King Charles and having
receaved ye desert of virtue honor to himselfe & his familie
Departed out of this life ye 3 of January in ye yeare of his redemptiō by
Christ 1630.
The other is to Henege, infant son of Edward, Viscount Conway, who died in
1660.
On the south side of the chancel is a monument with an alabaster effigy of Sir
George Francis Seymour, G.C.B., G.C.H., born 1787, died 1870; and a brass
placed in position in 1872 commemorates other members of the Seymour Conway
family interred below the chancel, from Frances (Popham), Viscountess Conway,
1671, to Francis Charles Seymour Conway, third Marquess of Hertford, K.G.,
1842.
On the south wall is an ancient black and gilt funeral helmet with the Conway
crest of a blackamoor's head; also a sword.
Glass: In the south-west window of the chancel two of the foils have
15th-century yellow and white round flowers of five petals. In the north window
are two others of four petals.
The furniture is modern except for one 17thcentury bench which has shaped
standards.
In the tower is one bell by Henry Bagley, 1657.
The plate includes a cup with cover-paten of 1670, a large bread-plate of 1727,
and a flagon, undated, apparently originally a coffee-pot. (fn. 93)
The register of baptisms begins in 1592, of marriages in 1591, and of burials
in 1588; the earlier volumes of registers are now deposited at the Shire Hall,
Warwick.
Advowson
According to one of the charters of the monastery of Alcester ratified by Henry
II, Ralph le Botiller granted to the monastery, with the consent of the Earl of
Leicester, the advowsons of the churches of Arrow and Oversley (fn. 94)
and of the chapel of his castle of Oversley. (fn. 95)
If the monastery ever held the advowson of Arrow Church they did not retain it,
for in 1309 Henry de Camville made the presentation. (fn. 96)
The advowson seems to have passed with the manor to the Burdet family, for in
1390 Sir Thomas Burdet had it settled on his wife Isabel and himself in tail. (fn. 97)
Thomas Burdet held it when he was attainted in 1477, and it passed with the
manor to the Conway family and remains with the present Marquess of Hertford.
It is a rectory with the chapelry of Weethley attached.
Charity
In 1811 William Langton left £100 to be distributed among the poor of the
hamlet of Oversley, at the discretion of his executors. This was invested and
the interest was given away annually. (fn. 98)
Footnotes
|
1
|
Cal. S.P. Dom. 1629–31, pp. 240, 331.
|
|
2
|
V.C.H. Warw. i, 303.
|
|
3
|
Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), 435.
|
|
4
|
Cal. Pat. 1330–4, p. 406.
|
|
5
|
A description of the
house and its contents, by Avery Tipping, appeared in Country Life for
22 and 29 Mar. 1924.
|
|
6
|
In Nov. 1677 Lord
Conway wrote to his cousin, Sir Edward Harley, from Ragley: 'Heere you will
finde me playing the foole in laying out mony upon building, having cheefely
undertaken it because I finde my grandfather designed to build heere. . . . I
have almost finisht one side of the outbuilding and halfe the garden wall....
I have also the modell of the house designed': Hist. MSS. Com. Rep.
xiv (2), 357.
|
|
7
|
V.C.H. Warw. i, 303.
|
|
8
|
Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), 196.
|
|
9
|
V.C.H. Warw. i, 317.
|
|
10
|
Cal. Chart. R. iv, 483.
|
|
11
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. ii,
641.
|
|
12
|
a Short Hist. of
the Firm of Holyoake, reprinted from Redditch Indicator, 8 Oct.
1892. Arrow Mill was also used for needlemaking in the early 19th century:
Guise, Needles, 21. Ex inf. Mr. S. H. Hardy.
|
|
13
|
Chron. Eves. (Rolls Ser.), 72.
|
|
14
|
Ibid. 95.
|
|
15
|
Ibid. 97.
|
|
16
|
V.C.H. Warw. i, 303.
|
|
17
|
Harl. MS. 3763, fol.
58.
|
|
18
|
Magni Rot. Scac.
Norm. ii, p. xcix; Feet of
F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), no. 196.
|
|
19
|
Rot. Curiae Regis, 1194–9, ed. Palgrave, p. 51.
|
|
20
|
Curia Regis R. viii,
145.
|
|
21
|
Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), no. 218. Cf. Wm. Salt Soc.
iv, 10.
|
|
22
|
Close R. 1227–31, p. 187; Pipe Roll Soc. N.S.
iv, 212.
|
|
23
|
Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), no. 476.
|
|
24
|
G.E.C. Complete
Peerage (2nd ed.), iii, p. 3; Close R. 1231–4, pp. 308, 322.
|
|
25
|
Book of Fees, 510.
|
|
26
|
Rot. Hundr. (Rec. Com.), ii, 226.
|
|
27
|
Wm. Salt Soc. vi, 200.
|
|
28
|
Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), no. 924.
|
|
29
|
Cal. Close, 1279–88, p. 543.
|
|
30
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. v, p.
404.
|
|
31
|
Reg. Walter
Reynolds, Bp. Worc. (Worcs.
Hist. Soc.), 148, 153.
|
|
32
|
Cal. Pat. 1307–13, p. 535.
|
|
33
|
Dugd. 849.
|
|
34
|
Cal. Close, 1323–7, p. 557.
|
|
35
|
Cal. Chart. R. iv, 62.
|
|
36
|
Cal. Pat. 1330–4, p. 406.
|
|
37
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. xii,
296.
|
|
38
|
Cal. Fine R. ix, 144.
|
|
39
|
Anct. Deeds (P.R.O.),
C. 2428.
|
|
40
|
Feud. Aids, v, 192.
|
|
41
|
Cal. Pat. 1446–52, p. 207.
|
|
42
|
Dugd. 849; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 17 Edw. IV, no. 66.
|
|
43
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen.
VII, ii, no. 778.
|
|
44
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), lxxxv, 74.
|
|
45
|
Pat. 17, Jas. I, pt.
6, no. 15.
|
|
46
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), cccclxvi, 107.
|
|
47
|
Chron. Eves. (Rolls Ser.), 72; Birch, Cart. Sax.
127.
|
|
48
|
Dugd. Mon. Angl.
ii, 17.
|
|
49
|
Chron. Eves. (Rolls Ser.), 101; Cal. Pat. 1324–7,
p. 157.
|
|
50
|
Cal. Pat. 1367–70, p. 337. John le Roos of Ragley is
mentioned in 1332: ibid. 1330–4, p. 328.
|
|
51
|
Ibid. 1381–5, p. 64.
|
|
52
|
Cal. Fine R. xi, 200.
|
|
53
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen.
V, no. 41.
|
|
54
|
Ibid. 3 Hen. VI, no.
13.
|
|
55
|
Ibid. 16 Edw. IV, no.
51.
|
|
56
|
Stephenson, List of
Monumental Brasses in the British Isles, 155.
|
|
57
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), xli, 7.
|
|
58
|
Feet of F. Mich. 33–4
Eliz.; Cal. S.P. Dom. 1591–4, p. 280.
|
|
59
|
Chron. Eves. (Rolls Ser.), p. 101.
|
|
60
|
Harl. MS. 3763, fol.
124; Cal. Inq. Misc. ii, no. 1274.
|
|
61
|
Feet of F. Warw. (Dugd. Soc.), no. 261.
|
|
62
|
Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), p. 779.
|
|
63
|
Chron. Eves. (Rolls Ser.), 300; Cal. Pat. 1367–70,
p. 337.
|
|
64
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen.
V, no. 41.
|
|
65
|
Ibid. 3 Hen. VI, no.
13.
|
|
66
|
Ibid. 16 Edw. IV, no.
51.
|
|
67
|
Ibid. (Ser. 2), lxxxv,
74.
|
|
68
|
V.C.H. Warw. i, 317.
|
|
69
|
Dugd. Mon. Angl.
iv, 177. Cf. Dugd. 845. A steep knoll overlooking the Arrow is still known
locally as 'Boteler's Castle'. Recent excavations (see B'ham. Arch. Trans.
lx, 146) have shown that Ralph's castle can have been no more than a timber
structure. On lower ground to the east mounds and slight traces of stonework
may mark the site of the manor-house which succeeded it.
|
|
70
|
Add. Chart. 21494.
|
|
71
|
Anct. Deeds (P.R.O.),
B. 11262, 11263.
|
|
72
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, no. 529.
|
|
73
|
Ibid. no. 641.
|
|
74
|
Cal. Pat. 1292–1301, p. 46.
|
|
75
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. vii, no. 593.
|
|
76
|
Ibid. xi, no. 37.
|
|
77
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. 43
Edw. III, pt. i, 17.
|
|
78
|
Feet of F. Trin. 44
Edw. III.
|
|
79
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. 12
Hen. IV, no. 21.
|
|
80
|
Cal. Close, 1419–22, p. 140.
|
|
81
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. 36
Hen. VI, no. 21.
|
|
82
|
Ibid. 22 Edw. IV, no.
26.
|
|
83
|
Early Chan. Proc. 515,
no. 20; 607, no. 47; 635, no. 3.
|
|
84
|
Feet of F. Div. Co.,
Trin. 29 Hen. VIII; L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiv, ii, 782 (p. 330.)
|
|
85
|
Ibid. xvi, g. 878
(80); ibid. iv, ii, 5024 (2).
|
|
86
|
Ct. R. Some of the
boundaries can be roughly identified with the aid of the late-16th-century
terrier of the lands of Maurice Walsingham (ibid.).
|
|
87
|
Ct. R. The receipt of
William's rent for the 'ballia' is recorded in 1324.
|
|
88
|
Ibid.
|
|
89
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, no. 529. In 1324 this payment was
assigned to the abbot out of the rent of the tenement of Walter Bryd in
King's Broom (Ct. R.). The rental of c. 1320 gives 3 woods in the
manor—Calwohull, Budeleye and Heghweyegrove—amounting only to 42 acres and
worth about 2¾d. an acre. Of these, Budeleye was in Wixford (q.v.).
|
|
90
|
Rentals of 1602–3 and
1607–8.
|
|
91
|
Ct. R.
|
|
92
|
He died in 1303: see
above.
|
|
93
|
Lea, Church Plate, 21.
|
|
94
|
No other reference to
a church at Oversley is known; only the chapel of the castle is named in the
original foundation charter, at Coughton Court.
|
|
95
|
Dugdale, Mon. Angl.
iv, 175, 177.
|
|
96
|
Reg. Walter
Reynolds (Worcs. Hist. Soc.),
p. 148.
|
|
97
|
Anct. Deeds (P.R.O.),
C. 2428.
|
|
98
|
White, Dir. of
Warwicks. (1850).
|
BIDFORD
From: 'Parishes:
Bidford', A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 3: Barlichway hundred
(1945), pp. 49-57. URL:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=56980. Date accessed: 04
November 2008.
Acreage: 3,348.
Population: 1911, 1,634; 1921, 1,698; 1931, 1,842.
Bidford is a large parish stretching on either side of the Avon and including
the hamlets of Broom on the north and Barton and Marlcliff on the south of the
river. The ground is mostly low-lying, though the contours rise to 200 ft. on
the east, between the Stratford road and Bidford Grange. The Roman Ryknield
Street runs north and south through the parish and an important Saxon cemetery
was discovered here in 1922. (fn. 1) The Roman road originally crossed the Avon
by a ford just to the east of the church, and its northward course is still
marked by a lane under the churchyard wall which crosses the High Street and
continues as the main road to Alcester. The southern portion was deflected
westwards to its present line probably in the 15th century, when the bridge was
built about 200 yards below the ford. This diversion may account for the plan
of the village itself, which consists of a single street (the Stratford-Evesham
main road) running along the north bank of the river, the bridge being about
half-way down. At its eastern end, near the church, the street widens into a
small square, which was probably the site of the Market Cross, described by Sir
Simon Archer in 1639 as 'all downe and ruinated'. (fn. 2) It is significant
that all the buildings, about 16 in number, of 17th-century or earlier
construction, are within 200 yards of the church.
BIDFORD ON AVON Plan of
village based on the Ordnance Survey and 'Archaeologia' vol. 73, p. 90.
The largest of these,
the former Falcon Inn, stands at the corner of High Street and a road bordering
the north side of the churchyard. It is for the most part of mid- to late-16th-century
date, built of local lias stone in alternating narrow and wide courses. The
plan is L-shaped, formed by two blocks, with a seam in the masonry between
them: that facing the High Street is probably rather the earlier and consists
of two stories and attics with a lath-and-plaster gable at the south end; the
other, to the west of it, has three stories and attics with two gables
overlooking the churchyard and a gabled south-east end. The windows are
mullioned and, in the first floor of the taller part, transomed as well. All
have moulded drip-stones, those over the firstfloor windows forming a
continuous string-course step ping up for the higher transomed windows. One
window in the south-west front has been altered to a modern doorway and window.
At the junction of the two blocks is a massive rectangular chimney-stack of
stone with the stumps of six diagonal shafts of thin bricks. Another chimney
against the south-east gable end has two similar shafts rebuilt. The back
(northwest) wall of the higher block is plastered above a lower lean-to
addition and has a gabled staircase wing. The lower block has some moulded
ceiling beams of about mid-16th-century date and stop-chamfered joists; the
taller block has plainer chamfered beams. The wide fire-places have been
reduced for modern grates. The painted sign belonging to the Inn is preserved
in the New Place Museum at Stratford. In the 19th century the building was
divided up, part being used for the Bidford Institute and Working Men's Reading
Room established in 1861. (fn. 3) It is now divided into about seven separate
tenements.
Adjoining the north-east
end is a lower building, probably of earlier date, of close-set timber-framing
on stone foundations, with a jettied upper story, and a lattice-framed gable towards
the High Street. The north-east side has rectangular framing and a curved brace
to the front part. Inside are stop-chamfered beams; and the framing of the back
gabled wall suggests that the building extended farther to the rear.
Set back on the north
side of the Market Place is a building of early to mid-16th-century origin, now
partly occupied as a bank. It has a middle block refaced with stone, with cross
wings, of which the gabled ends are plastered, but the east side of the east
wing is of close studding to both stories. The west side is of brick. Above the
middle is a chimney-stack with three diagonal shafts of thin brick. East of it
is a late17th-century house of stone with brick chimneys, and south-west of it,
facing east, is an altered building retaining a stone chimney at one end with
two diagonal shafts of 17th-century bricks.
Farther east are five
buildings, two west of the Alcester road and three east of it, on the north
side of the street, of 17th-century timber-framing, and on the south side is
another with a central chimney of stone and brick. In the continuation of the
Alcester road, south of the High Street, are two houses of late-17thcentury
framing with tiled roofs. The easternmost has a thatched outbuilding, and the
other an original central chimney-stack.
Two houses in the High
Street, on either side of the turning to the bridge, have remains of
17th-century framing, and one, opposite the turning, has a roughcast south
front, but shows framing in its east gabled end.
Bidford bridge dates
from the early 15th century. In 1449 it was found to be very much decayed and
John Carpenter, Bishop of Worcester, offered a year's Indulgence to all who
should contribute to its repair. (fn. 4) It consists of eight arches of about
13½-ft. span, with piers of about 8¼ ft. The cutwaters remain on the east side
but have been removed on the west, and the whole shows signs of frequent
repair. The northernmost, second, sixth, and seventh arches are original and
are segmental-pointed or four-centred, formed by two rings of square voussoirs;
the medieval masonry above them is of rubble work and fairly large squared
stones in courses. Leland in 1545 found that the bridge had been repaired with
stone from the recently demolished priory at Alcester. (fn. 5) The masonry
above the low round arch of the fifth bay has the alternating wide and narrow
courses common in this district in the 16th century. There may originally have
been nine or ten arches, for it was alleged in 1639 'that there is a necessity
that there shall be two or three arches newly erected at the south end of the
said bridge where it plainly appeareth arches have formerly been, but are now
utterly demolished and decayed, without which the main bridge will be of little
or no use at all at the time of any flood'. (fn. 6) Considerable repairs were
carried out in 1641 at a cost of £180, (fn. 7) and perhaps the southernmost
arch dates from this time. This, which is similar to the third, is
segmental-pointed, like the 15th-century arches, but with long thin rough
voussoirs. In June 1644 Charles I broke down the bridge to cover his rear in
his march from Worcester back to Oxford. (fn. 8) This damage was not repaired
until 1650. (fn. 9) It was probably the fourth arch that was destroyed; this is
round-headed and much higher than all the others, possibly to admit the passage
of boats plying between Stratford and Gloucester. (fn. 10) The fifth arch, also
round-headed, may have been repaired at the same time. The cutwaters between
arches one, two, and three, and between six and seven are of coursed squared
stones; those in the middle have been repaired with thin rubble work, brick,
&c., and the southernmost is wholly of brick. Between the old north arches
on the west side are indications of the cutwaters and between the old southern
arches they are cut back to form shallow buttresses. Over the pier between bays
five and six a little of the original canted parapet is retained on the west
side, but apart from this the parapets are modern.
A few yards below the
bridge are the remains of a paddle weir.
Broom
The hamlet of Broom lies
in the north-west corner of the parish between the River Avon, which forms its
western boundary, and the road from Bidford to Alcester. It is approached from
Bidford by a road branching north from the Evesham road at the end of the
village. A modern bridge carrying the road to Dunnington crosses the Arrow at
Broom Mills. This replaces a ford, but until the beginning of last century
there was a second and more important crossing about half a mile to the south,
near Broom Court. (fn. 11)
Broom formerly consisted
of two hamlets known as King's Broom and Burnell's Broom. Burnell's Broom, the
southern portion, was said to have been depopulated by Sir Rice Griffin in
Elizabeth's time. (fn. 12) The former manor-house, Broom Court, was built by
Sir Simon Clarke about 1618. (fn. 13) It is said to have been burnt out, and
though the shell of the present house is probably original the details are no
earlier than mid18th century. Behind the original rectangular block a modern
enlargement in brick connects up with a detached stone building of the date of
the house. The front, which faces south, is of plain ashlar, and of two stories
and attics; it has a middle porch, the entrance doorway flanked by round shafts
with Tuscan capitals and bases on plain pedestals. The windows are modern bays,
but three upper mullioned windows are probably original; above each is a shield
with the Clarke arms. In the roof are three gabled dormers. The sidewalls are
of alternate large and small courses of squared lias rubble. They probably each
had two gables afterwards altered for two 18th-century chimney-shafts. The plan
has a middle entrance and stair hall and on each side were formerly two rooms,
each with angle fire-places; the middle partitions have been removed and the
two fire-places altered into one; the beams are encased. The 18th-century
staircase has turned balusters. The upper rooms have ancient chamfered beams,
and a little panelling and several doors of the 17th century. A small modern
window next to the entrance contains 17th-century glass achievements of arms of
Woodchurch and Clarke with their names: Roger Woodchurch and Isabel Wakehert,
Sir Simon Woodchurche, knight, and Susan Clarke, Humfry Clarke and Margaret Maynye,
and William Clarke and Elizabeth Winterborne. A coped garden wall east of the
house is original; a short return wall with an embattled parapet may have been
the side of a summer-house; in a merlon is a shield with the Clarke quarterings
and badge of Ulster. Two other shields are reset in the end of the same wall.
Farther east and north of the house are the remains of a moat inclosing a large
area; it is now mostly dry and reduced in part to little more than a ditch.
Broom village lies along
three parallel lanes running westwards from the Bidford road, the two most
northerly ones being connected by a short cross-road. There are here about
twenty small buildings with timberframing, about half of which have thatched
roofs. Some of them may be approximately dated from the complaint made early in
James I's reign against Thomas Throckmorton that he had lately erected certain
tenements there whose occupants were unlawfully pasturing their beasts on the
common. (fn. 14) The largest of them is the Broom Inn at the south-west corner
of the crossroad. It is of rectangular framing on stone foundations with heavy
timbers and brick infilling. Long struts from the sills help to support the
story-posts of the angles. The plan consists of a main block facing east with two
parallel wings projecting behind, all with gable ends to the tiled roofs. The
Holly Bush Inn to the west of this is partly timber-framed and thatched. There
are besides three farm-houses and groups of six and five cottages along the
northern, middle, and southern lanes respectively.
Broom Hall stands on the
west side of the Bidford road. This is a late-16th-century house; the east
front is of close-set studding to both stories and is of four 13½-ft. bays with
a range of four plastered gable-heads to the second floor, and it is probable
that the two endbays originally had bay windows. The north and south ends have
close studs to the lowest stor yand square framing to the upper story and
gable-heads. The foundations are of stone: the roofs are tiled. The house,
which has been very completely modernized inside, is owned by the Warwickshire
County Council and let as a private hotel.
King's Broom in the 16th
and 17th centuries was reckoned within the constabulary of Grafton, an anomaly
that gave rise to a prolonged dispute at Quarter Sessions. At Easter 1641 the
constable's rates were ordered to be paid in Bidford; (fn. 15) this was
reversed at Epiphany 1642, proof being made that Broom had been 'time out of
mind' in the constabulary of Grafton and that its constables' rates had been
paid there for sixty years past. (fn. 16) At Trinity 1647 this ruling was
confirmed, (fn. 17) but in 1669 the controversy was finally settled in favour
of Bidford. (fn. 18)
Barton
Barton lies opposite Bidford on the south side of the river and on the
Welford-Cleeve Prior road about ¼ mile from the point where it crosses the
Rycknield Street. It has only about sixteen buildings, of which at least nine
are pre-18th-century. The largest is the Manor House on the south side of the
road. The north front, nearly 60 ft. long, is of two stories and attics, in
lias stone. The eastern part, which projects slightly, has a gable-head rebuilt
in brick. The western has an original coped gable flush with the middle main
block and bearing a panel inscribed John Payton, Anno Domini 1663. The windows
have stone mullions and moulded labels. In the middle part are two doorways, of
which the western has an ancient nail-studded door and ornamental strap-hinges.
A red-brick addition of early-18th-century date on the west side has tall
windows with oak frames, mullions, and transoms.
Farther east on the same
side is a timber-framed building, about 48 ft. long, of late-16th-century date.
The rough-cast north front has the jettied upper story and gable-head of an
east cross-wing. Above the wing is a fine square chimney-stack of brick with
two square pilasters on each face. The west end of the main block shows the
original framing with shaped story-posts and curved braces, and is gabled.
Next east is a smaller
L-shaped building showing a little early-17th-century framing, a gabled wing of
late-17th-century stonework with mullioned windows and moulded dripstones and
later brick repairs and alterations.
Opposite these is a
small but comparatively tall cottage of 17th-century framing with a thatched
roof, a small square stone pigeon-house with gabled tiled roof and lantern, and
farther east a small farm-house of 17th-century square framing, gabled east and
west ends, and a tiled roof. There are modern additions behind and an old
granary of framing.
The road takes a double
right-angled deflection here, and on the west side of it is the Cottage of
Content Inn, brick-fronted, but showing some 17th-century framing on the south
side, and the village shop, a late-16thcentury cottage of heavier square
framing with curved braces, a thatched roof, and a heavy projecting
chimneystack of stone against the west gable: next south of it is a tiny
thatched cottage of framing.
Marlcliff, ¾ mile west
of Barton, on the same road, consists of an irregular group of buildings
spreading down a blind lane towards the river. There are two stone farm-houses,
probably late-17th-century, with later brick additions and tiled roofs, and
about eight cottages, also pre-1700, three of which are timberframed and the
others built of stone.
Bidford was ancient
demesne. The inhabitants paid an aid of £5 in 1176–7 (fn. 19) and were tallaged
at 4 marks and again at 2 marks in 1199 (fn. 20) and at 2 marks in the
following year. (fn. 21) From Elizabethan times at least the town appears to
have enjoyed something of the status of a borough. In 1567, the manor having
been certified in the Exchequer as ancient demesne, the inhabitants received a
confirmation of the customary privileges of freedom from toll throughout the
kingdom and exemption from jury service and from contributing to the expenses
of knights of the shire. (fn. 22) Parish documents of the 17th century show
that the town was then governed by two bailiffs, (fn. 23) one of whom in 1686
signs a burial certificate as 'His Maiesties Bailiffe of the Burrow of
Bidford'. There is, however, no trace of burgage tenure or of a borough court,
and though the appointment of bailiffs was still being continued in 1788, (fn.
24) it is not known when the office lapsed. A relic of the bailiff's authority
survives in the mace now preserved in the church. This is of gilt brass, 7 in.
long, with a narrow moulded stem and three ornamental lugs at the base, which
terminates in a flat button engraved with the initials I. T. On the flat part
of the hemispherical head (2 in. in diameter) was engraved the Tudor royal
arms, of which only the lion and dragon supporters now remain, and on the sides
are Tudor badges and the initials E. R. (fn. 25) It may perhaps have been made
soon after the charter of 1567.
In 1220 Llewelyn, Prince
of North Wales, obtained a grant of a weekly market at Bidford to be held on a
Tuesday. The day was soon afterwards altered to Friday (fn. 26) and the grant
was confirmed to Bishop Burnell in 1281 (fn. 27) . The market seems to have
been discontinued between 1788 and 1808. (fn. 28) Two annual fairs, in April
and September, were granted by Queen Elizabeth to Leonard Danett, then lord of
the manor, in 1564. (fn. 29) These were held until 1872, when monthly sales,
now also abandoned, were substituted for them. (fn. 30) There is an
old-established brick and tile industry here, a large flour-mill at Broom, and
a gasworks established in 1869.
Bidford was inclosed by
an Act of 1766, (fn. 31) Broom (with Wixford and Exhall) by an Act of 1767,
(fn. 32) and Barton and Marlcliff by an Act of 1776. (fn. 33) There was some
inclosure at King's Broom early in the 17th century when the inhabitants, in
the document already cited, complained that Thomas Throckmorton, by making a headland
near the Marriage Brook, (fn. 34) had made it difficult for them to cart away
the corn from their lands at harvest time and by inclosing King's Brook from
Candlemas to harvest had stopped up the 'p'cessyon waye' and taken away the
common.
There are two stations
in the parish—Broom junction and Bidford—both, since 1921, belonging to the
L.M.S. Railway. The former was opened in 1866 by the Evesham and Redditch
Railway Co., which was taken over by the Midland Railway in 1882. The latter is
situated on the line from Broom Junction to the station formerly belonging to
the East and West Junction Co. at Stratford, which was planned by the Evesham,
Redditch, and Stratford-upon-Avon Junction Co. in 1873 and opened in 1879. (fn.
35)
Manors
The manor of BIDFORD was ancient demesne and is assessed in Domesday at 5
hides. (fn. 36) The Survey also makes mention of 2½ virgates here which before
the Conquest Ernulf and Ernegrin had held freely and which in 1086 were held by
Robert d'Olgi of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. (fn. 37) This latter entry must refer
to that manor of Bidford which the Evesham Chronicler includes among the
acquisitions of Abbot Ethelwig that Odo had seized. (fn. 38) But there is no
further record of its separate existence.
The manor remained in
the hands of the Crown throughout the 12th century and in 1154 was accounted
for by the Sheriff of Worcestershire, together with Hales [Halesowen] and
Tardebigg, at £10. (fn. 39) It was granted by John as part of the dowry of his
illegitimate daughter Joan, who in 1206 married Llewelyn, Prince of North
Wales. But, owing perhaps to the frequent border warfare of the next few years,
Llewelyn did not obtain livery of it until 1218, when it was valued at £3 16s.
(fn. 40) Llewelyn in his turn gave it as dower on the marriage of his daughter
Helen to John the Scot, Earl of Huntingdon and Chester; but Henry III seized it
during the Welsh Wars of 1228–31. After the truce of 1231 it was restored to
John the Scot. (fn. 41) He died without issue in 1237 and this estate descended
to the heirs of Helen by her second marriage, with Robert, son of Saier de
Quincy, Earl of Winchester. Their daughter Joan married Humphrey de Bohun of
Brecon (son of Humphrey, Earl of Hereford) who in 1265 was holding land in
Bidford and Broom worth £11 12s. (fn. 42) Hawise the sister and heir of Joan
brought both manors soon afterwards to her husband Baldwin Wake, (fn. 43) and
in 1280 Baldwin and Hawise sold them, together with the manors of Barton,
Marlcliff, and Suckley in Worcestershire, for £1,000 to that acquisitive
prelate Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells, to hold of them by the
service of a knight's fee. (fn. 44) The bishop obtained a grant of free warren
in his demesne lands here in 1281, (fn. 45) and in 1285 made an unsuccessful claim
to view of frankpledge. (fn. 46) He died in 1292, having settled all his
property on Philip Burnell his nephew, whose son Edward died without issue in
1315, when the male line of the baronial family that the bishop had aspired to
found came to an end. Edward Burnell held Bidford of the king as ancient
demesne and not by any service, (fn. 47) and Aline his widow continued to hold
it in dower until her death in 1363. (fn. 48) Meanwhile the reversion passed to
his sister Maud and her husband John de Haudlo, who levied various fines to
ensure their title. (fn. 49) In 1325 they settled the manor on their heirs
male, with reversion to Maud's children by her first husband John Lovell of
Tichmarsh, Northants. (fn. 50) John de Haudlo died in 1346 and his son and heir
Nicholas, who took the name of Burnell, inherited his aunt Aline's interest and
died in 1383. (fn. 51) On the death of Hugh, the last of the Burnell-Haudlo
line, in 1420 the manor reverted by the entail of 1325 to William, Lord Lovell.
From him it passed to his son William, who became Lord Morley in right of his
wife, and his grandson Henry. (fn. 52) The latter died in 1489, (fn. 53) and as
his nearest male kinsman, his cousin Francis, had already been attainted for
his part in the rising of Lambert Simnel, the manor escheated to the Crown. In
1515 Henry VIII granted it in tail male to Gerard Danett, one of the squires of
his bodyguard, and Mary his wife. (fn. 54) Gerard died in 1520 (fn. 55) and
Mary in 1559. (fn. 56) Their grandson Leonard Danett thereupon succeeded and
obtained confirmation of his rights in the manor in 1565. (fn. 57)
Burnell. Argent a lion
sable with a crown or in a border azure.
Skipwith. Argent three
bars gules and a grey-hound sable with a collar or running in chief.
In 1568 Leonard Danett
sold the manor to Lewis Greville of Milcote, (fn. 58) who sold it again in 1570
to Elizabeth widow of Sir Edward Griffin, in trust for her son Rice Griffin of
Bickmarsh. (fn. 59) Having wasted his estate and fallen into debt, Griffin sold
the manors of Bidford and Broom, with Broom Mills, for £4,600 to Thomas Nurse
of Lincoln's Inn about 1614. Nurse declared that after the sale he had
discovered that the property was heavily encumbered, which perhaps explains why
in 1616 he sold it again to Ferdinand Dowdeswell for only £3,404. (fn. 60)
Dowdeswell leased it to Sir Simon Clarke and Sir William Sidley, and by 1618
Sir Simon Clarke had possession of both manors.
In 1654 Sir John Clarke
sold the manor, with Salford (q.v.), to Fulwar Skipwith, in whose family it
descended until 1840. In that year it was bought by Edmund Wells Oldaker, who
sold it in 1852 to William Brown of Belbroughton, Worcs. The latter sold it in
1873 to James William Carlile of Temple Grafton Court. (fn. 61) The manor then
followed the descent of Grafton (q.v.) until 1921, when the estate was broken
up.
The manor of BIDFORD
GRANGE was so called from the grange here which belonged to the Abbots of
Bordesley. The Empress Maud in her foundation charter to that monastery granted
the whole demesne (totum dominicatum) of Bidford. (fn. 62) This holding is
assessed in the Pipe Rolls between 1154 and 1230 at £14 12s. (fn. 63) It was
increased by various later gifts (fn. 64) and in 1276 included two pastures
known as Calvescroft and Shepescroft which had formerly been part of the common
fields. (fn. 65) In 1276 the abbot claimed assize of bread and ale in this
manor (fn. 66) and in 1285, in addition, sac and soc and view of frankpledge,
(fn. 67) to which he successfully maintained his right against both the King
and Bishop Burnell; for the jurors declared that the abbot of about a century
earlier had built certain houses on his land and placed his free tenants in
them, so that the services in question had ever since been attached to these holdings.
The view of frankpledge was still being taken in 1566. (fn. 68) In 1535 the
abbot's manor or grange of Bidford was valued at £27 2s. 8d. (fn. 69)
At the Dissolution John
Bayley, the last Abbot of Bordesley, desired that Bidford Grange might be allowed
to him as a place of retirement. (fn. 70) The request was not granted, however,
and the property escheated to the Crown. Certain lands here formerly belonging
to the abbey were granted in 1544 to Thomas Broke, merchant, of London, (fn.
71) from whom they descended to his heir Joan Arrowsmith (fn. 72) and to John
Arrowsmith, who granted them to Cuthbert Thomson, citizen and brewer, of
London, in 1549. (fn. 73) But the manor was granted in 1545, with other
Bordesley estates, to Thomas Badger, who was then occupying the Grange, Thomas
Fowler of Stretton-on-the-Fosse, and Robert Dyson of Inkberrow. (fn. 74) The
property was apparently divided and Badger received the Bidford portion. He
died in 1572 and his eldest son Thomas (fn. 75) was succeeded in 1595 by his
son William Badger, (fn. 76) who in 1610 conveyed the manor to William Brode of
Bidford, the husband of his daughter Frances. (fn. 77) On William Brode's death
in 1653 his son Francis conveyed it to Francis Bridges of Beauchamp's Court,
Alcester. (fn. 78) The manor passed from Bridges to Thomas Cookes of Sambourne
in 1665; (fn. 79) from the latter's second son Robert to Henry Tolly of
Ombersley in 1690; and from Tolly to John Ayshcombe in 1701. (fn. 80) Ayshcombe
in 1742 sold it to Sir Francis Skipwith, (fn. 81) since when it has followed
the descent of the chief manor.
Cookhill Priory also had
a small holding in Bidford which in 1276 consisted of half an acre of land,
granted by Alice Duraunt about thirty years before. (fn. 82) In 1539 it was
valued only at 3s. 4d. a year (fn. 83) and in 1542 was granted with other lands
of the priory to Nicholas Fortescue. (fn. 84)
Broom
BROOM is included in Ceolred of Mercia's spurious grant to Evesham Abbey of 710
(fn. 85) and also in the list of manors acquired by Abbot Ethelwig (1055–77)
and seized by Odo Bishop of Bayeux. (fn. 86) T.R.E., according to Domesday, 5
men held it freely. In 1086 it was assessed at 4½ hides, held by Stephen of
Bishop Odo. (fn. 87)
Stephen, the
under-tenant in Domesday, also held Milcote and Dorsington in chief and it is
significant that c. 1140 Ralph Boteler gave the tithes of his demesne in these
three places to Alcester Abbey, (fn. 88) and that in 1167 the sheriff renders
account of £15 as the rents of Dorsington, Broom, and Milcote in the possession
of Geoffrey Martel, (fn. 89) who pays £5 annually for the farm of Broom between
1170 and 1174, in which year the estate was given to William de Cricklade, (fn.
90) who held it till 1187; (fn. 91) but between 1196 and 1201 half the manors of
Broom and Alcester (q.v.) were in escheat to the Crown, as the former
possession of Henry de la Penne. (fn. 92) This may mark the division of the
manor into what afterwards came to be known as King's Broom and Burnell's
Broom. (fn. 93)
In 1232 half the manor
was held by Hamo de Brome by serjeanty for the service of 1/8 of a knight's
fee, and half by Olenta widow of Walter de Rodes, who paid 40s. to the king.
(fn. 94) Olenta had been allowed in 1221 to retain these lands, given by King
John to her husband as master of the king's yacht; (fn. 95) she still held them
twenty years later. (fn. 96) On her death they reverted to the Crown and
subsequently constituted the manor of Bellcourt (q.v.).
Hamo de Brome, who was
dead by the end of 1240, when his widow Emma claimed dower in a moiety of the
manor of Alcester, (fn. 97) probably held by a falconer's serjeanty, (fn. 98)
as Robert the Faukener who in 1242 was holding 1/10 of a knight's fee here of
the king in chief (fn. 99) may be identified with Hamo's son Robert de Brome or
Robert 'Hamond' who died seised of 1/10 fee, held of the king in King's Broom
in 1274. (fn. 100) His son Robert was squire to Mr. William Pikerel, whom he
enfeoffed of the whole estate in 1275. Pikerel, who died in 1297, (fn. 101)
conveyed it to his nephew Walter Pikerel, who enfeoffed Peter de Leycester,
clerk. The latter died holding the 1/10 fee, now described as a manor, in 1304.
(fn. 102) From him it passed to his niece, Juliana de Leycester, wife of Walter
de Berthorpe. (fn. 103) Walter was still in possession in 1328. (fn. 104) In
1577 Thomas Throckmorton produced a deed by which Ralph Pauncefote, Lord of
Bradley, gave to John de Popihull of Alcester the manor of Little Broom. (fn.
105) As the Pikerel property included land in Exhall (q.v.), where Geoffrey
Pauncefote was mesne lord c. 1240, it seems probable that the estates were
united and at some time in the 14th century became part of the manor of
Oversley. (fn. 106)
BELL COURT, (fn. 107)
referred to as a manor in 1623, originated in a grant made in 1238 to Geoffrey
le Chaumberlayn of the 7 virgates which Walter de Rodes had held in Broom (see
above), to be held by render of a pair of shears at Christmas. (fn. 108) In
1250 Geoffrey Chamberlain died holding in Broom 3½ virgates in demesne and 3½
in villenage, all of the king in free socage. (fn. 109) This passed to Simon
his son, and Henry Chamberlain enfeoffed Richard de Stanford and Idonea his
wife of it in 1306, when it is described as in King's Broom. (fn. 110) Richard
died in 1320 holding a toft and 4½ virgates of the king in free socage and a
messuage and 60 acres of land by rent of 6d. yearly of Philippa lady of Belne
(otherwise unrecorded), as of her manor of Broom. (fn. 111) The family of Belne
(fn. 112) probably gave its name to Bellcourt. Richard was succeeded by his son
John, then aged 23. He died in 1359 holding a messuage, a carucate, and 20s. in
rents of the king in chief. (fn. 113) His son John died without issue in 1362,
holding the property and no other lands in the county. (fn. 114) His estate was
divided between his two sisters, Joan wife of Thomas de Morehall and Maud wife
of Roger de Harewell. Thomas de Morehall, a commissioner of the subsidy in
Warwickshire in 1380, (fn. 115) apparently died without issue, so that the
estate became reunited in the possession of the Harewells. In 1444 Roger's
younger son Thomas Harewell died seised of a life interest in what were
described as the manors of Bidford and Broom, consisting of 6 carucates of
land, &c., held of the king as half a knight's fee. He had received the
property from certain trustees, (fn. 116) probably acting for the heirs of
Thomas's elder brother John Harewell of Wootton Wawen (q.v.), who died in 1428.
In 1500 William Harewell, John's grandson by his son Roger and Agnes daughter
of Sir William Clopton, died seised of some 30 acres in Bidford, 'Bellyncourt',
and Bick marsh, altogether worth 17s. 4d., and 60 acres of land in Broom worth
22s. (fn. 117) He had devised it to his younger son William in tail male, but this
line seems soon to have died out and the property to have passed to the
Lingens, who were his cousins on the female side through the marriage of Sir
John Lingen and Isabel, a granddaughter of Sir William Clopton. In 1554 lands
in Bidford and Haselor (q.v.) to the value of £60 were in the hands of the
Crown by reason of the minority of Jane daughter of John Lingen. (fn. 118)
Jane, who married William Shelley, died in 1610 and was succeeded by Edward
Lingen her cousin. (fn. 119) The property is then described as the manor of
Bidford, but in 1623, when Edward was declared a lunatic, it appears as the
manor of Bell Court. (fn. 120) On Edward's death in 1636 it passed to his son
Henry, (fn. 121) a prominent Royalist, who was knighted by Charles I in 1645 and
taken prisoner at the fall of Goodrich Castle in 1646. (fn. 122) In 1649 his
sequestrated tenements in Bidford, valued at £9, were leased to John
Throckmorton for one year, (fn. 123) but the order was soon afterwards
discharged. (fn. 124) He died in 1662, much impoverished by his loyalty. The
subsequent history of Bell Court, which he may perhaps have been obliged to
sell, cannot be traced.
Lingen. Barry or and
azure a bend gules with three roses argent thereon.
Barton
BARTON descended with the chief manor of Bidford until about 1564, when it was
in the possession of William Beswyke. (fn. 125) But in 1578 Richard Copley died
seised of the manor of Barton, held in chief as 1/20 of a knight's fee, 'a full
third part' of the profits being derived from rents in the town of Bidford.
These he bequeathed to John Copley son of his brother and heir Thomas, and the
lands to his widow Mary for her life, with remainder to John. (fn. 126) Thomas
received the manor six months later, (fn. 127) and in 1589 Thomas and John
Copley granted it to John Harward and Rose his wife. (fn. 128) In 1641 John
Harward, Margaret his wife, and Edward Harward granted it to Thomas Bushell.
(fn. 129) By 1654 the manor was sold by Sir John Clarke to Fulwar Skipwith with
the main manor of Bidford, (fn. 130) with which it descended. In 1655 the farm
of Barton, then in the hands of Alice, Duchess Dudley, was said to be 'parcel
of the manor of Bidford Grange'. (fn. 131)
Bordesley Abbey held
property in Barton acquired during the 13th century by grants from Reynold and
Ralph Menir and Thomas son of William de Barton, including land opposite
Bidford Church and Bidford Mill, land abutting on 'le Grenehewed Lond', and
land in Kingesbuttes and Wefhameshull in the fields of Barton. (fn. 132)
The manor of MARLCLIFF,
then called Clyve, was sold in 1280, with Bidford, Broom, and Barton, by
Baldwin Wake and Hawise to Bishop Burnell. At some time before 1355 Walter
Lenche acquired from Aline Burnell 2 messuages, a virgate of land, meadow, and
rent in Marlcliff, which he held in chief and passed to his son John, (fn. 133)
who died in 1362 holding this property of the king, and also a virgate of land
there of the heirs of Baldwin Wake; (fn. 134) John's heir was his brother
Walter. In 1500 William Harewell died seised of the manor, valued at £5 6s. 8d.
(fn. 135) In 1654 it was among the manors sold by Sir John Clarke to Fulwar
Skipwith, and subsequently it descended with the main manor; (fn. 136) but in
1655 Alice, Duchess Dudley, daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh, settled her 'reputed
manor' of Marlcliff for charitable purposes: (fn. 137) presumably she held the
lands but not the manorial rights.
Church
The parish church of ST. LAWRENCE consists of a chancel with a north vestry and
organ-chamber, nave, north and south aisles, north porch, quire vestry in place
of a south porch, and a west tower.
The chancel, west end of
the nave, and west tower date from about 1250. The nave was long and narrow and
may (in part) have been on the lines of an earlier nave, but no 12th-century
details remain. In 1835 it was widened for about two-thirds of its length and
aisles of the same length were added, with arcades of three bays. The chancel
was restored in 1886–9 and the roofs in 1922.
The chancel (c. 38 ft.
by 19½ ft.) has a modern east window of three trefoiled lancets and tracery. In
the north wall are two trefoiled lancets of the 13th century with rebated jambs
and with much wider recesses inside, having segmental-pointed rear-arches. Next
west is a priest's doorway of the same date with a trefoiled head and pointed
rear-arch, and west of this a modern archway to the organ-chamber. In the south
wall are three similar lancet-windows. The chancel-arch is pointed and of two
moulded orders with undercut roll-moulds, and has a western hood-mould, all of
the 13th century: the jambs have short modern shafts.
The chancel walls are
mostly of a rubble of thin stones inside and out with some external courses, in
the lower part of the south wall, of larger squared stones: one stone, clearly re-used,
has an edge-roll worked on it. At the angles are square buttresses, with
moulded plinths that extend across the east wall. Below the modern east window
is a patching of rough ashlar, the blocking of a former lower east window. The
roof has a modern panelled ceiling with moulded ribs, and is covered with
tiles. In the south wall under the easternmost window is a restored
13th-century piscina with a perished foiled basin and roll-moulded jambs to the
recess.
The nave (78 ft. by 24½
ft. wide at the east end and 17¼ ft. wide at the west end) has modern north and
south arcades of three bays with cylindrical columns and semicircular arches,
all plastered. The arcades occupy about two-thirds of the length of the nave
with north and south aisles of the same length.
In the western third
part of the nave are north and south doorways with plain round heads: the
southern, of modern rough stonework, opens now into a vestry; the north doorway
is plastered. Above the doorways are windows of three modern round-headed
lights. West of the doorways the nave walls thicken 13 or 14 ins. inside, being
probably parts of the 13th-century walls: at a height of about 15 ft. the faces
set back again to the thinner walls continued from over the doorways. In the
thick south wall is a modern window of two lights and tracery. The roof is a
modern one of low pitch, covered with slates.
Each aisle (13½ ft.
wide) has four side-windows, each of three round-headed lights under a square
head, and in the east wall of the south aisle is a more modern window of two
lights and tracery. The roofs are of lean-to type.
The west tower (8½ ft.
square) is of two stages, built of rubble with some angle-dressings, and has a
battering plinth. On the north side is a square stair-turret with a low buttress
against it, and in the corresponding position on the south side near the east
end is another taller and deeper buttress. The upper stage of the tower is much
narrower and probably later than the lower: at the bottom of it are three
courses of weathering. The parapet is embattled and has a wave-moulded
string-course with defaced paterae at intervals, some of which were carved and
others were spouts. The archway from the nave has square jambs flush with the
towerwalls, and a pointed head of two square orders. Above it (to the south of
the tower archway) is the weathercourse of the former steep-pitched gabled roof
of the nave: the west window has jambs and a round head of two chamfered
orders, and a three-centred, formerly round, rear-arch: the inner order of the
jambs and head is modern, the outer partly restored: above it is a relieving
arch. There is said to have been a doorway below the window. The second story
(clock chamber) has a south window of two small round-headed lights of the 13th
century, with a shouldered rear-arch. The bell chamber is lighted by a window
on each wall of a single trefoiled light under a square head, probably of the
14th century.
The north porch is
cemented and is apparently all modern: it has a round-headed entrance.
The font is modern. A
chest in the nave is of c. 1600; it is 6 ft. 1 in. by 2 ft. 1 in. wide by 2 ft.
6 in. high and has three strap hinges with flowered ends and other ornamental
ironwork for three staples and locks. Two chairs in the chancel are made up of
17th-century material.
In the chancel is a
monument to Dorothy (Parker) first wife of Sir Fulwar Skipwith, Baronet, 3
February, 1655, with her bust in a round recess.
The clock in the tower
has a skeleton frame with spurs above the standards. It is inscribed halford
fecit and is probably of the late 17th century.
The communion plate,
presented by Alice, Duchess Dudley, in 1665, consists of a 10-in. cup and
coverpaten, stand-paten and cover, and a large flagon, all silver-gilt, and
with repoussé ornament: the hall mark is of 1663.
There are six bells of
1791 by John Rudhall of Gloucester.
The registers date from
1664. (fn. 138)
There is a
chapel-of-ease at Broom built in 1878 and a Wesleyan chapel built in 1803.
Advowson
No priest is mentioned
in Bidford in the Domesday Survey and if there was a church here then, it was
probably a chapelry of Salford. It appears as such in Henry I's time when
Bernard, the first Prior of Kenilworth (1122–30), successfully claimed it for
his house as involved in the grant of Salford Church made in the foundation
charter; (fn. 139) this was confirmed by Simon (1125–50) (fn. 140) and Baldwin
(1180–4), (fn. 141) Bishops of Worcester, and the Canons of Kenilworth
presented until the Dissolution, (fn. 142) although the advowson was included
in the grant of the manor to Gerard Danett in 1515. (fn. 143) After the
Dissolution it passed with the manor. In 1602 Rice Griffin sold the advowson
and rectory to Sir John Sedley, (fn. 144) whose younger son Sir William held
them at his death in 1619. (fn. 145) Sir Simon Clarke presented in 1625, (fn.
146) but Sir John Sedley son and heir of Sir William owned the advowson in 1628
(fn. 147) and in 1630 he conveyed it to Sir Edward Spencer and Richard
Brauthwaite. (fn. 148) In 1654 it came into the possession of Fulwar Skipwith
(fn. 149) and remained in that family until 1852, when it was bought by the
Rev. Thomas Boultbee, the then incumbent. (fn. 150) But on his resignation his
successor, the Rev. Alfred Evans, was presented by Miss Alice Lees of Prescot,
Lancs. (fn. 151) Mr. Evans afterwards acquired the patronage and presented his
own successor in 1905. (fn. 152) By 1934 it had come into the hands of Mrs.
Bicheno of Munnik, North Transvaal, who conveyed it in that year to the Bishop
of Coventry, (fn. 153) the present patron. The living was held in plurality
with Salford from 1758 to 1877. (fn. 154)
The grant of the church
involved the canons of Kenilworth in numerous disputes. Two parts of the tithe
in demesne had been granted to the College of St. Mary Warwick by Roger, Earl
of Warwick, its founder; (fn. 155) and the monks of Bordesley, in virtue of
their foundation charter, claimed the whole tithe on certain lands and a third
of the tithe within their manor of Bidford Grange. The latter controversy was settled
by an agreement, made in 1206, by which the monks were to pay £1 17s. yearly in
lieu of tithe on their present holding, and the full tithe on any lands in
Bidford subsequently acquired. (fn. 156) Bordesley had previously compounded
with Warwick with an annual payment of 15s. (fn. 157) In 1291 the church was
valued at £11 6s. 8d., of which Kenilworth received £5 and Warwick £1. (fn.
158) It was not until 1316 that the rights of Kenilworth were finally confirmed
by Walter Maydenstone, Bishop of Worcester, and the Priory of Worcester then
secured a pension of £1 out of the rectory. (fn. 159) The church was valued at
£11 6s. 8d. in 1341 (fn. 160) and the vicarage was worth £7 10s. 7d. in 1535.
(fn. 161) In 1521 the Abbot and Convent of Kenilworth granted a 46 years' lease
of all the tithes, obventions, and glebe belonging to the rectory at £16 6s.
8d. to Eustace Kyghtley of Broom. (fn. 162) The tithes of Bidford Grange,
valued in 1539 at £3, (fn. 163) were then let to Thomas Badger (fn. 164) and
were granted to him with the manor after the Dissolution (fn. 165) and passed
to his son Thomas in 1572. (fn. 166) The Kyghtleys after the Dissolution
likewise retained possession of the rectory, which Bartholomew Kyghtley and his
son Philip transferred to Sir Rice Griffin in 1593. (fn. 167) It passed with
the advowson to the Sedleys, but in 1646 Challenor Chute is described as
impropriator. (fn. 168) Elizabeth Chute sold it to Sir Fulwar Skipwith in 1708
(fn. 169) and it has since been joined with the advowson.
Ralph Boteler gave the
titles of his demesne in Broom to Alcester Abbey in c. 1140 (fn. 170) and the
grant was confirmed in 1340. (fn. 171)
There was also a chapel
of St. Leonard at Barton, to the fabric of which the chaplain Thomas son of
William de Berton (temp. Edw. I) gave ½ acre in one field at Astwelle and ½
acre in another field. (fn. 172) In the 13th century also both the parson and
the chaplain of Bidford appear as witnesses to a grant. (fn. 173) By 1547 it
was in ruins and was valued, together with the dwelling (camera) of the
chaplain, at 12d. yearly: (fn. 174) and in 1549 it was granted, with the site
and a selion of land in the common fields belonging to it, to Thomas
Dabridgecourt and Thomas Fisher. (fn. 175)
Mills
There were four mills worth 43s. 4d. in Bidford in 1086. (fn. 176) It is
difficult to disentangle their history, but one or perhaps two of them were at
Broom. A water-mill is mentioned as part of the chief manor in 1315, (fn. 177)
in 1363, when it is said to be in bad condition, (fn. 178) and in 1383. (fn.
179) Two watermills and two windmills are included in 1570 in the sale of the
manors of Bidford and Broom by Lewis Greville to Rice Griffin, (fn. 180) who
conveyed the 'water mill commonlie called Brome Mill' to Thomas Throckmorton in
1594. (fn. 181) Griffin had apparently recovered it by 1611, when he granted a
twelve-years' lease of 'Broom Mills' to Thomas Peirs of Alcester. A few years
later Griffin sold the estate to Thomas Nurse, to whom Peirs agreed to
surrender the remainder of his lease in return for a jewel, which, according to
Nurse, was worth £20, being set with about 40 rubies. But Peirs declared that
it was by no means so valuable and that, discovering the fraud, he had sought
to return it, but that Nurse had kept the door of his chambers in Lincoln's Inn
shut against him and would not receive it. (fn. 182) Three mills are mentioned
in Bidford and Broom manors in 1635 (fn. 183) and again in 1664, when one of
them is stated to be a fulling mill. (fn. 184)
The Abbots of Bordesley
had two mills granted to them by the Empress Maud. (fn. 185) Only one, worth £5
13s. 4d., is mentioned in the Valor Ecclesiasticus, (fn. 186) but a
contemporary rental gives the two, valued at £8 13s. 4d. and leased to John
Penne for 53 years from 1535. (fn. 187) In 1545 Penne occupies three mills,
called Grange Mills, as the tenant of Thomas Badger, (fn. 188) who left them to
his younger sons Richard and Edward. (fn. 189) They were conveyed with the
manor in 1610, when one of them was said to be in use as a fulling mill. (fn.
190) 'Grainge Mille' was broken down in the Great Avon flood of 1588, which was
a yeard and a halfe in the howse, and cam in soe suddenly that John Penne's
wife then millard was soe amazed that shee sate still tell shee was almost
drowned and was welnigh besides herselfe and soe farr amise that shee did not
know her owne child when yt was broughte unto her'. (fn. 191) There was a paper
mill at Bidford Grange during the last century, but all the mills here have now
disappeared.
Fisheries in the Avon
and Arrow are included with Bidford and Broom manors in numerous deeds from
1315 onwards. The Arrow fishery is defined in 1594 as extending from Broom
Mills to Moor Hall. (fn. 192)
Charities
Alice, Duchess Dudley, in 1655 settled her estates in Marlcliff and Barton on
trustees to be administered after her death, which occurred in 1668, for the
benefit of the poor in various parishes, including Bidford. (fn. 193) Under the
provisions of a scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 13 June 1879 the
share of the charity applicable to this parish consists of 2/17 of the net
income, to be applied for the benefit of the poor, and a moiety of 3/17 of the
net income to be paid to the vicar. The sum of £75 6s. 6d. per annum,
representing the poor's share, is paid to the churchwardens and distributed in
food, clothing, or fuel, and the vicar of Bidford receives yearly a sum of £56
10s.
John Wilcox by will in
1814 directed the interest on £500 to be paid to such persons resident in
Bidford as the minister and churchwardens should think fit. The income,
amounting to £13 8s. 8d., is so applied.
Henry Clare by will
dated 14 June 1897 gave the residue of his estate, the income from the
investment thereof to be applied for the benefit of the poor of Broom and
Bidford. A scheme of the said Commissioners dated 16 June 1908 appoints a body
of three trustees to administer the charity and contains provisions for the
application of the income among the poor. The endowment produces £2 19s. 8d.
yearly.
Footnotes
1Archaeologia, lxxiii, 89–116, xxiv, 271–88; B'ham. Arch. Soc. Trans. xlix,
16–26.
2Saunders Warw. Coll.,
vol. 2, fol. 24.
3Kelly, Directory of
Warw. 1864 and 1872.
4Dugd. 724.
5Itin. (ed. Toulmin
Smith), ii. 47.
6Warw. County Records,
ii. 30.
7Ibid. 83 and 108.
8Cal. S. P. Dom. 1644,
p. 247.
9Warw. County Records,
ii. 239–40, iii, 6. The order was made at Trinity sessions 1649, but the
estimate was afterwards ordered to be revised.
10The Avon was made
navigable as far as Stratford in 1637. The Water Bailiffs of Bidford are
mentioned in 1662 (Chward. Accts. in Alcester parish chest).
11Cf. Kitchin, 1746–59,
Smith 1804.
12Dugd. 729.
13The house was occupied
by his widow Lady Dorothy Clarke until 1669, after which it appears in the name
of Sir Francis Skipwith: Hearth Tax Returns, 1662–74.
14Coughton MSS. The
document can be dated between 1603 and 1614.
15Warw. County Records,
ii, 90.
16Ibid. 109.
17Ibid. 170–1.
18Ibid. v, 116.
19Pipe R. Soc. xxvi, p.
34.
20Ibid. N.S. x, p. 252.
21Ibid. N.S. xii, p.
181.
22The original has been
lost, but there is a copy dated 1788 in the church safe.
23Overseers Accts. 1669
(Shire Hall, Warwick): Certificates of burials in woollen 1683–6 (in church
chest).
24Copy of 1567 charter
made by Jonathan Hart, bailiff, 1788.
25See Proc. Soc. Ant.
2nd Ser. xiii, 129–30, where it is erroneously described as a constable's mace.
26Dugd. 723.
27Cal. Chart. R.
1257–1300, p. 260. The grant is repeated in 1291 (ibid. 404), when the market
is said to have been formerly held on Saturday.
28Carlisle, Topog. Dict.
England, 1808, vol. i. It is recorded on Sudlow's map of Warwickshire published
in 1788.
29Dugd. 724; Pat. R. 7
Eliz. pt. 7.
30Kelly, Directory of
Warw. 1876.
316 Geo. III, c. 10. The
extent inclosed was 720 acres. The five common fields of Bidford extended
northwards from the river to Small Brook.
327 Geo. III, c. 35. The
Act applied also to Exhall and Wixford. High and Low Marriage Fields (340
acres), between the Arrow and the Avon, represented the common fields of
Burnell's Broom. Those of King's Broom lay east and west of the Alcester road.
3316 Geo. III, c. 48.
The common fields (1194 acres) lay south of the river. Copies of the three
awards, without maps, are at the Shire Hall, Warwick.
34Probably the stream
now known as Small Brook, which runs under the eastern slope of Marriage Hill
between Bidford and Salford. It was called Walkersham Brook in 1767 (Exhall
Incl. Award) and was formerly wider, as the 'Old Ford' and 'Brome Steppes'
(i.e. stepping stones) occur c. 1560: Oversley Ct. R., S.-on-A.
35Ex inf. L.M.S. Railway
Co.
36V.C.H. Warw. i, 301.
37Ibid. 304.
38Chron. de Evesham
(Rolls Ser.), 97. A hide in Bidford is included in Ceolred's spurious grant to
Evesham of 710: ibid. 72; Birch, Cart. Sax. i, 127.
39Red Bk. Exch. 656.
40Rot. Litt. Claus.
(Rec. Com.), 226, 270; Pipe R. 2 Hen. III, m. 5d.
41Cal. Close, 1231–4, p.
39.
42Cal. Inq. Misc. i,
927.
43Plac. de Quo Warr.
(Rec. Com.), 778.
44Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc.
xi), no. 957.
45Cal. Chart. R. ii,
249.
46Plac. de Quo Warr.
(Rec. Com.), 778.
47Cal. Inq. p.m. v, no.
611.
48Chan. Inq. p.m. 37
Edw. III (1st nos.), 14.
49Feet of F. 1284–1350
(Dugd. Soc. xv), nos. 1597 and 1691; cf. also Cal. Pat. 1313–17, pp. 554 and
612; ibid. 1317–21, p. 601; and ibid. 1338–40, p. 302.
50Dugd. 724; Feet of F.
(Dugd. Soc. xv), 1597.
51Cal. Close, 1360–4, p.
472; Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Ric. II, no. 20.
52Dugd. 728.
53Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen.
VII, i, no. 503.
54L. and P. Hen. VIII,
ii(1), 266.
55Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), xxxv, 28.
56Dugd. 724.
57Pat. R. 7 Eliz. pt. 7.
58Recov. R. Mich. 10
& 11 Eliz. ro. 345.
59Feet of F. Mich. 12
& 13 Eliz.
60Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2),
bdle. 320, no. 4, bdle. 322, no. 12, and bdle 306, no. 1.
61MS. notes, Rev. J. H.
Harvey Bloom.
62Dugd. Mon. Angl. v,
409.
63Pipe R. Soc., sub
annis.
64Cf. P.R.O. Anct.
Deeds, B. 586, B. 3537.
65Hund. R. (Rec. Com.),
ii, 226.
66Ibid.
67Plac. de Quo Warr.
(Rec. Com.), 778.
68Throckmorton Ct. R.
Coll. S.-on-A.
69Valor Eccl. (Rec.
Com.), iii, 271: see also Land. Rev. Misc. Bks. 183, 200–1.
70L. and P. Hen. VIII,
xiii(1), 1073.
71Ibid. xix(2), 166, 17.
72Cal. Pat. Edw. VI, i,
143.
73Ibid. ii, 64–5.
74L. and P. Hen. VIII,
xx(1), g. 1081 (49).
75Dugd. 725.
76Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), ccxlv, 70.
77Feet of F. Trin. 8 Jas
I.
78Dugd. 725.
79Feet of F. East. 17
Chas. II. Cookes was one of the family of Cookes of Bentley, Worcs. (monument
in church).
80Dugd. 725.
81MS. Notes Rev. J. H.
Harvey Bloom.
82Hund. R. (Rec. Com.),
ii, 226.
83Misc. Bks. Land Rev.
183, fol 289.
84L. and P. Hen. VIII,
xvii, g. 556(1).
85Birch, Cart. Sax. i,
127; Chron. de Evesham (Rolls Ser.), 72.
86Ibid. 97.
87V.C.H. Warw. i, 304.
88Foundation charter,
among the Coughton MSS.
89Pipe R. Soc. xi, 163.
90Ibid. sub annis.
91Ibid. xxxvii, 119.
92Ibid. sub annis.
93A manor of Broom was
conveyed with Bidford by Baldwin Wake to Bishop Burnell: Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc.
xi), no. 957.
94Bk. of Fees, 1356.
95Exc. e Rot. Fin. (Rec.
Com.), i, 76; Assize R. 950, m. 1 d.
96The Great Roll of the
Pipe (ed. Cannon), 178.
97Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc.
xi), no. 595. Roger Brusebar by a charter enrolled in 1221 remitted to Ralph de
Brome all his rights (unspecified) in 8 virgates in Brome of the fee of
Alcester: Assize R. 948, m. 12d.
98Hamaund le Faukener
witnesses a 13th-century deed in Bidford (Anct. Deeds B. 586).
99Bk. of Fees, p. 955.
100a Cal. Inq. p.m. ii,
120. Cf. ibid. ii, no. 332.
101Ibid. iii, no. 440.
102Ibid. iv, 216.
103De Banco R. 161, m.
129d.
104De Banco R. (P.R.O.
lists), p. 691.
105a Bidford Ct. R.
S.-on-A. A Ralph Pauncefote was keeper of the Bishop of Worcester's woods in
Stoke and Bradley in 1275: Nash, Worcs. i, 566.
106b King's Broom (where
Ralph Boteler of Oversley gave tithes to Alcester Abbey in 1140; see below, p.
57) figures in the court rolls of Oversley from 1324, and was a member of that
manor from the end of the 16th century.
107Bell Court stands on
the north bank of the Avon a little to the west of Bidford bridge. The present
house is modern.
108a Cal. Close,
1259–61, p. 290.
109Cal. Inq. p.m. i, no.
855.
110Cal. Pat. 1301–7, p.
484.
111Cal. Inq. p.m. vi,
no. 250.
112V.C.H. Worcs. iii,
16. In 1285 John de Brome and Alice demised tenements in Broom and elsewhere to
Roger de Belne: Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xv), 1015. Simon de Belne witnesses a
Bidford deed of 1300: P.R.O. Anct. Deeds, B. 3537. See also Temple Grafton, p.
99, and Exhall, p. 90.
113Cal. Inq. p.m. x, no.
545. It was still held by render of a pair of shears: Cal. Fine R. vii, 95.
114Cal. Inq. p.m. xi,
no. 532.
115Cal. Fine R. ix, 230.
116Chan. Inq. p.m. 22
Hen. VI, 27; Cal. Pat. 1441–6, p. 241.
117Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen.
VII, no. 431.
118Cal. Pat. 1554–5, p.
88.
119Ct. of Wards Inq.
p.m. xlv, 173.
120Ibid. lxix, 199.
121Ibid. lxxxviii, 70.
122Dict. Nat. Biog.
xxxiii, 324.
123Add. MS. 35098, fol.
127d.
124Ibid. fol. 139.
125Feet of F. East. 6
Eliz. 29; Recov. R. East. 6 Eliz. ro. 835. William Beswyke was holding a Court
Baron for the manor of Bidford (sc. Barton?) in 1559: Throckmorton Ct. R.
S.-on-A.
126Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), clxxxvii, 99.
127Fine. R. 21 Eliz. 2,
ro. 17.
128Pat. R. 31 Eliz. pt.
15; Feet of F. Mich. 31 and 32 Eliz.
129Feet of F. Trin. 17
Chas. I.
130Ibid. Mich. 1654.
131Rep. of Com. on Char.
(1828), 18, p. 406.
132P.R.O. Anct. Deeds,
B. 829, B. 835, B. 837–8.
133Cal. Pat. 1354–8, p.
252; Inq. a.q.d. (P.R.O. lists), p. 485.
134Cal. Inq. p.m. xi,
no. 353.
135Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen.
VII, ii, 431.
136Feet of F. Mich.
1654; Recov. R. Trin. 10 Geo. III, ro. 32.
137Rep. of Com. on Char.
(1828), 18, p. 406.
138a The first six
volumes, down to 1802, with a volume of Overseers' Accounts 1665–82, are now at
the Shire Hall, Warwick.
139Harl. MS. 3650. fol.
72d.
140Ibid. fol. 44.
141Ibid. fol. 45.
142Dugd. 726.
143Pat. R. 6 Hen. VIII,
pt. 2.
144MS. notes Rev. J. H.
Harvey Bloom; Close R. 4 Jas I.
145Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), ccclxxvi, 101.
146Dugd. 726.
147Feet of F. Div. Co.
Hil. 4 Chas I; Recov. R. Hil. 4 Chas. I, ro. 50.
148Feet of F. 6 Chas. I.
149Recov. R. Mich. 1654,
ro. 280.
150MS. notes, Rev. J. H.
Harvey Bloom.
151Reg. Philpott, fol.
54.
152Ex inf. Dioc. Reg.
Worcester.
153Ex inf. Dioc. Reg.
Coventry.
154Reg. Madox-Philpott,
sub annis.
155Misc. Bks. Exch. K.R.
22, fol. 12.
156Harl. MS. 3650, fol.
78; Madox, Form. Angl. no. xlvi.
157Misc. Bks. Exch. K.R.
xxii, fol. 38; Madox, op. cit., no. xliii.
158Tax. Eccl. (Rec.
Com.), 218. But this pension does not appear in the 1461 rental of Warwick
College (B.R.L. 168238), and later rentals, 1508 and 1544, show only the 15s.,
from Bordesley: Rent. and Surv. (P.R.O.), 695: Misc. Bks. Aug. Off. 420, fol.
139.
159Dugd. 725: Cal. Pat.
1313–17, p. 302; Inq. a.q.d. cvi, 17; Reg. Worc. Priory (Camden Soc. 1865), p.
3.
160Non. Inq. (Rec.
Com.), 445.
161Valor Eccl. (Rec.
Com.), iii, 92.
162Ibid. 64; Misc. Bks.
Land Rev. 181, fol. 60.
163Ibid.
164Ibid. 183, fol. 201.
165L. and P. Hen. VIII,
vol. xx(1), 1081(49).
166Fine R. 15 Eliz. ro.
76. There was a 'Grange Isle' in the church in 1730; Dugd. 727.
167Feet of F. East. 35
Eliz. The fine claims to include the advowson.
168Warw. County Records,
ii, 153.
169MS. notes, Rev. J. H.
Harvey Bloom.
170Dugdale, Mon. Angl.
iv, 175: original charter in Coughton MSS.
171Cal. Chart. R.
1327–41, p. 483. The Botelers held lands in Bidford, worth 10s., by grant from
the Crown: Pipe R. 1155 onwards.
172a Hamper's notes to
Dugdale's Antiquities, in B.M.
173P.R.O. Anct. Deeds,
B. 829.
174Chantry Cert. 67,
fol. 278.
175Cal. Pat. 1549, pp.
343–4.
176V.C.H. Warw. i, 301.
177Chan. Inq. p.m. 9
Edw. II, 67.
178Ibid. 37 Edw. III (1st nos.), 14.
179Ibid. 6 Ric. II, no. 20.
180Feet of F. Mich. 12 & 13 Eliz.
181Coughton MSS.
182Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 322, no. 12.
183Recov. R. Mich. II, Chas. I, ro. 99.
184Ibid. East. 16 Chas. II, ro. 94.
185Dugdale, Mon. Angl. v, 409.
186Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iii, 271.
187Misc. Bks. Land Rev. 183, fol. 201.
188L. and P. Hen. VIII, xx(1), g. 1081 (49). The third mill may be that which
formerly belonged to the Abbot of Bordesley's manor in Binton (see p. 64).
189Dugd. 725.
190Feet of F. 8 James I.
191Dugd. Soc. x, 40; from Welford-onAvon parish register.
192Coughton MSS.
193Rep. of Commissioners (1828), 18, pp. 405–13.
From: 'Parishes: Bidford', A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 3:
Barlichway hundred (1945), pp. 49-57. URL:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=56980. Date accessed: 04
November 2008.
'Parishes: Exhall', A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 6: Knightlow
hundred (1951), pp. 86-91. URL:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=57102 Date accessed: 22
June 2009.
Exhall
Acreage: 2,047.
Population: 1911, 1,646; 1921, 2,281; 1931, 4,426.
As a civil parish Exhall has been extinguished; certain detached portions were
amalgamated with Foleshill in 1885; by the Coventry Extension Act of 1931 part
was included in the City and County Borough of Coventry, and in 1932 it was
transferred to the parish of Bedworth. (fn. 1)
Like other parishes in the neighbourhood it seems to have had no main village,
but a number of hamlets, such as Newland, Ash Green, Exhall Hall Green, and
Neale's Green. In recent years the development of coal-mining and brick-works
has led to much building of small houses, especially along the Bedworth Road
and at Ash Green and Goodyers End. The coal-mines in this parish have been
worked from at least the beginning of the 17th century. (fn. 2)
The bounds of the parish as set out in 1411 (fn. 3)
seem to have remained unchanged until the 19th century. They begin on the west
in the neighbourhood of Grove Lane (which marks the site of Corleygrove,
adjoining the park of Newland): from the corner of Newland by the ditch of the
hospital of St. John called Corlehay to Corlebroke (now Breach Brook), so to
the sluice of the mill of Smerecote (in Bedworth), by the hedge and ditch
called Rowdech to Cattescroftelane (now Goodyers End Lane), to Little Heath, to
the gate of the rectory of Bedworth, to the Downebroke. Then follow several
lost landmarks, but 'the ditch between the Hay and Sydenhalewode' is evidently
Little Sydnall Lane, and there is a reference to the boundary crossing the
highroad from Coventry to Nuneaton. This road runs through the eastern portion
of the parish, the extremity of which still farther east is crossed by the
railway and the Coventry Canal; Longford and Exhall Station is just outside,
but Hawkesbury Lane Station is just within the parish.
Newland Hall Farm, west of Ash Green, was formerly the manor-house of the
Coventry Priory estate. Just to the south and east of the house a depression,
now mostly drained of water, probably marks the site of fish ponds; there is no
evidence of its having been part of a moat. The depression is crossed by a
causeway some 50 yds. long where large stumps of recently felled trees suggest
an avenue; and its grass banks are broken by ancient sandstone retaining walls
of varying height. (fn. 4)
The house consists of a main block facing south and one running northwards from
the north-eastern angle. The former is three-storied, with tall gables, and the
latter two-storied, carrying a hipped roof. Both roofs are of tile and the
eaves run at nearly the same level; their walls are of red and grey sandstone
up to eaveslevel, except the whole of the west gable end, a portion of the main
north wall, and the upper part of the east gable, which are of 18th-century
brickwork. The stonework appears to be uniformly of the 15th century. The wing
has a small extension to the north, one story in height, with a gabled roof
stopping against its north wall: this is timber-framed and of the late 16th
century. The roofing tiles are modern and the chimney-stacks appear to have
been rebuilt in the 18th century. There are two entrances; one is on the west
side of the wing; the other, in the southern half of the main eastern
gable-end, has square jambs and a square lintelled head. The door is of heavy
studded oak set within an oak frame and threshold, and is probably of the 16th
century; it is held by two wrought-iron strap-hinges. This doorway and the
adjacent window in the end of the main block have label-moulds; the two windows
of the north wing have never had labelmoulds: all three windows have lost their
mullions. Those in the wing have a single chamfered order, and that alongside
the doorway has two such orders. At first-floor level, at even intervals across
the width of the main block, are four stone corbel heads, early-17th-century in
character and probably incorporated from another building in the 18th-century
renovation. Lighting the two floors above are two 18th-century casements set in
brickwork, and over each ground-floor window in the north wing is another casement.
Only the main block stands upon a plinth.
In the south wall there are four windows—with three at ground-floor level; that
to the east is four-light, the others two-light, and all have mullions and
labelmoulds. The westernmost window is blocked with brickwork and occurs so
close to the west corner that the 15th-century walls evidently continued beyond
the present 18th-century gable-end. A heavy oak wallplate, 7 in. deep, is
exposed at the eaves, and three anchorages can be seen, consisting of ancient wroughtiron
dogs and straps, where roof trusses occur. (fn. 5)
The chamfered plinth continues along the south wall but returns downward near
the western corner, and a plain stone plinth, one course higher than the other,
runs along the foot of the west gable brick wall, in which the windows are of
the 18th century.
The west side of the north wing is of massive ancient stonework, except for 18
in. where it joins the main block; this is of brick, with a straight joint
between the stone and the brickwork. Close to this angle is the entrance
referred to above; the heavy oak frame and the door, of which the outer face is
of very heavy oak boards spiked onto vertical and horizontal oak bars, appear
to be of the 15th century.
The timber-framed gable of the north extension is filled with brick nogging and
the walls below are of brick and stone bonded together. The whole of the
interior was replanned in the 18th century and the plain staircases are
probably of this date, but the original 15th-century roof trusses have been
left in position and are well preserved. The main tie-beams occur at
second-floor level and upper collarbeams at the level of the second-floor
ceiling, which conceals the upper framework. The exposed beams are chamfered,
and ancient wrought-iron straps strengthen the joints.
The eastern entrance door gives access to a kitchen, with a large ingle-nook
and heavy oak beams supporting the wall over this opening and carrying the
floor joists; these are treated with stopped chamfers. The room in the north
wing has 16th-century doors, lightly framed in oak with linen-fold panels.
On the first floor the only room of interest is that arranged in the east
gable, spanning its full width. Its walls are panelled in moulded oak, the
panels being small and plain, of the early 17th century. The east and south
walls have panelled dadoes only, but the north wall is panelled to its full
height and has a contemporary fire-place and surround, the overmantel being
treated with three main Doric fluted pilasters, having finely moulded caps and
bases; between them are smaller pilasters which may once have supported
enriched semicircular-headed panels.
Black Horse Road crosses the Coventry-Bedworth main road and then runs
south-west, passing the Moat House, which is modern and surrounded by woodland,
on the west side. Farther along, on the same side, is Manor House Farm. It is
mainly of 18th-century brick and tile construction, but the rear facade (west
side) belongs to the 17th century. It is divided into two bays by means of
three fluted Doric pilasters, which stand on pedestals each supporting a
triglyph, but the cornice over has been removed. These features are of brown
sandstone, and except for a stone plinth and stringcourse the remainder is of
brick with sash windows of a later date. The whole appears to constitute a
central entrance bay and a south wing, slightly recessed, the balancing wing to
the north having been demolished. The original centre door architrave remains,
with two flanking Doric columns supporting blocks of entablature and a
segmented pediment.
A quarter of a mile to the north of Moat House a by-road runs west past a field
on the north side which contains a conspicuously large ash tree raised on a
slight mound and protected by iron railings. A track across the same field
leads to High Ash Farm, the north wing of which is timber-framed and of the
16th century. Just to the east of the farm are the remains of a circular brick
windmill of 18th-century type.
Farther west the road slopes down to join another from the parish church, at
Exhall Hall, now divided into three tenements. The plan of the house is
Lshaped, with a large projecting gable-end on the south end of the west side,
about 25 ft. wide. It is two stories in height, with attics in the tiled roof.
From the west a short track crosses a moat surrounding the house by a bridge
with modern stone parapets and an arch of 18th-century brickwork. Here the moat
is 25 ft. wide and runs parallel with the house, 10 ft. clear of the gable-end.
The latter has been stuccoed and the openings are modern, but the timber-framed
construction is evident on account of the gable projecting 2 ft. 6 in. Two
heavy oak corner-posts are exposed with their feet at first-floor level, rising
about 13 ft. to the eaves; octagonal shafting is worked on their face up to
twothirds of their height, where a moulded oak capital carries chamfered
brackets which support the ends of an overhanging beam. This, though decayed,
still carries moulded top and bottom edges, the former cambered. The soffit is
coved in plaster, and this curves down to meet two more exposed beams embedded
along the top of the lower wall-surface; they are each about 5 ft. in length
and there is a gap in the centre, and each is treated with embattled cresting.
The main block is raised upon a plain stone plinth and the wall above is of
18th-century brickwork, with two dormer windows in the roof. The moat is
rectangular and passes fairly close (fn. 6)
by the south side, where the eaves-line runs back from the base of the
timberframed gable. This façade is entirely modernized, but there are three
more vertical oak posts (all plain) exposed above first-floor level, the length
being divided into three bays. The east and north sides have been modernized.
The interior of the house at the time of its conversion into tenements
contained moulded oak beams and open fireplaces, (fn. 7)
but these features are no longer visible. Some ancient panelling then found
lining the rafters over the timber-framed roof has been removed to The Grove.
Some of these panels show slight traces of human figures of medieval character
and may have formed part of a church screen. Others are 16th-century linen-fold
panels, of which the longest bears also a shield charged with a merchant's mark
and the initials 1 n, probably for Julian Nethermyll, merchant of Coventry, who
bought the manor in 1535 (see below), or perhaps his son John. There are many
yew trees on the banks of the moat to the north and east. To the south-west
lies the farmyard, one side of which is occupied by a long 16th-century
timber-framed barn.
The road running south through Ash Green passes on to Neal's Green, where
tracks lead west to Exhall House and east to Exhall Grange; the former is an
18th-century residence and the latter is chiefly of the same century and mainly
of brick, but part of its length is plastered over and is probably constructed
in 16th-century timber.
Manors
EXHALL
is not individually mentioned in Domesday; it probably
formed part of the lands of the Countess Godiva, being included in the 9 hides
of Ansty and Foleshill, (fn. 8)
as, like most of her estates, Exhall passed to the Earls of Chester, and in the
reign of Stephen Ranulf, Earl of Chester, granted a portion of wood and waste
in Exhall and Keresley estimated at 280 acres to Coventry priory. (fn. 9)
On the death in 1232 of the grandson of the above, another Ranulf, his estates
were divided amongst his four sisters, (fn. 10)
Exhall coming to Mabel, wife of William, Earl of Arundel, whose son Hugh
d'Aubigny held half a knight's fee in chief in Exhall in 1235–6. (fn. 11)
In 1243 this half fee, then held by Maurice le Butiller, was assigned to
Isabel, Hugh's widow, in dower. (fn. 12)
She survived till 1282, and in 1275 Exhall is again recorded as part of the
honor of Chester, being at that date among the knights' fees held of the manor
of Coventry of the honor by Robert de Monhaut (Monte Alto) sometime
steward of Chester. (fn. 13)
In 1303 another Robert de Monhaut was in trouble for breaking into the several
closes of the Prior of Coventry at Exhall and Newland with a multitude of armed
men, carrying away deer and assaulting his servants. (fn. 14)
Robert de Morlee, his kinsman and heir, made an indenture with Isabelle, queen
of Edward II, which was confirmed in 1335 after he had come into his estates, (fn. 15)
whereby he exchanged, for the manor of Framsden (Suffolk), various rents and
services including those due from James Daudeleye in Exhall. (fn. 16)
The holding of the latter, including a portion in Foleshill, was reckoned as
half a knight's fee in 1275. (fn. 17)
The earldom of Chester had been annexed to the Crown in 1265 and became the
appanage of the heir apparent. The manor thus was held of the Crown in 1416, (fn. 18)
there being at that time no heir apparent, but in 1542 it was stated to be held
of Prince Edward as of his manor of Cheylesmore, parcel of the Duchy of
Cornwall. (fn. 19)
In 1549 Edward VI granted Cheylesmore to the Earl of Warwick, (fn. 20)
who immediately leased it to the corporation of Coventry. They were confirmed
in possession in 1568, (fn. 21)
and were thus the chief lords of Exhall the last time an overlord is mentioned
(1575). (fn.
22)
The tenants of Exhall manor from 1243 (fn. 23)
were the Butler or Boteler family of Warrington (Lancs.), their holding in
Exhall being reckoned as half a knight's fee then and in 1275. (fn. 24)
William le Boteler was granted free warren in his demesne lands in Exhall and
elsewhere in 1285. (fn. 25)
In the same year he was involved with William Charnels of Bedworth in a dispute
over common pasture in their respective manors, and quitclaimed all right of
pasture in Bedworth in return for a similar undertaking by Charnels regarding
Exhall, together with a grant of 2 acres in Exhall given to Charnels by Roger
de Craft. (fn. 26)
In 1314 the manor was leased by William le Boteler and Sybil his wife to Ralph
de la Chaumbre, (fn. 27)
and in 1340 was settled on Richard, William's grandson, (fn. 28)
and his wife Joan, in tail, with contingent remainders to John his brother (and
eventual heir) in tail, and the right heirs of William their father. (fn. 29)
The Botelers continued in possession for nearly 200 years more, (fn. 30)
the manor being finally disposed of in 1535 by Sir Thomas Butler and Baldwin
Porter to Julian Nethermyll, draper and alderman of Coventry, Christopher
Wareyn, and Richard Humphrey. (fn. 31)
Julian died seised of Exhall manor, with lands in Exhall, Foleshill, and
Keresley, in 1539, when his son John was 24. (fn. 32)
The latter also became an alderman of Coventry (fn. 33)
and was succeeded by his son, another John, who, in 1605, leased the manor to
Richard Chamberlayne and Henry Crofts. (fn. 34)
A third John Nethermyll, great-grandson of Julian, sold it to Sir John Garrard,
alderman of London, (fn. 35)
some time before 1621, when the son of the latter, on whom he had settled the
manor, (fn.
36) leased it to Joseph Galliard and Thomas Meek. (fn. 37)
The younger John Garrard, who became a baronet in 1622, (fn. 38)
settled the manor on his wife and eldest son, and died in 1637. (fn. 39)
Soon after this the Garrards, whose main seat was in Wheathampstead (Herts.),
must have parted with Exhall, which in 1650 was conveyed by George Dyer,
junior, and Edith his wife to William Dyer. (fn. 40)
Later it passed to Sir Arthur Cayley, (fn. 41)
who was patron of the living between 1662 and 1686. (fn. 42)
He is styled 'of Newland in the County of the City of Coventry', (fn. 43)
so that at this period the former monastic lands in Exhall, which had had an
independent manorial existence under the name of Newland since the 14th
century, may have become reunited to Exhall proper. Cayley's daughter and
heiress Mary married Sir Samuel Marow, bart. of Berkswell, who was lord for a
short time before his death in or before 1699. (fn. 44)
He or his widow sold the manor 'about thirty years ago' (i.e. circa
1700) to William Cheslin, whose son George was lord in 1730. (fn. 45)
In 1755 there was a conveyance of Exhall manor between Thomas and Martha
Rollinson and John Williamson, (fn. 46)
and in 1769 Charles Vere of London was lord. (fn. 47)
He and Martha Vere conveyed it in 1789 to Henry Boulton and others. (fn. 48)
Latterly the manor has been in the hands of the Startin family, George Startin being
lord in 1850 (fn. 49)
and Mr. H. W. Startin in 1936 and later. (fn. 50)
Butler. Azure a bend between six covered cups or.
.aspx)
Nethermill. Argent a cheveron between three crescents azure.
The lands of Coventry cathedral priory in Exhall, consisting originally of the
280 acres of waste, lying between the Breach Brook and the road from Coventry
to Astley, granted by Ranulf, Earl of Chester, in the 12th century, in lieu of
the right to take wood daily in his woodlands, which he had previously granted
them, (fn.
51) were considerably enlarged at various times. Licences to alienate
Exhall property in mortmain to this monastery were granted in 1349 (fn. 52)
and 1369. (fn. 53)
In 1332 the prior had received licence to impark 246 acres of waste and wood in
the manor of NEWLAND, (fn. 54)
and in 1535 the total value of the Coventry monastic estates in Exhall was £8 9s.
9d. (fn. 55)
After the Dissolution they were granted out in the first instance in small
lots. Richard Andrewys and Leonard Chamberleyne of Woodstock (Oxon.) were
granted a wood called Calverley, in the tenancy of Henry Waver, in 1542, (fn. 56)
and William Pulteney of Exhall received a 21-year lease of lands in 1544. (fn. 57)
In 1542 Michael Cameswell obtained a confirmation of the lease of chambers,
&c., in Newland mansion granted to him by Thomas Cameswell the last prior
in 1538. (fn. 58)
The freehold of this house was granted in 1544 to John Wade and Thomas
Gregorye. (fn. 59)
In 1553 the manor of Exhall lately held by Coventry priory and all possessions
of that priory in Exhall except the rectory and advowson were granted to Thomas
Browne and William Breton of London, (fn. 60)
who in the same year received licence to alienate them to Michael Cameswell,
Elizabeth his wife, and their heirs. (fn. 61)
Cameswell, with Peter Temple of Burton Dassett, was confirmed in possession in
1557, (fn.
62) when the annual value was £13. Two years later Cameswell had licence to
alienate his manors of Newland and Exhall, with all the lands appertaining, to
Stephen Hales. (fn. 63)
His grandson, another Stephen, who died in 1624, (fn. 64)
was involved with Humphrey Fenn, one of his tenants, in lawsuits over property.
(fn. 65)
His son Charles was vouchee in a recovery of the manor in 1627, (fn. 66)
and Charles's son Stephen was lord in Dugdale's time (1640). (fn. 67)
In the latter half of the 17th century this manor or manors (Newland and Exhall
being mentioned separately from 1559 onwards) became reunited with the
non-monastic manor of Exhall (q.v.) in the hands of Sir Arthur Cayley, who had
married the widow of Charles Hales; (fn. 68)
but in 1695 Francis Fisher, younger son of Thomas Fisher who was the second
husband of Mary (daughter and heir of Sir Arthur Cayley), widow of Sir Samuel
Marow, was concerned in a recovery of Newland manor without mention of that of
Exhall; (fn.
69) and John Knightley or Wightwick, who had married the elder daughter of
Sir Samuel, similarly in 1709. (fn. 70)
In 1730 Elizabeth, Sir Samuel's second daughter, was lady of the manor of
Newland, (fn. 71)
Exhall being by this time in other hands. The manor of Exhall of which John
Wightwick was lord in 1789 (fn. 72)
was probably this one, Exhall proper having been conveyed by other parties in
the same year. Newland was considered as a separate manor as late as 1850, when
Benjamin Parker was lord. (fn. 73)
The Carthusians of Coventry held land in Exhall. In 1544 their property,
including a grove called Robyns Grove in the tenancy of Julian Nethermyll (lord
of Exhall manor), was granted to John Burges and Edward Wotton, doctors in
medicine, of London. (fn. 74)
In 1546 it was regranted to Edward Watson of Rockingham and Henry Herdson,
skinner, of London. (fn. 75)
Church
The church of ST. GILES is situated in the centre of the parish where
the road from Bedworth Heath forks to Ash Green on the west and Neals Green to
the south, and is skirted on the south-west side by Breach Brook. It consists
of a square-ended chancel with vestry attached on the north side, nave, north
and south aisles, and western tower; there is a small south porch. The nave
contains three bays, and two timber roof trusses divide the chancel into three
bays.
The nave and chancel appear to originate from the 13th century, (fn. 76)
although the nave has been rebuilt in modern times, when extensive restorations
were carried out to the chancel also. The tower appears to have been added in
the 14th century, and subsequent additions have been recorded on a tablet under
the window of the west wall of the north aisle which states that the north
aisle was added in 1609 'as the burial place of the Hales family', the south
aisle in 1842, and the vestry, with an extension of the north aisle, in 1885.
The chancel is mainly of the 14th century (early?), and the exterior face of
the north wall is covered by the vestry, except for a narrow unpierced bay to
the east, which is bounded by a buttress on the west side against which the
vestry gable is built. All the plain wallsurfaces are plastered, leaving only
the red sandstone of the buttresses, surrounds to the openings, parapets,
&c. The eastern gable has two diagonal buttresses at the angles, each with
two offsets, above which project carved heads supporting the kneelers, which
are each weathered and faced with trefoiled gablets having moulded ridges; a
modern cross stands upon the apex stone. The east window is original and
consists of a two-centred lancet-shaped head with a hood-mould terminating in
heads inclined inwards. It is divided into three lights and the tracery,
concentric with the head, has no cusping. The jambs are of two chamfered orders,
which return along the sill. The south wall has one intermediate buttress of
two offsets. Immediately to the west of the buttress is a small doorway of a
single chamfered order and with a two-centred head and hood-mould with
head-stops. It contains an 18th-century door with contemporary wrought-iron
latch. West of it is a small window with a lancet-shaped head and chamfered
jambs, 3 ft. high and 11 in. wide. To the east of the buttress is one window of
two chamfered orders containing a single light; the two-centred head with the
hood-mould has been recently renewed. All the original work appears
contemporary with the east gable except for the small lancet, which must have
remained in a portion of early-13th-century walling.
The arcades to north and south of the nave are similar; each is modern and
consists of three bays, the piers being octagonal with moulded caps supporting
four-centred arches of two chamfered orders, the centre spans being slightly
wider than the others. The responds are in the form of half-piers, except that
against the south wall of the tower, which has been reduced to accommodate a
moulded corbel 12 in. below the abacus for the support of a gallery constructed
late in the last century and since removed. The chancel arch also is modern; it
is two-centred and of two moulded orders, with a hood-mould stopped on carved
heads. The tower arch is of the 14th century and spans the whole of the
interior width of the tower, the jambs being square with chamfered angles
towards the nave, the two centres of the arch are below the level of the
springing, and there are two chamfered orders.
The two distinct periods when the north aisle was built and then extended are
evident from the exterior. The tiled roof, with centre ridge, terminates in a
west gable of red sandstone with sloping parapet walls and containing a
three-light window similar in type to the lower west window of the tower, but
the whole is modern with the exception of an inset shield of grey sandstone,
protected by a modern drip-mould. It presumably dates from 1609, as it bears
the arms of Hales—three arrows, with a molet for difference.
There is a diagonal buttress on the north-west angle, and the north wall is
pierced by two windows, forming two bays, the bay to the west being narrower than
that to the east. The division is marked by a buttress with two weathered
offsets; it is similar to the angle buttress and they are modern, together with
the whole of the bay between them. Both windows have three trefoiled lights,
with four-centred heads, but that to the east is of 17th-century workmanship
with its arched head more depressed, the trefoiled heads contain narrower top
lobes, the fillet to the tracery is set out with great freedom of line and not
geometrically, and the hoodmould is cut off abruptly at each extremity.
Although both bays are of red sandstone and carry a similar ovolo moulding to
support the open eaves, that to the east consists of more irregular masonry.
Furthermore the eastern bay carries between the eaves and the apex of the
window hood a stone inscribed 'an[n]o do[mi]ni 1609'. In the corresponding
position in the western bay is a stone inscribed 'a.d. 1885'.
There is a similar diagonal buttress on the north-east angle of the aisle, and
further to the east the line of the aisle is continued by a modern vestry of
lesser proportions. This is entered from the aisle by a modern doorway, of
which the head is formed by that of the original 17th-century window. Another
modern doorway gives access to the chancel. The vestry is of red sandstone; it
has a doorway with a two-centred head on the north side. The north-east angle
is marked by a diagonal buttress and a stone chimney-stack from a heating
chamber beneath. Below the two-light east window is a large stone inscribed
'Erected a.d. 1885, W. Scott, Vicar ...', &c. The vestry roof, of tile, is
lower than that of the aisle, consequently the gable of the latter rises above
it, and displays the Hales shield, as at the west.
The south aisle is modern and is built of rough grey sandstone with a chamfered
plinth, buttresses, corbeltable, and surrounds of openings, in red sandstone.
It consists of three bays divided by shallow buttresses, set diagonally on the
angles. It is roofed with tiles like the nave, with open eaves and plain
parapet walls at the gables. The centre bay is occupied by a small modern porch
of similar treatment with small single-light windows in each side wall. A
two-light window occupies each of the flanking bays, and there is a three-light
window in each of the gable walls to west and east. All the windows have
two-centred heads and trefoiled lights.
All the floors of the interior are entirely modern.
The tower is constructed in two stages with diagonal buttresses, each having
four weathered offsets. The plinth consists of two weathered and moulded
offsets (much defaced). The whole is about 55 ft. in height and is built of a
cream and grey coloured sandstone which has weathered black in patches. The
lower stage contains one glazed opening which is on the western face; it has
two chamfered mullions recessed between hollowed jambs. The head is
four-centred, and each of the three lights is trefoiled; (fn. 77)
the hood-mould has simple return-ends. The staircase to the belfry is contained
within the south-west angle, and up to the top of the lower stage it is lit by
two open chamfered slit lights which pierce the western face. Three other
chamfered rectangular lights open to the chamber beneath the belfry, one on
each face.
A weathered string-course divides the two stages and stops against the
buttresses at their third offset. Between this string on the west face and the
head of the window below a carved square block of stone is bonded. It contains a
shield, bearing what seems to be a monogram, set within a quatrefoil.
The eastern buttresses of the tower thicken out at their bases to form wide
chamfered piers, (fn. 78)
around which the plinth is returned.
There are four belfry windows—one to each face; they each have two lights and a
two-centred head approximating to a semicircle, the lights are trefoiled, and
the jamb and head consist of two chamfered orders. The hood-mould has a
chamfered underside which returns at the ends to form its own chamfered
weathering. The upper offsets to the buttresses line through with the springing
level of the belfry windows, and slight diagonal projections build up from
them, intersect with the upper string-course, and support small plain pinnacles
at the angles, now much decayed. The tower roof is modern and of slate. Rising
from the apex is a gilded wrought iron weather vane.
The doorway to the tower stair in the south wall has a two-centred stone head
set on chamfered jambs. There is an outer and an inner door, the latter being
ancient.
The interior walls of the tower consist of the bare stonework; other walls are
mainly plastered. On the wall of the north aisle there are four moulded corbels
at a height of 7 ft.; two similar ones are set high at the springing level of
the windows; the former evidently supported the gallery referred to above, and
the latter may have supported an exposed roof truss, now removed. Two arched
recesses, one in the west wall of each aisle, situated against the line of the
nave arcades, mark the positions of staircases to the galleries. Similar
corbels are ranged along the wall of the south aisle for the support of a
gallery.
All the glazing is modern, and many of the windows, including those in the
chancel, have stained glass. The east window of the south aisle is filled with
plain glass, probably because it is partially obscured by the small modern
organ; ranged alongside this is an oak panel forming the First World War
memorial.
All the roof construction is modern. The nave is spanned by two roof trusses of
the king-post type, but the spaces between the members are divided by chamfered
vertical rails. Modern moulded corbels carry each truss by means of a wall-post
and bracket. There is an octagonal plaster ceiling springing from a thin
plaster moulding above the arcades. Both aisles have octagonal plastered
ceilings, that above the north aisle has neither exposed trusses nor cornices,
but the tie-beams of four trusses are exposed in the south aisle. There are two
exposed roof trusses over the chancel, both supported on brackets; they are of
the arched-brace type; between them the rafters are exposed, sloping down to an
oak moulded cornice. The vestry has a plain octagonal plastered ceiling.
A modern font is placed beneath the tower arch. The oak
choir stalls and altar rail, and the gilded oak reredos are all part of the
complete modern restoration of the chancel. In the centre of the vestry floor
stands an ancient heavy oak table. The top has apparently been made up, but it
is fixed to a 16th-century frame. The top horizontal bearers are finely moulded
along the base of the vertical face, there are bottom rails similarly moulded,
and the four legs are 4 in. square and turned between bearer and bottom rail
into baluster shapes without carved enrichment.
A monument of some importance is erected against the centre
of the north wall, overlooking the north aisle. It consists of upper and lower
panels of black marble, surrounded by a frame in marble of varied lighter
colours. It commemorates John Phillips, died 1716, and Mary his wife, died
1762. It is framed by two Corinthian pilasters borne on moulded corbels. Above
the moulded cornice there is a plain upper panel surmounted by a broken curved
pediment, which leads up to a coat of arms set independently in the wall. The
shield bears a lion rampant and above it is a helmet—all of marble.
There is a smaller wall monument reset within the recess at the west end of the
south aisle, to James Pickard, died 1757, and Ann his wife, daughter of John
Phillips, died 1762.
On the south wall of the tower is a brass tablet which states that 'The three
bells and belfrey were restored and rededicated to the Glory of God St. Thomas'
Day A.D. 1900'. There are now six bells, all of which were recast round about
1920.
The registers begin in 1540.
Advowson
Exhall was originally a chapelry of St. Michael, Coventry, being granted
therewith to the cathedral priory, (fn. 79)
and appropriated thereto by Bishop Molend in 1260. (fn. 80)
The curate serving the chapel was removable at the will of the prior, and
received £5 of the small tithes as his stipend in 1535. (fn. 81)
The church does not seem to have become parochial till after the Restoration;
from 1662 to 1747 the advowson was held by the Cayley family or their
descendants the Marows. (fn. 82)
Annabella MacCullock presented in 1771, and in 1804 and 1805 John Wightwick Knightley,
(fn. 83)
a descendant of the Marows. His daughter Jane married Lord Guernsey, later Earl
of Aylesford, with which family the advowson remained until about 1925, when it
was acquired by the Bishop of Coventry, the present patron.
Charities
George Bruton by will dated 13 May 1926 bequeathed £50
together with the proceeds of sale of his household furniture and other
articles to the vicar and churchwardens of Exhall, the interest to be applied
for the benefit of the poor of Exhall and in aid of the general church expenses
of the parish. The annual income of the charity amounts to £2 9s.
Dinah Duck by will dated 1 January 1932 bequeathed to the
churchwardens of Exhall £100, the income to be used for the upkeep of the
churchyard. The testatrix also bequeathed the residue of her estate, the income
to be expended upon the upkeep of the fabric of the church. The income of the
charities amount to £3 11s. 2d. and £89 11s. 4d. respectively.
Emily Neale by will dated 16 July 1934 bequeathed to the
vicar and churchwardens of Exhall £100, the income to augment the funds for the
annual outing of the choir boys of the church. The income of the charity
amounts to £3 7s. 2d.
Miss H. A. Sanders, by will dated 7 January 1936 bequeathed
£100, the income, now £3 6s. 10d., to be applied towards the
upkeep of the fabric of the church.
William Wilkinson Smart by will dated 2 November 1937
bequeathed £200, the income, now £6 13s. 2d., to be applied in
keeping the graveyard of the parish church in good order.
Charlotte Mary Freeman by will dated 25 May 1914 bequeathed
£100, the income to be expended upon the maintenance of the churchyard. The
testatrix also bequeathed one third part of the residue of her estate, the
income to be applied in the maintenance of the fabric of the church or the
permanent fittings thereof. The annual income of the charities amount to £2 18s.
4d. and £7 18s. 10d. respectively.
Job Potter by will dated 10 October 1686 charged certain
property in Berkswell with the annual payment of the sum of 10s. to the
churchwardens of Exhall to be distributed by them amongst poor parishioners on
St. Thomas's day. The rentcharge was redeemed in 1947 in consideration of a sum
of Consols, producing an annual income of 10s.
William Bentley's Charity for Poor. By a scheme of the
Charity Commissioners dated 19 April 1882 made in the matter of 'William
Bentley's Educational and Bread Charities', founded by the will of William
Bentley dated 13 July 1808, and 'The Poor's Charity' it was provided that the
sum of £3 2s. 6d., part of the net yearly income of the
charities, shall be annually expended by the trustees in the purchase of bread
or other food which shall be annually distributed amongst deserving and
necessitous persons resident in this parish. By an Order of the said
Commissioners dated 13 May 1904 it was determined that the whole of the
endowment of the charities is held for, or ought to be applied to, educational
purposes, with the exception of the said yearly sum of £3 2s. 6d.
The Order further provided that the educational endowment and the
noneducational endowment respectively shall henceforth constitute a separate
Foundation and a separate Charity called respectively the Exhall Educational
Foundation and William Bentley's Charity for Poor.
Footnotes
|
1
|
Kelly, Directory of Warws. (1936).
|
|
2
|
e.g. Cal. S. P. Dom. 1619–23, p. 459; Feet of F.
Div. Cos. Trin. 20 Jas. I. Cf. V.C.H. Warw. ii, 222,
|
|
3
|
Exch. K. R. Misc. Bks. 21, fol. 18.
|
|
4
|
The occupier mentioned a bridge of some sort having been
here until fairly recently.
|
|
5
|
The spacing suggests two more trusses towards the west;
making five in all.
|
|
6
|
About 20 ft. clear; the moat is about 40 ft. wide here.
|
|
7
|
Information from the owner, Mr. H. W. Startin, of The
Grove, Exhall.
|
|
8
|
V.C.H. Warw. i, 309–10; Dugd. 124.
|
|
9
|
Cal. Chart. R. v, 104.
|
|
10
|
G. E. C. Compl. Peerage (2nd ed.), iii, 168–9.
|
|
11
|
Book of Fees, 510, 515.
|
|
12
|
Cal. Close, 1242–7, p. 116.
|
|
13
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, 128 (p. 83). Robert was the son
of Cecily, one of Hugh d'Aubigny's sisters and coheiresses.
|
|
14
|
Cal. Pat. 1301–7, pp. 188–9.
|
|
15
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. vii, 471 (p. 336).
|
|
16
|
Cal. Pat. 1334–8, p. 130.
|
|
17
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, 128 (p. 84).
|
|
18
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Hen. V, no. 25.
|
|
19
|
Ibid. (Ser. 2), lxv, 16.
|
|
20
|
Cal. Pat. 1549–51, p. 2.
|
|
21
|
Pat. 10 Eliz. pt. 7.
|
|
22
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxx, 14.
|
|
23
|
Cal. Close, 1242–7, p. 116.
|
|
24
|
Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, 128 (p. 83).
|
|
25
|
Cal. Chart. R. ii, 326.
|
|
26
|
Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xv), 1032.
|
|
27
|
Ibid. 1412.
|
|
28
|
Baines, Hist. Lancs. iii, 660.
|
|
29
|
Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xv), 1874.
|
|
30
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Hen. V, no. 25; 20 Hen. VI, no. 29.
|
|
31
|
Feet of F. Div. Cos. East. 27 Hen. VIII.
|
|
32
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxv, 16.
|
|
33
|
Ibid. clxx, 14.
|
|
34
|
Feet of F. Div. Cos. East. 3 Jas. I.
|
|
35
|
Dugd. 124.
|
|
36
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxxvii, 142.
|
|
37
|
Feet of F. Div. Cos. Trin. 19 Jas. I.
|
|
38
|
G. E. C. Compl. Baronetage, i, 188.
|
|
39
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxiv, 149.
|
|
40
|
Feet of F. Warw. Hil. 1650.
|
|
41
|
Dugd. 124.
|
|
42
|
Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.)
|
|
43
|
e.g. Visit. Warw. 1682–3 (Harl. Soc. lxii), 231.
|
|
44
|
G. E. C. Compl. Baronetage, iv, 110.
|
|
45
|
Dugd. 124.
|
|
46
|
Feet of F. Cov. Trin. 28–9 Geo. II.
|
|
47
|
Gamekeepers' Deputations, Shire Hall, Warwick.
|
|
48
|
Feet of F. Cov. Trin. 29 Geo. III.
|
|
49
|
White, Directory Warws. (1850), 580.
|
|
50
|
Kelly, Directory Warws. (1936).
|
|
51
|
Exch. K.R. Misc. Bks. 21, fol. 12, 76v.: Cal. Chart. R.
v, 104. The land was in fact considerably more than 280 acres as it was
measured by the woodland perch of 25 ft.
|
|
52
|
Cal. Pat. 1348–50, p. 326.
|
|
53
|
Ibid. 1367–70, p. 255.
|
|
54
|
Ibid. 1330–4, p. 361. The actual park in the early 15th
century contained 80 acres: Exch. K.R. Misc. Bks. 21, fol. 12. William
Butler, c. 1300, held from the priory waste at Appeltrehorne in return
for which he renounced rights of common on other lands, except that 10 acres
in front of his manor should be common for his tenants and those of the
priory: ibid. fol. 17v.
|
|
55
|
Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iii, 49.
|
|
56
|
L. & P. Hen. VIII, xvii, 443 (39, para. 16).
|
|
57
|
Ibid. (1), p. 679.
|
|
58
|
Ibid. xviii (1), p. 550.
|
|
59
|
Ibid. xix (2), 800 (13).
|
|
60
|
Cal. Pat. 1553, p. 158.
|
|
61
|
Ibid. pp. 272–3.
|
|
62
|
Ibid. 1557–8, pp. 216–17.
|
|
63
|
Ibid. 1558–60, p. 131.
|
|
64
|
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxxxii, 137.
|
|
65
|
Chan. Proc. Ser. 1, Jas. I, H. 9, 45.
|
|
66
|
Recov. R. Hil. 2 Chas. I, ro. 22.
|
|
67
|
Dugd. 125.
|
|
68
|
Harl. Soc. viii, 72.
|
|
69
|
Recov. R. Mich. 7 Wm. III, ro. 226.
|
|
70
|
Ibid. East. 8 Anne, ro. 31.
|
|
71
|
Dugd. 125.
|
|
72
|
Gamekeepers' Deputations.
|
|
73
|
White, Directory Warws. 580.
|
|
74
|
L. & P. Hen. VIII, xix (2), 800 (11).
|
|
75
|
Ibid. xxi (1), 1383 (89).
|
|
76
|
There was a church here before 1260: see below.
|
|
77
|
The tracery appears to have been renewed.
|
|
78
|
Evidently for the purpose of providing sufficient abutment
to the tower arch.
|
|
79
|
Cal. Chart. R. v, 102, 103.
|
|
80
|
Reg. Molend. m. 4.
|
|
81
|
Dugd. 124, quoting MSS. of Sir S. Archer.
|
|
82
|
Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
|
|
83
|
Ibid.
|
Temple Grafton
'Parishes: Temple Grafton', A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 3:
Barlichway hundred (1945), pp. 94-100. URL:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=56989. Date accessed: 04
November 2008.
Acreage: 2,050 (2,034 land, 16 water).
Population: 1911, 377; 1921, 314; 1931, 370.
The parish of Temple Grafton lies on the ridge north of the
Avon, which forms its southern and southeastern boundary. It includes the
hamlets of Ardens Grafton, of which the northern side of the street is in
Exhall parish, and Hillborough. In the 17th century the hamlet of King's Broom,
now in Bidford, also formed part of the civil parish. (fn. 1) The land rises to
an altitude of over 300 ft. in the northern part of the parish and slopes down
to about 180 ft. by the river-bank at Hillborough, 2 miles to the south. The
village, with the church, stands on the edge of the hill, commanding views
across the valley to Bredon Hill and the Cotswolds.
Next east of the churchyard is a small farm-house of the
17th-century, of timber-framing with a thatched roof; and farther east are
three small thatched cottages, one of stone, the others timber-framed, all of
the same century. Opposite the church is a farmstead with a modern house and a
17th-century barn of timber with red brick infilling and a tiled roof.
Temple Grafton Court is a modern building dating from 1876.
It replaces the ancient manor-house, destroyed in 1804, which was of two
stories, the lower of stone and the upper of timber, plastered; the gabled
central porch had pargetting with figures of Adam and Eve. (fn. 2) A National
School was erected in 1838 (the original building is now a church hall) and
there is a village hall opened in 1934 and a Baptist Chapel built in 1841.
The hamlet of Ardens Grafton, about ½ mile farther west, has
a street of houses mostly of local stone with tiled roofs, but one house,
'Manor Cottage', setting back from the road, on the south side, has
timber-framed walls and a thatched roof. Two other buildings retain fragments
of ancient framing.
Hillborough, even in 1730, consisted only of two
farm-houses. (fn. 3)
Hillborough Manor is of a modified L-shaped plan, the
shorter wing projecting to the south at the west end. portions of the close
studding of the original south and west walls. In the latter, next to the
southern doorway, was a hatch with an ogee head, now blocked. The fireplace was
originally 10 ft. wide, but it has been altered for a modern smaller grate and
a doorway cut through the back of the remainder, to the south. The Elizabethan
staircase, south of the kitchen, has some silhouette balusters and heavy oak
treads and risers. The parlour, occupying the north-west angle of the house,
has had its floor raised to provide more height for the cellar below it; it is
lined with early-17th-century panelling. The only features of note in the upper
story are two In the angle of the two main wings is a staircase block, gabled
on the east. All the external walls are of stone except the middle part of the
north front, where the upper story is of close-set studding. This wall and the
rooms behind it—kitchen, &c.—are of the early 16th century; the west wing
and the stair-hall were built late in the 16th century, and the north range was
extended to the east, or altered, in the 18th century or later. The walls are
of square lias stone, those of the west wing being in alternate narrow and wide
courses. The roofs are tiled. The principal front is the west. The main wall
has two projecting chimney-stacks of stone with brick shafts. The southern has
two shafts faced with curiously irregular V-shaped pilasters; the northern has
two old square shafts set diagonally, besides later shafts, and immediately
north of it is a shallow wing or bay, projecting westwards 6¼ ft. The
gable-head is of modern brick. The lowest story has a four-light window with an
old oak frame and mullions. There are some old wood-framed windows in the main
wall.
HILLBOROUGH TEMPLE GRAFTON Sketch plan
On the north front the tall western part, of the late 16th
century, is of stone. There are three old windows, half below ground-level, to
the basement: these have wood frames, and the gable-head has an original
fivelight window with moulded oak frame and mullions. The range east of this is
of only two stories; part of it retains the close-set framing to the upper
story; the lower story is of stone and has a modern window, to the kitchen, and
a wide doorway. East of this part the whole wall has been rebuilt. There are no
ancient features on the south side of this range, or east side of the west
wing, but the south gable-head of the wing has an ancient window of stone with
chamfered mullions and a moulded dripstone.
The kitchen has a ceiling with moulded cross-beams and
joists of the early 16th century, and it preserves doorways, to the room over
the parlour and chamber next south of it; these are oak framed and have
original ogee arches.
South-east of the house are timber-framed farm buildings,
and beyond them is an ancient circular pigeon-house built of stone in rubble
with many larger courses of squared stones. It is about 24 ft. in diameter
externally and the walls are about a yard thick inclusive of the stone nests
inside. It has a conical roof, tiled, and a lantern at the apex.
About ¼ mile to the south-west of Hillborough is 'West
Hillborough', an early-17th-century building of stone, largely rebuilt in
modern red brick. The plan is of a modified L-shape, the wing extending to the
north at the east end. The gabled end of the wing has original stone windows
with moulded mullions to the ground and first floors and moulded oak
bargeboards to the gable-head. The north side of the main block also had
mullioned windows, now blocked, and a porch wing, which has since been widened
in brickwork: the original doorway to the porch, now blocked, is in its east
side and has a four-centred arch in a square head. The present entrance in the
north front is modern, but the inner doorway has an ancient moulded oak frame
and a battened door hung with ornamental strap hinges. The east end-wall of the
main block is of rubble, but the north and west walls are of modern red brick.
It has a central chimney-stack of stone, containing a 7-ft. fire-place, with
three square shafts set diagonally, of thin bricks, above the tiled roof.
The L.M.S. railway from Stratford to Broom Junction and the
main Stratford-Bidford-Evesham road cross the parish from east to west. At
Cranhill a road branches northwards to Haselor, with another branch westwards
to Wixford, and is crossed in Temple Grafton village by a road from Red Hill on
the Alcester Stratford road, through Ardens Grafton to Exhall. This latter,
continued from Ardens Grafton southwestwards as what is now only a lane through
Summer Hill to Bidford, was once the principal road through the village and is
marked and mile-posted on 18thcentury maps of Warwickshire as an alternative
main road from Stratford to Bidford. (fn. 5) The manor of Hillborough had salt
rights at Droitwich attached to it, (fn. 6) and the field path along the river
from Bidford to Hillborough may be the survival of a Salt Way. (fn. 7)
The soil is light clay and sand, with a subsoil of lower
lias limestone. There was formerly extensive quarrying here, and stone and
slates from Grafton were used at Stratford early in the 15th century. (fn. 8)
When the Birmingham-Stratford Canal was first projected in 1792 it was proposed
to construct a branch ending at two quarries belonging to Viscount Beauchamp on
the border of Binton parish. (fn. 9) Of the 29 householders given in Kelly's
Directory for 1854 no less than 10 were quarriers and stone masons. In the
later 19th century, however, the industry began to decline and has now quite disappeared.
In 1517 the Inclosure Commissioners reported that Sir
William Gascoigne (lord of the manor of Oversley) and Henry Smyth of Coventry
had each consolidated the land of two farms into one, leaving one of the
farmhouses to decay. About 150 acres were thus ingrossed and some 15 persons
evicted. (fn. 10) A survey (fn. 11) in 1540 of the Hospitaller and Westminster
Abbey estates, then leased to John Swift, shows that much of the land was in
the hands of freeholders. The common waste in Ardens Grafton was 60 acres and
in Temple Grafton 21 acres, besides 27 acres of Lammas Common held by John
Swift at Marston Hill, probably the later Cow Common. Another survey, (fn. 12)
made in 1740, shows that there had been some inclosure and much concentration
of ownership in the hands of the lord of the manor and a few freeholders. The
open common had fallen to 44 acres in Ardens and 7 acres in Temple Grafton, and
the Cow Common had recently been partitioned, one-tenth to 'the poor' and the
rest divided between the four largest proprietors. The open arable of Temple
Grafton lay in four fields, named after the points of the compass, and that of
Ardens Grafton in four 'quarters'—Town Furlong, Walkers Hill, Lower Field, and
Ash Furlong. Concentration continued, and when the parish was finally inclosed
under an Act of Parliament (52 Geo. III, c. 37) in 1815 (fn. 13) nearly 90 per
cent. of the allotment was made to four proprietors. About 850 acres of open
fields and commons were dealt with; half of this amount was assigned to John
Fullerton, lord of the manor, and 162 acres in lieu of rectorial tithes to the
heirs of Ferdinando Bullock.
The name Temple Grafton is a curious misnomer which first
occurs in 1535; for though the Hospitallers held land here, there seems to have
been no connexion with the Templars. During the Middle Ages Temple and Ardens
Grafton were usually distinguished as Over Grafton, Grafton Superior, Church
Grafton, or Grafton Major and Nether Grafton, Grafton Inferior or Grafton Minor
respectively. A reference to 'Temple Grafton alias Ardens Grafton' occurs in
1650. (fn. 14)
Manors
Grafton
GRAFTON was alleged to have been granted to Evesham Abbey by
Ceolred King of Mercia in 710. (fn. 15) But it is also said to have been given
by Edward the Confessor in 1055, and is included among the 36 manors acquired
by Abbot Ethelwig (1055–77); (fn. 16) the 8th-century charter is probably a
forgery made about this time to strengthen the title. Of these 36 manors, 28,
including Grafton, were seized by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, quasi lupus rapax,
after Ethelwig's death. (fn. 17) Domesday records that before the Conquest
Mervin, Scotin, Toti, and Tosti held it freely. It was assessed in 1086 at 5
hides, held by Gilbert of Osbern FitzRichard, (fn. 18) to whom Odo had given it.
(fn. 19) Evesham seems to have regained part of the manor after Osbern's death,
for Abbot Maurice (1122–30), without leave of his chapter, granted 1 hide here
in fee farm to Ralph Boteler of Oversley, (fn. 20) to whose son Robert Abbot
Adam (1160–91) gave it in fee. (fn. 21) Grafton is in fact included among the
townships in which the abbot claimed privileges in the reign of Edward I. (fn.
22) In 1208 there is mention of a holding of the fee of William de Beauchamp,
(fn. 23) whose grandson married Isabel sister and heir of William Mauduit, Earl
of Warwick, and was the ancestor of the Beauchamp earls. The overlordship,
however, already belonged to the Earl of Warwick in 1243 (fn. 24) and so
continued at least until the 15th century, the manor being held of him by the
service of half a knight's fee in 1243 and 1268, (fn. 25) of a whole fee in
1316, (fn. 26) and of a quarter of a fee in 1428. (fn. 27)
Evesham Abbey. Azure a chain with its padlock set
cheveronwise between three mitres argent.
The Graftons were the principal landholders during the later
12th century. Robert de Grafton paid 10 marks to the sheriff for default in
1179–80. (fn. 28) Ralph son of William de Grafton died in 1204, when his sister
and heir Margaret released all her land in Grafton, except for a hide which she
held of the Abbot of Evesham, to Henry de Bereford, (fn. 29) who received the
wardship of William and Felice her son and daughter and in return undertook to
maintain her during life. (fn. 30) Henry's right was challenged by Ralph Boteler,
who, probably acting as lord of the manor, paid a fine to have the lands until
the title should be legally determined between him and Henry de Bereford. (fn.
31) In 1208 Margaret was still holding half a hide of Ralph in Grafton (fn. 32)
which, with a hide of the fee of William de Beauchamp, she passed to William de
Arderne. (fn. 33) At some time before 1221 Henry de Bereford gave the whole fee
to William de Arderne, (fn. 34) but probably retained the mesne lordship, as in
1240 he acknowledged the right of Hugh de Arderne to hold of him 3 hides in
Grafton by render of a pair of spurs, or one penny, in lieu of the service of
half a knight's fee. (fn. 35) When Henry died his property passed to his nephew
Henry de Nafford, who was holding the manor of the Earl of Warwick for half a
fee in 1243, (fn. 36) as was William de Arderne in 1268. (fn. 37)
The first mention of the Knights Hospitallers here occurs in
1189, when they received a grant of land from Henry de Grafton. (fn. 38) In
1275–6 they were holding 2 carucates—formerly belonging to Ralph and Bernard de
Grafton—which were declared to have evaded taxation for forty years past. (fn.
39) In 1316 they held the manor for a knight's fee of Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of
Warwick. By 1338 they had a Preceptory here, which was united with that of
Balsall, (fn. 40) and they continued lords of the manor until the suppression
of their Order in 1540.
Knights Hospitallers. Gules a cross argent.
Sheldon. Sable a fesse between three sheldrakes argent.
The manor of TEMPLE GRAFTON thereupon passed to the Crown
and by an Act of 32 Henry VIII was included in the jointure of Queen Katherine
Parr. (fn. 41) In 1545, however, it was granted with other estates to William
Sheldon and John Draper (alias Mercer) of Temple Grafton (fn. 42) and was
allotted to Draper two years later. In 1548 Draper settled the manor on his son
Robert, reserving a moiety to his wife Margery for her life, and he died in
1556. (fn. 43) Margery Draper died in 1558 and Robert in 1563, (fn. 44) leaving
a son and heir William, who received the manor on coming of age in 1583. (fn.
45) William Draper married Margaret daughter of Anthony Sheldon of Broadway
and, having no issue, settled the manor on Brace (or Blaze) Sheldon, his
brother-in-law. From him it passed to his son and grandson, both also named
Brace. (fn. 46) Brace II, who was found seised of the manor in 1626, was a
recusant, and in 1633 two parts of his lands here forfeited to the Crown were
granted to his kinsman, William Sheldon, on a lease for forty-one years. (fn.
47) Brace III was holding the manor in 1654 (fn. 48) and died c. 1669, (fn. 49)
leaving his daughter Anne as his heir. His younger brother Ralph, who appears
as lord of the manor in 1674 (fn. 50) and 1675, (fn. 51) may have been acting
as guardian during Anne's minority. Anne married Edward Burdett of Gray's Inn,
who died in 1722. (fn. 52) She then granted the manor to the Rev. Thomas Allen
and John Cresser (fn. 53) in trust for her son Robert, who, however, died at
the age of 16 in the following year. Anne Burdett was still lady of the manor
in 1730, (fn. 54) but James Kendall of Conduit Street, London, was holding it
in 1731, (fn. 55) and it passed on his death to his widow, who died at
Stratford in 1769. (fn. 56) In that year it came into the hands of the Rev.
John Fullerton, rector of West Horsley, Surrey, and afterwards of the College,
Old Stratford. (fn. 57) In 1852 his son John Fullerton conveyed it to Isaac
Hodgson, from whose son it was purchased in 1867 by James William Carlile, (fn.
58) who built the church, the schools, the vicarage, Temple Grafton Court, and
many of the cottages in the village. Mr. Carlile, who died in 1892, gave the
manor to his daughter Alice, wife of Dominick Samuel Gregg. When Mrs. Gregg
died in 1919 her daughter Mrs. Whiteman succeeded to it. In 1921 the estate was
broken up, Temple Grafton Court being purchased by Thomas Lonsdale, whose widow
is the present owner, and most of the farms by the tenants. (fn. 59)
Between 1226 and 1287 there are references to a tenement in
Grafton held of the honor of Richard's Castle, and therefore presumably part of
the Domesday holding of Osbern Fitz-Richard. In 1226 John Esturmy granted a
carucate of land to William son of Robert de Grafton to hold by the service of
a quarter of a knight's fee. (fn. 60) This is doubtless the fifth of a fee held
in 1236 of the fee of Stuteville, (fn. 61) for William de Stuteville was then
lord of the honor, as third husband of Margaret de Say; and in 1243 William de
Grafton's quarter-fee was held of John de Sturmy, who held of William de Curly,
who held of Richard's Castle. (fn. 62) In 1287 the hamlet of Nether Grafton was
held for a quarter of a fee by John de Sturmy of Robert de Mortimer (fn. 63)
grandson of Robert second husband of Margaret de Say. (fn. 64) Robert's son and
heir Hugh left no male issue and the overlordship probably passed to the Earl
of Warwick.
Part of the tenement of Ralph Boteler appears to have
descended with the manor of Oversley (q.v.) through the Ferrers and Neville
families to Sir William Gascoigne, who in 1537 conveyed it to Thomas Cromwell,
afterwards Earl of Essex. (fn. 65) After Cromwell's execution it passed to the
Crown and in 1541, with other of his estates in this neighbourhood, was granted
to Sir George Throckmorton. (fn. 66)
GRAFTON MINOR occurs in a grant to Evesham Abbey by Ufa,
Sheriff of Warwickshire, dated 973. (fn. 67) As it is included among Ethelwig's
acquisitions ('Alia Graftun') (fn. 68) it may in the meantime have been lost by
the monastery, and with Grafton it was seized by the Bishop of Bayeux. It is
most probably to be identified with the 3 hides and 1 virgate in 'Graston'
which Domesday records among the possessions of William Fitz-Corbucion; Leuric
and Eileua held it of him and before the Conquest they had held it freely. (fn.
69) In 1208 Margaret de Grafton passed 3 hides held of the fee of Peter de
Studley (or Corbizon) to William de Arderne. (fn. 70) Another William died in
1276 leaving lands in Grafton, amounting to about 3 hides, of which the tenure
is not specified, and a fifth of a knight's fee held by Alan de Grafton. (fn.
71) The custody of his brother and heir Richard, an idiot, fell to the Crown
and the estate was granted to his widow Agatha to hold in dower. (fn. 72)
Richard died in 1279, (fn. 73) and Sir John Wolf, or 'le Low', and Amice his
wife (perhaps Richard's sister) remitted their rights in Richard's property to
Edward I, (fn. 74) who in 1292 granted it as a manor, together with Knowle and
other estates that had formerly belonged to William de Arderne, to Westminster
Abbey, to provide obits for the soul of Queen Eleanor. (fn. 75) The abbey's
right was challenged in 1332 by Margery widow of Philip le Wolf, (fn. 76) but
Westminster remained in possession until the Dissolution. In 1428 it was held
as half a knight's fee, (fn. 77) but it is not mentioned in the valuation of
1535 and by that time was probably reckoned as a part of the manor of Knowle.
The descent of the property, distinguished after 1540 as ARDENS GRAFTON, since the
Reformation has followed that of Temple Grafton.
Westminster Abbey. Gules two crossed keys or.
A messuage called Allen's land, with about 1,000 acres of
land, wood, and heath, is mentioned in 1553 as in the possession of Roger
Swift. (fn. 78) The family of Swift had then been settled in the parish for
more than two centuries. A William Swift occurs in Grafton in 1327 (fn. 79) and
witnesses a grant of land in Church Grafton by John Alleyn to Walter Alleyn in
1334: (fn. 80) John and William Swyft served as collectors of subsidies in
Warwickshire in 1434 and 1440 respectively: (fn. 81) in 1545 John Swyfte was
holding lands called Ardens in Temple and Ardens Grafton as the former tenant
of the Hospitallers and of Westminster Abbey. (fn. 82) Roger Swift's daughter
and heir Frances married Edward Kempson of Ardens Grafton. Their son George
conveyed the property to his cousin William Kempson in 1623–4. (fn. 83)
William's lands were sequestered for recusancy, but his daughter Elizabeth,
having been brought up by a Protestant, seems to have recovered full
possession. (fn. 84) She married George Ferrers of Solihull, (fn. 85) and in
1676 conveyed the estate to Reason Mellish in trust for George Willoughby,
whose sons Francis and Robert sold it to Anthony Charles of Great Alne and
Ralph Wagstaffe of Temple Grafton, the possessors of it in 1730. (fn. 86) In
1870 the estate was purchased by James William Carlile, then lord of the manor.
(fn. 87)
HILLBOROUGH belonged in pre-Conquest times to Evesham Abbey
and is included in the spurious grant of Ceolred of Mercia in 710. (fn. 88) It
was certainly acquired by Abbot Ethelwig, (fn. 89) and was afterwards lost to
the Bishop of Bayeux. In the Confessor's time Ernui and Lodric held it freely
and in 1086 Ernui's portion, of 1½ hides, was held by Urse d'Abitot of the
king, and 3½ hides in Binton and Hillborough, formerly belonging to Lodric,
were held by Hugh of Osbern FitzRichard, the lord of Richard's Castle. (fn. 90)
The latter is perhaps identical with the half-knight's fee in Binton and
Hillborough which John Hubaud held of John de Hastings in 1313. (fn. 91)
Although the rights of Evesham are ignored in the Domesday
Survey, Hillborough was one of the estates for which the abbot successfully
sued 'before the five shires at Gildeneberg' and which the Conqueror restored
to him. (fn. 92) Abbot Robert of Jumièges (1104–22) granted it to William de
Sevecourt, (fn. 93) from whom it apparently passed to Robert Strecke. (fn. 94)
But by the middle of the 12th century Peter de Studley (or Corbizon) and Henry
de Montfort, his son-in-law, (fn. 95) seem to have been the chief landholders
here. (fn. 96) Henry disposed of his interest to Peter, (fn. 97) and William
Corbizon was in 1212 holding a quarter and a tenth of a knight's fee in Hillborough
of the honor of Richard's Castle. (fn. 98) In 1235 the manor was held of the
honor for half a fee, (fn. 99) perhaps by the Cantelupes who similarly held
Ipsley. William de Cantelupe in 1254 died seised of certain rents in
Hillborough as part of his manor of Aston Cantlow. (fn. 100) The overlordship,
like that of Ipsley, descended with the manor of Aston Cantlow at least down to
the reign of Elizabeth. (fn. 101) It was held as two half-fees in 1313 (fn.
102) and as a fee, together with Ipsley, in 1346–7. (fn. 103) In 1349 it is
again separately accounted for as half a fee, (fn. 104) but Hillborough and
Ipsley together were held by the service only of a quarter of a fee in 1428.
(fn. 105)
The family of Hubaud, whose principal seat was at Ipsley, is
descended from that Hugh who appears in Domesday as the under-tenant of Osbern
Fitz-Richard. Dugdale says that Henry Hubaut recovered 'all that he could lay
claim to' in Hillborough from Peter Corbizon (fn. 106) probably about the end
of the 12th century. Hillborough remained joined with Ipsley (q.v.) in the
family (later called Huband) until 1729, when it was sold to Bowater Vernon of
Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire. His son Thomas Vernon succeeded in 1735 and died
in 1770, leaving it to his daughter Emma, who married John Phillips. On her
death in 1818 the estate descended to Thomas Sprawley Vernon and in 1854 was
sold to Henry Beacroft of Droitwich. (fn. 107)
Hubaud. Sable three fleurs de lis coming out of leopards'
heads argent.
A grant of the manor in 1745 includes court leet and court
baron, (fn. 108) but there is no evidence that these franchises were ever
exercised here.
In 1313 a half-fee in Hillborough was held of John de
Hastings by Simon de Hildebury. (fn. 109) He may be connected with Simon de
Belne who in 1249 received a grant of a virgate of land here from Robert and
Prudence Throckmorton. (fn. 110) The family of Belne was settled at Bidford
early in the 14th century and a Robert de Belne occurs in Hillborough in 1332.
(fn. 111) There is no further mention of them here, and the holding must have
been merged in the Hubaud manor.
Besides Evesham, which was still possessed of rents in
Hillborough at the Dissolution, (fn. 112) Bordesley Abbey held land here from
the time of its foundation in 1140. Peter Corbizon in that year granted 10
acres of land called Westcroft (fn. 113) and in 1297 the monks acquired from
Millicent, widow of Hugh le Fremon, a twenty years' lease of a meadow called
Fremoneshomme, lying between Westcroft and the Avon. (fn. 114) That they had
also a fish-pond here appears from an undated grant by Robert le Fremon
allowing them to pass over his land whenever they wished to repair it. (fn.
115) They held the rights of fishing in the Avon and free passage through the
floodgates (but not the fishing in the floodgates) by a grant from Henry de
Montfort. (fn. 116) After the Dissolution these fishing rights were acquired by
John Draper, though John Hubaud made a claim to them. (fn. 117) Draper left
them to his son Richard, from whom they descended at least until 1640, with the
advowson of Grafton. They are, however, included with the manor in a deed of
1745. (fn. 118) In 1603 there is mention of a second fishery, which then
belonged, with the other, to Leonard Kempson. (fn. 119)
There was a mill in Hillborough, worth 12d. in 1086, but
there is no other reference to it until 1571 when it was in the possession of
John Hubaud. (fn. 120) He had also a windmill, which is perhaps the same as
that marked to the south of Ardens Grafton village on Sheriff's map of 1796.
(fn. 121)
Church
The parish church of ST. ANDREW was entirely rebuilt in 1875
and consists of a chancel with a north organ chamber and vestry, nave, north
aisle, and a south-west tower serving as a porch. It is built of lias stone
with sandstone dressings, and has tiled roofs.
On the north wall of the chancel is a repainted stone shield
of arms of the 17th century with the six quarterings of the Woodchurch-Clarke
family, impaling the quarterly coat of De la Hay, Winterbourne, Sheldon, and
Ruding. In the organ chamber is a 17th-century oak chest with panelled sides, a
carved top-rail, and a panelled lid. Another chest is of the 18th or early 19th
century.
The early registers exist only in a very incomplete
transcript beginning in 1612.
Advowson
There was a church at Grafton in 1086. Both the rectory and the advowson were
acquired by the Hospitallers, their earliest recorded presentation being in
1277. (fn. 122) There is no mention of the church in 1291, but in 1338 it was
valued at £8, (fn. 123) and three years later at £6 13s. 4d., of which the
glebe accounted for £2 13s. 4d. (fn. 124) In 1585 it is included in the general
return for the Preceptory of Balsall. (fn. 125)
After the Dissolution the rectory and advowson came with the
manor to John Draper and passed from him to his son Richard, who in 1567 was
holding them of the Crown for a quarter of a knight's fee. (fn. 126) On
Richard's death they were divided between his two sisters Agnes (or Anne) wife
of William Kempson and Isabel wife of Richard Gennens. Isabel and her husband
conveyed her moiety to Henry Huggeford in 1575. (fn. 127) Anne's descended to
her son Leonard, who died in 1603, holding the whole rectory and advowson for a
quarter-fee. (fn. 128) George Kempson, son of Leonard, presented in 1633, (fn.
129) and in 1640 he sold both rectory and advowson to Sir Simon Clarke. (fn.
130) After 1633 there was no institution until 1849, the church being served
for two centuries either by licensed curates or neighbouring incumbents. Nor until
1870 was there a resident vicar. Meanwhile the rectory and advowson passed to
Mark Parker, who had married Sir Simon Clarke's daughter Elizabeth and whose
grandson Mark Parker was patron in 1730. (fn. 131) Ferdinando Bullock is
mentioned as patron in 1786 (fn. 132) and Francis Ferdinando Bullock presented
in 1849. (fn. 133) The latter sold the patronage to James William Carlile about
1875 and it descended with the manor until 1921, when it came into the hands of
its present owners, the Diocesan Trustees.
In 1712 the great tithes were owned by Anne Burdett, the
lady of the manor, (fn. 134) but by 1730 had once more become united with the
advowson in the possession of Mark Parker. (fn. 135) The tithes of Hillborough
were separately conveyed in 1623 (fn. 136) and 1650. (fn. 137)
In 1586 the vicarage was worth £20 a year. The vicar, John
Frith, was then described as 'an old priest and unsound in religion' whose
'chief trade' was 'to cure hawks that are hurt or diseased'. (fn. 138) By the
early 18th century it had become customary for the officiating minister to
receive the small tithes as his stipend. (fn. 139) The living was united with
that of Binton by an Order in Council of 18 Dec. 1931. (fn. 140)
A chapel in Temple Grafton, formerly belonging to the Hospitallers,
was included in the grant of 1545 to William Sheldon and John Draper and was
granted by the latter to his son Richard in 1551. (fn. 141) It passed thence to
the Kempson family and is last mentioned as being lately in the possession of
Leonard Kempson in 1604. (fn. 142)
There was a chapel of St. Mary Magdalen in Hillborough,
which was pulled down by John Hubaud, who was accused of having carried away
the bells, timber, and ornaments and of converting the profits to his own use.
(fn. 143)
Charities
Thomas King, by will dated 1877 bequeathed £180 to the vicar and churchwardens,
the interest to be divided among the poor of the parish. The legacy produces £4
14s. 4d. in dividends, which are distributed to aged poor people in coal.
Walker's Charity. A rentcharge of 12s., understood to have
been given by a person named Walker for the poor not receiving parish relief,
is now paid out of land in Temple Grafton and distributed to aged poor.
Poor's Land. The endowment of this charity, the origin of
which is unknown, consists of 3 acres of land at Temple Grafton known as Poor's
Land, let in allotments at a yearly rent of £1. A scheme of the Charity
Commissioners appoints four trustees to administer the charity for the benefit
of the poor.
Footnotes
1See under Bidford, p. 51.
2Figured in Add. MS. 29265, fol. 90. A still earlier house
lay within the moat of which traces remain north-east of the Court.
3Dugd. 723.
4A stone on the north front bears the date 1605 and the
initials G A K, for George and Anne Kempson.
5Cf. maps by Kitchin, c. 1750; Jeffries, 1755; Carey, 1787;
Outhett, 1818.
6V.C.H. Warw. i, 337.
7B'ham Arch. Soc. Trans. liv, 14.
8Hardy, Cal. Stratford Gild Accts. 1405–6, 1410–1, 1427–8
9a Plans deposited at Shire Hall, Warwick. Though never
constructed, this branch is marked on several maps, e.g. Smith 1804 and 1808.
Teesdale, Neele (in Smith's Hist. of Warw. 1830).
10Leadam, Domesday of Inclosures, ii, 405–6.
11a Augm. Off. Misc. Bks. 261, fols. 46–8.
12Terrier and map: B.R.L. 247148. 52 per cent. of the land
in Temple Grafton but only 7 per cent. in Ardens Grafton was already inclosed.
13a Copy of Award, with map, at Shire Hall, Warwick.
14Feet of F. East. 1650.
15Chron. de Evesham (Rolls Ser.), 72; Birch, Cart. Sax. i,
no. 127.
16Chron. de Evesham, 75, 95; Mon. Angl. ii, 17, 18.
17Chron. de Evesham, 97. It seems possible that these manors
had been granted to Ethelwig personally, and that Odo seized them, perhaps on
royal instructions, when the next abbot, Walter, tried to treat them as
endowments of his house: see Darlington in Engl. Hist. Rev. xlviii, pp. 1–22,
177–98.
18V.C.H. Warw. i, 338–9.
19Harl. MS. 3763, foll. 58 d. Osbern had apparently
mortgaged this land to Abbot Ethelwig and, being unable to repay the money,
granted it to the abbey, but availed himself of Bishop Odo's inquest to keep
both the land and the money: Engl. Hist. Rev. xlviii, 189.
20Cott. MS. Vesp. B. xxiv, fol. 8, 9 d.
21Harl. MS. 3763, fol. 93 d.
22Plac. de Quo. Warr. (Rec. Com), 779.
23Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), no. 187.
24Bk. of Fees, ii, 958.
25Cal. Inq. p.m. i, 679.
26Ibid. v, 615, p. 405.
27Feud. Aids, v, 191–2.
28Pipe R. Soc. xxix, 101.
29He claimed to be heir of Ralph: Curia Regis R. iii, 144.
30Pipe R. 6 John, m. 17 d.
31Ibid.
32Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), no. 170.
33Ibid. no. 181.
34Assize R. 948, m. 12.
35Feet of F. Staffs. Mich. 25 Hen. III.
36Bk. of Fees, 958.
37Cal. Inq. p.m. i, 679. Dugd. (p. 722) puts this fee in
Ardens Grafton, but the two Graftons appear to have been held together, under
several mesne lords, during the 13th century.
38Dugd. 720.
39Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 226.
40V.C.H. Warw. ii, 100–1.
41L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (1), p. 645.
42Ibid. xx (1), p. 366 (7).
43Chanc. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxxii, 3.
44Ibid. cxxxvii, 51.
45Pat. R. 25 Eliz. pt. 18.
46Dugd. 720–1. The Christian name Brace originated from the
marriage of William Sheldon to Cicely daughter of Francis Brace of Doverdale.
Blaze appears to have been the usual form after c. 1650.
47Pat. R. 11 Chas. I, pt. 26.
48Cal. Committee for Compounding, v, 3205–6.
49Mentioned in Hearth Tax Returns 1667, but not in 1670.
50Recov. R. Mich. 26 Chas. II, ro. 56.
51Ibid. Mich. 27 Chas. II, ro. 28 d.
52Dugd. 721.
53Feet of F. Mich. 11 Anne.
54Dugd. 721.
55Gamekeepers' Deputations (Shire Hall, Warwick).
56Stratford-on-Avon Parish Registers.
57Gamekeepers' Deputations.
58MS. Notes, Rev. J. H. Harvey Bloom.
59Ex inf. Vicar of Grafton.
60Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), no. 353.
61Bk. of Fees, i, 511.
62Ibid. ii, 948.
63Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, 640.
64G.E.C. Complete Peerage (2nd ed.), ix, 258–63.
65Feet of F.Div.Co. Trin. 29 Hen. VIII.
66L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, g. 878 (80). In 1608 the benefit
of recusancy of George Throckmorton of Temple Grafton was granted to Sir James
Douglas: Cal. S.P. Dom. 1603–10, p. 437.
67Chron. de Evesham, 74; Birch, Cart. Sax. no. 1092.
68Chron. de Evesham, 95.
69V.C.H. Warw. i, 334.
70Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), no. 178.
71Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, 198.
72Cal. Fin. R. i, 72, 74.
73Ibid. 118.
74Domesday of Westminster Abbey, fol. 437 d.
75Cal. Chart. R. ii, 425–6.
76Domesday of Westminster Abbey, fol. 439.
77Feud. Aids, v, 192.
78Dugd. 722.
79Lay Subsidy Roll 1327 (Midland Record Soc. v), p. 29
(supplement). Included in Hillborough in L.S.R. 1332 (Dugd. Soc. vi), 81.
80Peto Collection 853 (Birthplace, Stratford-on-Avon).
81Cal. Fin. R. xvi, 191; xvii, 148.
82L. and P. Hen. VIII, xx (2), g. 266 (7).
83Dugd. 722; Visit. Warw. 1619 (Harl. Soc. vii), 411–12. The
1682 Visitation (Harl. Soc. lxii, 47) makes William the son and heir of Edward
Kempson and Frances Swift.
84Cal. Committee for Compounding, v, 3229.
85Described as of Baddesley Clinton in 1682 Visitation.
86Dugd. 722. By that time the holding must have greatly
diminished, for in 1740 Luke and Daniel Wagstaffe held only 74 acres between
them (Terrier, B.R.L.).
87MS. notes, Rev. J. H. Harvey Bloom.
88Chron. de Evesham, 72.
89Ibid. 95.
90V.C.H. Warw. i, 337, 338.
91Cal. Inq. p.m. v, 412.
92Cott. MS. Vesp. B. xxiv, fol. 28; cf. Chron. de Evesham,
97.
93Cott. MS. Vesp. B. xxiv, fol. 8.
94Ibid. fol. 9.
95Wm. Salt Soc. iii, 203.
96Dugd. 722.
97Ibid. 723.
98Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 604.
99Bk. of Fees, 509.
100Cal. Inq. p.m. i, 340.
101Ibid. ix. 118; Chanc. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), 28 (142); ibid.
208 (202).
102Cal. Inq. p.m. v. 412.
103Cal. Close 1346–9, p. 582.
104Cal. Inq. p.m. ix, 118.
105Feud. Aids, v, 191–2.
106Dugd. 723.
107MS. notes, Rev. J. H. Harvey Bloom.
108Recov. R. Trin. 18 & 19 Geo. II, ro. 46.
109Cal. Inq. p.m. v, 412.
110Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), no. 686.
111Lay Subsidy Roll (Dugd. Soc. vi), 81.
112Monast. Estates in Warwicks. 1547 (Dugd. Soc. ii), 119.
113Dugd. 722; Cal. Chart. R. ii, 64–5 (confirmation).
114P.R.O. Anct. Deeds, B. 4142.
115Ibid. B. 4146.
116Dugd. 723.
117E. Chanc. Proc. bdl. 1005, nos. 62–5. Cf. also Ct. of
Req. bdl. 12, no. 114.
118Recov. R. Trin. 18 & 19 Geo. II, ro. 46.
119Fin. R. 2 Jas. I, pt. 1, no. 32.
120Feet of F. Trin. 13 Eliz.
121Twenty-five Miles round Birmingham.
122Giffard's Reg. (Worc. Hist. Soc.), 93.
123Camden Soc. (1855), pp. 41–2.
124Non. Inq. (Rec. Com.), 445.
125Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iii, 92.
126Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxliii, 6.
127Pat. R. 27 Eliz. pt. 8.
128Fine R. 44 Eliz. pt. 2, no. 7; ibid. 2 Jas. I, pt. 1, no.
32.
129Reg. Thornborough, fol. 90.
130Feet of F. East. 16 Chas. I.
131Dugd. 721.
132State of Diocese of Worcester 1782–8 (in Diocesan
Registry); also gives names of curates 1758–1825.
133Reg. Pepys, fol. 75.
134Feet of F. Mich. 11 Anne.
135Dugd. 721.
136Feet of F. Trin. 21 Jas. I.
137Ibid. East. 1650.
138A. Peel (ed.) The Seconde Parte of a Register, ii, 167.
139Dugd. 721.
140London Gazette, 149–51.
141Cal. Pat. Ed. VI, v, 217.
142Fine R. 2 Jas. I, pt. 1, no. 32.
143Ct. of Req. bdl. 12, no. 114.
From: 'Parishes: Temple Grafton', A History of the County of
Warwick: Volume 3: Barlichway hundred (1945), pp. 94-100. URL:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=56989. Date accessed: 04
November 2008.
GREAT ALNE
GREAT ALNE is a parish, on the river Alne, from which it
derives its name, and has a station on the branch line of the Great Western
railway from Alcester to Bearley, 2 ½ miles north-east from Alcester and 100
from London, in the South-Western division of the county, Barlichway hundred,
Alcester petty sessional division, union, county court district and division,
Alcester rural deanery, Warwick archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester. The
chapel of St. Mary Magdalen is a small and plain building of stone in mixed
styles, consisting of chancel, nave, west porch, and a low western turret
containing one bell: the east window is stained and there are 243 sittings. The
register dates from the year 1611. The living is a chapelry, annexed to the
rectory of Kinwarton, joint net yearly value £270, including 102 acres of glebe
and residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Worcester, and held since 1908 by
the Rev. Eustace Havergal M.A. of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, who resides at
Kinwarton. The manor formerly belonged to the Abbey of Winchcomb, in
Gloucestershire. Great Alne Hall is the residence of Arthur Lucas Chance esq.
J.P. who is lord of the manor, and, with Sir Nicholas William George
Throckmorton bart. of Coughton Court, the chief landowner. The soil is sand and
marl; subsoil, sand and clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley, turnips and
beans. The area is 1,757 acres of land and 7 of water; rateable value, £2507;
the population in 1911 was 363.
Verger, Frederick Westbury.
Post & Telegraph Office:—
Mrs. Clara Edwards, sub-postmistress. Letters arrive from Alcester,
Warwick¬shire, by cycle post at 7.15 a.m. & 3.40 p.m.; dis¬patched at 5.25
p.m. & Sundays, g a.m.; no Sunday delivery. Aston Cantlow, 2 miles distant,
is the nearest money order office
Public Elementary School (mixed), with mistress's house, situated on the
confines of the parish & serving also for the parish of Kinwarton; it will
hold 120 children; average attendance, 60;....mistress
Railway Station, Thomas Stacy, station master & goods agent
PRIVATE
RESIDENTS.
Chance Arth. Lucas J.P., Great Alne Hall
Dolben Misses
Green Misses
Gunn Henry Samuel
Hancox John James, Arden house
Jephcott Richard H
King George C
Neale T. Rose cottage
Purton Misses
Smith Edwin
Spencer John, The Knoll
Spencer William, Manor farm
COMMERCIAL.
Edwards Clara (Mrs.), shopkeeper & sub-postmistress
Edwards Edwin, assistant overseer & collector of rates
Finnemore Edward, farmer ,
Greenhill Albert George, Mother Huff Cap P.H
Hancox Henry, farmer, Crockett's farm, Alne hills
Jeffcoat William, farmer
Lane Benjamin, farmer, Alne hills
Moore Ethel (Miss), shopkeeper
Phillips Fanny (Mrs.), farmer, Alne hls Rutter John Henry, Boot P.H ;
Shaw William, farmer, Alne hills
Spencer, Son & Hancox, millers (water & steam)
Spencer William, farmer, Manor farm
