THE BOROUGH OF NUNEATON
The ancient parish of Nuneaton, containing 6,541
acres, formed a roughly L-shaped block lying to the
north and east of Chilvers Coton, the northern limb of
the L being some 6 miles from east to west and the
eastern rather over 3 miles from north to south. At the
angle of the two limbs lay the town, which had originally
grown up round the nunnery to which it owes its name,
but had subsequently developed as a mining and industrial centre. For 1 mile on the north-east the boundary of the parish, separating it from Leicestershire, is
the Watling Street as far north as Hollow Farm, where
it runs south-west by the Change Brook (fn. 1) into the River
Anker, which it follows for about a mile before cutting
across country westwards. On the east the boundary
leaves Watling Street to follow the Harrow Brook into
the upper reaches of the Anker; on the west it runs down
the Wem Brook to join the Anker ½ mile below the
Market Place. From the Market Place run four main
roads; the first, Queen's Road, leads west into the
Arbury Road, which forms the parish boundary along
the northern edge of Chilvers Coton; Abbey Street leads
north-west to Atherstone, and in it (no. 75) is one of
the very few old houses in the town, being a 17thcentury timber-framed building with a massive central
chimney-stack and chamfered beams to the ceilings.
The third road runs south through Chilvers Coton and
Griff to Bedworth; and the fourth eastwards across the
Anker, where it branches left as Bond Gate, (fn. 2) leading
north-east into 'The Long Shoot' which strikes the
Watling Street at right angles, and right, as Church
Street, to go southwards to Attleborough. In Church
Street a row of 17th-century houses (nos. 30–7) with
plastered fronts, some with quasi-rusticated quoins and
chimney-stacks of thin bricks was destroyed by enemy
action in May 1941. Nos. 35 to 37 proved to be of
timber-framing on a stone plinth 3 ft. 6 in. in height. (fn. 3)
At Attleborough is the modern church (1842) of Holy
Trinity, built of brown brick in the 13th-century style,
with apsidal chancel, nave, and west tower with stone
spire.
The country, so far as it is not built over, is open, with
little woodland and numerous small streams. The town
of Nuneaton lies in a slight hollow at an elevation of
270 ft., the ground rising round it, the eastern part of
the parish being between 300 and 325 ft. and the
western reaching 425 ft. at Stockingford Church (St.
Paul's, built 1824) and 525 ft. at the south-west corner
of the parish. The Coventry Canal crosses the parish
just west of the town, which is an important junction
on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, lines
radiating thence in six directions, though the branch to
Ashby-de-la-Zouch is now closed for passenger traffic.
There are three stations: Nuneaton Trent Valley
(opened Dec. 1847), Abbey Street, and Stockingford
(1864). (fn. 4)
King Henry II granted to the priory a fair on the
feast on the Invention of the Holy Cross (3 May) and
four days following, (fn. 5) and this was extended in 1239 by
inclusion of two days before the festivals. (fn. 6) This had
dwindled to three days by 1830 (fn. 7) and is now limited to
the one day, 14 May. Other fairs, for horses and cattle,
on 18 February and 31 October, and a statutory fair
14 days before Michaelmas, which existed in 1850 (fn. 8)
had disappeared by 1888. (fn. 9) In 1226 a weekly market
on Tuesday was granted, (fn. 10) and in 1233 the day was
changed to Saturday, (fn. 11) on which day it is still held. In
1314 a grant for five years of dues on all goods brought
into the town was made to the priory for the paving of
the town. (fn. 12) Twenty years later a grant of pontage for
the repair of the bridge was made to 'the bailiffs and
goodmen' of Nuneaton. (fn. 13) This suggests the existence
of something in the nature of a manorial borough,
which is borne out by a charter of 1227 by which Sibyl
the Prioress and Robert the Prior of Nuneaton grant
that all who hold burgages from them in the town shall
hold them as freely as the burgesses of the Prior of
Coventry hold in Coventry. (fn. 14) There are many references to burgages and half-burgages in Nuneaton, some
of which were in 'Bakhouse Lane', between 1307 and
1574, (fn. 15) as well as to the Burgagefeld, (fn. 16) still known as
The Burgages. (fn. 17) The town, however, was never called
a borough, and any organization that did exist must
have been quite rudimentary.
The rise of coal-mining in this district at the end of
the 13th century increased the importance of the town,
particularly with the introduction of improved methods
in the middle of the 16th century. (fn. 18) The inclosure of
2,670 acres in Attleborough under an Act of 1731 (fn. 19)
probably benefited the larger farmers at the expense of
the poor, and in August 1756 Nuneaton was one of the
places where there were serious riots over the price of
corn. The houses of 'two substantial tradesmen' were
sacked and demolished by the mob, who also threatened
the mills. One rioter was shot and four arrested 'by
the great courage of the Curate of Nuneaton', two of
them being subsequently executed. (fn. 20) In 1802 another
Act was passed by which 773 acres in Nuneaton and
Stockingford were inclosed. (fn. 21)
Towards the end of the 18th century textile industries were established in the town, particularly ribbonweaving, (fn. 22) and these are still an important industrial
feature, among the latest branches being the artificial
silk factory established by Messrs. Courtauld. The production of hats, leather goods, (fn. 23) and needles contributed
to the growth of the town, and the making of bricks and
tiles ranks only second in importance to coal-mining. (fn. 24)
In 1893 the Urban Districts of Nuneaton and Chilvers Coton were amalgamated, and in 1907 these two
parishes, including the hamlets of
Attleborough and Stockingford,
were incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Nuneaton. In
1931 the parish of Weddington
and part of Caldecote were added,
and in 1934 certain adjustments
were made between the Leicestershire parishes of Higham and
Hinckley and the borough, which
now covers 11,624 acres and has
a population of about 50,000.
The council now consists of the
Mayor, Deputy Mayor, 8 Aldermen, and 24 Councillors representing 8 wards. (fn. 25) The Council
House is a dignified building of
local brick with stone dressings.
Borough of Nuneaton. Party cheveronwise argent and barry wavy azure and argent with two lozenges sable in chief and a chief gules with a cinqfoil ermine between two fleurs delis or thereon.
Riversley Park, containing 15 acres intersected by the
River Anker, was given to the town by Alderman E. F.
Melly. It contains the Memorial, a granite cross, to
those who fell in the War of 1914–18, and also a
Museum and Art Gallery with which a School of Arts
and Crafts is associated. The King Edward VI
Grammar School, formally founded in 1552 but
actually established some ten years earlier, (fn. 26) has
now more than 200 pupils. A High School for Girls
was erected by the County Council in 1909, and there
are about thirty elementary schools. The County
School of Mining, originating in evening classes, was
established in 1913 and has developed into an important institution. (fn. 27) The Roman Catholic Church in
Coton Road was rebuilt in 1936, and the Methodists,
Congregationalists, Baptists, and other denominations
have their places of worship.
MANORS
Before the Conquest Harding owned
ETON, and he was replaced here, as in
his Leicestershire estates, by Earl Aubrey
de Couci. Aubrey withdrew from England before
1086, when the lands formerly his were held by the
Crown and had been committed to the custody of
Geoffrey de Wirce. A mill, worth 32d. annually, is
mentioned. (fn. 28) Robert d'Oilly also held, under Turchil
of Warwick, 3 hides in 'Etone', perhaps here, which
had been owned by Alwin in the days of Edward the
Confessor. (fn. 29) Before 1118 the property passed to
Robert, Count of Meulan and Earl of Leicester, (fn. 30)
whose son, Robert 'le Bossu', Earl of Leicester, founded
here a nunnery of the Order of Fontevrault. (fn. 31) The
whole lordship, which therefore became known as
NUNEATON, was part of its lands, except the portion
in Stockingford held by the Canons of St. Mary de Pré,
Leicester, and that of the Nuns of Chaise-Dieu (France)
in Nuneaton and Attleborough. (fn. 32) The latter was
rented by Nuneaton Priory in 1243 for 24 marks, and
subsequently bought for 300 marks. (fn. 33) In 1291 the
priory's possessions here were worth £36 4s. 11d.,
including two mills worth £1, and another in Stockingford worth 6s. 8d., and £2 from the issues of the fair
and market. (fn. 34) In 1535 the annual value of its temporalities in Nuneaton was £52 7s. 9d., and in Attleborough
£21 13s. 6d. (fn. 35)
In 1540 the site of the priory and all its lands in
Nuneaton were granted to Sir Marmaduke Constable
of London, (fn. 36) and on 16 May 1552 the Duke of Suffolk
and Thomas Duport received a grant of the reversion
of some of Constable's lands here in default of heirs
male of the body of the said Marmaduke. (fn. 37) The following day Sir Marmaduke was granted permission to sell
190 acres to Michael Purefoy and his heirs. (fn. 38) Sir
Marmaduke died on 28 April 1560, and was succeeded
by his son Robert, (fn. 39) who in 1564 sold his lands to Sir
Ambrose Cave, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. (fn. 40)
Sir Ambrose died in 1568, and was succeeded by his
only child, Margaret, wife of Henry Knollys. (fn. 41) Henry
died in 1582, leaving two daughters, Elizabeth who
married Henry Willoughby of Risley, who was created
a baronet in 1611, and Lettice, afterwards wife of the
fifth Lord Paget, between whom
the property was divided. (fn. 42) Sir
Henry Willoughby died in 1649
and the Nuneaton estate passed
to his third daughter, Anne, wife
of Sir Thomas Aston, of Aston,
Cheshire. (fn. 43) Sir Willoughby Aston,
son of Sir Thomas, succeeded, and
the family (fn. 44) retained the moiety
of the manor and the lands until
1863. (fn. 45) In 1863 C. H. Adams
bought the estates for £1,000, and
he sold them in 1867 for £1,500
to Andrew Thompson of Keele. (fn. 46) Thompson sold a portion for £500 in 1870 to George Skey of Bonehill,
Tamworth, and the property seems to have become
dispersed. (fn. 47)
Aston. Party cheveronwise sable and argent.
The moiety which descended to Lettice, Lady Paget,
remained in the Paget family (fn. 48) until 1765, when it was
sold by Henry Paget, Earl of Uxbridge, for £19,000
to three brothers, James, Edward, and Henry Tomkinson. These conveyed it to their father Henry in 1793
for a nominal sum, shortly before his death. (fn. 49) Major
Charles William Tomkinson, his descendant, is the
present lord of the manor. (fn. 50)
HORESTON GRANGE
HORESTON GRANGE, lying to the east of the
town, and originally part of the lordship of Nuneaton,
was a possession of the priory in 1291, when it contained
6 carucates of land worth 10s. (fn. 51) In 1540 it was
granted with the other former possessions of the priory
to Sir Marmaduke Constable, (fn. 52) and in 1548 he made
a settlement of 'the manor of Horestone'. (fn. 53) In 1552 he
granted 'the grange of Horston' to Jasper Fisher, citizen
of London. (fn. 54) Jasper died childless in 1578 and left as
heirs two cousins, Katherine Norwood, a widow, and
Anne wife of Richard Wolriche; (fn. 55) but in 1599 his
widow Margaret, then widow of Nicholas Saunders of
Ewell (Surrey), (fn. 56) sold Horeston Grange to Edward
Blunt of Arleston (Derbs.). (fn. 57) In 1648 the estate was
sold by William Englefield of Hinton Markaunt
(Hants) to Edward Stratford of Nuneaton, and it has
descended to Sir W. F. Stratford Dugdale, bart., of
Merevale. (fn. 58) The site is now crossed by the railway line
to Leicester, and no trace of the house remains except
a dry moat.
Tomkinson. Azure a cross paty pierced square or between four martlets argent all within a border ermine.
Paget. Sable on a cross engrailed between four eagles argent five leopards sable.
THE HABIT
THE HABIT, sometimes styled a manor, was a
mansion situated in the outer court of the priory, with
lands attached, and appears to have been the lodging
of the prior. In 1541 'le Habyte' was leased by the
Crown to Ralph Sadler, (fn. 59) but by 1563 it was held, as
'the manor of Thabbite', with Nuneaton Manor. (fn. 60) It
continued, however, as late as 1786 to be specifically
mentioned. (fn. 61)
Robert, Earl of Leicester, in about 1150 gave to the
nuns of Chaise-Dieu, in France, 6 virgates in Eton and
Attleborough in exchange for land in Olney (Bucks.)
which he had previously given them. (fn. 62) This land was
expressly excluded from his endowment of the Priory
of Nuneaton, (fn. 63) and was confirmed to Chaise-Dieu by
his son Robert, c. 1168. (fn. 64) In 1243 the Prioress of
Chaise-Dieu leased the manor of ATTLEBOROUGH
to Nuneaton, (fn. 65) and about fifty years later the lease was
converted into a sale. (fn. 66) The manor passed at the Dissolution to Sir Marmaduke Constable with Nuneaton
and descended with it, but retaining its separate manorial
constitution, (fn. 67) until at least 1815. (fn. 68) By 1900, however,
it had been acquired by the Earl of Harrowby, (fn. 69) whose
successor in the title still held it in 1921. (fn. 70) The
manorial rights appear to have lapsed.
There is said to have been a chapel here, for the
maintenance of whose priest a sum of £5 yearly was
allocated; (fn. 71) but nothing is known of its history.
A site (locus) in Stockingford, with woodland and
arable, was granted c. 1143 by Earl Robert 'le Bossu'
and William de Newmarch, with whom he had exchanged it for Whitwick, Leics., to the canons of St.
Mary de Pre of Leicester. (fn. 72) The canons had a chapel
here by grant of Geoffrey de Turville. (fn. 73) In 1291 the
land of the canons comprised one carucate valued at
15s. a year, while the annual value of 3 carucates
owned by Nuneaton Priory was 18s., together with a
mill worth half a mark, and a meadow worth 7s. (fn. 74)
The manor of STOCKINGFORD may be identified
with the messuages, mill, and land there granted in
1280 by Hugh de Lilleburne to his son Hugh. (fn. 75) In
1336 Roger Jabet granted the manor to William
Jabet and Maud, with reversion to their son William
and his wife Ellen. (fn. 76) The latter in 1365 bought the
reversion of lands here from John Wale and Edith his
wife after the death of Elia widow of Nicholas de Lilleburne, whose heir Edith was. (fn. 77) Hugh Jabet, mentioned
as of Stockingford in 1373, (fn. 78) may be identical with
Hugh Lilleburne, called son and heir of William Jabet, (fn. 79)
who was lord of Stockingford between 1400 and 1413. (fn. 80)
At the latter date the manor was held of him for the
life of Hugh by John son of Thomas Boteler of Exhall,
and the reversion was granted by Hugh Lilleburne to
trustees who conveyed it to the Priory of Arbury. (fn. 81)
This was probably in connexion with the foundation
of a chantry in Arbury Priory Church in 1417 by Hugh
Lilleburne for his own soul and those of his parents,
William and Ellen. (fn. 82) In 1424 this John Boteler, and a
certain Roger Levyng, made over their respective rights
in the manor to the priory, (fn. 83) and in 1469 Henry son
and heir of John Boteler released his claims. (fn. 84) In
1535 Arbury Priory possessed lands and tenements
in Stockingford valued at £13 16s. 1d., and rents worth
£1 3s. 4d., together with lands worth £5 6s. 8d.
in Nuneaton; (fn. 85) while the Priory of Nuneaton held
lands here valued at £9 1s. 6d. (fn. 86) After the Dissolution the Arbury lands were granted to Sir Edward
Wootton, John Danett, and Anthony Cooke. (fn. 87) In
1544 Mary Danett, widow (of Gerard Danett),
mortgaged her purparty to George Medley, (fn. 88) to the
use of Sir Edward Wootton, who was her nephew. (fn. 89)
One-third was granted by Thomas Wootton son of
Sir Edward, to Richard Cooke in 1577, (fn. 90) and in 1584 (fn. 91)
his son Anthony Cooke granted the whole manor
to Edmund Parker. (fn. 92) The former possessions of
Nuneaton Priory meanwhile followed the descent of
Nuneaton Manor (q.v.) and came into the hands of Sir
Henry Willoughby, who had also acquired the Parkers'
manorial rights by 1631. (fn. 93) He seems to have bestowed
the manor on his daughter Anne, (fn. 94) and she and her
husband Sir Thomas Aston held it in 1639, (fn. 95) since
which time Stockingford has been united to Nuneaton.
Plan of St. Nicholas Church, Nuneaton.
A messuage in Nuneaton, left for the maintenance of
anniversaries and lamps in the parish church, was
granted in 1550 to Thomas Reeve, gentleman, John
Johnson, fishmonger, and Henry Herdson, skinner, all
of London. (fn. 96) The Hospital of St. John the Baptist,
Coventry, held lands here, which were granted in
1545 to John Hales of that city. (fn. 97) Stoneleigh Abbey
possessed tenements valued in 1535 at 2s. 6d., out
of which 1s. 3d. was paid to Nuneaton Priory as
composition. (fn. 98)
CHURCHES
The large parish church of ST.
NICHOLAS consists of a chancel
and nave, with north and south chapels
and aisles, a west tower, and a north vestry.
The earliest work remaining is of c. 1340, i.e. the
south chapel and parts (probably reset material) of the
north chapel and aisle. The arcades of the nave and
the clearstory are rebuildings and additions of the late
15th century, and the north arcade of the chancel of
the early 16th century, when the north chapel was
rebuilt. The west tower is an earlier 15th-century
addition, as it shows the line of the nave-roof that preceded the clearstory, and the clearstory walls abut the
fabric of the tower.
A great deal of modern restoration has been carried
out and the south aisle has been rebuilt or refaced. The
chancel, which was practically in line with the chapels,
was lengthened about 21 ft. eastwards in 1852.
The chancel (about 57 ft. by 21 ft.) has a modern
east window of five lights and reticulated tracery. All the
masonry east of the chapels is modern; there is a north
window of three lights and tracery, below which is a
recess containing the tomb of Sir Marmaduke Constable,
1560. The walls are of ashlar with chamfered plinths
and traceried parapets; the buttresses are gabled and
surmounted at the angles by crocketed pinnacles.
Farther west is the early-16th-century north arcade of
two 16-ft. bays; the pillar and responds have sunk
splayed faces, moulded capitals, and chamfered bases;
the heads are segmental-pointed arches, stilted above
the capitals. The south arcade is of three bays, two of
13-ft. span and the eastern of 11 ft., dating from c.1340;
the western bay was subsequently altered. The two
piers are a little unusual, in form of two wave-moulded
orders separated by a canted fillet and hollow. They
have moulded capitals with chamfered abaci, and 3-ft.
bases with moulded round top members. The twocentred arches are of two wave-moulded orders. The
east respond is flush with the east wall of the south
chapel and the inner order is carried on a corbel-capital
with foliage carving. The western bay has a 14thcentury respond of two wave-moulded orders, but the
head is much loftier than the others and is stilted.
The roof is modern, of two-centred barrel-vault type
with open trussed rafters.
The two-centred chancel arch, very high up, is
moulded like the nave-arcades, springing from wall
corbels carved with foliage, and was inserted in 1852.
The spandrels are filled with foiled tracery panels.
The nave (58 ft. by 21½ ft.) has north and south
arcades, each composed of four 13¼-ft. bays. The
piers are moulded, a roll between two hollows on each
splay, with moulded capitals, and the same mouldings
are continued in the four-centred arches. The wallfaces set back in the spandrels, thus forming over the
apices and piers moulded pilasters, which are carried
up to form arches above the clearstory windows. Although the arcades are practically identical in detail of
the 15th century, probably the southern, which is of
white stone, preceded the northern, which is of yellowish
stone like that of the clearstory. The nave arcades are
divided from the chancel arcades by about 3 ft. of wallspace below the chancel arch.
The clearstory has eight tall four-centred windows
each side, each of three cinquefoiled lights. The parapets are embattled and have five pinnacles each side,
all restored. The parapet string-courses have weatherworn spouts carved as men, beasts, and monsters. From
the way the walls meet the diagonal buttresses of the
tower it is obvious that the latter is the earlier.
The roof is of late-15th-century low-pitched type;
it has four subdivided main bays with flat cross-beams
having the side-mouldings cambered. The beams have
carved central bosses; the easternmost has foliage with a
crown above it on the west face and a fleur de lis on the
east; the second has a double rose, and the other two
have grotesque faces. The beam against the east wall
has a shield with the Five Wounds and foliage. The intermediate smaller beams are similar, and the purlins and
wall-plates are also moulded. There are five purlins,
making twelve compartments in each main bay, and
they have varying carved bosses at the intersections;
many of these have the sacred monogram [IHC], others
grotesque faces, roses, &c., all accompanied by foliage.
Each compartment is again divided into four panels by
moulded ribs, which also have carved bosses of the same
kind.
On the east face of the tower is a chase cut for the
earlier gabled roof of the nave, which rose from the
level of the sills of the clearstory windows; the chases
pass round the diagonal buttresses.
The north chapel (about 34 ft. by 14 ft.) and the
north aisle of the nave (about 56 ft. long) are undivided
structurally. The east window is of three trefoiled
lights and mid-14th-century tracery in a two-centred
head; the jambs and arch are wave-moulded on both
faces. The two north windows of the chapel are each of
three trefoiled lights under a four-centred head, the
jambs being of sunk-chamfered orders matching those
of the arcade. Being set in an earlier wall they do not
coincide with the bays of the arcade. Between them is a
doorway with old chamfered jambs, probably 14thcentury, and a modern shouldered lintel. The third
window, opposite the chancel arch, is an early-14thcentury window, probably reset, of two trefoiled ogeeheaded lights and a quatrefoil in a two-centred head,
with an external hood-mould with head-stops, a man in
a hood and a woman with a wimple. The fourth
window is a tall one of three trefoiled lights and quatrefoils in a square head. It is modern, as is the doorway
into the vestry. The original doorway has been removed
to the extreme west end of the wall, and the west wall
has been recessed to receive the door when open. It is
of the 15th century and has moulded jambs and a fourcentred head. (fn. 99) The two-light window in the west wall
is modern, except the jambs, which are of the 14th
century. The east and north walls of the chapel up to
the buttress immediately west of the two large windows
are of old cream ashlar and have a plinth with a projecting moulded top member and chamfered lower.
There is a broken vertical seam about a foot west of the
buttress. The parapets are embattled and have a corbel
at the angle carved as a half-human monster. The
masonry west of the vertical seam is of larger cream
ashlar and has a plinth of two chamfered courses, the
upper level with the lower chamfered course of the
eastern plinth. An ancient chamfered string-course
(former eaves-course?) just above the 14th-century
third window is stopped by the head of the tall fourth
window. Above this string-course are three later
courses of masonry and the parapet, which is like that to
the chapel. The west wall, similar to the north wall,
forms a straight joint with the tower buttress.
The roof of the chapel and aisle is of the same type
as the nave roof, but the mouldings are more typical of
the early 16th century. It is divided into eight bays
with main and intermediate cross-beams and three
purlins dividing each main bay into six compartments,
each subdivided into four panels by moulded ribs. At
the intersections are carved bosses, with beasts-heads,
foliage, &c.
The south chapel and aisle (13 ft. wide) also have
no structural division. The east window is of three
trefoiled ogee-headed lights and restored net tracery
of the 14th century in a two-centred head with an
external hood-mould. Externally the jambs and head
are wave-moulded; internally the splays have a projecting moulding continued in the rear-arch. North of
it, inside, is a plain rectangular niche with a large
bracket carved with a man's head. In the south wall
is a piscina, of which the moulded head rises through
the sill of the window above. West of it is a single
sedile with ogee head and finials.
In the south wall of the chapel are four windows; the
two lower are of the 14th century. The eastern is of two
trefoiled ogee-headed lights and a quatrefoil in a
two-centred head; the external hood-mould has stops
carved with busts of men: it dates from c. 1340. The
western is some 20 or 30 years older, and is of three
narrow trefoiled pointed lancet lights below a twocentred head with an external hood-mould which has
15th-century man and woman head-stops. The jambs
and arch, with a roll-mould, are original, the mullions
and heads restored. At a higher level, but not enough
to be called a clearstory, are two windows (c. 1507), (fn. 100)
each of three cinquefoiled lights and vertical tracery
in a four-centred head. The east wall is of creamtinted sandstone ashlar with a moulded plinth. The
restored top of the wall is a low-pitched gable. The
south wall, of similar masonry, has a restored embattled
parapet with pinnacles and gargoyles. At the southeast angle is a low diagonal buttress with a gabled head,
and low down in its face is an image niche with a
trefoiled ogee-head. There are also low buttresses
below the two higher windows, the western modern.
On the masonry of the south wall, which has many
pit-holes caused by weather and age, are scratched
many sun-dials; two or three of them are probably
genuine medieval mass-dials, but the majority, all at
boy-height, are later imitative random scratchings.
West of the chapel is a projecting stair turret,
probably put in for the 15th-century rood-loft, but now
all restored. It has a four-centred doorway in its outer
east wall, but none is visible internally. The remainder
of the south wall and the west wall of the aisle have
been refaced. There are four three-light south
windows of 15th-century style, and below the westernmost a doorway of 14th-century character with ballflower ornament. The west window is of two lights
and a quatrefoil in a pointed head. The parapets are
embattled. The roofs are of the same character as the
others, but with slightly different mouldings. The
chapel ceiling, slightly higher than that of the aisle, is
divided into three bays, and the aisle roof is of four
bays; both have bosses carved with religious symbols,
grotesque faces, and conventional foliage or flowers.
In both aisles are long galleries with 18th-century
panelled fronts. The west tower (about 12 ft. square)
is of three stages with plain chamfered string-courses
and a plinth with a moulded top member like that to
the north chapel. The walls are of old grey-white
ashlar, much patched with new material. The battlemented parapet, also restored, is surmounted by
pinnacles. At the angles are diagonal buttresses of six
stages, reaching to half-way up the top stage; the
offsets except the lowest, are moulded. At the southeast angle is a projecting square stair-turret changing
to octagonal above the parapet string-course, and rising
above the main parapet; it has an embattled parapet
(restored) with carvings at the angles of the stringcourse. The vice is entered by an external doorway (fn. 101)
in the main south wall of the tower and is lighted by
loops.
The archway to the nave is of three continuous
chamfered orders and has a two-centred head with a
restored hood-mould towards the nave. The west
doorway has jambs and a four-centred head of two
chamfered orders. The window over it is of three
trefoiled ogee-headed lights and 15th-century tracery
in a two-centred head with an external hood-mould
and head-stops. The second stage has a south rectangular light and a modern west stone clock face. The
four windows of the bell-chamber are each of two
trefoiled lights and a quatrefoil in a two-centred head
with a hood-mould; the western has foliage stops. The
tracery is restored.
The vestry, near the west end of the north aisle,
was extended eastwards about 30 years ago. In the
vestry is a 16th-century communion table, with bulbous
legs. Its west window of three lights has 15th-century
casement-moulded jambs.
The font, pulpit, &c., are modern. Some pews are
made up with 18th-century woodwork. In the recess
in the north wall of the sanctuary is the well-preserved
alabaster tomb and recumbent effigy of Sir Marmaduke
Constable, 1560. (fn. 102) He is represented in Elizabethan
armour, the face bearded and the head resting on a
helm that has a crest of a galleon in full sail. The hands
are in prayer and his gauntlets lie by his right knee.
The feet rest on a lion. The tomb is panelled on the
south side and west end and has carved shields of arms
of Constable and quarterings, and the galleon crest. The
inscription in raised 'black letter' is in two lines.
A small tablet on the north side of the chancel is to
Mary, daughter of John Stratford and wife of Richard
Combes; died 1668. Another on the south side, with
busts of a man and woman, is to Antony Trotman,
died 1703, and Abigail (Stratford) of Merevale his
wife, died 1705. Other monuments are later.
Of the eight bells the third and sixth are by Abraham
Rudhall, 1703, part of an original peal of six; the fourth
is by J. Briant of Hertford, 1809, and the others by
Warner's, 1873.
The communion plate includes a small Elizabethan
chalice (no date mark); another chalice of 1650; two
large patens given respectively by Anne and Frances
Trotman in 1705; and two large silver flagons, the gift
of Edward Dudley in 1771.
The registers begin in 1585.
In the vicarage garden east of the church are many
pieces of ancient tracery, &c., from the church, and a
damaged bowl, about 2 ft. square, which may possibly
have once served as a font.
The church of ST. MARY incorporates ancient remains of the church of the Benedictine Nunnery of
Nuneaton.
The nave was rebuilt in 1876 by Mr. Clapton Rolfe,
the chancel in 1906, and north transept in 1931 by the
late Sir Harold Brakespear. The latter, following a
history of the nunnery by Mrs. Hilary Jenkinson, has
written an architectural description of the remains,
accompanied by a plan. This shows a cruciform church
with a central tower, the vaulted presbytery and north
and south transepts being each of two bays. The nave
was of six bays, of which four served as the Nuns' Quire
and the two west bays as the Brothers' Quire. The
monastic buildings, of which very scanty remains survive, were on the normal lines.
The eastern part of the church and the dorter range
were probably the first to be erected after the foundation of c. 1155–9 and were followed by the nave and
other buildings about the cloister. Early in the 13th
century the central tower fell, owing to the failure of
the north-east angle, and doubtless in falling damaged
the presbytery and north transept. The presbytery and
east wall of the transept were rebuilt soon afterwards.
Of the remains of the church that have survived are
portions of the 12th- and 13th-century piers of the
tower, in part up to the springing lines of the arches,
the south wall of the south transept to nearly the same
height, and the foundations of the north transept and
nave up to a course or two above the plinths. The portions rebuilt up to the present are the presbytery, north
transept, and rather more than half the long nave.
The modern chancel (about 40 ft. by 28½ ft.) is on
the lines of the original presbytery. The east window
is of five lights and tracery and there are four windows
in each side-wall, each of two lights and tracery. The
buttresses divide the side-walls into two bays. No
ancient masonry is visible in the north and east walls,
but of the south wall a little of the plinth in the west
bay is ancient; this has a triple-roll top moulding, below
which it is splayed out. In the south wall are a modern
piscina and three sedilia, but below the floor and not
now visible there is a row of trefoil bases close together,
occupying the position of the sedilia.
Of the remains of the four arches to the central
tower only the 13th-century chancel arch has been
restored. The arches were about 7 ft. thick, each pier
conjoining two responds being about 11½ ft. by 11½ ft.
The 12th-century responds were each of four orders;
the innermost was a triplet of 5 in. attached round
shafts, the second a 10-in. half-round angle-roll, the
third a 6-in. detached nook-shaft, and the fourth a 5-in.
three-quarter-round shaft between two deep hollows.
Outside these another half-round like the second served
to carry the vaulting ribs of the tower and nave and
transepts. The nook-shafts and the three-quarter anglerolls had moulded bases with chamfered plinths, and
capitals with scallops or incipient foliage. The halfround angle-rolls were probably continued in the heads
without capitals and had the chamfered bases or plinths
only. Most of the three-quarter edge-rolls have been
broken away, leaving only the flanking hollows above
the bottom one or two courses. In the north-west pier
the dressings survive up to seven or eight courses above
the bases (except for the nook-shafts, which have almost
completely vanished), but the rubble core rises a good
deal higher. In the south-west pier only a few courses
of nave-respond remain, but by a freakish chance the
west respond of the south transept-arch preserves two
of the original capitals (with incipient foliage) on the
transept side, although the nook-shafts or edge-roll
below them are missing. The south vaulting edge-roll of
the nave survives in twenty-four courses up to the level
of the top of the modern triforium, and two voussoirs
of the north-east vault rib of the tower exist. In the
13th century the north-east pier was rebuilt and the
chancel arch redesigned. So far as the west respond of
the transept arch was concerned the 12th-century
mouldings were re-used or copied, but the middle shaft
of the innermost triplet was changed into an octagon
with concave sides instead of a round, and new moulded
'hold-water' bases and capitals were provided. These
are still in place, although the shafts are missing and
the three-quarter rolls mostly broken away.
The responds of the chancel arch differ from the
12th-century responds. The triplet of shafts with the
octagonal middle shaft are like those just described,
but instead of the other recessed square orders there is a
wide splay on each side in which, cut from the solid,
are two filleted shafts. In front and alternating with
them are three free shafts (restored) tied in with intermediate moulded bands. The moulded pointed head is
all modern; the innermost order was modelled from the
draft lines found on the old capitals, but the contours
of the others had been lost and had to be redesigned.
The south-east pier, except for the 13th-century
chancel respond, is like the other 12th-century work,
but only the bases and a few lower courses are left.
In this pier is a stair-vice, of which the lowest three or
four steps and about twelve courses of masonry are
ancient. It leads up to the rood-loft and roofs. North of
the chancel arch towards the chancel is an ancient plain
locker.
A number of loose stones lie on the ruins. They
include several 12th-century capitals with scalloped
ornament, &c., and a few grotesque or humoresque
carved corbels.
The north transept (37¾ ft. deep by 28½ ft. wide)
was entirely rebuilt in the 13th century, and was vaulted.
It has now been rebuilt on the old foundations, as far
as possible reproducing the original work but omitting
the vaulting. It is of two bays, and foundations were
found of a square chapel east of the north bay. This
chapel has not been rebuilt. West of the southern bay
was a 13th-century porch. Of the original masonry
incorporated in the restoration are the following: (1)
In the south-east angle attached to the great pier, at a
level ten courses up, the remains of a triple vault-shaft
(three courses) resting on a badly perished carved corbel
and moulded capital. (2) The rubble walling inside the
east wall up to about a yard above the capital, and the
lower part of the west wall are ancient. (3) The original
plinth survives in the west wall and a little in the north;
this has the bottom courses of chamfered narrow pilasters
like those in the frater of Merevale Abbey, which have
served as a model for the restoration of the upper
part. There is little trace of the east chapel, but of
the western porch a few lower courses of the walls remain, with a chamfered plinth and the north jamb of
the 9½-ft. outer entrance; this was of four orders or
more, the second or third with a keeled edge-roll, between two orders that had nook-shafts of which the
moulded bases survive, and the outermost with a
filleted edge-roll between hollows. Of the south jamb
only remains of the chamfered sub-bases are left. A few
courses of the inner doorway are also ancient and are
similarly moulded.
The south transept (35½ ft. by 28½ ft.) has not yet
been restored, but the old south wall stands about
20 ft. high and the east wall up to about 7 ft., including
the 13th-century plinth and bases of buttresses dividing
it into two bays that had intermediate single pilasters.
The west wall is marked only by loose stones. In the
south-west angle remains the shafted corbel for the
vaulting.
The nave (132½ ft. by 28 ft.) was divided outside on
the north into six bays by shallow buttresses. The
modern nave occupies four of the bays (the former
Nuns' Quire) and is built in 12th-century style, with
interlacing wall-arcading to three of the bays, and a
triforium with three arches on each bay, the middle
one having a window. Triple wall-shafts mark the bay
inside. The beginning of the north wall next the
crossing is of original 12th-century yellow sandstone
ashlar with a wide shallow buttress rising above the
plinth. The plinth has a round top member and is
splayed out below it. The remainder of the north wall,
of ragstone, is modern and there are no traces of a doorway. The two bays farther west retain the old plinth
and two or three courses of 12th-century masonry on
which is six or seven feet of later rag masonry. They
mark the Brothers' Quire. The present west wall at
the fourth bay is of brick. The original west wall (to
the Brothers' Quire) is built of rubble work and stands
up about 15 ft., but it has been robbed of its dressed
masonry: the ends of the wall are rough and broken but
probably had shallow buttresses like the north wall.
The whole of the south wall of the nave is modern,
but at the east end in the re-entering angle with the
transept is a twin shaft between hollows, evidently to
do with the vaulting of the cloisters; it rises about fifteen
courses.
In the floor of the chancel are re-laid a fairly large
number of 4½-in. inlaid tiles, some with conventional
foliage patterns in sets of four or nine, some with fleurs
de lis, and some heraldic: two are charged, (argent) a
bend with three cinquefoils thereon; another, a fesse
dancetty between six crosslets fitchy; two have a fesse
between six crosslets; three have a cheveron between
three sexfoils; three have two lions passant; another
two leopards; and another is checky. One, a part of a
set of nine, has part of a circle, outside which is the figure
of a man and inside it are letters, and four others have
each a Lombardic capital.
In the church are several coffin-lids: one has a long
cross with a slightly sunk head in a circle, and the stem
and base in incised lines.
A slab partly cut away has indents of the brass effigies
of a late-15th-century knight in armour and part of the
figure of his wife with an inscription below them. In
the top dexter corner was a shield.
The cloister was unusually large, being 135 ft. square.
Of the remains of monastic buildings, only the east
wall of the chapter-house and dorter range is still standding, about 6 or 7 ft. high and about 60 ft. in length. It
was 10 ft. wider than the transept. The wall is of rubble.
A row of socket-holes in the north wall (south wall of
south transept) shows the position of the former upper
floor. Above these the wall is fair-faced, but below them
it is rough, probably because the chapter-house was
vaulted. Very recent excavations have been made with
the object of discovering a central pier: some stones
thus exposed may indicate its foundations. There are
only loose stones to mark the west wall and no visible
trace at all of the south wall. No uncovered remains
exist of the south or west ranges about the cloister. A
raised lawn south of the vicarage (which is built on the
site of the cloister) conceals any possible remains of
the frater or its kitchens, &c., but south of it are the
foundations of two detached buildings. The western
was apparently a 12th-century brewhouse, 31¼ ft. east
to west by 20½ ft. wide, that had at the south-east angle,
projecting diagonally, a three-quarter round appendage
14¼ ft. in diameter, as though for a large well, but
ascribed as a steeping vat. Of this remains a chamfered
plinth with a top roll-mould and three or four courses
of fair masonry. There were two doorways in the north
wall, presumably leading to the former kitchen west of
the frater.
West of it was a rectangular building, probably of
the 14th century, 31¾ ft. north to south by 18¾ ft. wide,
perhaps the misericorde. It had diagonal buttresses to
the south angles, and about 4 ft. of the south wall with
faced rubble is standing, above a chamfered plinth.
There was a middle fire-place in the west wall and two
east windows, but nothing of these is now visible, the
walls being marked only by foundations. In the field
south-east and south of the churchyard and vicarage
garden there are various mounds and banks suggesting
the site of the Infirmary, &c., but no remains of masonry
are exposed.
ADVOWSONS
The parish church of Nuneaton
was given by Earl Robert of Leicester to the Norman Abbey of Lyre
during the reign of Henry I, the gift being confirmed
by Henry II in 1155. (fn. 103) From 1324 onwards the
English estates of the foreign religious houses were
constantly taken into the king's hands during war with
France, presentations being then made by the king and
only in intervals of peace by Lyre. (fn. 104) In 1414 the possessions of the alien houses were finally seized, and in
the following year Henry V gave to his newly founded
Carthusian Priory of Sheen (Surrey) the estates of
Lyre, including, though not naming, this church. (fn. 105) In
1459 the advowson was granted to Nuneaton Priory
by the convent of Sheen, (fn. 106) who retained the rectory, the
tithes of which were valued at £11 at the Dissolution. (fn. 107)
The church had been rated at £21 6s. 8d. in 1291, (fn. 108) and
at £24 14s. 6d. in 1535. (fn. 109) Since the Dissolution the
advowson has remained in the hands of the Crown.
In 1508 John Leeke obtained licence to found a
chantry for the souls of himself and his parents in
honour of St. Mary in the parish church, (fn. 110) and by his
will, three months later, directed that it should be endowed with lands to the value of 4 marks. (fn. 111) In about
1542, however, his heirs agreed with the parishioners
that the money should in future be paid towards the
support of a schoolmaster, and this chantry therefore
became the nucleus of the endowment of the Grammar
School. (fn. 112)
St. Mary's (often called 'the Abbey Church') was
created a separate ecclesiastical parish on 23 Aug. 1878,
and is in the gift of the Vicar of Nuneaton, as are the
churches of the modern parishes of Attleborough,
dating from 1842, and Stockingford, formed in 1843.
Vicars of Nuneaton have included John Inett
(1678–81), church historian; William Wyatt, scholar
and friend of Jeremy Taylor (1681–5); Dr. John
Ryder, later Archbishop of Tuam (1721–42); and
Thomas Edwards, writer on religious subjects (1770–
85). John Ryder, Dean of Lismore and son of Dr. John
Ryder, was born here in 1723, and Samuel William
King, traveller and scientist, son of another vicar, in
1821. Other natives of Nuneaton were Thomas
Smart Hughes, historian, born in 1786, and the Rev.
William Gadsby, Baptist minister and hymn-writer,
born at Attleborough in Jan. 1773. (fn. 113)
Dr. Robert Wild, ejected in 1662 from Aynho,
Northants., is believed to have been the founder of
Nonconformity in Nuneaton. (fn. 114) In 1672 licence was
granted to William Sadler, an Anabaptist, for worship
at his house; (fn. 115) and a meeting-house was erected before
1715, when it was demolished by a mob. (fn. 116)
CHARITIES
William Willoughby by will dated
3 Oct. 1587 gave his lands in Nottingham, Lenton, and Radford to deliver
yearly to four aged and needy persons four gowns of
about 10s. each; to six honest men of occupations
or tradesmen £6; and to a godly learned preacher
to instruct the people on Whit Sunday 6s. 8d.; the
several sums to be paid to people dwelling in Great
Marlow, Nuneaton, Normanton-on-Soar, Nottingham,
and Wolvey successively; and also to pay yearly 10s.
to the poor of the Almshouse at Nuneaton in wood or
coal and 10s. to the governors of the Grammar School
for books for poor scholars and 7s. 4d. for the maintenance of two causeways. The churchwardens of
Nuneaton receive annually £1 7s. 4d. and every fifth
year in addition a further £8 6s. 8d. These sums are
distributed as directed, with the exception that poor
women receive the sum of 10s. in lieu of gowns.
The Almshouse Charity. Four tenements used as
Almshouses were sold in 1862 for £15 and the proceeds invested, producing 8s. 4d. annually, distributed
by the vicar and churchwardens to the poor of the
parish.
Richard Orton in 1677 gave to the governors of the
Grammar School land then let at £3 per annum, for
the use of twelve poor men. The land, containing
about 5 acres, was sold in 1893 for £450, and the
endowment now consists of Stock producing £11 7s.
annually, and a cottage at Nuneaton let at an annual
rent of £10. The income is distributed in sums of 5s.
each to poor persons.
Smith's Charity. Mr. Smith in 1704 gave 12s.
yearly charged on a house in Abbey St., Nuneaton, to
be distributed to six poor widows. The charge was
redeemed in 1930 in consideration of £24 Consols
producing 12s. annually, which are so applied.
Edward Stratford gave, before 1727, £3 yearly to
be distributed to six poor tradesmen; and Francis
Stratford gave £200 to be laid out in lands for the
benefit of six poor people in Nuneaton. The income of
the charities, amounting to £13, derived from land at
Nuneaton, is distributed to six poor men and six poor
women.
Edward Loader gave 12s. yearly charged on a house
in Abbey Street, Nuneaton, to be distributed to six
poor labourers. The charge was redeemed in 1937 in
consideration of £24 Consols, the interest on which
amounting to 12s. annually is distributed to poor
people.
Elizabeth Farmer in 1819 gave the interest of £20
to be distributed to four deserving widows not receiving
alms. The endowment now produces 16s. 8d.
Couney's Charity. An account of this charity is
given under Atherstone. The churchwardens of
Nuneaton receive annually £2 to be distributed on
St. Thomas's Day and £2 on Good Friday.
Symond's Charity. An account of this charity is
given under Atherstone. The churchwardens of
Nuneaton receive annually one-third of the rents of the
farm at Twycross. In 1938 a sum of £7 12s. was
received by the churchwardens.
Wheatley's Charity. The governors of the Grammar
School receive annually from the Corporation of
Coventry £2, the gift of Alderman Wheatley in 1566,
which is given away to four decayed tradesmen of
Nuneaton in sums of 10s. each.