SHRAWLEY
Escreueleia, Scravelega, Scraveley (xii cent.);
Shreveleye, Schreweleye, Srauele (xiii cent.); Sharuele, Schrauell, Shraule, Schrauleye (xiv cent.);
Shraveley (xv cent.).
Shrawley is almost surrounded by the Severn and
its tributaries, being bounded on the east by the
Severn, on the south by Shrawley Brook, and on the
north by Dick Brook. The school was built in 1860
and enlarged in 1894 and 1911. It stands on the
Worcester road, about a quarter of a mile north of
the church, which is situated on the north side of a
by-road leading westwards to Great Witley from the
main road. Near it stands the pound.
The principal settlement is situated on the Worcester road about three-quarters of a mile to the north
of the church, where it is joined by a by-road from
the west. Here are several half-timber cottages and
houses, mainly of the early 17th century. Standing
back from the road on the east side, nearly opposite
the fork, is a half-timber house of 1600, two stories
in height, now turned into two cottages, with a stable
at the western end. A large open fireplace inside
has been filled up and an entrance made at the side
of it; the chimney stacks are surmounted by good
brick shafts of the diagonal type. A little to the
south of the fork a lane branches off on the west side
of the main road and again joins it near the school.
Along this lane are several half-timber houses, one of
which, near the post office, has timbering of an early
type, with 17th-century and modern brick chimney
stacks. The rectory, which is reached by a by-road
branching off from this lane near its northern end,
is a two-storied brick house of the early 18th century
with a small central courtyard containing a well, and
an original oak staircase. To the east of the rectory
is the old glebe barn, which dates from the 17th
century. It is constructed of brick on a sandstone
base, and has a tiled roof; the walls are pierced by
several tiers of short loop-holes.
Shrawley Court is about a quarter of a mile northeast of the church, and is now a farm-house. Immediately below it are several artificial mounds known
as the Court Hills or Oliver's Mound, which seem
to have been raised for military purposes, possibly
to command a ford over the Severn. The Worcester
Road is carried over Shrawley Brook by Doleham
Bridge.
Shrawley Wood is a large piece of woodland in the
north of the parish between the Worcester road and
the Severn. It is between 400 and 500 acres in
extent, and is very luxuriant. The indigenous smallleaved lime tree forms its underwood and it abounds
with lily of the valley. A rare grass—the wood
fescue grass—grows in it, and a great number of fungi.
It was reserved from the sale of the manor by William
Sheldon in 1558, (fn. 1) and followed the descent of the
advowson. Wood House, the property of the lord
of the manor, is entirely modern, and is the residence
of Mr. James Hugh Allan.
The surface of the parish is undulating, at a height
of about 200 ft., but in the east the land falls to the
level of the Severn. Sharpley Pool is a large piece of
water on the north-western boundary, partly in
Astley. There are several other large ponds, (fn. 2) and a
small heronry in Shrawley Wood.
The parish has an area of 1,941 acres, of which
406 are arable land, 982 permanent grass, and 438
woods and plantations. (fn. 3) The soil is of a stiff loamy
nature, the subsoil chiefly Keuper Sandstone, with a
little Keuper Marl in the south. The chief crops
are wheat, barley and beans, and a considerable
quantity of fruit is grown.
Among place names have been found: Fygysbrugge (xv cent.), (fn. 4) Netherparke, Courtehey (fn. 5) (xvi
cent.), Esgars, Rudding Meadow, or Over Rudding
(xvii cent.). (fn. 6)
MANOR
The first mention of SHRAWLEY
appears to be an entry in the Evesham
Chartulary, assigned to the latter half of
the 12th century, that William Beauchamp of Elmley
held I hide there. (fn. 7) In 1210–12 William Beauchamp
held a fee in Shrawley of Ralph de Toeni. (fn. 8) Ralph's
interest passed with the overlordship of Elmley Lovett
to the Beauchamps, (fn. 9) and thus lapsed. The Beauchamps, afterwards Earls of Warwick, continued as
overlords (fn. 10) until about 1337, when Thomas Earl
of Warwick acquired the manor in fee through his
marriage with Catherine Mortimer. (fn. 11)
The first recorded under-tenants of the Beauchamps
were the Poers. Roger Poer held a fee in Shrawley
of William Beauchamp early in the 13th century, (fn. 12)
and was dealing with land in Shrawley in 1234–5. (fn. 13)
In 1248–9 Hugh Poer granted 2 carucates in Shrawley to William Poer, (fn. 14) who claimed free warren in
the manor in 1274–5. (fn. 15) He died without male
issue, (fn. 16) and the manor was granted by his daughter
Alina, one of his co-heirs, to Edmund Mortimer and
Margaret his wife, (fn. 17) who were jointly seised at the
time of Edmund's death in 1304. (fn. 18) Margaret
granted the manor in 1314 with Eckington to Alina
Poer for life, with reversion to John son of Edmund
Mortimer and his issue, and contingent remainder to
Margaret and her heirs. (fn. 19) Margaret Mortimer was
holding the manor in 1316, (fn. 20) and it probably passed
to her great-grandson, Roger Earl of March. Roger's
eldest daughter Catherine married Thomas Earl of
Warwick in 1337, and apparently brought the manor
to him, for in 1344 it was settled by him on himself
and Catherine, with remainder in tail-male successively
to his sons Guy, Thomas and Reynburn and to
the heirs male of John his brother. (fn. 21) From this
time the manor (fn. 22) followed the same descent as
Elmley Castle, (fn. 23) passing with it to Henry VII in
1487. It was granted to Catherine Parr for life in
1544. (fn. 24)
In February 1545 a lease of the manor for twentyone years was granted to William Sheldon of Weston
(co. Warwick), (fn. 25) to whom on 5 August of the same
year the reversion of the manor was granted in fee
by Henry VIII. (fn. 26) William Sheldon, then of Beoley,
sold the manor in 1558 to William Gower of Redmarley to hold of himself and his heirs at a yearly
rent of £9. (fn. 27) William Gower settled the manor in
1573 jointly on his two elder daughters, Anne, wife of
George Rotherham of Farley in Luton (co. Bedford),
and Ursula wife of William Adams of Cleaton (co.
Salop.), (fn. 28) and died seised of it in 1595. (fn. 29) His daughter
Anne was at that date wife of Edward Hugford or
Hungerford, and Ursula of George Nash. They had
livery of the manor on 23 February 1602. (fn. 30) Ursula
died on 23 September 1602 at Bridge (co. Hereford),
and was succeeded in her moiety of the manor by her
son John Adams. (fn. 31) On his death in 1616 his
daughter Anne, wife of Francis Adams, succeeded, (fn. 32)
and she and her husband conveyed the manor in
1628 to Charles Adams and John Corbett. (fn. 33) They
were holding it in 1637–8, (fn. 34) but were evidently
trustees for Francis Adams, who conveyed the manor
in 1663 jointly with William Crumpton and Sarah
his wife to Thomas Stephens. (fn. 35) Thomas was probably acting for his father-in-law, Thomas Childe,
who bought the other half of the manor about this
time, and whose son William joined with him in
conveying the whole to Allan Cliffe in 1681. (fn. 36)
The other moiety passed at the death of Anne
Hugford in 1619 to Thomas Rotherham, her son by
her first husband. (fn. 37) Thomas Rotherham, who died
in 1620 at Worcester seised of this moiety, then
called the lower (inferior) manor of Shrawley, was
succeeded by his brother Edmund. (fn. 38) Edmund was
succeeded before 1649 by his son George Rotherham, (fn. 39)
who in that year sold his moiety to Dame Anna
Maria Jenkinson and her son Robert Jenkinson, (fn. 40) to
whom in the same year Mary, widow of Edmund
Rotherham, conveyed the third of the manor which
she held as jointure. (fn. 41) The Jenkinsons seem to have
been acting for Thomas Childe of Northwick, (fn. 42) and
joined with his son and successor William in 1681
in selling the manor to Allan
Cliffe. (fn. 43)
By his will, dated 1687,
Allan Cliffe appointed as his
executor his nephew Allan
Cliffe, son of his brother
Humphrey. (fn. 44) Allan had succeeded by 1699, (fn. 45) and in 1700
sold the manor to Thomas
Vernon of the Middle Temple,
lord of the manor of Hanbury. (fn. 46) Since that date Shrawley has descended with Hanbury, (fn. 47) and now belongs to
Sir Harry Foley Vernon.
Vernon of Hanbury. Or a fesse azure with three sheaves or thereon and a crosslet fitchy gules in the chief.
A third of a mill at
Shrawley was claimed in dower from Roger Poer by
Alice, widow of Henry the Miller, in 1234–5. (fn. 48)
Reference occurs to a water-mill called Hedemylle in
1398–9 (fn. 49) and in 15th and 16th-century court rolls. (fn. 50)
There is also a reference in 1488 to a mill called
Dolemylle and to a fulling-mill. (fn. 51) Dolemylle may
have been in the neighbourhood of Doleham on
Shrawley Brook, but there are no mills existing in
the parish at the present day.
CHURCH
The church of ST. MARY consists
of a chancel 27 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 11 in.,
north vestry, nave 52 ft. 6 in. by 21 ft.
9 in., south porch 11 ft. 6 in. by 10 ft., and west
tower 9 ft. 11 in. square. These dimensions are all
internal.
The chancel dates from about the year 1100, but
the nave, which is not on the same axis, appears to
have been built at a somewhat later date, while the
south doorway of the nave is an insertion of about 1170.
Windows were added to the nave and its north walls
buttressed during the four following centuries, while
in the 15th century the church was reroofed and an
embattled parapet built on the nave walls. The south
porch was built in the latter part of the 15th century,
and the west tower about 1550. In recent years the
fabric has been restored, the east end of the chancel
rebuilt, and a brick vestry added on the north side
of the chancel.
The church and tower are built of red sandstone
ashlar, and the porch, which is also of sandstone, and
is built of very large stones, has its east and west sides
filled in with 17th-century brickwork above an ashlar
plinth. All the walls are faced externally, while
internally the chancel walls are faced and the nave
walls plastered. The chancel and nave roofs are of
slate, that of the porch being tiled.
The modern east wall of the chancel is pierced by
twin round-headed lights with a circular window
above. In the north wall are three narrow roundheaded lights of about 1100 having splayed jambs, rear
arches, and sills; the central light piercing the pilaster
buttress forms a picturesque feature of the external
elevation. Below the sills externally is a cable moulded
string-course, broken round the buttresses. The wall
below the windows is thickened by a high internal plinth.
Below the easternmost window is a plain aumbry with
a segmental head, probably of the 14th century, and
under the westernmost window is a modern doorway
to the vestry. On the south side are three original
windows similar in all respects to those on the north,
the moulded external string being enriched with cable
and cheveron moulding. Below the westernmost
window is an original doorway with a plain segmental
head, moulded label with billet enrichment, plain
jambs, and moulded abaci. The semicircular chancel
arch is modern.
Plan of Shrawley Church
At the north-east of the nave is an original early
12th-century single light with a semicircular head,
and further west a three-light window under a twocentred head with tracery, the inner jambs and rear
arch of which are probably of the late 13th century,
but the external stonework is modern. Beyond this
window is a 12th-century blocked doorway with a
semicircular head of two orders, one of which is
moulded with a large edge-roll, while the other is
square; the outer order is supported by shafts with
scalloped capitals, chamfered abaci, and moulded bases.
The north wall is strengthened by five buttresses;
the central one is an original pilaster buttress, while
the two eastern buttresses are of the 14th century, one
of them a massive block of masonry 6 ft. 10 in. deep
by 4 ft. wide. The buttresses to the west of the doorway are of the 16th century. A string-course with
cheveron moulding passes round the north-east corner,
and is stopped on the large buttress. There are two
windows on the south side of the nave. The easternmost is a three-light window of the late 15th century,
the four-centred head of which has been rebuilt at a
later date and tilted up so as to present a horse-shoe
appearance, the mullions being continued to the head
without cusps; the other window, which is near the
west end of the wall and is partly blocked by the
porch roof, is an original round-headed light widened
at a later date, probably in the 18th century, by the
removal of the inner order. The south doorway,
below and a little to the east of this, has a roundheaded arch of three moulded orders and a hollowchamfered label; the outer and inner orders have
plain edge-rolls continued down the jambs, the head
of the inner order being segmental with a plain plastered
tympanum above. The middle order is enriched by
zigzag ornament, and is supported on the west by a
jamb shaft with a leaf capital, chamfered abacus, and
moulded base, and on the east by a similar capital and
abacus, but the shaft is corbelled off a little below the
capital, the space below being occupied by a 15thcentury stoup, the sides of which are panelled and
project as three sides of an octagon. The stonework
of the bowl and foot of the stoup is somewhat broken
and worn away, and modern plaster flower ornaments
have been placed in the hollow chamfer of the label
over the doorway. There are two original pilaster
buttresses on this wall, one at the east end and the
other in the centre. At the east end, stopped by the
later south-east window, is a string-course with a
cheveron moulding similar to that on the north wall.
Internally there are pieces of a hollow-chamfered 12thcentury string-course which probably went all round
the nave walls at the level of the window-sills and
over the door arches. The south porch has a wide
archway of two orders with a depressed four-centred
head; there is a horizontal stone string-course over
the arch, and the gable above is plastered.
The tower is of three internal stages, but is only
divided externally by one string-course. There are
diagonal buttresses at the western angles, which stop
below the belfry stage, and the walls are crowned by
a plain parapet with crocketed pinnacles at the angles;
the stair-turret is at the south-east, and being continued
across the angle made by the nave with the tower
forms a deep buttress. The ground stage of the tower
has a semicircular-headed doorway with ogee moulded
jambs, opening into the nave, and a pointed chamfered
doorway on the west with a round-headed window
of two lights above it.
On the south side of
the intermediate stage
is a flat-headed opening with a wood door,
and each face of the
bell-chamber has a twolight round-headed window.
The chancel and nave
haveopen-timber trussed
roofs of the 15th century with moulded principals, spandrels, purlins,
and wall-plates; the
nave roof is strengthened by four modern
beams. The font has a
white sandstone circular
bowl and short circular
shaft of the early 12th
century, and a red sandstone octagonal base of a later date. The upper part
of the bowl is enriched by a scalloped band and the
lower edge with a hollow moulding. The oak pulpit
dates from the late 16th or early 17th century; it
has panelled sides with incised foliated and geometrical
designs, and a bookboard supported by curved brackets;
the stand has been altered at a subsequent date. At
the west end of the nave, supported by a cross-beam,
is an 18th-century gallery with a front having turned
balusters divided into three bays by two panelled
posts. The nave is fitted with 18th-century oak pews,
which are complete, except that the inner parts of
some under the gallery have been cut away to form
a vestry; they are in good condition, and apparently
have never been painted. There is some 17th-century
oak panelling at the east end of the nave, and also
along the west wall.
In the churchyard to the south of the church is the
square moulded base of a churchyard cross, which
probably dates from the 14th century. It stands upon
three steps, and has large moulded stops at the angles,
the upper part being octagonal. On the top is a
sundial made by Samuel Thorpe of Abberley in 1819,
with this inscription, 'Ab Hoc Momento pendet
Aeternitas.' Also in the churchyard, near the northeast corner of the chancel, is a mediaeval gravestone
with a central ridge and plain inclined sides; it is
broken across the middle and the lower part is entirely
gone.
The tower contains a ring of six bells: the treble,
second, third, and fourth are by Thomas Rudhall,
1772, and the fifth and tenor by Abraham Rudhall,
1705. There is also a small bell with no inscription.
The plate consists of an early 19th-century cup
without date marks; a paten with feet of 1820; a
flagon of 1819, given by Thomas Shrawley Vernon,
1820; and an electro-plated paten.
The registers previous to 1812 are as follows:
(i) all entries 1537 to 1653; (ii) 1653 to 1718;
(iii) 1719 to 1758; (iv) baptisms and burials 1759 to
1812, marriages 1755 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
The early history of the advowson
is obscure. The church is mentioned in 1291, (fn. 52) and in 1304 the
advowson belonged to Edmund Mortimer, lord of
the manor, (fn. 53) to whom it had probably passed with
the manor from the Poers. It descended with the
manor until 1558, (fn. 54) when William Sheldon of
Beoley reserved it from the sale to William Gower. (fn. 55)
It was sold to William Childe in 1579–80 by Ralph
son of William Sheldon, (fn. 56) and was held by the Childes
of Pensax and Northwick, (fn. 57) until William Childe sold
it with the manor to Allan Cliffe in 1681. (fn. 58) Since
that date it has been held with the manor. (fn. 59)
Habington states that 'on the south-east of the
churchyard is an owld decayed chap . . . nothinge
ealse theare to bee seene.' (fn. 60)
The yearly value of a tenement given for the maintenance of obits was returned by the commissioners
of Edward VI as 6s. 8d., whereof 12d. was given
to the poor. (fn. 61) In 1637 the tenement was granted to
Thomas Dalmahay and others for thirty-one years. (fn. 62)
CHARITIES
Thomas Vernon by a codicil to
his will, dated in 1711, directed
that a sum of £1,000 should be set
apart for the benefit of the poor of the parishes of
Hanbury (fn. 63) and Shrawley for buying gowns for poor
old men and women and coal and other fuel for the
winter.
The share of this parish was laid out in the
purchase of an estate called Dean's Green in the
parish of North Claines containing 83 acres, which
is let at £134 a year.
The official trustees also hold a sum of £392 9s. 5d.
consols, arising from accumulations of income and sale
of timber.
The charity is regulated by a scheme of the High
Court of Justice, 20 July 1883, whereby the trustees
are authorized to pay a yearly sum not exceeding
£60 to the managers of the National school. In
1911 a sum of £32 10s. was expended for educational purposes, and a sum of £32 was applied in the
distribution of coal and clothing and in donations to
charitable institutions.
Robert Marshall alias Millard—as appeared from
the church table— gave £5 for the poor of this
parish. It also appeared from the same table that
the Rev. Edward Burlton, rector in 1664, gave
£40 for the schooling of five poor children till
they could read well in the Bible. No payments are now made in respect of either of these
charities.
In 1856 Jane Bourne, by will proved in the
P.C.C. 11 October, bequeathed a legacy now represented by £313 14s. 6d. consols, with the official
trustees, the annual dividends amounting to £7 16s. 8d.
to be applied for the benefit of aged and infirm
poor on St. Thomas's Day.
The distribution is made in coal and gifts of
money.