ARROW
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)