SHERBOURNE
Acreage (since 1931): 1043 (97 acres in the northeast of the parish were transferred to the Borough of
Warwick under the Borough of Warwick Order, 1931).
Population: 1911, 162; 1921, 191; 1931, 183.
Sherbourne is a small parish situated on the right
bank of the Avon, 2½ miles south of Warwick, and
traversed by Sherbourne brook, a small trout stream
from which it is said to derive its name. (fn. 1) It is well
wooded and undulating, the altitude varying from 145
ft. to 291 ft. at the top of Sherbourne Hill, from which
extensive views of the Avon Valley and the Edge Hills
can be obtained. The soil is principally a gravelly
marl, lying above Keuper Red Marls. Wheat, oats,
and beans are grown, though the greater part of the
parish is laid down to pasture.
The village lies between the main roads from Warwick to Stratford and to Wellesbourne, and there is
a by-road southwards, above the Avon, to Fulbrook
and Hampton Lucy.
Sherbourne House is a building of three stories,
cellars, and attics. The original house, dating from
about 1700, was of rectangular plan; later enlargements include a one-storied addition on the east front
containing an entrance hall, drawing-room, and diningroom, of c. 1800, extensive offices to the north and
west, and a parallel addition of the late 18th century
partly covering the original west front. The original
house rises above all these additions; it has walls of
brick with moulded eaves-cornices of stone. At the
angles are pairs of shallow stone pilasters, with moulded
entablatures. The wall-faces of the south side, and
where exposed on the east front, are cemented, and the
latter front has a cemented plain parapet. The upper
windows of the east front have moulded stone architraves with key-blocks, and sills projecting on brackets.
In the middle of the west wall, now internal, is an
original entrance with rusticated stone jambs and a
flat arch with a key-block. The small south-west room
on the ground floor has an over-mantel of plaster with
a pediment and festoons, and an upper room on the
west side has some reset oak panelling of the 17th
century with a carved frieze. The main staircase in
the middle of the east side is of c. 1740, but the upper
part of the secondary staircase west of it is probably
original. The roof has compound trusses carrying a
lead flat in the middle part, and tiled sloping sides,
containing dormer windows. The cellars are stonevaulted except one rebuilt with brick.
The village was largely rebuilt in a pseudo-Elizabethan style by Miss Ryland, about the middle of the
last century, but still retains a few genuine timberframed houses.
A farm-house about 250 yards NNW. of the church
is probably of the end of the 16th century. It is now
divided into three tenements. It is of L-shaped plan,
the wings extending to the south and west. Both are of
square timber-framing with whitened brick infilling, and
have gabled ends. The east wing has curved braces in
the upper half and may be a little earlier than the other,
which is of plainer framing and has high stone foundations. The east wing has open-timbered ceilings with
stop-chamfered beams and joists and a wide fire-place.
Sherbourne Farm, about ½ mile NNW. of the church,
is a late-18th-century house of red brick but it has
an earlier 18th-century pigeon-house incorporated with
the farm buildings west of the house. This is square
and of brick with a pyramidal tiled roof and a good
leaded central lantern with a domed roof and open
sides.
The parish was inclosed by an Act of 1799. (fn. 2) The
Award covered 837 acres, of which Thomas Webb
Edge and the Rev. Elias Webb, who held the manor
and rectory jointly, received 493 and 276 acres respectively. There were 7 open fields; meadow by the Avon,
the Horse Brook, and Sherbourne Brook; and a small
piece of common west of the village.
Manor
The Count of Meulan in 1086 held
SHERBOURNE for 2½ hides; Edric and
Leuegot had previously held it. (fn. 3) It descended to Henry de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, (fn. 4)
and his son Earl Roger (1123–53) gave half a hide
and two-thirds of the tithe of the inclosure to the
College of St. Mary, Warwick. (fn. 5) The rest of the land
he gave to the Templars, (fn. 6) and in 1185 this was valued
at £3 8s. 10d. (fn. 7) In addition, the tenants owed four days'
boon-work in the year, and were to make and carry the
lord's hay. Every virgate owed yearly 2d., or 4 hens,
at choice. (fn. 8) In 1248 the Templars were granted free
warren here. (fn. 9)
The overlordship remained with the earls of Warwick and when the Templars were suppressed (1308)
Guy de Beauchamp seised the manor as an escheat (fn. 10)
and was holding it at his death in 1315, of the king, as
a hamlet of the manor of Warwick. (fn. 11) The manor was
restored to the Hospitallers, however, with the rest of
the Templars' lands pertaining to the commandery of
Balsall. (fn. 12) In 1540, when the Hospitallers were suppressed, Richard Wilmore was farming their manor of
Sherbourne, which included also the adjacent parish
of Norton (q.v.), at an annual rental of £12: and there
were in addition two pensions payable by the tenant
out of the profits of the manor; one of 6s. 8d. yearly
to the College of St. Mary, Warwick, and one of 5s.
to the Wardens of the Trinity Guild there. (fn. 13)
After the suppression of the Hospitallers, the
manor remained with the Crown until it was given in
1553 by Edward VI to Thomas
Lucy of Charlecote, in return for
lands in Bedfordshire. (fn. 14) It descended in the family with Charlecote (q.v.) at least until 1685,
when it was in the possession of
Elizabeth sister of Thomas Lucy
and wife of Clement Throckmorton of Haseley. (fn. 15) The estate seems
soon afterwards to have been
divided between Elizabeth's aunt
Constance, sister of Thomas Lucy
and wife of Sir John Burgoyne of
Wroxhall, (fn. 16) and her cousin Davenport Lucy, heir of the
direct line of the Lucys of Charlecote, whose son George
is described as lord of the manor in 1715. (fn. 17) When
George died in 1721 it was probably united again in
the Burgoyne family, for John Burgoyne at some time
after 1742 sold half the manor to Thomas Webb, (fn. 18)
who died in 1755, leaving his portion to his eldest
surviving son John, in trust for his grandson and heir
Thomas Webb and his heirs in tail male, with remainder to John and his heirs. (fn. 19) By the time of
Thomas's death in 1789 the whole manor had come
into the hands of the family and was held jointly by
his son Elias, afterwards the Rev. Elias Webb, then
a minor, and Thomas Webb Edge (fn. 20) son of John above
mentioned, by Margaret daughter of Ralph Edge of
Strelley, Notts., (fn. 21) who took his mother's family name
and migrated to Strelley. In 1831 the Rev. Elias Webb
was holding the whole manor, with a free fishery and
view of frankpledge, (fn. 22) and subsequently he sold it to
Mr. Samuel Ryland, at whose death the manor passed
to his daughter and heir Miss Louisa Ryland. By her
will she bequeathed the manor to Charles I. P. Smith
on condition that he took the additional surname of
Ryland. (fn. 23) The trustees of the late C. I. P. Smith-Ryland are at present holding the manor.
Lucy. Gules crusily with three luces rising argent.
A mill in Sherbourne held by the Templars of the
Earl of Warwick was worth 7s. in 1185. (fn. 24)
Church
The medieval church of ALL SAINTS,
consisting of a chancel with south chapel,
nave, and, probably, a western tower, survived until 1747, when the nave and tower
were rebuilt by Thomas Webb. The remainder,
apparently of 14th-century date, was pulled down and
rebuilt in 1802 by the Rev. Elias Webb and Thomas
Webb Edge, joint lords of the manor. (fn. 25) In 1864 the
whole building was superseded by the present church
erected by Miss Ryland at a cost of £20,000 from designs
by Sir Gilbert Scott. It consists of a chancel, north and
south chapels, a nave of five bays, with north and south
aisles, and a north-west tower with a spire, and is lavishly
adorned with carving and shafts of red and green
marble. A brass of 1624 to the Rev. John Smith, with
a long and curious rhymed epitaph, and a series of
monuments to the Webb family (beginning with Elias
Webb, d. 1728) survive from the earlier church.
There are six bells, one by Hugh Watts of Leicester
dated 1632, and the others by Mears, 1863.
The plate consists of a silver chalice and paten of
1871.
The registers begin in 1587.
In the churchyard, north of the chancel, is the
octagonal base of a 14th- or 15th-century cross retaining the remains of the moulded shaft, now 4 ft. 10 in
high.
Advowson
There was a priest in Sherbourne
in 1086. (fn. 26) The church of Sherbourne
was granted to the Templars and in
1185 was valued at one mark. (fn. 27) After
the downfall of the Templars the church continued to
be appropriated to the Hospitallers, their successors,
until the Dissolution. (fn. 28) The vicarage was valued at
£5 in 1291 (fn. 29) and also in 1340–1. (fn. 30) In 1428 it was
united to the rectory of Fulbrook (q.v.), the church
of which was demolished by 1531. (fn. 31)
In 1691 the advowson of the vicarage of Sherbourne was in the hands of George, Duke of Northumberland, and Katherine his wife, (fn. 32) widow of the
Thomas Lucy of Charlecote who had held the manor of
Sherbourne. (fn. 33) In 1831 it was owned by the Rev. Elias
Webb (incumbent since 1810) and his wife Christian, (fn. 34)
and it has since descended with the manor, the present
patrons being the trustees of the Ryland estate. (fn. 35)
The Rectory of Sherbourne was held by Spencer
Lucy in 1647 (fn. 36) and it followed the descent of the manor
at least until 1800. (fn. 37)
The extent of 1540 already quoted mentions a
donative of the average annual value of £4 paid by the
farmer of the manor towards the curate's stipend. (fn. 38)
At the beginning of the 18th century this donative,
then paid by Sir John Burgoyne, was worth £11 6s. 8d. (fn. 39)