SPERNALL
Acreage: 1,110.
Population: 1911, 55; 1921, 59; 1931, 49.
Spernall parish is bounded, approximately, by the
River Arrow on the west and on the east by the Alne
Hills. The ground rises from 178 ft. at the bridge to
over 400 ft. at Round Hill, which is partly in the parish
of Great Alne. The village consists only of the church
and rectory and a few scattered farms and cottages. At
some time between 1195 and 1361 the parish was largely
depopulated by pestilence, so that many of the villein
tenements, which had hitherto accounted for almost
the whole population, came into the hands of freemen. (fn. 1)
In the 17th century the population seems to have mainly
consisted of substantial farmers, for in 1625 it is
described as a place with 'few or no poor at all in it and
many wealthy inhabitants', (fn. 2) and the Hearth Tax
returns (1662–74) show the high average of about 2.5
hearths per house.
The Rectory is a brick-built house of rectangular plan
facing north, and is probably of early-18th-century date. (fn. 3)
The walls were plastered and a south wing added in
1800. (fn. 4) There are original chimney-stacks in the side
walls, one with a wide fire-place. The staircase, with
2-in. turned balusters, is also original, and one room has
18th-century bolection-moulded panelling.
A road branching eastwards from the BirminghamAlcester main road at Spernall Ash crosses the Arrow
near the church, where the present bridge replaces a
ford, and continues up the hill to Shelfield and Aston
Cantlow, the eastern portion of it being known as
Burford Lane. About a quarter of a mile beyond the
church there is a branch northwards to Morton Bagot
and another southwards to Great Alne.
The subsoil is Keuper red marl, with thin seams of
gypsum, one of which has been worked. (fn. 5) There was
also brick-making here in the 17th and 18th centuries, (fn. 6)
but the population is now wholly agricultural. The
parish is well timbered, the largest woods being Spernall
Park (fn. 7) and Morgrove Coppice.
Manor
In 1086 a certain Hugh held 2 hides in
SPERNALL from William Buenvasleth. (fn. 8)
The overlordship of the Earl of Warwick
is mentioned in 1328, when John Durvassal was said
to have held the manor by the service of coming to
Warwick Castle or to the manors of Claverdon, Tanworth, or Sutton, if the Earl were there, at Christmas,
Easter, or Whitsuntide, and serving as his chief butler,
taking for his fee as his ancestors had been accustomed; (fn. 9)
and again in 1397 when, the Earl being a minor, the
manor was taken into the king's hands. (fn. 10)
Durvassal. Argent a bend sable between six crosslets gules.
The first family connected with the manor is that of
Durvassall: Dugdale mentions a William Durvassal in
the time of Henry II: (fn. 11) his successor John left a son John, who
was under age in 1220 (fn. 12) and is
probably the John Durvassal who
conveyed to Roger (his second
son, according to Dugdale) (fn. 13) 2
carucates and 40s. rent in Spernall in 1246. (fn. 14) Ten years later
Roger Durvassal also acquired
40s. rent in Spernall and Henley
from Robert de Chandos and
Eva his wife, who quitclaimed
for themselves and the heirs of
Eva, (fn. 15) perhaps a sister of Roger. (fn. 16) In 1316 Spernall is
given as a hamlet of Morton Bagot, and was held by
Thomas Durvassal. (fn. 17) This Thomas was son of Philip
son of Roger and his son was John, who was living in
1347. (fn. 18) The official records, however, state that 'John
Doruesale', who died in 1328, leaving a son John then
28 years old, had held the manor of Spernall of the Earl
of Warwick. (fn. 19) It would seem that the name of the deceased tenant was wrongly returned as John instead of
Thomas. In 1331 the manor was settled on John Durvassal and his wife Sybil. (fn. 20) John Durvassal of Spernall is
again mentioned in 1347; (fn. 21) and in 1363 John de Raggelaye was pardoned for the death of Nicholas Durvassal
of Spernall, (fn. 22) probably the son of John. In 1378 Rose,
the widow of Nicholas and then wife of Richard Mountford, (fn. 23) disputed against a William Durvassal the right
of her daughters, Eleanor and Elizabeth, to a tenement
in Spernall. (fn. 24) This Eleanor married John Holt, to
whose son Walter the manor later came. (fn. 25) This
William Durvassal (perhaps illegitimate) seems to be
identical with William Spernore, knight of the shire for
Worcester in the Parliament of 1397, (fn. 26) and obtained
a life interest in the manor. In 1401 the manor of
Spernall, then held as half a fee, on the death of William
Spernore, reverted to Walter Holt, a minor, under the
guardianship of his father John Holt. (fn. 27) A year later
(probably on the death of John Holt) a certain William
Philips was given the custody of the manor, then worth
10 marks yearly. (fn. 28) Dugdale says that Walter Holt
came of age in 1402–3 and had livery of the manor,
that he shortly afterwards enfeoffed John Reve, vicar of
Coughton, on whose death it passed to his brother
Thomas Reve, who in turn 'quitted all his right therein'
to William Wybbe, esq., in 1428–9. (fn. 29) John Throckmorton in 1441 acquired half the manor from Henry
Beaumont and Joan his wife, (fn. 30) and the other half two
years later from William Vernon and Margaret his
wife. (fn. 31) Joan, according to Dugdale, was the granddaughter of William Durvassal, but there seems no
foundation for his guess.
From this time Spernall has followed the descent of
Coughton (q.v.).
According to a papal licence of 1400 Spernall was
the original site of the Priory of Cookhill, and their
buildings here, at that date in ruins, included a church
and cemetery a cross-bow shot from the parish church. (fn. 32)
Cookhill certainly held lands in Spernall by grant from
William Durvassal (probably temp. Henry II) (fn. 33) and
this property, valued at 23s. 4d., was described in 1535
as the demesne (terra dominicata) of ST. GILES. (fn. 34)
The chapel of St. Giles, which may have been the
original church of the Priory, was granted, with other
of its lands, to Thomas Broke in 1541 and to Nicholas
Fortescue in the following year. (fn. 35) It had probably by
then been converted into a farm-house, since in 1547
Thomas Broke was occupying the 'messuage or chapel
of St. Giles, called Saint gyles chapel in Sparnall'. (fn. 36)
In 1608 Nicholas Fortescue's grandson Nicholas was
holding a third part of the chapel, lately held by
William his father. (fn. 37) John Fortescue received a grant
of 'the messuage and chapel called St. Giles's' in 1663 (fn. 38)
and in 1697 was said to have been seised of the manor
of St. Giles. (fn. 39) The present farm-house of that name is
modern.
Part of the lands of Cookhill Priory situated near
Hasden's Cross in Spernall had by 1651 come into the
possession of Ralph Price of Spernall, yeoman, whose
second son Thomas sold them to Sir Robert Throckmorton of Coughton in 1708. (fn. 40)
A mill worth 4s. and yielding 7 sticks of eels is mentioned in Domesday (fn. 41) and was held with the manor in
1328. (fn. 42)
Church
The parish church of ST. LEONARD
consists of a chancel and nave, and a south
porch used as vestry. The chancel is entirely modern, but the chancel arch is of the 12th
century and some of the masonry of the side walls of
the nave may be of the same period: the old windows
in them are of the late 14th century, and there seems
to have been some extension to the west about that
time, probably for a bell-cote. In 1844 the walls were
partly rebuilt and the church generally restored. The
very good oak seating and panelling were installed
in 1935.
The engraving of the church in the diary of Henry
Teonge (1825) shows that the earlier chancel was
probably of the 16th century and had a high-pitched
roof with a timbered gable of which the tie-beam was
cambered over the three-light east window. There
seems also to have been a single-light window in the
south wall.
The present chancel (12 ft. 9 in. by 10 ft. 2 in.) has
an east window of wheel design and small roundheaded side windows. The chancel arch is of the 12th
century rebuilt, with shafted jambs which are all
modern; the head is old: it is semicircular, of small
voussoirs, with an edge-roll to the west. The roof has
wind-braced side purlins.
The nave (37 ft. 3 in. by 15 ft. 10 in.) has two north
and two south windows. The eastern pair are late14th-century, of two cinquefoiled lights and a multifoiled spandrel-piercing in a two-centred head: both
are of red sandstone. The western windows are similar
but modern. The north doorway, between the two
windows, has a four-centred head of one piece of white
stone, possibly of the early 16th century, but the chamfered jambs are of older brown stone, probably 14thcentury: random dates, e.g. 1732, have been cut on
them. The early-16th-century oak door has plantedon moulded ribs dividing it into three panels, with the
remains of trefoiled ogee heads with rose cusp-points
and tracery. Above the middle panel are remains of
carved letters (I P?); over the dexter a grotesque human
head and foliage, and over the sinister a monster. The
door is nail-studded and hung with strap-hinges, the
applied tracery covering the upper hinge.
The south doorway is square-headed, of uncertain
age, and opens into a small modern porch-vestry; the
door in it is of c. 1600 and is of plain battens with
applied moulded ribs dividing it into five panels: it has
been rehung outside inwards.
At the west is a modern window set high up, of two
lights and a trefoil in a two-centred head.
The north wall is of old ashlar up to the western
window; west of this it is of 19th-century brickwork.
The south wall is of old ashlar up to a height of about
7 ft.: above that, from the east to west of the porch, it
has been rebuilt with grey-white limestone: the west
part is of old wide-jointed rubble of grey stone. The
west wall is of old rubble up to the base of the gablehead, which is modern and has a bell-cote with one
bell: there are two old square buttresses at each angle
and one in the middle, all on rough footings.
The roofs presumably are modern but the nave roof
may have early timbers re-used: it is of two wide bays
with a short east bay and a half bay at the west. The
three trusses are arched under the collar-beams and the
side-purlins have curved wind-braces: the rafters are
wide and laid flat-wise. They are covered with tiles.
There are fragments of 15th-century glass in the
heads of the lights, and piercing above, of the northeast window of the nave; all foliage designs.
The communion rails are of the 18th century: the
font and all the furniture are modern. The communion
plate includes a cup with incised ornament and a baluster stem: it is inscribed: 'William Wiggett churchwarden
of Spearnall 1672: 08: 12:00' but is stamped with
the London hallmark of 1655.
The single bell is a modern recasting of one cast from
the two bells that were here before the restoration of
1844. (fn. 43)
The registers date from 1562, but are defective before
1666.
Advowson
The church first appears, at the
end of the 12th century, as a chapelry
of Coughton which belonged to the
canons of Studley. (fn. 44) In 1218 Nicholas, Prior of Studley, granted the advowson of the chapel of Spernall to
Sarah, Prioress of Cookhill, reserving to his house the
annates. (fn. 45) In 1291 the Studley portion was valued at
£1 5s. and the Cookhill portion at £1. (fn. 46) The whole
was valued at 40s. in 1341, divided equally between the
great tithes and the glebe. (fn. 47) The patronage remained
with Cookhill until the Dissolution, (fn. 48) when it apparently came into the hands of the Fortescue family. Elizabeth, the widow, and William, the son, of Nicholas
Fortescue held it in 1575 (fn. 49) and William's son Nicholas
in 1608. (fn. 50) The Crown presented in 1612, (fn. 51) no doubt
owing to the recusancy of Nicholas Fortescue, who,
however, was still holding the advowson when he
died in 1633. (fn. 52) His son William presented in 1637 (fn. 53)
and John Fortescue in 1670. (fn. 54) By 1690 the advowson
had apparently passed to John Allen, (fn. 55) and Thomas and
afterwards Robert Hunt appear as patrons in 1728. (fn. 56)
Thomas Chambers of Gorcott Hall, Studley, presented
five successive incumbents between 1753 and his death,
at the age of 91, in 1802. (fn. 57) His grandson the Rev.
Thomas Chambers, vicar of Studley, is described as
patron on his memorial tablet in the church. He died
in 1836 and his younger brother Charles (d. 1854) was
holding the advowson in 1850. (fn. 58) Since 1869 the living
has been in the gift of the Lord Chancellor. (fn. 59)
Henry, Bishop of Worcester (1193–5), decreed that
the canons of Studley should have the right of burial of
all servile, and the nuns of Cookhill of all free, tenants
in the parish, and a decision of Bishop Reynold Brian
(1352–61) confirmed to Studley the burial rights over
all tenants of land that had originally been held in
villeinage. (fn. 60) This ruling was confirmed by Bishop
Whittlesey in 1367. (fn. 61) A licence of Pope Boniface IX
in 1400 allowed the people of Spernall to construct and
inclose their own cemetery close by their parish
church. (fn. 62)
Among the 17th-century rectors was Henry Teonge
the diarist. He was born in 1621 of a local family (fn. 63)
and became first rector of Alcester and then in 1670 of
Spernall. But after five years here he found himself in
financial difficulties and obtained a chaplaincy in the
Navy, making a voyage to the Mediterranean and the
Levantine ports and taking part in the operations against
Tripoli under Sir John Narborough. During this time
he 'gott a good summ of monys' and returned to
Spernall, but two years later he was again in straitened
circumstances and went once more to sea. He returned
finally to Spernall in 1679, where he died eleven years
later. He had three sons, the eldest of whom was vicar
of Coughton from 1675 to 1683 and took duty at
Spernall while his father was abroad. Henry Teonge's
diary, which was published in 1825, gives a good contemporary picture of life in the Navy. (fn. 64)
Charities
In 1709 John Saunders left £10, on
which the yearly interest was to be
distributed to the poor of the parish.
By will dated 21 November 1723 the Rev. Thomas
Allen, a former rector, bequeathed a rent charge of 10s.
on his estate at Great Alne to the poor of the parish,
5s. to be distributed on St. Thomas's Day and 5s. on
Good Friday. At the time of the Charity Commission
of 1815–39 this was paid by Mr. Stephen Morgan,
the then owner of that estate, and was distributed on
Good Friday, together with Saunders's charity, in small
sums of about 2s. each. In 1806 Ann Bates left £20 for
the same purpose, invested on security of the tolls of the
turnpike road from Stratford to Bromsgrove; in 1839
this yielded 20s. a year, which was distributed in small
sums in June. (fn. 65)
Saunders's Charity and Bates's Charity are now invested in 3½-per-cent. War Loan and produce 22s.
annually for sick and poor, and Allen's Charity is used
for the same purpose.
A tablet under the west window of the church records
that the Rev. John Chambers, by his will dated 3 May
1832, left £50, whereof the interest, together with the
tithe from Aunetts Field in the parish of Studley, was
to be applied by the rector for the education of the poor
children of the parish. There is now an annual income
of £2 3s. 6d. from charges on land in Studley, known as
Chambers's Charity, but the £50 left for educational
purposes cannot be traced. (fn. 66)