CHADSHUNT
Acreage: 1,388.
Population: 1911, 36; 1921, 64; 1931, 59.
Chadshunt is a small parish, roughly rhomboidal in
shape. The south-western boundary of the parish
crosses the Kineton-Southam road at right angles at a
point about ½ mile distant from Kineton. A stream
which runs to the south of, and parallel to, this road
marks the south-eastern boundary of the parish, while
to the north-east the parish extends as far as the farm
known as Bloxham's Barn, which lies on the KinetonSoutham road at a point half-way between the churches
of Chadshunt and Gaydon. The parish rises gradually
towards the north and east, its lowest point being in the
neighbourhood of 250 ft. above Ordnance Datum, on
the stream at its south-eastern corner, and the highest,
about 422 ft. in the west of the parish near its northern
boundary.
The parish is entirely agricultural, and by far the
larger proportion of the land is under pasture. A stone
quarry exists near the church, but it has not been
worked for many years. The surface soil is a stiff clay,
with loam in the northern part of the parish, bedded
on blue lias.
The Broom, Stratford, and Blisworth line of the
L.M.S. Railway runs for a short distance through the
parish, crossing its southern corner, but there is no
station within the parish boundaries.
The village of Chadshunt, situated at the junction of
the lane from Lighthorne to Radway with the KinetonSoutham road, consists of little more than the church,
Chadshunt Hall and outbuildings, and two farms.
Manor
The manor of CHADSHUNT was one
of the 24 manors given to the monks of
St. Mary's, Coventry, by Leofric, Earl of
Mercia, in 1043, (fn. 1) and confirmed to them by Edward
the Confessor in the same year. (fn. 2) In 1086 the Abbot of
Coventry held 5 hides in Chadshunt valued at £7, (fn. 3) and
the manor remained in the possession of the monks until
the middle of the 12th century. In a charter of confirmation of King Stephen, however, made between
the years 1145 and 1154, the monks are said to have
recently recovered Chadshunt by precept of Pope
Eugenius III. (fn. 4) Nevertheless, the same pontiff in 1152
confirmed Chadshunt to Walter Duredent, Bishop of
Coventry and Lichfield, as of the temporalities of his
see, (fn. 5) and it is certain that the successive bishops enjoyed
possession of it. The Bishop of
Chester, as he was then styled,
was lord of the manor in 1279; (fn. 6)
in 1291 the annual value of the
bishop's temporalities at Chadshunt amounted to £12, (fn. 7) and four
years later the bishop claimed
view of frankpledge and assize of
bread and ale together with other
rights in his manor of Chadshunt. (fn. 8) The manor remained in
the possession of the see (fn. 9) until
1547; on 20 February of that
year the manor of Chadshunt
and certain other properties were
alienated by Bishop Richard Sampson to Thomas Fisher
alias Hawkyns, for an annual rent of £50. The transfer
was confirmed on 15 April of the same year, and on 14
December 1548 the bishop sold the estates to Fisher
and released him from the £50 rent. (fn. 10) The transaction
was probably, and reasonably, challenged by Sampson's
successor Ralph Bayne, as in 1558 Fisher agreed to pay
to the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield a yearly rent
of £82 10s chargeable on the manors of Tachbrooke,
Bishop's Itchington, Chadshunt, and Gaydon, and the
rectory of Fenny Compton. (fn. 11) Thomas Fisher died in
1578, and was succeeded by his son Edward, then 30
years of age. (fn. 12)
See of Lichfield. Per pale gules and argent a cross potent between four crosses formy counterchanged.
On 17 May 1552 Thomas Fisher enfeoffed Thomas
Newsham or Newsam with the manor of Chadshunt,
reserving the advowson, tithe, and church barn, to be
held as of the manor of Tachbrooke, (fn. 13) in exchange for
13 yardlands in Itchington and a sum of £140. (fn. 14) On
the death of Thomas Newsham on 7 September 1577 (fn. 15)
the property went to his son Walter, who died in
1621. (fn. 16) Walter Newsham's son and heir John then
inherited the property, and, dying in 1645, was succeeded by his son Thomas. (fn. 17) Thomas Newsham died
on 10 March 1654 leaving his estates to a younger son
Charles Newsham, who reached his majority in the
same year. (fn. 18) Charles Newsham married twice, and on his
death in 1705 Chadshunt passed to John his son by his
first marriage. (fn. 19) John Newsham
also married twice, on the second
occasion Anne daughter and coheir of James Craggs the elder,
one of the Postmasters General. (fn. 20)
The only child of this marriage,
James Newsham, was baptized
on 9 October 1715, (fn. 21) and was but
9 years old when his father died
in 1724. (fn. 22) James Newsham
adopted his mother's surname
of Craggs towards the middle
of the 18th century, (fn. 23) and after
squandering his fortune, mortgaged his estates to the
Hon. Charlotte Digby. Following a decree of 22
June 1764 the property was put up to auction and
bought by the Earl of Ilchester for £19,720. (fn. 24) James
Newsham Craggs died in Flanders in 1769, (fn. 25) and on
7 March 1772 his kinsman, Newsham Peers of Alveston,
co. Warws., agreed to purchase the Earl of Ilchester's
interest for £22,293 15s. 5d. (fn. 26) Negotiations for the
resale of the estate by Newsham Peers to the Earl of
Catherlough were in progress at the time of the transaction, and in a codicil of 22 February 1772 appended
to his will the earl directed that his executors proceed
with the purchase of the estate in the event of his demise. (fn. 27)
Robert Knight, Earl of Catherlough, died on 30 March
1772 (fn. 28) leaving his property to his natural son Robert
Knight, a minor. His trustee was lord of the manor of
Chadshunt in 1785. (fn. 29) Robert Knight the younger
married Frances daughter of Lord Dormer on 12 June
1791. Their second daughter Georgiana married
Edward Bolton King of Umberslade, co. Warws., (fn. 30)
and resided at Chadshunt Hall, (fn. 31) though Robert
Knight retained the lordship of the manor until his
death, which occurred on 5 January 1855. (fn. 32) Georgiana
King died in 1858, (fn. 33) and Edward Bolton King became
lord of the manor. He died on 23 March 1878, (fn. 34) and
was succeeded by his son Capt. Edward Raleigh King,
who was lord of the manor in 1888 and 1900. (fn. 35) In
1924 Lord Willoughby de Broke was reported to be
lord of the manor. (fn. 36)
Newsham. Azure a fesse argent with three crosslets gules thereon.
Plan of Chadshunt Church.
Church
The parish church of ALL SAINTS
consists of a chancel, nave, north transept,
and a west tower.
The nave is of mid-12th-century origin and retains
the original north and south doorways. They are
almost centrally placed and probably the nave was
lengthened in the 14th century about 10 ft. westwards.
The clearstory of the nave and a new roof were
added fairly early in the 15th century, the south wall
was refaced externally, and buttresses were added.
The west tower is a 17th-century addition or rebuilding,
and the chancel and north transept were built c. 1730.
An inscription plate records repairs of 1866, when new
roofs were placed on the nave and tower; as the ancient
timbers still survive, this evidently refers only to the
lead covering and perhaps the rafters. A further
restoration was carried out in 1906.
The chancel (about 31½ ft. by 17 ft.) has an 18thcentury east window of three lights, the middle light
round-headed, also a round-headed south window:
both have plain architraves. The north wall is unpierced. The floor is paved with black marble and
white stone and is level with that of the nave. The
coved ceiling is plastered. The walls are of brown
Hornton stone ashlar. The east wall has a pedimental
head differing in pitch from that of the gabled roof,
which stands up above that of the nave.
The 18th-century chancel arch is of two chamfered
orders.
The nave (about 51 ft. by 18 ft.) has a similar 18thcentury archway in the east half opening into the north
transept. Next west of it is the 12th-century north
doorway (3½ ft. wide in the clear): it has jambs of two
square orders with the moulded bases and cushion
capitals of nook-shafts with moulded and chamfered
abaci. The west shaft remains, but the east shaft is
missing. The semicircular head has a half-round bowtell to the soffit of the outer order and a double-chamfered hood. Externally the wall about the doorway is
of irregular rubble-work, but to the west of it it changes
to bands of ashlar alternating irregularly with courses
of rubble-work, indicating a later lengthening of the
wall. The two buttresses against it are of the 15th
century. The nave-wall, to the east of the north transept, is of 15th-century rough ashlar in large courses
and has an angle buttress. The buttresses and west bay
have moulded plinths.
The only window in this wall is just west of the
doorway in the clearstory; it is of two trefoiled lights
under a square head with an external label and a segmental rear-arch.
The south doorway is similar to the other; it is
complete but rather weather-worn. An attempt was
made in the 14th century to give the head an ogee
point at the apex. Both doorways have high semicircular rear-arches. The south window east of the
doorway is of two 13th-century lancets and has very
obtuse internal rubble splays and a chamfered segmentalpointed rear-arch. The window west of the doorway
is a 14th-century insertion of two trefoiled ogee-headed
lights and a quatrefoil in a two-centred head with an
external hood-mould and pointed rear-arch. The
masonry about the 13th-century window is rather more
irregular than the remainder, which is of coursed
Hornton stone ashlar. The ashlar west of the 14thcentury window is smoother than the rest. A stringcourse marks the base of the clearstory, which has three
square-headed windows like that opposite. There was
formerly a south porch. Below the eastern window is
a 13th-century piscina with a trefoiled niche under a
gable-head; about half the round basin is left. Next
west are built in the half of a trefoiled ogee-head of a
window, a fragment of a coffin-lid with a raised cross,
and a stone with an 11-in. circular sinking, probably the
space for a head in a stone coffin.
The roof is a low-pitched one of the 15th century,
restored, and covered with lead. It is divided into five
bays by six trusses having tie-beams, supported by wallposts and straight braces on stone corbels, and carrying
king-posts. There are also wall-braces to the two east
bays. The tie-beam is carved with square paterae; the
second is moulded and has a soffit-boss carved with a
Paschal Lamb and over it on the west face a bearded
king's head. The third tie is chamfered and has a
foliage boss. The western three are moulded, probably
Tudor work, and two have rose-bosses. These last four
ties have modern braces under the ends. The rafters
are modern. Two of the stone corbels—the fifth and
sixth on the north side—are carved with grinning faces.
There are two lower corbels at the east end for a roodbeam.
The north transept (about 15 ft. deep by 14 ft.
wide) has a considerably higher floor, probably above
a vault. It is of similar material and date as the chancel.
In the north wall is an elliptical-headed doorway and
over it a round-headed window, and in the side walls
similar windows. At the north end of the west wall
is another doorway, walled up. The roof has a panelled
barrel-vaulted ceiling.
The west tower (about 10¼ ft. square) is built of
Hornton stone ashlar and has a chamfered plinth. The
bell-chamber, which is diminished from the lower part,
has a chamfered string-course at the base. The parapet
is embattled. At the west angles are diagonal buttresses
to the lower stage and at the south-east angle a splayed
stair-vice, lighted by narrow loops, and also stopping
below the bell-chamber. The two-centred archway to
the nave is of two chamfered orders, the inner dying on
the reveals. The doorway to the vice faces the nave
south of the archway. In the west wall is a four-centred
chamfered doorway with an old ribbed door, and over
it a window of two plain four-centred lights under a
square head. The bell-chamber has similar windows.
The three windows of the north transept contain
twelve panels of Flemish coloured glass depicting
various Biblical subjects, of early-18th-century date,
set in surrounding glass dated 1855.
The font has a 12th-century round bowl; the sides
are carved with an interlacing arcade and the moulded
top edge is enriched with a kind of dog-tooth ornament.
The base-mould of the bowl is of three cable-beads.
The base has a 13th-century 'hold-water' mould and
it is set on a sub-base which has a plain round mould
above a splay.
In the floor of the nave is a brass inscription to
Theophilus Wilkins of Gaydon 1613.
Below the south-east nave window is a mural brass
plate to William Askell of Gaydon, 6 February
1613(4). It is engraved with his kneeling figure in a
long mantle and ruff before a prie-dieu. On the south
wall high up is a monument in various marbles to
Michael Askel, Senior, buried 1697, John Askel of
Gaydon 1697, Susannah wife of Michael 1697–8,
and Michael, Junior, 1712 in his 34th year. The
monument was erected by the only surviving daughter
Susannah in 1713 and inscribed 'Richard Taylor fecit
London'.
A mural monument in the chancel is to Walter
Newsam of Chadshunt, 1621, and Fridayswed (Ailworth) his wife. It has panelled pilasters with trophies
in relief and an achievement of arms.
There are six bells by Richard Keene of Woodstock,
the treble and tenor dated 1693, the other four 1669. (fn. 37)
The registers begin in 1701.
In the churchyard, south of the nave, is the base of
a medieval cross with the dilapidated remains of steps.
Advowson
The advowsons of the churches of
Chadshunt and Bishop's Itchington
were early attached as prebendal benefices to the precentorship of Lichfield Cathedral. When,
in 1155–9, (fn. 38) Walter Duredent collated himself to the
Prebend of Chadshunt and Itchington, mention is
made of the fact that the previous holder, William de
Vilers, was Precentor of the Cathedral. (fn. 39) Towards the
end of the 13th century Chadshunt became a chapelry
of Bishop's Itchington. The last extant reference to it
as ecclesia occurs in 1282, (fn. 40) and since in 1291 it is not
mentioned by name in Pope Nicholas' Taxation while
Bishop's Itchington is described as possessing chapels (fn. 41)
(which it had not previously done), it is highly probable
that the subordination took place during the intervening
nine years. In 1341 it is definitely stated to be a
chapelry of Bishop's Itchington. (fn. 42) From that date
until 1879 its history is dealt with under Bishop's
Itchington (q.v.), and for its history from 1879 until
the present day reference should be made to the history
of the parish of Gaydon, with which Chadshunt was
then amalgamated.
Dugdale states that a well and oratory dedicated to
St. Chad, and standing near the church, were certified
to have an annual income of 16 marks in 6 Edward VI. (fn. 43)
A similar tradition, differing in certain minor respects,
is given in a transcript of a letter written by Thomas
Newsham to Sir Simon Archer during the 17th
century. (fn. 44) At the present day a well remains in the
grounds of Chadshunt Hall, though the statue of
St. Chad which surmounts it, and the railings with
which it is surrounded are of no great antiquity. (fn. 45)