DUNCHURCH AND THURLASTON
Acreage: Dunchurch, 3,137 (3,641 since 1931).
Thurlaston, 1,823; Total, 4,960 (now 5,464).
Population: Dunchurch, 1911, 935; 1921, 963;
1931, 1,255 (1,355 on present area). Thurlaston,
1911, 313; 1921, 285; 1931, 245. Totals: 1911,
1,248; 1921, 1,248; 1931, 1,500 (1,600 on present
area).
Dunchurch, with its hamlets of Thurlaston (a
separate civil parish), Cawston, and Toft, is a large
village situated on the main road from London to
Coventry and Birmingham, where it is crossed by that
from Southam to Rugby, 3 miles south-west of the
last-named town. In 1931 a portion of Dunchurch
parish was transferred to Rugby, and that part of
Bilton not included in Rugby merged in Dunchurch. (fn. 1)
The village is grouped round the junction of the
Coventry, Daventry, and Rugby roads. Most of the
houses are built of red brick with tiled roofs, dating
from the 18th century, but a short distance along the
Rugby road there is a small group of timber-framed
houses with thatched roofs, and one of puddled clay,
now plastered over. These clay-built houses have
very thick walls and small windows set in deep splays.
Close to the church there is a two-story timber-framed
house with a projecting upper story, formerly the
Lion Inn dated 1665, which has been plastered over;
a row of almshouses with an inscription dated 1695,
entirely rebuilt in 1818 in brick, and a red-brick
building with stone dressings, now divided into two
residences, formerly a Church School built in 1707.
At the road junction there is a cross with a square
tapered shaft with an inscription stating that it was
erected in 1813 as a milestone; the steps probably
belong to an earlier cross.
Dunchurch lay upon an important high road,
though in 1675 the portion of this road east of the
village was notoriously bad, (fn. 2) while two centuries
earlier the western portion, over Dunsmore, was
dangerous for other reasons. John Rous, inveighing
against inclosure by greedy landlords, particularly
instances Cawston, the portion of this parish north of
the road—'Cawston on Dunsmore was formerly a
township (villa) but now (c. 1490) is only a grange
of the Abbot of Pipewell, by grant of the Earl of
Warwick, and it is now a den of thieves and murderers.
The monks rejoice in the profit from inclosure, but
those impoverished by robbery committed by means
of that inclosure grieve. The voice of the blood of
men killed and mutilated cries to God. The road is
perilous, and it is the high and public road between the
city of London and the city of Coventry.' (fn. 3)
Licence was given in 1607–8 for a market, (fn. 4) and
with its favourable position as a road centre Dunchurch
might have developed into an important town; to this
day milestones on the main roads give distances to
Dunchurch. Rugby, however, in the Avon valley,
became the centre in the railway age, and even earlier
with its school and better established market had
outpaced Dunchurch, though it is worth noting that
Dunchurch was only about a third smaller than Rugby
in 1801, and also in 1730 if the numbers of houses
given in Thomas's edition of Dugdale are correct. (fn. 5)
In 1332 there were in Rugby only 16 tax-payers
against 35 in Dunchurch and Thurlaston. (fn. 6)
The ground slopes from 400 ft. at the church to just
under 300 ft. in the valley of the small stream which
forms the north-west boundary, flowing northwards
round Cawston to the Avon, and 260 ft. by the Rains
Brook, the south-eastern boundary.
Minor roads lead from the village northwards to
Bilton and north-west to Cawston, from Bilton through
Cawston to join the main Coventry road at Blue Boar
Farm at the western extremity of the parish, and from
the latter road Northampton Lane branches northwards near Dunchurch Station (2 miles from the
village), forming a direct route from Northampton to
the west, avoiding both Dunchurch and Rugby. The
road from Dunchurch to Northampton was noted as
being in a very bad state in 1754. (fn. 7)
Thurlaston hamlet is on a by-road a little south of
the main Coventry road, which on its way across
Dunsmore Heath is lined with trees, forming an
avenue nearly 5 miles long.
In 1605 Sir Everard Digby called a meeting of
disaffected gentry of Warwickshire at Dunchurch for
5 November, ostensibly for a hunting expedition on
Dunsmore, but in reality to receive news of the success
or failure of the Gunpowder Plot. (fn. 8)
Famous natives of Dunchurch include Thomas
Newcombe (1627–81), king's printer to Charles II;
his son (died 1691) left money to build almshouses
in the village. (fn. 9) Also, probably, William Tans'ur or
Tanzer (1699?–1783), psalmodist, some of whose
hymn tunes are still sung; his parents were Dunchurch
people, and he was baptized here (aged 6), but he may
have been born at Barnes (Surrey). (fn. 10)
White mentions a farmer named Thomas Maycock
who, though accidentally blinded by Rugby schoolboys, 'is extremely ingenious; has, since he lost his sight,
erected several buildings, invented and made improvements in agricultural implements . . . is said to be one
of the best judges of corn and cattle; and has taught
reading, writing and music'. (fn. 11)
There seems to be no surviving Inclosure Award
or Act, but between 1699 and 1730 the parish was
inclosed 'to its great improvement'. (fn. 12) In 1266 there
were at Cawston two common ovens baking for
Pipewell Abbey tenants in Dunchurch, Rugby, Lawford, and Newbold, and in Ashby St. Legers, Winwick,
and Elkington (Northants.), one oven baking 16 quarters
weekly and the other 6, the fuel being obtained on
the heath. (fn. 13) Seven parishes meet on Dunsmore Heath,
which land or freeboard was common to all these
parishes, (fn. 14) but was given to Thurlaston on its inclosure
in 1728. (fn. 15) In 1712 there were 31 'home closes' in
Thurlaston, containing 23 a. 2 r. 31 p. (fn. 16) A kiln existed
on the Montagu estates in Thurlaston in 1710.
Roger Pantolf gave to Pipewell Abbey the dam of
his mill-stream outside their inclosure at Potford. (fn. 17)
This may have been one of the two mills held by the
abbey at Cawston in 1291, (fn. 18) and in 1546 the pond
called Potford Dam was among the Pipewell property
granted to Thomas Boughton. (fn. 19) A windmill in Dunchurch 'on the West heathe' is mentioned in 1547,
as well as a rabbit-warren and a turbary. (fn. 20)
Manors
DUNCHURCH, assessed at 5 hides in
Domesday Book, had been held by Ulmar
in the time of Edward the Confessor, and
in 1086 was held by William from Osbern son of
Richard. (fn. 21) The manor, assessed at half a knight's fee,
continued to form part of the honor of Richard's
Castle in the Welsh Marches, being held of William
de Stuteville of that honor in 1235–6 (fn. 22) and 1242–3,
when John de Dunheved was tenant. (fn. 23) In 1287
another John de Dunheved held the manor of Dunchurch of Robert de Mortimer of Richard's Castle for
1 knight's fee. (fn. 24) Eustachia, John's widow, held a
messuage and 2 carucates of land of Hugh de Mortimer
in 1308, (fn. 25) and in the following year the overlordship
of this holding, assessed at half a knight's fee, was
ordered to be delivered to Thomas de Bykenore and
his wife Joan, who was Hugh de Mortimer's eldest
daughter and coheiress. (fn. 26) Soon afterwards Richard's
Castle passed to a branch of the Talbot family through
the marriage of Richard Talbot with Joan de Mortimer
as her second husband. (fn. 27) Richard's grandson John
died in 1375 holding a knight's fee in Dunchurch. (fn. 28)
His second son, another John, was the last male Talbot
of this line, and died in possession of Dunchurch, then
held by Sir Kynard de la Bere and Katherine his wife,
in 1388. (fn. 29) His estates devolved on three coheiresses,
and Dunchurch is not mentioned further in this
connexion.
By a charter of between 1154 and 1161, confirmed
in 1235, (fn. 30) Ingelram Clement granted a grange in the
territorium of Bilton, now partly in Dunchurch, with
other lands in the latter parish, to Pipewell Abbey
(Northants.); and this monastery also obtained from
Ralph son of Wigan 7½ of the 8 virgates of land in
Dunchurch with which his father had been enfeoffed
by Henry I, the remaining half-virgate being given to
the church of Dunchurch. (fn. 31) The Abbot and Convent
of Pipewell were granted free warren in their demesne
lands in Dunchurch and elsewhere in 1283. (fn. 32) Their
property in Dunchurch and Toft in 1291 comprised
6 carucates valued at 15s. each, rents of £2 annually,
livestock worth £2, and 2s. in perquisites of court. (fn. 33)
In 1316 the abbot was stated to be lord of Dunchurch
and its members. (fn. 34) The possessions of this monastery
in Dunchurch, including Bilton Grange and Toft,
were valued in 1535 at £16 16s., plus £16 10s. for
the rectory. (fn. 35) In 1557 they were reckoned as a manor
and assessed at one-fortieth of a knight's fee, and were
granted in chief to Sir Rowland Hill and Thomas
Leigh, citizens and aldermen of London, (fn. 36) after which
date they descended with the rest of Dunchurch (see
below).
The part of Dunchurch not granted to Pipewell
passed to Ingelram's son William Clement. He left
two daughters of whom the elder, Christiane, married
Avenel the Butler. They sent the younger daughter
Alice to the nunnery of Ankerwick when she was
5 years old, and three years later persuaded her to say
that she wished to be a nun. (fn. 37) When she came to years
of discretion she repudiated her vows and left the
nunnery; for which she and her supporter William de
Bidun were excommunicated. (fn. 38) But a later inquiry
into her case caused Pope Innocent III to annul the
sentence and to approve her marriage to Alan de
Wodecot. (fn. 39) In 1208 Hamo de Bidun granted her land
in Warwickshire for her life; (fn. 40) and in the same year
when the Abbot of Pipewell sued Hamo for the
advowson of Dunchurch he called Alice to warrant it. (fn. 41)
Christiane had died before this, and her son Jordan
the Butler was ill in 1220 (fn. 42) and died before 1223, in
which year William de Stuteville and Margaret his
wife, of Richard's Castle, claimed the custody of
Jordan's daughter and heir Christiane. (fn. 43) Alice having,
presumably, left no surviving issue (fn. 44) the manor was
held entirely by Christiane, who married John de
Dunheved, (fn. 45) and, after his death, Thomas Trymenel,
with whom in 1260 she granted the manor and the
wardship and marriage of her son John de Dunheved
to Henry de Montford for 5 years. (fn. 46) In 1300 John de
Dunheved and Eustachia his wife settled two parts of
the manor on themselves for their lives with contingent
remainders to their sons and daughter Stephen, John,
Thomas, Oliver, and Roese. (fn. 47) Stephen leased the
manor to John de Somery for life and then fled the
realm for a felony. (fn. 48) John the second son apparently
mortgaged the manor to Sir John Pecche, whose rentcollector he murdered in 1325, (fn. 49) and granted it to Sir
John and Eleanor his wife and to their heirs in 1330,
to hold of the chief lords. (fn. 50) Sir John Pecche died
seised of the manor, held of John Talbot of Richard's
Castle, in 1386, leaving two infant daughters as coheiresses, (fn. 51) and two years later it was in the hands of
Sir Kynard de la Bere, who had married Katherine,
Sir John's widow. (fn. 52) Margaret Pecche, who was one
day old at her father's death, married Sir William
Montfort of Coleshill, to whose family the manor
passed. In 1410 she, with her husband and her mother,
made a settlement of the manors of Dunchurch and
Toft on themselves and her heirs. (fn. 53) The manors
passed to the Crown on the attainder and execution
of Sir Simon Montfort for his support of Perkin
Warbeck in 1495. (fn. 54) The following year the manor
of Dunchurch was granted to Gerald, Earl of Kildare,
and Elizabeth (St. John) his wife, (fn. 55) this grant being
renewed in 1503, when free warren was granted, and
Toft is also mentioned. (fn. 56) After the earl's death in 1513
his widow granted a term of years in the manors to
the Prior of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in
England; she died in 1516. (fn. 57) In 1529 Sir Thomas
Fitzgerald, her grandson, had licence to alienate the
manors. (fn. 58) He, as 10th Earl of Kildare, and his brother
James, who was concerned with Thomas Howth in a
recovery of the two manors in 1532, (fn. 59) were executed
for rebellion in 1537, so that the manors again fell to
the Crown, Dunchurch being granted in 1541 to
Sir John Williams. (fn. 60) He must have re-granted it
almost immediately to Anthony Stringer of London
who, in 1543, exchanged it, with lands in Bucks. and
Northants., for Marlborough Priory and other monastic
estates. (fn. 61) It then remained with the Crown till 1555,
when it was granted to Christopher Smythe and
Thomas Warton, to be held in chief as one-fortieth
of a knight's fee with three other manors. (fn. 62) In the
same year Smythe and Warton received licence to
alienate the manor to Sir Rowland Hill and Thomas
Leigh, (fn. 63) which was accomplished in 1556. (fn. 64) By a
private agreement between Hill
and Leigh Dunchurch was reserved to the latter and his descendants. (fn. 65) In 1575 Alice Leigh,
widow of Thomas, who had been
knighted and was Lord Mayor of
London in 1558–9, (fn. 66) was dealing
with Dunchurch, Thurlaston,
and Long Lawford manors. (fn. 67)
Her younger son Sir William and
his wife Frances (Harington) and
son Francis conveyed the two
first-named manors, and that of
Toft, to Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Keeper of the Great
Seal and Francis's father-in-law, and Edward Mountague, in 1597, (fn. 68) probably for a settlement on Francis's
marriage. Further transfers by fine occurred between
these families in 1601, (fn. 69) 1605, (fn. 70) and 1609. (fn. 71) In 1620–1
Sir Francis Leigh obtained the right to hold a yearly
court leet. (fn. 72) Sir Francis Leigh's son Francis was
created Baron Dunsmore in 1628 (fn. 73) and was lord of the
manor when Dugdale wrote (1640), but died without
male issue in 1653. His daughter Elizabeth married
Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, (fn. 74) and
their daughter, another Elizabeth, inherited the manors
of Dunchurch, Thurlaston, and Toft, and married
Jocelin, Lord Percy, who became Earl of Northumberland in 1668. (fn. 75) After his death without issue in 1670
she married Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu, with whom
she was dealing with the manors in 1673. (fn. 76) The
lordship continued with the Dukes of Montagu till the
extinction of the dukedom in 1790, when it passed by
marriage to the Dukes of Buccleuch and Queensberry.
Charles William, 4th duke, was vouchee in a recovery
of 1811, (fn. 77) and in 1850 Lord John Scott, probably the
second son of the 5th duke, was lord of the manor, (fn. 78)
which still belongs to the Duke of Buccleuch.
Leigh. Gules a cross engrailed and in the first quarter a lozenge argent.
In 1701 a survey of Dunchurch made for the duke
showed his estate as 21 yardlands, or 1,560 acres, of
which the church lands accounted for 2 acres and glebe
for 26 more. The duke as lord of the manor held 743
of the 1,252 acres in the common fields at that date,
and 19 of the 21 cottages which had rights of common.
Nine years later he was holding courts leet and baron
in both Dunchurch and Thurlaston and had right
of free fishery in the latter manor; his rents at this
date amounted to £573 16s. 4d. from Dunchurch,
£327 17s. 11d. (including £70 for the tithes) from
Thurlaston, and £265 5s. 6d. from Toft. The rentals
from the two latter manors remained roughly constant
during the 18th century, but by 1779 the value of
Dunchurch, where there were then 80 tenancies, had
risen to £790 16s. including £3 1s. 6d. from the
herbage of the great roads within the manor of Dunchurch. In 1771 the three manors, with the duke's
other Warwickshire estates, were mortgaged to Morris
Robinson for £23,164. (fn. 79)
The hamlet of TOFT contained two estates which
in the 15th century were reckoned as manors. One,
first mentioned in 1410, (fn. 80) descended with the main
manor of Dunchurch, and is not always separately
referred to. The other was conveyed in 1464 by John
Burghton of Burghton (Staffs.) to Humphrey Swinnarton and John Horeway, priest. (fn. 81) In 1472 these
two settled it on Swinnarton's son-in-law and daughter,
Humphrey and Elizabeth Hill of Blore (Staffs.), and
their heirs. (fn. 82) Humphrey Hill of Buntingsdale (Salop),
probably their grandson, conveyed it in 1527 to John
'Letteley' of Dunchurch, (fn. 83) who was apparently already
tenant in 1519. (fn. 84) John 'Litley' and Elizabeth his
wife in 1564 granted it to John Fawkes. (fn. 85) Another
John Fawkes, probably his grandson, was dealing
with it in 1657, (fn. 86) as were Marmaduke and William
Fawkes in 1674. (fn. 87) William Fawkes, grandson of
the mid-17th-century John Fawkes, was lord in
1730, (fn. 88) after which date this manor is not separately
mentioned.
CAWSTON, which had been held by Edwin in the
time of Edward the Confessor, was in 1086 in possession of Turchil of Warwick, of whom Almar held
1½ hides and Ulf 1 hide. (fn. 89) In the next century the
overlordship was with the Earl of Warwick, who with
Henry de Ardern, Turchil's grandson, confirmed the
gift of Ingelram Clement and William his son of all
the land they held in Cawston to
the abbey of Pipewell, as stated
in a charter of Henry II, confirmed in 1235. (fn. 90) In 1201 Margaret de Hondesacr' granted half
a knight's fee here to Pipewell. (fn. 91)
In 1266 the men of Thurlaston
tried to obtain common pasture
on Cawston Heath by force, but
Gerard the abbot 'stood against
the whole town of Thurlaston
like a wall', and obtained a verdict
favourable to Pipewell in an assize
of novel disseisin. (fn. 92) In the reign of Edward I there were
disputes between Monks Kirby Priory and Pipewell
as to the ownership of the grange or manor of Cawston,
the former obtaining it 'by fraudulent claims', but
after a suit before the king the monks of Pipewell
recovered it on payment of 200 marks to Monks Kirby,
the agreement being embodied in a fine of 1278. (fn. 93)
In 1291 the Abbot of Pipewell held 6 carucates
worth 15s. each, 2 mills together worth 13s. 4d. and
stock valued at £2 10s. (fn. 94) Cawston continued in
monastic ownership up to the Reformation, the
Pipewell property here being valued at £36 6s. 8d. in
1535, (fn. 95) and was granted in 1546 to Thomas Boughton
for £678 and an undertaking to pay for the woodlands
as they should be appraised on survey. (fn. 96) At this time
there were six tenants on the estate. Boughton died
in possession in 1558, (fn. 97) and his eldest son, another
Thomas, two years later, when his brother Edward
was still a minor. (fn. 98) This latter married Susanna,
daughter of Sir John Brocket, (fn. 99) and according to
Dugdale enjoyed the favour of the Earl of Leicester.
With materials from the church of the White Friars
in Coventry he 'raised here (at Cawston) the most
beautifull Fabrick that then was in all these parts'. (fn. 1)
He died in 1589; (fn. 2) his widow, on whom the manor was
settled for life, married George Darrell and survived
till 1626, (fn. 3) outliving her son Henry. Henry's son
Edward was vouchee in a recovery of 1638, (fn. 4) and his
younger son William had the manor by 1655, when he
owed several years' rates but was 'a man so desperate
and ill-conditioned that no one dares distrain him'; (fn. 5)
he continued to ignore or threaten the collectors (fn. 6) until
he died without issue in 1663. His nephew Francis
(died 1707) founded and endowed a school in Dunchurch, and devised the manor to his kinsman Edward
Boughton, a younger member of the Lawford branch
of the family, who was high sheriff in 1712 and lord
of the manor in 1730. (fn. 7) His son Francis apparently
died without issue, the manor being split into five
parts among his sisters as coheiresses, John, Duke of
Montagu, in 1744 obtaining a fifth share from Thomas
Harris and his wife. (fn. 8) After this date the manor is not
separately mentioned and probably descended with
Dunchurch.
Pipewell Abbey. Party argent three crescents gules and azure a crozier erect or.
THURLASTON, which had been a 5-hide vill,
was in 1086 divided into two parts, 2½ hides (held
freely before 1066 by Wlgar) being then held by the
Count of Meulan, (fn. 9) and 2½ (formerly held by Baldeuin)
were held by Hubert of Hugh de Grantemesnil. (fn. 10)
The Count of Meulan's Warwickshire estates mostly
passed to the Earls of Warwick, of whom one fee was
held in Thurlaston in 1235–6 and 1242–3, (fn. 11) and
again in 1316. (fn. 12) The Earl of Warwick was stated to
be lord in 1372, (fn. 13) and again of a knight's fee in 1401. (fn. 14)
The subtenant in 1235–6 was William le Franseiz, (fn. 15)
and in 1242–3 John de Thurlaweston, who held of
Roese de Verdon. (fn. 16) Theobald de Verdon was in
possession in 1316, (fn. 17) his subtenants in the following
year being Simon son of Margery and John de Derset. (fn. 18)
In 1337 the fee was held by Hugh Daunsere of
Theobald de Verdon the younger. (fn. 19) Theobald's
widow held it in dower in 1360, when there were
several tenants and the reversion was to Thomas de
Furnivall, (fn. 20) whose mother was daughter and coheiress of Theobald by his former wife. (fn. 21) At the death
of William de Furnivall in 1383 the fee was stated to
have been formerly held by John Derset, (fn. 22) but though
the Talbot Earls of Shrewsbury came into possession
of the Furnivall estates through female lines they do
not appear to have maintained this mesne lordship in
Thurlaston. (fn. 23) The Dersets (later Dorsets) continued
to hold the manor; William Derset of Thurlaston was
a justice of the peace in 1434, (fn. 24) and in 1528 William
Dorset made a conveyance of the manor. (fn. 25) In 1533
he and his wife Margaret settled it on trustees, (fn. 26)
including Edward Cave of Winwick (Northants.),
whose daughter and coheiress Mary married Thomas
Boughton, (fn. 27) lord of Cawston. Their son Edward
Boughton ran into debt over his great house at Cawston
(q.v.), and on his death in 1589 his Thurlaston estate
was sold to meet his creditors. (fn. 28) It was probably
bought by the Leighs of Dunchurch, and descended
with that manor, the Duke of Montagu being lord of
both in 1730, (fn. 29) about which time he owned 1,307
acres in Thurlaston, with 20 tenants. (fn. 30)
The estates of Hugh de Grantemesnil passed to the
Earls of Leicester, (fn. 31) but as there is no record of this
earldom in connexion with Thurlaston Dugdale is
probably right in identifying the Grantemesnil portion
with that of which Wigan the Marshal was enfeoffed
by Henry I, and of which a quarter of a knight's fee
was held of Ralph, Wigan's son, by Roger de Torlavestone de novo feffamento in 1166. (fn. 32) Ralph son of Wigan
held I ploughland (waignagium i caruce) in Thurlaston
in 1198, (fn. 33) and Stephen de Segrave 10 virgates in
1226–8, (fn. 34) of William de Cantilupe, who had been
enfeoffed of the Marshal property by William,
Ralph's son. (fn. 35) In 1232 Stephen was stated to hold
these 10 virgates by serjeanty of the king, of the fee of
Willoughby, (fn. 36) having been granted them by William
son of William de Cantilupe in 1228. (fn. 37) This manor
continued with the Segrave family for over a century, (fn. 38)
and at the death of John, the last male Segrave, in
1353 (fn. 39) passed, through his daughter Elizabeth, to her
second husband Sir Walter Mauny, who held it of the
Earl of Warwick at his death in 1372. (fn. 40) His daughter
Anne, Countess of Pembroke, was his heir, but the
manor was held to pass to Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke
of Norfolk, Elizabeth Segrave's son by her first
husband. (fn. 41) He was banished and died in exile in 1399,
when his son Thomas was a minor. (fn. 42) Thomas Derby (fn. 43)
and Thomas de Rempston (fn. 44) were successively appointed stewards and receivers of the ducal manors in
the hands of the Crown. Thomas, 1st Duke, granted
an annuity to his esquire John Wilcotes, including £5
from the issues of the manor of Thurlaston. (fn. 45) After
the death of the last Mowbray Duke of Norfolk in
1477, (fn. 46) it passed to the Lords Berkeley, who were
descended through Isabel, daughter of the 1st Duke,
who married James, Lord Berkeley (1424). (fn. 47) Sir
Maurice Berkeley, grandson of James, had licence of
entry to his estates without proof of age in 1507, (fn. 48)
and by his will dated 1 May 1520 left a life interest in
Thurlaston, held of 'the heir of Cantelow', to his
widow Katherine, with remainder to his brother Sir
Thomas Berkeley; he died in 1523. (fn. 49) Sir Thomas's
son, another Thomas, died in 1534; (fn. 50) his posthumous
son Henry and his wife Katherine granted the manor,
with view of frankpledge in Dunchurch, to Alice
widow of Sir Thomas Leigh, lord of Dunchurch
manor, in 1572, (fn. 51) from which date this manor has
descended with Dunchurch.
Segrave. Sable a lion argent crowned or.
Berkeley. Gules a cheveron and ten crosslets formy argent.
Much property in Thurlaston, of which the total
value in 1535 was £5 14s. 1d., (fn. 52) was at various times
granted to Pipewell Abbey. Ellen, widow of Richard
de Turlaveston, conveyed her dower of 1 virgate and
a third part of 16 acres in 1199, (fn. 53) and at the same time
William son of Stephen conveyed the 'common of
pasture of Thurlaston where the granges of the abbot
are set'. (fn. 54) Nine further grants, including one from
Ralph son of Wigan and totalling about 8 virgates,
were confirmed in 1235. (fn. 55) The monastic estate in
1291 was reckoned at 4 carucates in demesne worth
12s. each, and rents of £1 10s. (fn. 56)
Immediately after the Dissolution Christopher
Seyntgerman, cousin of William Boughton of Lawford
(whose son Thomas was to receive the Cawston portion
of the Pipewell estates) wrote (July 1539) to Cromwell
suggesting that William Boughton's wife should have
'the £3 15s. land in Thurluston' for life, with remainder
to her son, (fn. 57) but this recommendation seems not to
have been carried out and the Thurlaston property of
the abbey stayed in Crown hands till 1557, when it
was granted to Sir Rowland Hill and Thomas Leigh, (fn. 58)
subsequently following Dunchurch.
Lands in Thurlaston Fields, formerly belonging to
Coventry Priory and in 1570 in the occupation of
William Olney, were in that year granted to Nicholas
Yetsweirt and Bartholomew Brokesby. (fn. 59)
The division of Thurlaston between the abbots of
Pipewell and lay lords is reflected in the following note
on an early-18th-century survey: 'The meadows are
divided into pieces called Hides, each [of] 20 equal
parts called Poles, the Hides are called Abbot's Hide
and Lord's Hide, which fall interchangeably throughout the Meadows, but the Inequality of the lengths
of the Hides has occasioned the Changeing of them,
one year begining with Abbot's Hide and the next
with Lord's Hide, and each Proprietor keeps the same
number of Poles in the same Hides, which varies the
Contents.' (fn. 60)
Church
The church of ST. PETER is situated
on the north side of the Coventry—Daventry road, in the centre of the village,
and stands in a large churchyard. It consists of a
chancel, nave, north and south aisles, north chancel
aisle, west tower, and vestry. It was almost entirely
rebuilt late in the 14th century and the tower added
probably early in the 15th century. Little is left of the
earlier church other than the south wall of the chancel,
the bases of the arcade pillars and the piscinas, all of
13th-century date, together with the north door, of
the early 14th century, all re-used in the rebuilding.
A modern aisle has been added on the north side of the
chancel and the south porch destroyed and replaced
by a modern vestry. In addition there is the damaged
basin of a 12th-century font lying in the nave, and four
carved-oak traceried panels in the modern priests' stalls,
one bearing the arms of the Isle of Man, (fn. 60a) probably
early-15th-century. The whole church was extensively
restored in 1908. The earlier south wall of the chancel
is built of roughly coursed limestone rubble with red
sandstone dressings, all the later work being carried out
with red sandstone ashlar. The roofs are all modern, of
steep pitch covered with tiles, separate roofs replacing
one of a lower pitch which roofed the nave and aisles
in one span.
The east wall of the chancel has been refaced with
red sandstone ashlar, the gable and diagonal buttresses
rebuilt. It is lighted by a modern pointed traceried
window of three trefoil lights with a moulded panel
below each light and a hood-mould having head-stops.
On the south there is a 13th-century buttress in the
centre, with a rectangular low-side window of one
splay, and, to the east, a pointed late-14th-century
much restored window of two trefoil lights with hoodmould. The chancel walls were raised and finished
with a moulded eaves-course during the 14th-century
rebuilding to correspond with the newly built aisles.
The south aisle, which has a plinth of two splays
and a string-course at sill level, is divided into three
bays by buttresses which terminate at the moulded
eaves-course. The two bays to the east have pointed
traceried windows of three trefoil lights with hoodmoulds, the tracery and mullions cemented over, and a
similar window in the east wall. In the west bay a
modern vestry of red sandstone ashlar has been built,
with a pointed doorway on the west, and lighted on the
south by a pointed traceried window of two trefoil
lights. The west side is lighted by a small circular
quatrefoil light placed high up in the wall. The north
aisle is also divided into three bays; the two eastern
have pointed traceried windows of two splays, each
with two trefoil lights, hood-moulds, and a stringcourse at sill level, the tracery cemented over. In the
west bay there is a doorway with a moulded pointed
arch of three wave-moulded orders carried down the
jambs without capitals. The west side has a modern
pointed traceried window of two trefoil lights with a
hood-mould.
In building the modern aisle to the chancel some of
the old work taken from the chancel and the east end
of the aisle was re-used, e.g. the window and diagonal
buttress from the east wall of the aisle in a similar
position in the new aisle, the north door, a two-light
traceried window, buttress, low-side window, and
moulded eaves-course, but not all in their corresponding positions; the low-side window has been put
towards the eastern end instead of the west and at a
higher level. The early-14th-century door, rebuilt in
its normal position, has a moulded segmental-pointed
arch with the mouldings continued down the jambs
to splayed stops.
The stonework of the tower is badly decayed and
much of the detail has been lost. The tower, which is
divided into three stages by string-courses, has diagonal
buttresses in six stages at each of its angles, those on the
west with carved grotesque beasts projecting from the
upper stage. It has a moulded plinth and is finished
with a battlemented parapet resting on a hollowmoulded string-course with carved grotesque animals
at intervals and at each corner. Immediately below
the string is a band of square quatrefoil and traceried
panels carried right round the tower. On the west
side there is a doorway with a moulded pointed arch
of three orders, the centre one has five moulded foils
on each side with a trefoil at the apex. All details of the
jambs have been lost but it is probable that the cusped
order was supported on capitals and shafts. There is
an outer band to the arch of trefoiled panels with
square quatrefoil panels between, and a hood-mould
with traces of stops. Above is a restored window of
three cinquefoil lights with tracery; the pointed arch
has an outer band of panels similar to those round the
door, the reveals and the soffit of the arch panelled with
trefoil-headed panels, and a hood-mould formed by
the string-course; the window-sill is splayed; at the
apex of the arch are the remains of a canopy, its niche
filled in. In the second stage there are windows of two
trefoil lights with square heads and hood-moulds. The
belfry windows are arranged in pairs on the west and
south faces, and single on the north and east. They are
deeply recessed, with pointed arches, of two trefoil
lights and quatrefoil piercings, panelled below the sills,
on the west side with square quatrefoil panels over
trefoiled panels, on the three remaining sides the
quatrefoils are omitted, the sills resting on the trefoiled
panels; they all have hood-moulds with traces of stops,
and on the north and east carved heads in the centre of
the jambs. On the south side there is a stair-turret in
the junction of the tower with its eastern diagonal
buttress, and it is carried up to form a battlemented
turret. It has two loop-lights in the lower stage and
two in the second, and string-courses, one in the first
stage and two in the second. Over the north light of
the belfry window, on the west side, there is a quatrefoil opening in the band of quatrefoil panels with a
trefoil canopy and the base of a pinnacle. The upper
stage has been patched with light-coloured stone and
the parapet is a modern restoration.
The chancel (31 ft. 4 in. by 16 ft. 11 in.) has a
wood-block floor to the altar with three steps, the rest
paved with light and dark lozenge-shaped stone paving.
On the south towards the east there is a double piscina,
with cross divisions to the basins, in a modern trefoilheaded recess, with a hood-mould. The traceried
window has a pointed rear-arch with hood-mould and
wide splayed jambs; the low-side window has a
moulded segmental-pointed rear-arch, the mouldings
dying out on splayed jambs. On the north side close
to the east wall there is a small modern recess with a
moulded wood frame and label moulding. The modern
arcade has two bays of moulded pointed arches of two
orders, decorated with paterae, supported on a pier of
six half-shafts, with moulded capitals and bases, the
responds being formed of half-piers.
The nave (45 ft. 2 in. by 16 ft. 8 in.) has plastered
walls and an open queen-post roof with curved struts
on moulded corbels. The south arcade consists of three
bays of pointed arches of two splayed orders, resting
on rather slender octagonal pillars with moulded
capitals, the top member battlemented and, to the east
pillar only, ball-flowers in the hollow moulding. Their
bases rest without mouldings on square 13th-century
bases with stopped splayed corners for pillars of a larger
diameter. At the east end the arch splays are continued
as a respond without capitals and finish on a mutilated
13th-century base; the western arch is supported on a
mutilated carved corbel. The north arcade is similar,
except that the battlements and ball-flowers have been
omitted from the capitals and the pillars made 2 ft.
shorter. The chancel arch is pointed, of two splayed
orders, the inner supported on carved corbels formed by
cutting away the responds and carving the stone below
the capitals. At the junction of the arcade with the
chancel there are carved heads on either side, probably
the stops of a destroyed hood-mould to the arcade
arches. The pointed tower arch is very lofty, of two
splays to the nave and four to the tower, supported on
half-octagon responds with moulded capitals, the
responds decorated on the nave side with a series of
trefoil-headed panels, all made out with cement, but
probably roughly following the original. On the south
side of the arch there is a narrow doorway with a
moulded pointed arch to the tower staircase.
The pulpit is a modern one of stone, octagonal,
trefoiled panels on each face, on an octagonal stem.
The south aisle (40 ft. 4 in. by 14 ft. 8 in.) has a flat
ceiling of wood panels under a steep-pitched roof.
The windows have stop-chamfered pointed reararches to splayed recesses. A string-course at the level
of the window-sills has been cut away except to the
sills. At the east end of the south wall there is a muchmutilated piscina with a fluted basin, with a trefoil
ogee head and traces of a hood-mould. This end of the
arcade is now used as a chapel. The doorway to the
vestry is modern with a segmental head.
The north aisle (40 ft. 6 in. by 11 ft. 10 in.) has a
ceiling similar to the south aisle. The windows have
segmental-pointed rear-arches with wide splayed
reveals, hood-moulds with defaced stops, and a stringcourse at sill level. The doorway has a modern reararch similar to the vestry. At the eastern end of the
south wall there are two square aumbries, which once
had doors with locks. Against the east respond of the
arcade is a mutilated piscina with a trefoiled head
and an hexagonal basin, probably left in its original
position when the church was rebuilt. The east wall
of the aisle has been removed for a modern arch giving
access to the modern chancel aisle. Parts of the reveals
and rear-arches to the windows and door are originals
re-used. The eastern end is occupied by the organ,
obscuring the east window. It has an open steeppitched roof and a wood-block floor. Under the arch
from the aisle there is an early-17th-century carved oak
chest with a panelled lid. Over the north door there
is a marble wall-memorial to Thomas Newcomb,
'servant of his Late Majesty King Charles II in the
Printing Office', who died 1681.
The tower (11 ft. 10 in. by 11 ft. 6 in.) is paved
with light and dark stone paving, the walls are rendered
with cement with scratched masonry joints. The
angles of the west wall have been splayed and panelled
in cement to match the tower arch, the window and
door recesses and the soffits of the arches are also
panelled in cement, probably roughly following the
original work. The ceiling is a modern plaster vaulting
springing from moulded plaster corbels. The font,
which stands in the centre of the tower, is an octagonal
stone one dated 1848, with trefoiled panels on each
face. On the north wall there is a V-shaped framed
wooden panel with the following painted inscription:
Here lyeth ye body of Margarit Hixon, Daughter to Thomas
Manley, of Manley in ye County of Chester Esq. & wife to
Thomas Hixon of Greenwch in ye County of Kent Esq. who
lyeth there intomed wth the inscription of these titles on his
Monument Mr of Arts Oxon. souldier under Henry ye 4th, King
of France, Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth,
Yeoman of ye removing Wardrop, keeper of the Standing Wardrop
& privy Lodgings at Greenwch to Queen Elizabeth and King
James, by which husband, Thomas Hixon shee had 5 sonnes, viz.
Robert, Humphrey, Thomas, John & William: also 3 Daughters,
viz. Elizabeth, Margarit & Katherine. Shee departed ys life
21 April an[n]o 1632.
At the top of this inscription there is a coat of arms
with crests on either side, left Hixon, right Manley.
The plate consists of a silver flagon, two silver
chalices, and two silver patens.
There are five bells by Joseph Smith, 1724, and one
by John Briant, 1792. (fn. 61)
The registers begin 1538. The earlier entries were
transcribed in 1662 by Simon Hawkhurst, B.D. (fn. 61a)
Advowson
There was a priest at Dunchurch
in 1086. (fn. 62) The church was appropriated to Pipewell Abbey by Bishop
Richard Peche in the reign of Henry II, (fn. 63) and the
vicarage endowed by Bishop Stavensby in 1229, when
£10 yearly was reserved to be paid to the Cathedral of
Lichfield. (fn. 64) In 1247 the advowson was granted by
John de Dunheved and Christian his wife to the Abbot
of Pipewell, the concord being made in the presence
of Roger (Weseham), Bishop of Chester, and the dean
and chapter of Lichfield, who acknowledged that they
had no right to the advowson. (fn. 65) Presentations were,
however, made by the Bishops of Chester, Coventry,
and Lichfield from 1329 onwards, (fn. 66) and the advowson
has ever since remained in the hands of the diocesan
bishop.
The value of the church in 1291 was £10, plus the
£10 payable to the dean and chapter of Lichfield (see
above); (fn. 67) in 1535 the vicarage was worth £14 1s. 10d.,
plus 8s. for procurations and synodals, (fn. 68) and the rectory
was farmed at £16 10s., (fn. 69) out of which the £10 was
still payable to Lichfield. (fn. 70)
In 1360 Bishop Stretton of Lichfield granted licence
for 2 years to the inhabitants of Thurlaston, at the
instance of William de Petton, that divine service
should be celebrated in the chapel there. (fn. 71) This chapel
is not mentioned in the Taxatio or the Valor, but
according to Dugdale it existed till about 1562, when
it was pulled down by Lord Berkeley's officers. (fn. 72)
Charities
Thomas Newcombe, by will dated
2 March 1690, gave to trustees £600
upon trust to purchase some ground as
near to the church and to the open street of Dunchurch
as they could, and thereupon to build six almshouses
for as many poor men or widows being born in and
inhabitants of the parish; and he desired that the rest
of the money after finishing the almshouses should be
laid out in the purchase of land, and the rents and
profits thereof be yearly divided among the said almspeople equally.
John Spier, by will dated 30 March 1618, gave to
his executors £100 to be set forth upon good security
to the use of the poor of the parishes of Dunchurch
and Newbold.
The above-mentioned charities are regulated by
schemes of the Charity Commissioners dated 8 September 1911 and 9 March 1934. The annual income
amounts to £64 9s. 4d.
Church Land. By the award under the Dunchurch
Inclosure Act, 1709, 2½ acres of land were awarded to
the churchwardens, and the income used to be carried
to the general account of the church rates. The land
was sold in 1930 and the proceeds of sale invested. The
annual income of the charity amounts to £17 11s. 4d.
Poor's Land. By the same award 20 acres of land
were awarded to this parish.
The charity is regulated by schemes of the Charity
Commissioners dated 22 November 1861 and 31 July
1934. The scheme of 1861 appoints trustees to
administer the charity and directs that the yearly
income of the charity, which amounts to £190 approximately, shall be applied either in gifts of coal or in the
purchase of coals to be re-sold by the trustees at a reduced price to deserving poor persons resident in the
parish.
William Smith. This parish participates in the
charity of William Smith and receives 4s. per annum
which, in accordance with the terms of the bequest,
is required to be distributed in bread to the poorest
people of the parish. For particulars of the charity see
under parish of Bilton.
William Fawkes. It is stated in an old will-book that
William Fawkes gave 40s. to be distributed on St.
Thomas's day to such poor men and women of this
parish as the minister and churchwardens should think
fit; and a note adds that the payment was charged on
lands in Grandborough.
Church Land (Thurlaston). By an award dated
20 April 1728 it was determined that a plot of land
containing 8 a. o r. 24 p. laid out in lieu of the Church
Land and the tithes yearly issuing thereupon and the
rents and profits should be employed for the same purposes as the Church Land was theretofore used. The
land was sold in 1891 and the proceeds of sale invested.
The income thereon, amounting to £15 12s. 4d., is
remitted to the vicar and churchwardens of Dunchurch,
the trustees of the charity, for the purposes of the
trusts.
Poor's Land. By the same award it was determined
that a plot of land containing 43 acres and all tithes
issuing thereupon and the rents and profits thereof
should be employed as the churchwardens and overseers of the poor should think proper, for providing
fuel in winter for the poor of the town of Thurlaston;
and the said poor inhabitants were to have free liberty
to cut bushes from the land as often as they should have
occasion for the same.
The charity is now regulated by a scheme of the
Charity Commissioners dated 13 January 1865. The
annual income of the charity amounts to £65 approximately.
Dunchurch and Thurlaston Branch of the National
Federation of Women's Institutes. By an indenture
dated 29 July 1925 the Rt. Hon. Samuel James, Baron
Waring, conveyed to trustees the village hall and two
cottages and other property in Dunchurch upon trust
for the purposes of an institution to be so known.