GRANDBOROUGH
Acreage: 4,494.
Population: 1911, 320; 1921, 367; 1931, 309.
The parish forms a roughly rectangular block,
5 miles from south-west to north-east by about 1½ miles
in depth. The northern and north-western boundaries are formed by the Rains Brook, a tributary of
the River Leam. Another small stream which forms the
northern half of the east boundary also flows into the
Leam, which river crosses the parish from south-east
to north-west, dividing the hamlet of Woolscot on its
right bank fom the village of Grandborough on its left.
The road connecting the two at Grandborough Mill
is carried over the Leam and a backwater by two
bridges, of which the northern was called Chayne
Bridge and the other Fines Bridge in 1627, when the
cost of repairing the section of road across the Mill
Ham between the two bridges was undertaken by
Laurence Bolton (lord of the manor), the inhabitants
of Woolscot in return disclaiming pasturage rights
there. (fn. 1) The only road of importance, that from
Coventry to Daventry, crosses the parish parallel with
its northern boundary and ¼ mile distant therefrom,
the tract between the road and the stream being
formerly known as Walcote. A minor road leads southwest from the village down the centre of the parish
to Calcutt, where mounds and ditches mark the site
of the depopulated hamlet, (fn. 2) at the southern end of
which, on a slight hill which reaches 340 ft., is Calcutt
Spinney, the only considerable block of woodland in
the parish.
In 1493 Thomas Catesby allowed a messuage and
40 acres of arable to decay, so that six persons, employing one plough, became homeless and unemployed. (fn. 3)
Ten years later he did the same to a holding of 30 acres
in Woolscott, ejecting seven persons, and in 1516 to a
similar holding in Grandborough; John Radbourne
had done likewise in 1492. (fn. 4) All these last three tenements were held of the Prior of Coventry, and William
Huett, tenant of the Prior of Ronton, in 1515 acted
in the same way. (fn. 5) About 1,000 acres in Grandborough
were inclosed under an Act of 1765. (fn. 6)
There was a mill worth 16d. at Grandborough in
1086, (fn. 7) and in a deed of about 1280 two water-mills
called 'Cuttole' and 'Baggole' are mentioned. (fn. 8) In 1531
there was a water-mill attached to Thomas Catesby's
manor, (fn. 9) and in 1668 there was also a windmill, (fn. 10)
apparently in Woolscott, where a miller is mentioned
early in the 13th century. (fn. 11)
Woolscott, ¾ mile north-east of the church, consists
of a few farmhouses dating from the 17th century.
Harrow House, formerly the Harrow Inn, is T-shaped
in plan with a large stone central chimney-stack with
the date 1680. It is a two-story gabled, timber-framed
structure with vertical timbering and a tiled roof. The
adjacent house is similar, but the timbers are concealed by rough-cast.
Castle Farm has part of a late-16th-century rectangular house embodied in a later house. The early
building now forms an east wing, two stories high,
with a gabled dormer on the south front. It is built of
alternate bands of limestone and dark brown sandstone,
with a plinth of one splay, and has a tiled roof. The
windows are moulded with square heads and hoodmoulds. In the gable to the dormer, above a threelight window, there is a painted sundial. The interior
has been modernized.
Manors
GRANDBOROUGH was one of the
24 vills bestowed by Earl Leofric upon his
Priory of Coventry, (fn. 12) and in 1086 the
Church of Coventry was holding 8 hides 1 virgate
here. (fn. 13) At the same time another 2 hides, which had
been held before the Conqueror by Bundi, were in
the hands of Richard the Forester. (fn. 14) Laurence, Prior
of Coventry (c. 1144–79), is said to have given the
manor to Robert son of Noel, whose son Thomas left
two daughters as his coheirs. (fn. 15) Of these Joan (fn. 16)
married Thomas fitzEustace, but this manor came to
the descendants of her sister Alice wife of William de
Harcourt. (fn. 17) Both sisters were alive in 1236, when the
Lady Alice de Harcourt held of the Prior of Coventry
a half-fee in Grandborough (fn. 18) and her sister the Lady
Joan a half-fee in Shuckborough (q.v.); by 1242 Alice
had been succeeded by her son Richard. (fn. 19) One of the
Harcourts sold the manor to Mr. Henry de Braundeston, who gave it to his brother Hugh, (fn. 20) who had a
grant of free warren here in 1292. (fn. 21) Hugh died in
1299, leaving a son Henry, then aged 16. (fn. 22) Henry in
1312 granted two-thirds of the manor of Grandborough with its demesne, freeholds, and villeinage
there and in Wolscot and Walcote, and the reversion
of the other third, held in dower by his mother
Margaret, to Sir William de Bereford and Edmund
his son. (fn. 23) William died in 1326, holding the manor
jointly with Edmund of John de Harcourt. (fn. 24) In 1329
Edmund had licence to grant the manor, held of the
Priory of Coventry, (fn. 25) to the Prior of Chalcombe
(Northants.) for the provision of four extra canons and
a distribution of alms to the poor. (fn. 26) This was in satisfaction of a licence which the priory had previously
obtained to acquire lands to the value of 10 marks
yearly, at which sum the manor was then estimated;
but in 1346 the subescheator reported that the king
had been deceived as to the value of the manor, which
was worth £14 7s. more than stated, and it was therefore seized into the king's hands and committed to the
keeping of Edmund de Bereford, here styled 'the
king's clerk'; but it was shortly afterwards restored to
the priory. (fn. 27) Ten years later Hugh son of Henry de
Braundeston sued the Prior of Chalcombe for the
manor, which he claimed had been entailed on his
grandfather by the gift of Mr. Henry. The prior
replied that he did not hold the whole manor, but for
the part which he held he called to warranty the three
sisters and heirs of Edmund de Bereford. (fn. 28) The suit,
apparently as the result of bribery, (fn. 29) ended in Hugh's
favour. He then enfeoffed John de Haveryngdoune,
vicar of Chalcombe, and Thomas Sarazin, chaplain;
but on his death-bed Hugh acknowledged to them that
he had recovered it from the priory by unjust means
and charged them to restore it. They therefore sought,
and obtained, the king's licence in 1362 to assign it to
Chalcombe Priory, to save the soul of Hugh from
mortal peril. (fn. 30) In 1365 Chalcombe, fearing that the
Prior and Convent of Coventry, of whom they held
the manor, might make trouble, obtained the king's
permission to charge the manor with an annual rent
of 20s. to Coventry. (fn. 31) Exactly what happened after
this is obscure, but by the time of the Dissolution the
only connexion of Chalcombe with Grandborough was
the possession of a messuage and a tenement, of a total
value of 6s. 8d. (fn. 32) The manor itself had in some way
reverted to the heirs of Hugh de Braundeston; in 1372
his daughters Roese and Agnes with their respective
husbands Richard de Montfort and Philip de Aylesbury
shared the manor, (fn. 33) which was called Harecourtfee
and was held of the Prior of Coventry as half a knight's
fee; (fn. 34) and in 1390 Roger Aylesbury conveyed the
reversion thereof after the death of his mother Agnes
to William Montfort (fn. 35) (son of Richard). William's
daughter Margaret married John Catesby, in whose
family the manor remained for about 100 years, (fn. 36)
being sold c. 1532 to Sir Valentine Knightley. (fn. 37) He
died in 1566 and by his will left
Grandborough to his second son,
Edmund, who died in 1597.
Edmund's three sons died without issue and his eldest daughter, Anne, married Laurence
Bolton. (fn. 38) They conveyed the
manor to Thomas and Hugh
Audley in 1630. (fn. 39) It is next
found in 1672 in the hands of
Robert Harvey, senior and junior, who were respectively son
and grandson of Robert Harvey
who married Sarah daughter of
John (and sister of Hugh) Audley of London. (fn. 40)
They conveyed it in 1712 to Sir William Meredith,
bart., (fn. 41) but apparently only on mortgage or for a
settlement, as Robert Harvey was lord of the manor
in 1724 and his son John Harvey in 1728. (fn. 42) The latter
in 1736 inherited the estates of his mother Mary
daughter of Thomas Thursby and took the name of
Thursby. (fn. 43) He and his son and namesake John Harvey
Thursby were lords of the manor until 1767 (fn. 44) and
presumably until at least 1783, when the son was
patron of the living. (fn. 45)
Harvery. Or a cheveron between three leopards' heads gules with three trefoils argent on the cheveron.
At the Dissolution Coventry Priory had property
in Grandborough which yielded rather over £7 in
rents; (fn. 46) of this a considerable part was in the tenure of
Valentine Knightley. (fn. 47) In 1544 John Fox and Thomas
Hall had a grant of lands in Grandborough, Wolscote,
and Willoughby, late belonging to the Priory of
Coventry and in the tenure of John Radburne, (fn. 48) to
whom Fox and Hall shortly afterwards sold the
premises. (fn. 49) In 1548 John Radburne was licensed to
grant 2 messuages and 2 virgates here to his son
William, (fn. 50) and in 1611 the manors of Grandborough
and Wolscote were conveyed to Laurence Bolton by
a later William Redburne, who apparently held them
in right of his wife Jane. (fn. 51) Laurence Bolton also had a
grant of these manors and of that of Walcote from
William Boles and his wife Blanche in 1620, (fn. 52) in
which year he conveyed the manors to Sir Seymour
Knightley (fn. 53) (his wife's cousin), probably for a settlement. Meanwhile, on 26 May 1553, the manor of
Grandborough with various lands in Wolscote and
Walcote belonging to Coventry Priory had been
granted to Edward Aglionby and Henry Higford, (fn. 54)
who three days later had licence to grant it to Sir
Valentine Knightley. (fn. 55) Whatever the exact significance of these transactions, the Coventry holdings
were evidently united with the main manor.
The 2 hides held in 1086 by Richard the Forester,
also called Cheven, descended with the serjeanty of
Chesterton (q.v.) to Walter Crok, who enfeoffed
Gilbert Crok (probably son of his younger brother).
He held a ploughland worth 20s. in Grandborough in
1198, (fn. 56) which was held by his sister Alice in 1242 (fn. 57)
and 1251. (fn. 58) The overlordship of the 2 hides had
passed to Hugh de Loges, (fn. 59) and in 1223 Alice, wife
of William de Farendon, complained that Hugh had
disseised her of the land in Grandborough which her
brother Gilbert Crok had given her. (fn. 60) Eventually in
1247 Alice came to an arrangement with Hugh's son
Hugh by which the land was granted to (her son)
Thomas son of William de Farendon to hold by a
rent of 10s. (fn. 61) In 1289 Sir Thomas de Farendon conveyed his estate to Mr. Henry de Bray (fn. 62) who settled
the manor of Grandborough on Sir Thomas and
Emma his wife and the heirs of their bodies with
contingent remainder to Thomas de Bray and Sarah
his wife, (fn. 63) whose grandson, William de Bray, tried in
1362 to recover the manor, which had apparently
been granted to Sir William Trussell for life by John
de Hastang. (fn. 64) How he had acquired it is not clear,
but by 1346 this half-fee was held of the heir of Hugh
de Loges by John de Hastang, (fn. 65) on whose death in
1370 it passed to his two daughters. Joan married Sir
John Salisbury, who was attainted in 1389; after his
death the moiety of the manor was delivered to her; (fn. 66)
she married Roger Swynnerton, but as she left no issue
her share passed to her sister Maud, (fn. 67) who had married
Ralph Stafford. He died in 1410 seised of the manor
of Grandborough, then said to be held of Thomas
Sayvill and others as of the manor of Sowe. (fn. 68) In this
family it descended with Leamington Hastings (q.v.)
for about 150 years, (fn. 69) being sold by Sir Humphrey
Stafford of Blatherwick to Richard Rowley in 1575. (fn. 70)
William Rowley sold it in 1591 to Thomas Bradgate, (fn. 71)
whose son William left a daughter Alice, wife of John
Hill, who owned the manor in 1633 (fn. 72) and c. 1650. (fn. 73)
The later history of this manor is complicated and
obscure. In 1706 Elizabeth Barford, widow, conveyed it to John Radbourne, (fn. 74) who with Sarah his
wife conveyed it in 1726 to James Ward. (fn. 75) It seems
subsequently to have passed to coheiresses, John
Clarke, Robert Brown, Forbes Wilson, and their
respective wives dealing with it in 1741, (fn. 76) the two first
appearing as joint lords in 1762. (fn. 77) In 1769 Robert
Curry conveyed to John Wilkins one-sixth of the
manor. (fn. 78) John Clarke, junior, was dealing with onethird of the manor in 1770; (fn. 79) John and Rupert Clarke
with one-ninth in 1786; (fn. 80) John Clarke and Bridget
his wife with eleven-eighteenths in 1789, (fn. 81) and with
the whole manor in 1793. (fn. 82) John is named as lord in
1794 and was followed in 1805 by John Plomer Clarke
of Welton Place (fn. 83) (Northants.), but it does not seem
possible to harmonize the earlier Clarke entries with
the recorded pedigree of Plomer-Clarke. (fn. 84)
In 1086 Turchil held two separate half-hides in
CALCUTT: one of these was held of him by Ermenfrid
and the other by Richard. (fn. 85) Ermenfrid was also tenant
of Ashow and a knight's fee in Ashow and Calcutt was
held of the Earl of Warwick by the family of Verdon
and their heirs, (fn. 86) their tenants being the family of
Semilly.
Turchil's tenant Richard was possibly Richard the
Forester, who held the second manor of Grandborough
(see above), as his descendant Gilbert Crok is said to
have granted land here to Adam and Ralph Crok. (fn. 87)
No mention of any manor of Calcutt is known before
1552 when Sir Thomas Newnham is said to have sold
it to William, Marquess of Winchester. (fn. 88) His younger
son Lord Giles Poulett, to whom the marquess left
the manor, sold it in 1578 to Thomas Stapleton, (fn. 89) and
in 1600 three generations of Thomas Stapletons, combined to sell it to Edward Stanhope, LL.D. (fn. 90) His
nephew Charles, Lord Stanhope of Harrington, held
the manor in 1642, (fn. 91) after which date its history
is obscure. From 1785 to 1843 the Shuckburghs,
baronets, appear as lords of the manor. (fn. 92)
At some uncertain date 4 virgates in Calcutt were
held of Coventry Priory by Edmund Herdewyk by
knight service and suit at the court of Southam. (fn. 93)
Turchil also held in 1086 in WALCOTE, Willoughby, and Calcutt 2 hides, of which Ordric, who
had held then under the Confessor, was tenant. (fn. 94)
This was presumably the origin of the one-fifth
knight's fee held in 1242 of the Earl of Warwick by
Thomas de Arderne and of him by Warin de Walecot. (fn. 95)
This Warin was probably son of Robert whose grandfather Warin de Walcote was a 'distinguished knight
errant', or soldier of fortune, during the wars of King
Stephen's time, in the course of which he came to the
house of Robert de Shuckburgh and fell in love with his
daughter Isabel. Neither Robert nor his son William,
who was also a knight, would allow him to have her,
so when William was killed in the wars Warin came
and carried her off by force. After the death of Stephen,
when the peace of King Henry was proclaimed, Sir
Warin's occupation being gone he fell into poverty
and again took to robbery. Complaints reached the
king, who ordered his arrest, and he was trapped in a
reed-bed at Grandborough and brought before the
king at Northampton and, as a warning to others, was
put in the pillory, where he died. Isabel then returned
to her father and subsequently married one William
de Budebroc, (fn. 96) by whom she was mother of Henry de
Shuckburgh; but by Sir Warin she had a son Warin,
though it was not certain whether she had ever been
married to him. This Warin's son Robert was living in
1221. (fn. 97) The one-fifth fee is next found in 1316 as held
of the Earl of Warwick by William Raymund. (fn. 98) It is
said to have been held in 1346 by Thomas de Flamvill, (fn. 99)
who was dealing with land in Walcote and Willoughby
in 1341. (fn. 1) He was probably descended from Margery,
one of Warin's three coheirs, wife of William de
Flamvill. (fn. 2) By 1400 this one-fifth fee was in the hands
of the Dean and Chapter of the Collegiate Church of
St. Mary of Warwick. (fn. 3)
Part of this same holding of Turchil's is probably
represented by the one-tenth knight's fee in Grandborough held c. 1316 by Adam Phelip (fn. 4) of Sir Robert
son of Adam de Napton, who held it of the Earl as of
the fee once Thomas de Arderne's. (fn. 5) This was stated
in 1400 to be held by the heir of Robert son of Adam
de Napton (fn. 6) —a formula which suggests that it had in
fact ceased to function.
Between 1276 (fn. 7) and 1285 Thomas Olyver and Agnes
his wife were dealing with lands, held in her right, in
Woolscot, part of which they sold to Hugh de Braundeston, (fn. 8) whose grant of the manor of Grandborough
to Sir William de Bereford in 1312 included land
here. (fn. 9) A so-called manor of WOOLSCOT is linked
with that of Grandborough in 1531, (fn. 10) and from 1630 (fn. 11)
to 1672. (fn. 12) The connexion continued until at least
1767, when both were held by John Harvey Thursby, (fn. 13)
but in 1820 Joseph Smith of Dunchurch was called
lord of the manor, (fn. 14) as was John Lancaster in 1900. (fn. 15)
Many gifts of lands in Grandborough, Walcote, and
Woolscot, mostly in small quantities, were made to
Ronton Priory (Staffs.) (fn. 15a) before 1291. At that date
the priory had in this parish 3½ virgates of land worth
£1 4s., rents of £1 5s. 4d., and 10s. from agricultural
issues. (fn. 16) In 1535 the priory had, apart from the rectory,
a tenement and four cottages worth £4. (fn. 16a)
Church
The church of ST. PETER (fn. 17) is situated
on the north side of the village and stands
in a small churchyard with an avenue of
yew trees to the west door from the north-east and of
lime trees from the west. It consists of chancel, north
chapel, nave, north and south aisles, and west tower.
The present church dates from about the middle and
the tower from about the end of the 14th century.
The only evidence of an earlier church is a tomb
recess removed from the chancel and now placed
outside the east wall of the chancel. The tower was
restored in 1848 and some of the floors tiled. In 1863
the clearstory was added, in 1868 a gallery at the west
end was removed, and in 1879 the nave roof was
extensively repaired. The church is built with a
mixture of red sandstone and limestone rubble with
occasional squared blocks of red sandstone, and the
tower in light-coloured sandstone ashlar. There is a
plinth of one splay all round, except to the tower, of
which the plinth is moulded.
The east wall of the chancel has a window of four
pointed lights with hood-mould, all modern, and above
it the gable has been rebuilt in red sandstone ashlar.
Built against the wall beneath the window there is a
late-12th- or early-13th-century tomb recess with a
round-headed arch of two moulded orders, each
supported on short shafts with moulded capitals. The
south side is divided into three bays by buttresses in
two stages, the east having a pointed traceried window
of two trefoil lights; the centre a two-light with trefoil
ogee heads and below it a doorway with a pointed arch
of two orders, a splay and a wave-moulding; the west
a similar window but with three lights and below it a
square blocked low-side window of two splays. The
doorway and traceried windows have hood-moulds
with return ends. The north side has a modern window
of two pointed lights and a hood-mould without stops.
The roof has a steep pitch covered with tiles and a
coved eaves-course.
The south aisle has a low-pitched slated roof,
diagonal buttresses at the angles and a modern chimneystack against the west wall. The east and west ends
have traceried three-light windows which are modern
copies of the adjoining window in the chancel, but
with head-stops to the hood-mould. The south side is
lighted by three pointed traceried windows of two
lights, all modern except parts of their jambs. Between
the windows to the west there is a large doorway with
a richly pointed arch, the mouldings continued to
splayed stops, and a hood-mould with floriated stops.
The modern clearstory, built of red sandstone ashlar,
has four trefoil lights with square heads. The north
aisle is extended at the east end to form a chapel, now
used as an organ chamber and vestry. The north aisle
is divided into four bays by buttresses, with diagonal
buttresses at the angles, and extends over the chancel to
form the chapel. The chapel is lighted on the east by
a pointed traceried window of three trefoil ogeeheaded lights, and on the north by a pointed traceried
window of two trefoil lights; another, with trefoil ogee
heads, which has been blocked on the inside, apparently
takes the place of a doorway which is shown in a view
of c. 1820. (fn. 17a) The east bay of the aisle has a similar
window to that in the east bay of the chapel, and a
square-headed window of two trefoil ogee-headed
lights. The west bay has a doorway similar to the
south but on a smaller scale, with modern foliated stops
to the hood-mould, and a pointed window with two
pointed lights; the west end has a square-headed
window, as on the north side, with modern head-stops
to the hood-mould.
The tower rises in four stages, with diagonal
buttresses at each angle, the battlemented parapet on a
moulded string-course having pinnacles at the angles
and a gargoyle on each face. The tower is finished with
a tall octagonal spire which has a string-course half way
up, immediately above which are, on the cardinal faces,
two-light gabled spire lights with trefoiled heads and
flanked by pilasters with crocketed finials. The belfry
windows on all four faces are in pairs, each of two
trefoil-headed lights, with pointed arches, transoms,
quatrefoil piercings, and below each light two ogeeheaded panels. In the south-east angle there is a projecting stair turret weathered off below the parapet
string-course. On the west side there is a pointed
doorway of two splayed orders, the outer splay sunk,
and above, in the second stage, a pointed traceried
window of three moulded orders with deep splayed
jambs; the string-course is taken over as a hood-mould;
above this window there is a clock dial. On the north
and south faces are square-headed windows of two
splays to the ringing chamber.
The chancel (43 ft. 5 in. by 19 ft. 5 in.) has plastered
walls, except the east, which is coursed rubble, a tiled
floor with a step half-way and two steps to the altar.
The altar is modern but the rails, which date from the
17th century, have reeded posts, moulded rail, turned
balusters, and double gates with contemporary iron
hinges. On the south wall at its east end there is a
trefoil ogee-headed piscina with a modern shelf in
place of a basin. All the windows have splayed reveals
with stop-chamfered rear-arches; the door has square
jambs with a segmental rear-arch; the blocked lowside window is hidden beneath the wall plaster. On the
north side, giving access to the chapel, is an arcade of
two bays with pointed arches supported on an octagonal
pillar and half-octagon responds with moulded capitals
and splayed bases. Originally these were window-like
openings on dwarf walls, stepped up to conform to
steps in the chancel, the west respond being 2 ft. 11 in.
above the floor, the pillar 3 ft. 2 in., and the east
respond 4 ft. 11 in. The wall of the east bay has been
cut away to give access to what is now a vestry and the
tomb recess, and the west bay accommodates the organ;
west of this bay a modern opening with a pointed arch
has been formed to give additional light to the vestry.
The roof, of four bays, still retains the tie-beams
with shaped brackets to the rafters and shaped struts
to the pole-plate of an early roof, probably contemporary with the chancel. The beams and struts
are moulded on the undersides, finishing on pointed
stops, and in the centres of the tie-beams there are
foliated carved bosses. The purlins, rafters, wallplates, and ashlars are later, probably a 17th-century
repair.
The nave (42 ft. 8 in. by 19 ft. 4 in.) has a stonepaved floor and plastered walls. The steep-pitched
open roof is of the collar-beam type and some of the
old timbers were re-used when the roof was repaired.
Both arcades consist of four bays with pointed arches
of two splayed orders supported on moulded capitals
with splayed bases on the north and square on the south
with stop-chamfered corners, later cut away to octagon
on the aisle side only. The responds repeat the arch
splays, with moulded capitals to the inner order, the
outer order being carried down to stops. The chancel
arch, which is the full width of the chancel, and the
tower arch, which is narrow and very lofty, follow the
same detail as the arcades.
The south aisle (42 ft. 2 in. by 11 ft.) has a lean-to
roof with moulded beams, posts, and purlins of 17th-century date carrying modern rafters and boarding.
At the east end of the south wall there is a piscina with
a stop-chamfered pointed head, with its projecting
basin broken off. The windows and door have splayed
reveals with stop-chamfered pointed rear-arches. The
font is a modern octagonal one of stone, placed at the
west end.
The north aisle (42 ft. 8 in. by 13 ft. 3 in.) has a
roof similar to the south aisle and the arch to the chapel
is of the same detail as the arcades, but with moulded
bases to the responds instead of splays. The door has
a segmental-pointed rear-arch, and all the windows
have widely splayed reveals with rear-arches corresponding with the exterior.
The north chapel (30 ft. 3 in. by 13 ft.) serves as a
vestry and organ chamber.
The tower (12 ft. square) has unplastered walls
and a floor partly of stone paving and partly of wood,
over a heating chamber, now disused, electric heating
having been installed. On the north wall there is a
slate slab with a painted list of charities.
In the vestry there is an oak chest of the 17th
century with shaped legs on bearers, bound with iron
straps terminating in fleur-de-lis and fitted with three
original locks. The oak pulpit, dating from the 17th
century, placed on the south side of the chancel arch,
is octagonal with tracery-headed panels, a carved frieze,
and a low moulded octagonal stem. The panels have
been cut out leaving the traceried heads. There are a
number of 19th-century wall memorials, and one of the
18th century to John Radburne, Spanish merchant of
London, died 1728.
The plate consists of a silver chalice of 1807 and
silver paten of 1805.
There are three bells by Henry Bagley, one of
1639 and two of 1641, and two by Joseph Smith,
1706. (fn. 18)
The registers begin in 1581.
Advowson
The church of Grandborough was
given to the Staffordshire Priory of
Ronton, probably by its founder,
Robert Noel. (fn. 19) In 1291 it was valued at £20, (fn. 20) there
being also a vicarage worth £4. (fn. 21) The endowment of
the vicarage was reconstituted by Bishop Walter de
Langton in 1321, (fn. 22) but in 1401 the prior and convent
were licensed to appropriate the vicarage, provided
that a competent sum of money was assigned by the
bishop for annual distribution to the poor. (fn. 23) It is
not clear whether advantage was taken of this licence,
but in 1535 the vicarage was served by a secular
priest who received £5 yearly. (fn. 24) The rectory at this
time was farmed for £32 17s., a fee of 26s. 8d.
being paid to Reynold Carte, who was bailiff of
Grandborough and receiver of the profits of the
church. (fn. 25)
After the Dissolution the advowson was retained
by the Crown for some time, but in 1611 a presentation
was made by Thomas Davies. (fn. 26) He died in August
of the following year, being then seised of 'the Parsonage
House', the 'Wolhouse', and land in Grandborough, (fn. 27)
but not apparently of the advowson, which was granted,
with the rectorial tithes, in 1612 to Sir John Dormer, (fn. 28)
who presented in 1615. (fn. 29) In 1626 he sold the rectory
and advowson to Laurence Bolton, (fn. 30) and they then
descended with the main manor until some time in
the 19th century. By 1850 Mrs. Halse was patron, (fn. 31)
and from 1874 to 1900 the Rev. William Bunter
Williams was both incumbent and patron, (fn. 32) his widow
holding the advowson in 1915. (fn. 33) The benefice was
united with that of Willoughby in 1930, the alternate
patrons being Major G. Seabrooke (succeeded in
1940 by Mrs. Seabrook) and Magdalen College,
Oxford.
Charities
Anthony Staresmore Benn prior to his
death expressed a wish that his brother,
George Charles Benn, should make
certain gifts in his name, including a gift of £500 to the
vicar and churchwardens of Grandborough, which was
to be invested and the income given to the poor of that
parish in coals or blankets about Christmas time, or
to other pious and charitable uses. The annual income
of the charity amounts to £11 14s. 8d.
George Charles Benn, by will dated 31 August 1894,
bequeathed £1,000 to the rector and churchwardens,
the income to be given in coals or blankets to deserving
poor people of the parish about Christmas time. The
annual income of the charity amounts to £22 6s. 4d.
Maria Benn, by will dated 8 February 1873, bequeathed to the vicar and churchwardens £100, to lay
out the income in the purchase of flannel, blankets,
coals, or bread at their discretion to be distributed as
near to Christmas day as can be amongst deserving
poor of the parish. The annual income of the charity
amounts to £2 10s.
Unknown Donor: upon a benefaction table in the
church is mentioned a sum of '£3 charged annually
on Mr. Burke's estate of Woolscott, to be distributed
at Christmas and Easter'.
John Goode, Joanna Goode, and others unknown.
The benefaction table also states that John Goode gave
to the poor £5, the use to be given at Easter; and that
Joanna Goode gave to the poor £10, the use to be
given at Easter for ever. A sum of £43 10s. appears
to have been given to the poor by some unknown
donor. The endowment of the charities now consists
of the sum of £62 6s. 9d. Consols; the income thereon,
amounting to £1 11s., together with the income of £3
of the Unknown Donor's Charity, is applied for the
benefit of the poor of 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 to
be distributed in bread to the poorest people of the parish.
For particulars of the charity see under Birdingbury.