LEEK WOOTTON
Acreage: (fn. 1) 2,101.
Population: 1911, 481; 1921, 448; 1931, 466.
The eastern boundary (fn. 2) of the parish is formed by the
River Avon between Chesford Bridge, described in
1664 as 'an ancient stone bridge' on the road from
Birmingham to Southam, (fn. 3) on the north and Guy's
Cliffe Mill on the south. Just west of the mill the road
from Warwick enters the parish, running due north to
Kenilworth, and on this road half-way between the
two towns lies the village of Leek Wootton, on a slight
hill with the church at its highest point. The houses
are mostly of the 18th century, of brick with tiled roofs,
though there are a few of slightly earlier date, timberframed and thatched. A little north of the church a
road runs east to the hamlet of Hill Wootton, crossing a
by-road to Chesford Bridge and the Coventry and
Leamington branch of the L.M.S. Railway. Another
road, called 'the new road' in 1867, (fn. 4) leads north-west
from the village past Woodcote, where Mr. Wise
pulled down the old manor-house and built a new one
in 1861. (fn. 5) South of the village is Wootton Court,
dating from about the same time, with extensive
grounds; and south of this a stone cross on Blacklow
Hill marks the place where Piers Gaveston was beheaded in 1311. (fn. 6)
The mill of 'Gibbeclive', later corrupted to Guy's
Cliffe, was given by Geoffrey de Clinton early in the
12th century to Gilbert 'nutricius' of Warwick (fn. 7) and
by him, with the assent of the younger Geoffrey, conveyed to Kenilworth Priory. (fn. 8) The prior held two
mills there in 1279, (fn. 9) probably under one roof, as in
1291 he had one mill worth 30s.; (fn. 10) by the time of the
Dissolution its value had risen to £4 13s. 4d. (fn. 11) It was
bought about 1780 by Mr. Samuel Greathead of Guy's
Cliffe (fn. 12) and has remained part of that estate.
In March 1669 there was much talk of a strange
sound 'like the beating of drums in a march or call'
heard in a well belonging to one Nibbs at Hill Wootton;
which sound was said to have been heard in 1642,
when it continued 14 days, and on his Majesty's
return. (fn. 13) What it prognosticated on this occasion remains a mystery.
Manors
The early history of Wootton is obscure.
Dugdale identified it with Earl Roger's
holding of 'Quatone', (fn. 14) entered towards
the end of the list of his estates in Domesday Book; but
Eyton produced good evidence for this referring to
Quatt in Shropshire, to which county the three entries
which follow it undoubtedly belonged. (fn. 15) It is possible
that the unidentified 'Optone', (fn. 16) a member of the king's
manor of Stoneleigh, is a scribal error for 'Odetone'.
This seems the more possible as 'Optone' was held, as
3 hides, by Albert the clerk in frankalmoin and there
were two priests there, while we find later that Wootton
was the mother church of Leamington, Ashow, Lillington, Milverton, and Cubbington, and was endowed
with 3 hides, 1 in Wootton and 2 in Lillington. (fn. 17)
Certainly it was among the estates which Henry I
bestowed upon his chamberlain Geoffrey de Clinton,
who gave the church of WOOTTON with its lands to
his new foundation of Kenilworth Priory, reserving
only certain pieces of woodland for his park. (fn. 18) Odo de
Turri and his son William gave to the priory lands
which are described in the confirmation charter of
Henry II as being in Wootton; (fn. 19) in the confirmation by
Geoffrey de Clinton, (fn. 20) son of the founder, they are
called 'the land of the Heath (Brueria), from Holebroc (fn. 21)
to the Avon and as far as Ashow, and beyond Holebroc
from the road from Coventry to Warwick by Rincuei (fn. 22)
cutting across Longedon to the road from Wootton to
Kenilworth by Hineleford'; also meadow 'from Woodcote meadow as far as the cliff (fracturam rupis) of
Culfreclive'. Odo also gave the land of Smedehul for
the soul of his son Robert. In 1279 the Prior of Kenilworth was one of the four lords of Wootton, his portion
being called the Cross Grange, with 2 ploughlands in
demesne, 4 freeholders, and 10 bond tenants; (fn. 23) the
value of the land in 1291 being £2 10s. and of the stock
on it 20s. (fn. 24) By this time the distinctive form LEEK
WOOTTON was coming into use. (fn. 25) After the Dissolution the manor of 'Lekewotton otherwise called
Crosse Graunge' was valued at £16 15s. 1d. (fn. 26) It was
leased in January 1541 to Andrew Flammock and Elizabeth his wife for 43 years, (fn. 27) and was granted in 1553 to
John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. (fn. 28) Apparently
it was settled on his wife Joan, as after his attainder she
surrendered it to the Crown in June 1554 in exchange
for other lands. (fn. 29) By this time Flammock was dead,
and the reversion of the manor was sold to Sir Rowland
Hill and (his brother's son-in-law) Thomas Leigh,
alderman of London. (fn. 30) From this time it descended
with Stoneleigh (q.v.) in the family of Leigh.
A knight's fee in Wootton was held of the Earl of
Warwick and may therefore have derived from one of
Turchil's estates, possibly that of Ashow. It was held
for some time by the Savages of Baginton (q.v.), but its
early history is confused. In 1190 Richard de Frevill
was claiming the fee against Geoffrey le Salvage, (fn. 31) to
whom Thomas de Arden granted the fee in 1196. (fn. 32)
In 1203 Henry de Armentiers sued Geoffrey for the
Wootton fee as having belonged to his grandmother
Isabel and his father David. (fn. 33) Next year Geoffrey
acknowledged Henry's right to the fee and paid
10 marks, in return for which Henry granted him onethird of the fee in demesnes, rents, and services, with
the whole of the chief messuage. (fn. 34) Geoffrey Savage
held the fee of the Earl of Warwick in 1235, (fn. 35) and in
1242 his heir was said to hold it of Thomas de Clinton,
who held of the earl. (fn. 36) When William Savage died in
1259 he was seised of two-thirds of Wootton and
'Hulle', held of John Peyvere as one knight's fee. (fn. 37)
This estate passed to his sister Philippa, wife of Hugh
Meynill, and in 1279 she was jointly responsible with
Robert Mortimer, the Abbot of Stoneleigh, and the
Prior of Kenilworth for the service of one knight to the
Earl of Warwick; at this time she had the right to hold
a court leet and the assize of bread and ale, and had
appropriated fishing rights in part of the Avon. (fn. 38) Her
lands descended to Sir Hugh Meynill, who is said to
have sold a moiety of the vill in 1350 to Henry, Earl
of Lancaster; (fn. 39) after which it descended with Kenilworth (q.v.) until 1915, when the manor was sold by
the Earl of Clarendon to Lord Leigh.
Robert Mortimer in 1279 was holding one-third of
a mill, of which the other two-thirds were held by the
Abbot of Stoneleigh, who also had the fishing rights on
one bank of the Avon from Holebrok to Gibbeclive
(Guy's Cliffe). (fn. 40) This was evidently the mill of Yartford (probably where the lane to Chesford Bridge
crosses the 'Holebrok', or Cattle Brook), of which
Geoffrey son of Geoffrey Savage gave two-thirds, with
the suit of his men of Hill and Wootton, with twothirds of the croft lying between the Avon and the
Coventry-Warwick road and of two inclosures of
meadow belonging to the mill; the remaining third
being given to the abbey by Sir William de Wholton
before 1326, when both gifts were confirmed, with
others, including one by Thomas de Edensore (nephew
and co-heir of William Savage) of his land in Hill
Wootton. (fn. 41) At the Dissolution the water-mill called
Wodmyll and lands and meadows in Hill Wotton called
Yatesford, late of Stoneleigh, were granted to James
Cruce. (fn. 42)
In 1086 the Count of Meulan had two separate
holdings, each of 1 hide, in WOODCOTE. Of these
one, which had been held by Cantuin and Turbern
before the Conquest, he held in demesne; (fn. 43) the other,
formerly held by Leuric, was held of him by Gilbert,
whose tenants included 'a knight'. (fn. 44) It was probably
the demesne hide of which the overlordship passed to
the Earls of Warwick. It was held with Fulbrook
(q.v.) as half a knight's fee and was in the hands of
William de Turvill in 1190, when he mortgaged his
land here to Richard Kent. (fn. 45) His co-heirs Simon de
Turvill and Roger de Craft held the half fee in 1235, (fn. 46)
as did Roger de Craft and John Mace in 1242. (fn. 47) In
1279 their representatives (fn. 48) Henry Hubaud, Hugh de
Herdebergh, Robert rector of the church of Bedworth,
and Denise Mace were returned as lords of UPPER
WOODCOTE, held of the Earl of Warwick as onefifth fee. (fn. 49) Hugh's share was represented in 1325 by
rents in Woodcote held by his heir (fn. 50) Alice and her
husband John de Peyto, (fn. 51) who conveyed them in 1339
to Sir Walter Hopton and Joan his wife; (fn. 52) but Thomas
Hubaud is said to have held one-sixth fee of the earl in
1466. (fn. 53)
The overlordship of the other hide, held by Gilbert,
passed to the Earl of Leicester, who held Woodcote in
1174, (fn. 54) and he probably enfeoffed Robert Boteler of
Oversley, as his son Ralph Boteler in 1212 granted the
whole vill to John Belet, to hold as one-quarter knight's
fee. (fn. 55) In 1279 this quarter fee of LOWER WOODCOTE was held by Robert Masse of Robert Boteler,
who held it of the Earl of Leicester. (fn. 56) The overlordship passed to the Earl of Lancaster, of whom it was
held by William Boteler in 1330. (fn. 57) The tenants in
fee at this time were Sir John Mauduit of Somerford
and his (second) wife Agnes, who in 1328 (fn. 58) and again
in 1333 (fn. 59) settled a carucate of land and 6 acres of
meadow in Woodcote on themselves in tail male, with contingent remainder to John de
Moleyns and Gille his wife
(daughter of Sir John Mauduit
by his first wife). Sir John died
in 1347 (fn. 60) and Agnes in 1369, (fn. 61)
and the estate then passed to the
Moleyns family, Gille's son Sir
William dying in February 1381
seised of rents in Woodcote held
of the Duke of Lancaster. (fn. 62) His
great-grandson's daughter Eleanor in 1440 married Sir Robert Hungerford and,
after his attainder in 1464, Sir Oliver Manyngham, (fn. 63)
and her granddaughter Mary married Sir Edward
Hastings. Their son George, created Earl of Huntingdon in 1530, sold the manors of Woodcote and
Burton Hastings (q.v.) to Thomas Harvey. (fn. 64) He
left four daughters as his co-heirs: Dorothy wife
of William Croftes, Lucy wife of Thomas Cotton,
Joan wife of Hugh Haselrigge, and Barbara wife
of John Fowler. (fn. 65) Barbara's daughter Ann married
John Noel, and in 1626 William Noel conveyed a
'manor' of Woodcote to George Weale. (fn. 66) Thomas
Cotton and Lucy bought quarters of the manor from
Thomas Croftes and Francis Haslerig in 1565, (fn. 67) and
their great-grandson Sir Thomas Cotton, bart., was dealing with three-quarters of the manor in 1637, (fn. 68) as was
Thomas Cotton (? his grandson by his second wife) in
1691. (fn. 69) In 1730 the site of the manor was held by the
Mallory family, (fn. 70) and in 1783 Robert Harvey Mallory
was dealing with it. (fn. 71) On the death of Robert Mallory
in 1820 it came to his daughter Harriet Ricardo, who
sold it in 1851 to Henry Christopher Wise. (fn. 72)
Moleyns. Sable a chief or with three lozenges gules thereon.
The manor of Woodcote was acquired by Henry
Wise in 1709 (fn. 73) and remained in his family (fn. 74) until the
death of George Wise in 1888, when it passed to
Maj.-Gen. Sir George Waller, bart. (through the
marriage of Catharine, eldest daughter of the Rev.
Henry Wise to his father, Sir Thomas Wathen Waller,
bart.), from whom it descended to Sir Wathen Arthur
Waller, bart., (fn. 75) who died in 1947.
The two Woodcotes are among the hamlets mentioned by John Rous at the end of the 15th century as
having been completely depopulated. (fn. 76)
The Count of Meulan held 1 hide in 'Rincele'
(Rinsell, Rouncil, or Roundshill) which in 1086 was
uncultivated woodland. (fn. 77) This may have been the hide
in 'Hetha' given apparently by the count's brother
Henry, Earl of Warwick, to the church of All Saints
and by his son Earl Roger in 1123 to his College of
St. Mary at Warwick. (fn. 78) Part of this land, lying on
either side of the Holebrook, was granted, as already
mentioned, (fn. 79) by Odo de Turri to Kenilworth Priory as
'the land of the Heath'. In 1279 Thomas de Edensore,
one of the Savage co-heirs, was 'lord of the Heath
(Bruera)', (fn. 80) but there seems no reason to accept Dugdale's identification of this with the Leek Wootton
Heath, (fn. 81) the evidence pointing to its being part of
Baginton.
Church
The church of ALL SAINTS is situated
on a slope at the south end of the village
on the west side of the Warwick-Kenilworth road, in a small churchyard. The old church
was pulled down in 1789 and the present church built
on the site in the gothic style near the close of the 18th
century. It has since been restored and added to; a new
chancel was built in 1843, the roof raised in 1864, and
in 1889 the nave was lengthened. It now consists of
chancel (28 ft. 6 in. by 18 ft.), nave (57 ft. by 27 ft.),
west tower (13 ft. by 13 ft.), vestry, and south porch.
The chancel is built of light-coloured sandstone
ashlar with angle buttresses, and below the east window
is a two-light window to a chamber built to make up
for the fall in the ground from west to east. The nave
is also of ashlar, but of a less regular character than the
later chancel, and has a plain parapet with crocketed
pinnacles at intervals. The windows are all of a late
gothic character. The chancel and nave both have
open timber roofs of a steep pitch covered with tiles.
The tower is in three stages with moulded stringcourses at each stage and angle buttresses reaching to
the base of the parapet, which is battlemented, with
crocketed pinnacles at the angles. The south porch has
angle buttresses and a tiled roof. The vestry is on the
north side of the chancel. The pulpit is modern
panelled oak, and the oak chancel screen was erected
in 1929; an octagonal, panelled, stone font is placed
under the tower arch. No trace of the earlier church
remains, but in the churchyard is a 12th-century
tapered circular font and part of a stone coffin. There
are a number of 18th- and 19th-century mural tablets.
The plate consists of chalice with cover, tazza with
cover, and a flagon, all silver-gilt, presented by Alice,
Duchess Dudley, hall-mark 1638. This exceptionally
magnificent set is identical with the set given to Kenilworth at the same time. (fn. 82)
The registers begin 4 July 1581.
Advowson
The church of Leek Wootton was
given by Geoffrey de Clinton to the
Priory of Kenilworth, with the chapel
of Leamington and pensions from the formerly dependent chapels of Ashow (20s.), Cubbington (½ mark),
Lillington (½ mark), and Milverton (1 mark). (fn. 83) In
1204, when the knight's fee of Wootton was in dispute,
the prior registered his claim to the church, (fn. 84) and this
was acknowledged in the settlement of the dispute. (fn. 85)
The church was appropriated to the priory and was
valued in 1291 at £5 6s. 8d. (fn. 86) In 1535 the rectory was
farmed for £12 (fn. 87) and the vicarage was worth £5 12s.,
in addition to 8s. paid for procurations and synodals. (fn. 88)
The vicarage was among those augmented, to the
extent of £20 yearly, by Lady Alice Dudley. (fn. 89) After
the Dissolution the advowson followed the descent of
the Grange manor, being now in the hands of Lord
Leigh.
Charities
Upon a tablet in the belfry of the
church it appears that a person, whose
name and date of gift are not known
owing to mutilation of the tablet, gave 40s., the interest
to the poor for ever.
That in 1713 Samuel Mallory gave £10, the interest
to the poor for ever.
That in 1717 James Hickin gave £12, the interest to
the poor half-yearly.
That in 1759 Robert Mallory gave £16, the interest
to be distributed half-yearly.
The endowment of the charities is now represented
by a sum of £109 10s. 5d. 2½ per cent. Treasury Stock
1975 or after, and the income thereon amounting to
£2 14s. 8d. is remitted to the vicar of Leek Wootton
and two persons appointed by the parish council, the
trustees of the charities.
Alice, Duchess Dudley. For particulars of this charity
see under parish of Ashow. The share of the charity
applicable for this parish consists of one-seventeenth
part of the income, amounting to £37 13s. 4d. annually,
to be applied under various heads for the general benefit
of the poor of the parish.
Church Land. By an Inclosure Award dated
27 March 1822 two allotments in Leek Wootton were
awarded to the vicar and churchwardens upon general
terms and without any particular trusts. The land was
sold in 1876 and the proceeds of sale invested. The
annual income of the charity amounting to £3 4s. 10d.
is used for general church purposes.
John Stanley Ledbrook by will dated 15 May 1930
bequeathed to the vicar and churchwardens £100
2½ per cent. Consols, the income to be applied for the
benefit of the poor of the parish.