WESTON-UNDER-WETHERLEY
Acreage: 1,361.
Population: 1911, 265; 1921, 254; 1931, 195.
Weston-under-Wetherley parish is on the right bank
of the River Leam, 3½ miles north-east of Leamington
Spa. The northern part of the parish extends over the
watershed (at a level of rather over 300 ft.) into the
valley of the Avon, and is partly covered by the large
Waverley (formerly Wethele) Wood, which extends
into Stoneleigh and gives Weston its distinguishing
name. The village, in which the cottages are mostly of
timber-framing with red brick infilling, straggles along
the Leamington-Rugby road for over half a mile; this
road makes two right-angled bends at the east end of the
village to align with a cross-country road whose continuity from the Northampton-Warwick road at Napton, through Stockton, Long Itchington, Snowford,
Hunningham, Weston, and Baginton towards Coventry
suggests that it was at one time of considerable importance. This latter road crosses the Leam by a bridge,
for whose non-repair in 1636 the inhabitants of Weston
were presented at Quarter Sessions, but on their producing an 'ancient indenture' it was allowed to be a
responsibility of the hundred. (fn. 1) An unspecified amount
of common fields was inclosed by Act of Parliament in
1777. (fn. 2)
The Warwickshire Weston Colony occupies buildings erected in 1856 as a reformatory, the land being
given and the foundation stone laid by Lord Leigh; it
has been an institution for mental defectives since
1929. (fn. 3)
In the 1860's there were only about 30 cottages in
the village, half at least having only one bedroom.
Many labourers on the farms here came from
Cubbington; 'they are very restless and independent
because I' (Mr. F. Wells, a farmer of 260 acres)
'have no cottages for them.' At this date there was no
school here, the children going to Cubbington or
Hunningham. (fn. 4)
Manors
This vill comprised three holdings in
1086; Robert, Count of Meulan, held
3 hides less 1 virgate, his tenant being one
Robert, and his predecessor Ulf. (fn. 5) Robert also held
1½ virgates of Turchil of Warwick, which Ulwi had
held freely, but this was waste and brought in nothing. (fn. 6)
William fitz Corbucion had an estate of 2½ virgates, his
tenant being Johais; Sawold had held this before the
Conquest. (fn. 7)
The overlordship passed through the Count of
Meulan's descendants to the earldom of Leicester, and
on the division of the estates of that earldom at the
beginning of the 13th century, to that of Winchester,
Weston counting with Napton as two fees of the latter
earldom in 1235, (fn. 8) and similarly at the death of the last
Quency earl in 1264, (fn. 9) after which it formed part of the
share of his daughter Elizabeth, wife of Alexander
Comyn, Earl of Buchan. Their son John was in 1292
overlord of 2 carucates in Weston, for which suit of
court of the honor of Winchester was done at Leicester
every three weeks. (fn. 10) John Comyn and his cousin
William de Ferrers in 1285 claimed view of frankpledge in Weston and other Warwickshire vills,
as having been exercised when the estates of the
earldom of Leicester were undivided. (fn. 11) Sir Henry
de Beaumont, John Comyn's grandson, held the
two fees in 1369, (fn. 12) and they continued with his
family. (fn. 13)
The tenants of the manor were the de Napton family.
In 1208 Roger son of William acknowledged the right
of John Stertewey and Parnell
de Napton and Adam her son in
half a virgate of land, of which
they granted him 5 acres which
John held, at a rent of a knife
or one penny. (fn. 14) In 1279 the
Napton holding amounted to
3½ yardlands in demesne and a
similar amount let out to tenants,
and there were 10 freeholders
with 2 cottages and 3¾ yardlands. (fn. 15) In 1316 Robert de
Napton and Lucy his wife received from Adam Spigurnel 2 messuages, a toft, a
mill, and 2 virgates of land in Weston, (fn. 16) and five
years later he and his heirs were granted free warren. (fn. 17)
He, or a namesake, granted certain lands, services,
and rents in Weston and Napton to William de
Cotes, and in 1348 Richard de Napton, rector of
Whelton, released all his right in these to John de
Cotes, William's son. (fn. 18) The Naptons were still holding
Weston in 1400, when John and his wife Alice made a
settlement of the manor, (fn. 19) but in 1414 there was a dispute between William and Thomas Shuckburgh, Simon
Cook, and Thomas Chyldes, claiming to have been
enfeoffed of the manor of Weston by William de
Napton, who had been enfeoffed by John de Napton,
and John Knyghtley, claiming a grant direct from John
de Napton. (fn. 20) The result of the suit is not known, and
the descent of the manor becomes obscure for more
than a century. John Weston, serjeant-at-law, was
returned as holding half a knight's fee, formerly held by
Adam de Napton, in 1428, (fn. 21) and in 1449 Nicholas
Marcull of Henley-in-Arden made a settlement of the
manor and its appurtenances. (fn. 22) John son of Thomas
Cotes, possibly a descendant of the William and John
de Cotes mentioned above, and Joyce his wife
granted away much property, though not described
as a manor, in Weston and Hunningham in 1483
and 1491. (fn. 23)
Napton. Argent a fesse azure with three scallops argent thereon.
Another large property, probably the main manor
since it was held with other property in Napton, was
recovered by Edward Metley in the right of his wife
Margaret in 1402–3. (fn. 24) This seems to have descended
through another Margaret, perhaps Edward's granddaughter, to John Hugford (died 1485), and was afterwards acquired by Edward Belknap, of whom John
Smyth in 1501 held 6 messuages and 10 virgates in
Weston. (fn. 25) Belknap bequeathed Weston to his wife
Alice, and, he being without issue, the manor descended
to his nephew John Shelley (died 1550–1). (fn. 26) Very
soon afterwards it was in possession of Sir Thomas
Newnham, who in 1554 with his wife Mary conveyed
it to the Crown; (fn. 27) three years later it was regranted in
moieties to Sir Edward Saunders and Francis Morgan. (fn. 28)
Sir Anthony Cooke, Thomas Wootton, and Leonard
Dannett, the descendants of the co-heirs of Sir Edward
Belknap, released their interest in Weston to Saunders
in 1560. (fn. 29) By the marriage of Sir Edward's daughter
and heiress to Thomas Morgan, Francis's son, (fn. 30)
the manor was reunited and was held by the same
family as Wappenbury (q.v.), with which it has since
descended. (fn. 31)
The 2½ virgates of William fitz Corbucion were in
1279 held by Sylvester de Honygham of Henry de
Bereford, who held of John de Hastings. This holding
was divided in equal quantities between 3 servile and
2 free tenants. (fn. 32) Turchil's 1½ virgates were at the same
date occupied by 2 freeholders, tenants of John de
Wilewby, between whom and the Earl of Warwick as
overlord were Robert de Compton and Simon Bassett. (fn. 33)
By 1315 these estates seem to have become united, John
de Hastings then holding half a fee of the Earl of
Warwick in Barcheston and Weston. (fn. 34) In 1401 there
was again a half-fee of the Earl of Warwick in these
two places, (fn. 35) but this fief is not subsequently recorded.
It may be identical with a 'manor' which Richard
Knightley recovered against John Wode in 1454–5, (fn. 36)
and from which his grandson Thomas granted a sum of
96s. 2d. yearly for four years from 1489 to Sir Edmund
Cornewaill, who then held this manor of the prior of
Maxstoke. (fn. 37)
Church
The church of ST. MICHAEL lies on
the north side of the Leamington-Rugby
road, 3½ miles north-east of Leamington.
It stands on a bank above the road and has a small
inclosed churchyard. The church consists of chancel,
north chapel, nave, north aisle, west tower, vestry, and
south porch. There is evidence of a 12th-century
church in the north and south walls of the chancel,
consisting of the eastern halves of two semicircularheaded blocked windows. Early in the 13th century
the church was almost entirely rebuilt; the tower was
built early in the 14th century, except the top stage,
added late in the 14th century; a north chapel was
built in the 16th century, and in modern times a vestry
and south porch.
Plan of Weston-under-Wetherley Church
The church is built of red sandstone ashlar and the
roofs covered with tiles finishing on a coved eavescourse. There is a roof-line on the tower, 3 ft. above
the present modern roof, which has a slightly lower
pitch; it was re-roofed in 1867. The east gable wall
of the chancel has been entirely refaced with a lightcoloured sandstone, the upper part rebuilt and angle
buttresses added. The window, dating from the 13th
century, is of three pointed lights with plain tracery and
pointed arch without a label. On the south side is a
13th-century window of two pointed lights, having a
pointed arch and hood-moulding stopped on grotesque
heads; and to the west a two-light square-headed
window, probably inserted in the 17th century. Between them is a narrow pointed doorway with a hollowsplayed edge. This wall has been refaced and two brick
buttresses added. A 16th-century chapel has been
built against the north wall in a light-coloured sandstone with a low-pitched gable to the east wall, which
has been rebuilt with modern brickwork. The east
window has three cinquefoil lights with a four-centred
arch, and on the north side are two two-light cinquefoil
windows with square heads, all contemporary with the
chapel. At the north-east corner is an angle buttress;
there is a small central one, and a modern brick one at
each end.
The south wall of the nave has a plinth of two splays,
a coved eaves-course, and four buttresses in two
weathered stages, that at the west end having a gabled
top. There are three windows; the one to the west is
of early-14th-century date, the other two, of somewhat
similar design, are modern. The original has two trefoil
lights with moulded tracery, pointed arch, and hoodmoulding with mask stops. The two modern windows
have plain tracery of two splayed orders. The doorway
has a pointed arch with a wave-moulding continued
down the jambs, its hood-moulding has been hacked
away and the arch restored. In front of the door is a
modern porch of red sandstone, with two stone seats,
which has a tiled roof. The north aisle wall has three
buttresses, with angle buttresses at the west end, finished
with 13th-century gabled heads, and a plinth of two
splays which continues round the buttresses. A modern
vestry has been built at the western end embracing the
original north door. It has a low-pitched gable on the
north side and is lighted by two windows of two cinquefoil lights with square heads on the north and west.
The aisle is lighted by three small lancet windows, two
in the north wall and one in the west, and above these
the wall was raised in the latter part of the 14th century
in a lighter-coloured sandstone, a low-pitched leadcovered roof substituted for the original, which had a
steep pitch, and two windows of two trefoil lights with
plain tracery and four-centred heads provided. In the
west wall there is a straight joint showing the pitch of
the original aisle roof.
The tower is in three stages undivided by stringcourses, but the upper two are diminished from the
lower by splayed offsets. It is finished by an embattled
parapet with crocketed pinnacles at each corner. The
buttresses rise to the coved string-course at the base of
the parapet; those on the west side are of massive
character, two at each corner, those to the south enclosing the tower staircase. The buttress to the north is
diminished in width by three splayed offsets; the one
to the south is wider and diminished at the lower stage
only; the internal angles are splayed, finishing at the
top as an octagonal turret. These splays have recessed
foliated stops at their bases to allow the tower plinth to
continue. The tower has single lancet windows in each
of the west and south walls of the lowest stage, and in
the second stage a cross-shaped loop light. On the east
side of the belfry is a window of three trefoil lights with
plain tracery under a four-centred arch; and there is a
similar one of two lights in each of the other faces. On
the south side in the second stage is a small trefoiled
light, and a loop-light with a pointed head in the lowest
stage of the buttress.
The chancel (31 ft. by 14 ft.) has a modern collarbeam roof, plastered between the rafters. Most of the
north wall has been demolished and the roof is now
carried on a modern traceried timber screen of three
arched bays with stout square posts. The south wall
and the remains of the north wall are built of roughly
coursed red sandstone rubble, and each has half a
blocked 12th-century window with semicircular head
directly opposite each other. The south wall has been
much repaired with both rubble and ashlar masonry.
On the south side the tracery window recess has splayed
reveals with a stop-chamfered pointed arch; the narrow
door has square jambs with a flat oak lintel; and the later
window splayed reveals with a flat oak lintel. Between
this and the doorway is a late-14th-century piscina with
a four-centred head, having chamfered edges finished
on splayed stops, and a quatrefoil basin, while farther
east is another piscina in a very mutilated condition,
which appears to have been enriched by flanking
pillars. The east window recess has a chamfered
pointed arch and stop-chamfered reveals, and from its
springing level the gable wall is reduced in thickness
12 in. There are two steps to the altar space paved
with black and white marble, the rest of the chancel
being paved with stone. The altar table and rails are
modern.
The north chapel (23 ft. by 11 ft.) has a roof similar
to that of the chancel and has a floor of stone paving.
All the window recesses have flat moulded heads and
jambs stopping on splayed sills. On the east wall is a
marble monument, (fn. 38) dated 1573, to Sir Edward
Saunders and Agnes (Hussey), his (second) wife; it
is in three diminishing tiers, the lower one containing
a Latin inscription, flanked with the figures of a man
and woman, each kneeling at a prie-dieu; above this is
a group of figures representing the Resurrection, and
the upper tier has a representation of the Ascension.
There are six shields of Saunders and alliances, all
named. Also on this wall is a stone slab set in a moulded
frame with a brass inscription in the centre and matrices
for small figures at each corner, to Margery (first) wife
of Sir Edward Saunders, died 1563; above the inscription are four coats: (1) Saunders, (2) Englefield,
(3) Throckmorton, (4) Danvers. On the north wall
is a well-designed decorated mural tablet of alabaster to
Margaret and Mary Morgan, died 1584; above are
two identical coats placed side by side. The western
end of the chapel is occupied by the organ.
The nave (40 ft. by 18 ft. 6 in.) has a modern collarbeam roof with curved brackets and is plastered between
the rafters. The south door recess has a pointed segmental stop-chamfered arch, the recess being higher
than the external pointed arch, and the windows have
splayed recesses with stop-chamfered pointed arches.
The chancel arch, which dates from the 13th century,
is pointed, of two splayed orders resting on responds of
similar section with very short moulded capitals and
square bases. The splay of the outer order is wider
than that of the responds, the change being made with
a splayed stop at springing level. The arcade has three
bays with pointed arches of two splayed orders supported upon octagonal pillars and responds with
moulded capitals and bases. The capitals of the responds
repeat the upper moulding of the capitals only, and the
springers are 6 in. lower than on the pillars. This
arcade dates from the early 13th century; the mouldings
are typical of the period and differ slightly in detail.
The tower arch is a segmental pointed arch of two
orders with wave-mouldings on the nave side and splays
on the other, the outer order terminating on plain
splays and the inner resting on half-octagon responds
without capitals, but with moulded bases on a square
plinth. The nave and north aisle are paved with
modern red tiles.
The north aisle (40 ft. by 6 ft. 6 in.) has a lowpitched roof with beaded-edge beams and purlins,
probably 16th-century, but the other members of the
roof are modern. At the east end there is the pointed
arch and jambs of a late-13th-century tracery window
of two moulded orders, with pieces of tracery attached,
which was converted into an entrance to the north
chapel, the wall below the sill being removed and
replaced with a moulded oak screen rebated for a halfdoor with a four-centred arch and carved spandrels, all
contemporary with the chapel. The three lancet
windows have wide splayed recesses with pointed stopchamfered arches and the later windows, above, slightly
splayed recesses with four-centred arches. Below the
two lancet windows is an empty tomb recess with a
wide segmental pointed arch richly moulded, and has a
label moulding with returned ends. The outer moulding continues down the jambs and the inner order is
supported on short engaged shafts with moulded
capitals and bases. The north doorway now leads into
a modern vestry; it has a pointed arch with a hollow
splay and splayed hood-moulding outside, but the internal arch has been reduced in width by building up
the west splay to allow for a window when the north
wall was raised; it no longer coincides with the external
arch. In the vestry (14 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft.) there is an
early-17th-century oak chest on legs formed by trefoil
cusps at the ends.
The tower (10 ft. 8 in. by 10 ft. 3 in.) windows have
deep splayed recesses with segmental pointed arches
with stopped hollow splays, and the doorway to the
tower staircase has a shouldered head and hollowsplayed jambs. The cross-shaped loop-light in the
second stage has a very wide splayed recess and the
doorway to the ringing-chamber a shouldered arch.
The belfry floor rests on an offset and the window
heads are as on the outside. The roof is a low-pitched
pyramid covered with tiles.
The church is fitted with varnished benches re-using
a number of late-16th-century traceried panels in the
bench ends; other panels have been used in the chancel
screen. The font, standing at the west end of the nave,
is of unusual form and has eight sides, those towards the
cardinal points being concave and the others plain. At
the bottom of the latter there are head corbels on three
sides; the fourth is missing. The stem has the same
shape as the basin and its sides die out on a deep splay
to a low square pedestal. Internally the basin, which is
lined with lead, follows the shape of the outside and is
curved at the bottom. It probably dates from the early
14th century, one of the head corbels being of a knight
with the coiffe de mailles. It has a modern oak cover
and step. The pulpit placed on the south side of the
chancel arch is modern.
On the south wall of the chancel are set two brass
inscriptions: (i) Joyce Tomer, died 1566; (ii) Anne,
wife of Gerard Danet and daughter and co-heir of John
Hugford, died 1497. (fn. 39)
The communion plate includes a silver-gilt chalice,
of which the hall-mark is illegible.
There are four bells: (fn. 40) the 1st and 4th are by Hugh
Watts, dated respectively 1624 and 1592; the 2nd and
3rd by Geoffrey Giles, 1583, 1585, the latter bearing
the coats of arms of Saunders and Morgan.
The registers begin for baptisms in 1660, for burials
1695, and for marriages 1700. (fn. 41)
Advowson
The church was an early endowment of Arbury Priory, and was confirmed to that foundation by Thomas
(Arundel), Archbishop of Canterbury in 1401. (fn. 42) Its
value in 1291, when it was stated to be appropriated to
Arbury, was £5, (fn. 43) and in 1535 the vicarage was worth
£5 9s., of which almost half (53s. 4d.) was a pension
from Arbury towards the vicar's stipend; (fn. 44) at which
time the rectory was farmed at £5 6s. 8d. (fn. 45) After the
Dissolution the advowson and rectory were granted,
among the priory estates, to Charles, Duke of Suffolk,
who in December 1542 sold them to Sir Edward
Wootton, Mary widow of Edward Danett, and Anthony
Cooke; (fn. 46) they subsequently descended with the manor; (fn. 47)
the living is now united with that of Wappenbury.
Charities
Richard Hancox and Daniel Simson.
The Returns to Parliament under Gilbert's Act record a gift of £30 in money
by Richard Hancox, but at what date or by what
instrument was unknown. The same Returns record a
further gift of £10 by Daniel Simson by will in 1770.
It is stated in the printed Parliamentary Reports of
the former Commissioners for Inquiring Concerning
Charities, dated in 1827, that the interest is given in
bread to the poor of the parish, allowing to each parent
of a family a shilling loaf and to each child a sixpenny
loaf. The annual income amounts to £1 16s. 8d. The
charities are administered by the churchwardens and
two persons appointed by the local authority.
Church Land: upon the inclosure of the common
fields of this parish in 1777 an allotment was awarded
in lieu of other land, the rents of which had been
immemorially applied towards the repair of the church.