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| The Collegiate Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon is the parish church for Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. It is often known simply as Shakespeare's Church, due to its fame as the place of baptism and burial of William Shakespeare. The present building dates from 1210 and is built on the site of a Saxon monastery. It is Stratford's oldest building, in a striking position on the banks of the River Avon, and has long been England's most visited parish church. A Church on the banks of the Avon in Stratford is first mentioned in the charter of 845, signed by Beorhtwulf, King of Mercia. This would have been a wooden construction. It is very likely that the Normans replaced this with a stone building in the 11th century but no trace of either remains. The present limestone building was begun in 1210 and was built in the shape of a cross. The Church is approached along an avenue of lime trees, said to represent the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve Apostles. The porch is one of the more recent additions to the building (c.1500) and has a room above it reached by narrow spiral stone staircase. There is a small door let into the massive 15th century doors, just big enough to let one person through at a time. On this is a sanctuary knocker. Fugitives from justice (or lynch-mobs) could grab the ring and claim 37 days safety before facing trial. The Crossing is the oldest surviving part of the building. The massive pillars which cut the church in four support the tower. The south transept is the Saint Peter Chapel. In 1331 John, Bishop of Winchester, founded a chantry for five priests in the Thomas Becket Chapel in the south aisle. A 'good stone house' was built close by the Church to accommodate this College of Priests. In 1451 Henry V confirmed the privileges of the College and the Church became styled Collegiate. The Guild of the Holy Cross, a mediaeval trade guild with religious and charitable aims, was formed in 1269 and between 1280 and 1330 provided funds to build the tower and clerestory, and to rebuild the nave with side-aisles. The roof was raised and the clerestory added by the College (see chancel). The Guild was dissolved by Henry VIII, with responsibility for the upkeep of the church falling on the townsfolk. On the closure of the College & Guild by Henry VIII, the church tithes were sold off, which included the responsibility of employing a Priest and looking after the Chancel. In 1605 a share in tithes was purchased by William Shakespeare, which gave him the right of burial in the sanctuary. From the outside, the Church building has changed little from Shakespeare's time: a wooden spire was added in 1675, which was replaced with the present stone one in 1763. Until last century there stood a charnel house to the south of the chancel, where the bones of those exhumed to make room for new graves were laid to rest. The charnel-house, like the College building, has since been demolished.[Wikipedia, Holy Trinity] |
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| Welcombe is included in the chief manor of Old Stratford between 1182 & 1590 Around 1600 the Combes family had a considerable estate at Welcombe, beginning with a 99 year lease in 1537 from the Bishop of Worcester to John Combe. By 1590 Combe's grandson, another John Combe, had considerably expanded the family's holdings. At the time John was bailiff of the manor under the Earl of Warwick. He died without issue in 1614 and his Welcombe property passed to his nephew, William. William left three daughters, Mary (married Thomas Wagstaffe of Tachbrooke), Katherine (married Sir Thomas Stephens of Little Sodbury), and Martha (married Edward Clopton). Upon William's death in 1667 his estate was inherited by his grandson, Sir Combe Wagstaffe, who died the following year. The Welcombe estates eventually came into the possession of the Clopton family. In 1842 the manor was bought by Mark Philips who built the present Welcombe House in 1869, which now operates as a hotel. William Combe's attempt to inclose the Welcombe common fields involved him in a dispute with the corporation of Stratford. The town of Stanford reacted with the utmost violence to Combe's plans. The members of the Stratford Council felt they would be traitors to their unborned children if they permitted it, and not even the three fires that had ravaged Stratford in the past twenty years would be as destructive as the plan to enclose the common fields at Welcombe. Eventually the whole matter became a town cause and the money to fight William Combe in the courts was voted out of town revenues, with the men of Stratford in such a fury that they must have seen themselves as a modern reincarnation of St. George with William Combe as the dragon. Combe stated repeatedly that the town would not lose money, however the opposition was not financial. For more than a generation, any proposal to enclose land in Warwickshire had aroused an almost hysterical opposition, and seven years earlier there had been an actual crusade of 3,000 men women and children who went through the country destroying whatever enclosures they could find, filling ditches and cutting down the hedges. To the average villager, the word "enclosure" meant that some grasping landlord was taking bread out of the mouths of innocent people by turning into pasture the little strips of communal farm land that had been theirs to rent since time immemorial.[Combs-Associated Families] |
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| Stratford-upon-Avon
is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It
lies on the River Avon, 35km south east of Birmingham. The town is
near the south-west border of the county of Warwick, on a gentle ascent
from the banks of the river Avon, which approaches Stratford in a broad
and stream. The town is a popular tourist destination owing to its
status as birthplace of the playwright and poet William Shakespeare.
The Royal Shakespeare Company resides in Stratford's Royal Shakespeare
Theatre, one of Britain's most important cultural venues. The
name of Stratford is derived from its situation on the great north
road, leading from London to Worcester, being a fusion of the Old
English stręt, meaning "street", and ford, meaning
that a Roman road forded the River Avon at the site of the town. The
name of the river on which it stands, Avon, is Celtic, and in Welsh,
spelt Afon, still denotes river. By the
late 7th century a monastry was located on the site that would later
become Stratford, possibly on the site of the present day church.
In 815 the monastry was granted to Heabert, bishop of Worcester.
By 872 the monastry had been abandoned, probably due to oppression from
non-Christian authorities. A
settlement, which had sprung up around the monastery, remained in the
possession of the bishops of Worcester throughout the Saxon
era. The Doomsday-book rated Stratford at 'fourteen hides and a
half' (about 1500 acres) and was possessed by the bishop of Worcester
There was a
church, a mill yielding ten shillings per annum, and a thousand eels,
but the value of the whole manor was calculated to amount to
£25, a not inconsiderable sum. On 25/1/1197 King
Richard the First granted a charter for a weekly market to be held in
Stratford, from which point Stratford grew as a market town. By 1291
the parish had 140 acres of arable land and many trades were
represented, including weavers, tanners, tailors, carpenters, dyers,
white-smiths, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, flesh mongers, shoemakers and
coopers. The town was formerly under the jurisdiction of a Bailiff, fourteen Aldermen,
and fourteen Burgesses, and incorporated in 1553: at which time the
ancient Guild of the Holy Cross was dissolved, its possessions, then
valued at £46 3s 2.5d per annum, together with tithes of £34, which was
used to maintain a vicar, curate and xchool-master, to pay the
alms-people their weekly stipend, and repair the Chapel, Bridge, and
other public structures. In 1664 the charter was reaffirmed and
governance vested in the Corporation, consisting of a Mayor, 12
Aldermen and 12 burgesses, chosen from the principal inhabitants of the
borough. The town of Stratford probably grew around the monastery of
St. Egwin, on the river bank, and the houses immediately about the
church are still known as Old Town. About 1540 John Leland described
the town, "the Towne of Stratford standeth upon a plaine Ground on the
right Hand or Ripe of the Avon as the Water descendeth. The Bishop of
Worcester is Lord of Stratford. It hath 2 or 3 very large Streetes,
besides backe lanes. One of the principall Streets leadeth from East to
West, another from South to North. There is once a yeare a great Fayre
on Holy Rood Daye, 14 of Sept. The Towne is reasonably well builded of
Tymbre. The Paroch church is a fayre large Peice of Worke, and standeth
at the South Ende of the Towne." During the reign of Elizabeth I,
Stratford suffered severely from two destructive fires ; one of which
occurred in 1593, and the other in the year following. Destruction was
extensive since buildings in the town were chiefly composed of wood,
and in many instances roofed with straw or rushes, as many as 200
dwellings were consumed the fires, and losses totalled £20,000, "and so
reduced the inhabitants, that the Corporation petitioned Elizabeth, not
only for a remission of certain subsidies and taxes granted in her last
Parliament, but also to partake of the benefit arising from £30,000
which had been granted by parliament for the relief of decayed cities
and towns ... the Queen remitted their subsidies, and granted briefs,
impowering them to collect contributions from many of the counties and
cities in this kingdom." In 1614 another fire threatened the
town, "within the space of less than two hours consumed & burnt
fifty
& four dwelling houses, many of them being very fine houses,
besides barnes, stables & other houses of office, together with
great store of corn, hay, straw, wood & timber therein, amounting
to the value of eight thousand pounds & upwards: the force of which
fire was so great (the wind sitting ful upon the towwne) that is
dispersed into so many places thereof, whereby the whole towne was in
very great danger to have been utterly consumed." By 1765 the town
still only had a population of 2287, rising to 6022 by 1841. The Town
Hall, as distinct from the gild-hall, which stands at some distance,
was originally erected in 1633, standing on stone pillars with the
lower portion occupied as a market, having a gaol at one end, and a
pillory at the other. In 1767 it was replaced by the present day
building or stone. The present Market-House stands near the site of the
old Market Cross. A market House seems to have been first established
during the reign of Elizabeth I. The present structure was erected in
1820. The market-place of Stratford still retains its old Saxon name of
Rother, or cattle market. The parish of Old Stratford is about fifteen
miles
in circumfercnce, and includes the villages and hamlets of Welcombe,
Clopton, Ingon, Bishopton, Drayton, Dodwell, Shottery, Luddington,
Rhyne-Clifford, Little Wilmcote and Bridgetown.[Wikipedia, History and antiquities of Stratford-upon-Avon (Wheler, 1806), Illustrated Guide to Stratford-on-Avon (May, 1847), The Collegiate Church of Stratford-on-Avon (Baker, 1902)] |
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| Henley Street is one
of Stratford's oldest streets and has undergone substantial
architectural change between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.
John Shakespeare's large half-timbered dwelling, purchased by him in
1556, was in 1564 the birthplace of his son William. "The property
remained in the ownership of Shakespeare's direct descendants until
1670, when his granddaughter, Elizabeth Barnard, died. As she had no
children, Elizabeth left the estate to her relative Thomas Hart,
Shakespeare's great-nephew. The main house became a tenanted inn called
the Maidenhead (later the Swan and Maidenhead) following the death of
John Shakespeare in 1601. Members of the Hart family continued living
in the small adjoining cottage throughout the century." At the end of
the 19th century, Edward Gibbs 'renovated' the building to more closely
represent the original Tudor style farmhouse.[Wikipedia] Let
us enter the tenement which tradition, many-tongued, proclaims to be
the birthplace of the Poet. The room we step into from the street is
rudely paved with small and foot-worn stones, cracked and broken in
every possible direction. Since its occupation some years since by a
butcher, it retains that forlorn appearance which such shops when un
provisioned present. The little room behind is now dimly lighted by a
narrow casement, but has still its ample chimney-nooks and hearth. The
stairs stand squeezed into a comer since the division of the house.
They lead at once into the upper chamber nest the street, where the
poet is believed to have been born. The room has been but little
altered since, if even at all. Its ceiling is low, as was at that time
usual; and the walls took chill and naked, because they are now
whitelimed, and originally they would have been concealed by heavy
arras. Even the fire-place, from the huge beam of oak built in as the
mantel-tree, is hardly later than Elizabeth's time. Would it be
credited that within these three years a party of young ladies,
accompanied by their teacher, abstracted a cracked portion of this beam
during a brief absence of the guide ) The present furniture of the room
is scanty, but appropriate. A cast from the monumental bust occupies
one comer ; and the ceiling aa well as walls are covered with pencilled
autographs. The last are interesting, as tokens of homage borne from
all parts of the civilized world: but some of the moat important are
rudely obliterated by vulgar acrawlers, who with the fiat of a porter,
leave names, in ink or lamp-black, as staring as hag-marks.[Illustrated Guide to Stratford-on-Avon (May, 1847)] Shakespeare's Birthplace is on the north side of Henley Street. In 1556 John Shakespeare purchased a freehold tenement in Henley Street with a garden. The house, originally a woolshop, has undergone several alterations ; originally it had three dormer windows in the roof: these were removed before 1792, and the limber framing of the woolshop was replaced by brickwork. It was converted into an inn, the Swan and Maidenhead, as early as 1603. It appears to have been turned into a butcher's shop about the end of the eighteenth century. The centre part seems to have escaped alteration. The right hand part of the house, which was at first the woolshop, and afterwards an inn, has suffered many changes. The room first entered was apparently the family living-room, the stone floor is probably original, but is much broken. A small room opens behind, its original stone floor is covered up with a new wooden one, both rooms have open fireplaces. A small staurcase leads from the second room to the floor above. Small and bare as the room seems, with a ceiling so low that it may easily be touched, it was probably the best bedroom in a house of no mean size and with the walls covered with woven hangings or " painted cloths," and furnished with the four-post canopied bed and substantial chairs and stools of the period. The rooms at the back of the house have been thrown open by the removal of the lath and plaster partitions, leaving the old oak beams, which show the construction of the house.[The collegiate church of Stratford-on-Avon (Baker, 1902)] |
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| St Martin-in-the-Fields is an Anglican church at the north-east corner
of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. The church is
dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. Excavations in 2006 led to the
discovery of a grave, suggesting that the site was a christian centre
of worship at that time. The earliest reference to a church is from
1222, with a dispute between the Abbot of Westminster and the Bishop of
London as to who had control over it. The church was rebuilt by Henry
VIII in 1542. At this time, it was literally "in the fields" in an
isolated position between the cities of Westminster and London. This
was enlarged in 1607 at the cost of Prince Henry, the son of King James
I. The church survived the Great Fire of London which did not reach as
far as the City of Westminster, but was replaced with a new building,
designed by James Gibbs in 1721 and completed five years later. The
design was criticised widely at the time, but subsequently became
extremely famous. The present church is essentially rectangular, with a
great pediment in the Classical style supported by a row of huge
Corinthian columns. The high steeple is topped with a gilt crown. The
church has a close relationship with the Royal Family, whose parish
church it is, as well as with 10 Downing Street and the Admiralty.[Wikipedia] |
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| Shottery
is a small village a mile west of Stratford-Upon-Avon. The village has
a village hall, one pub, a
secondary school, Shottery Girls Grammar, and a primary school,
Shottery St Andrew's, that has been open since the
mid-19th century. Shottery was the
childhood home of Anne Hathaway, William Shakespeare's wife, and is the
location of the building known as Anne Hathaway's Cottage. The earliest
known form of spelling was 'Scotta rith' (794). 'Shoterey' first occurs
in 1272 and 'Shottery' in 1501. In the mid 1500s plague claimed most of
the population of Shottery, buried in a mass grave in a field called
“The Close”. Despite a curse by a local lady, the field was turned into
a property development in the 1960s. At one time there was a row of
weaver’s cottages in the village, since demolished. Where Shottery Road
crosses a stream is reputed to be a Saxon burial ground. The whole of
Shottery Road was once known as Berrin’ Row because it was where the
poor were buried. The Cottages in Church Lane were built in 1770.[Wikipedia, Shottery the Mother of Stratford (Belton)] Shottery
.. the hamlet is within the parish of Stratford and is readily arrived
at by a walk that branches off near the church turn. On reaching the
place, we find the dwellings numerous, and most of them conveniently
detached by intervening garden-ground; so that the hamlet stretches
over a considerable space. In most instances, too, little has been done
to impair the character of the tenements ; which are still chiefly
timber-framed, as in the poet's day. The memory of this, its most
important, visitor, seems to be yet cherished by the inmates ; judging,
among other circumstances, from that sign - "The Shakespeare Tavern" -
which, from yon rustic alehouse, invites the straggler to its cool
stoned-kitchen, its little boarded " parlour," or adjoining rural
skittle-ground, fringed with Ophelian pansies and columbines and
herb-grass .. [Hathaway's cottage] its aspect is that of a roomy old
farm-house, divested of its former home-stead. It stands upon a hank,
and has in front a rudely-paved terrace, to which we ascend by steps.
The walls are roughly framed with timber, the intervals in which are
mostly filled with wattling and rude plaister and the high-pitched roof
is snugly covered in with moss-grown thatch. The orchards, which till
recently adjoined the house, are now severed from the premises; and the
old garden between them is rooted up. Within the dwelling, we find the
kitchen as of old, then the chief living-room retaining still its ample
hearth and roomy chimney-corners, where in winter-time the coziest
seats were reserved for the heads of the household and an occasional
guest ... The walls exhibit portions of the black oaken waicacoat, with
which the rough plaistering was formerly concealed ; while the rude
stone-floor, the low ceiling with its heavy beams, the unpainted doors
and wooden latch, are alike primitive and in character. In a room
above, remains an old oak-carved bedstead of the Tudor or Stuart times
; and in an adjoining chest is preserved a nearly contemporary sample
of heavy homespun bed-linen.[Illustrated Guide to Stratford-on-Avon (May, 1847)] |
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| Unicorn Inn. At the
time of his death in 1607 Thomas was a maltster, probably living on
Wood Street (he was there in the 1590s). At the time the Unicorn Inn
was located at 5&6 Wood Street, now housing shops and offices.
c.1595 it was in the possession of Abraham Sturley, who's daughter,
Elizabeth, married another Thomas Hiccox, a near relative of Thomas
(1.1.2.1.1). It is possible, although unproven, that at the time of his
death Thomas was the publican at the Unicorn Inn, or at least living
nearby and supplying the inn's ale. Formerly
known as: the Unicorn Inn. Now shops and offices. c1595, after fire,
possessed by Abraham Sturley; with later alterations and top storey.
Refronted 1815. Timber-frame with painted brick front; tile roof with
brick stack with octagonal shafts. 3 storeys; 6-window range. Coped
parapet. Lower wing with carriageway to left has early 19th century
canted bay window above. 20th century shop fronts. Rear has 2 gabled
wings flanking gabled stair wing, with some timber-frame exposed. The
interior of No.6 has a good early 17th century moulded plaster ceiling,
1st floor has plaster fireplace with scroll motifs, roses and reversed
lion rampant etc similar to work in Harvard House, High Street.[British Listed Buildings] St Martin in the Bull Ring,
Birmingham, England was the original parish church of Birmingham. It is
believed that there was a Norman Church on the site as early as 1166.
The medieval church was built in 1290, from red sandstone,
by the de Bermingham family. The
present Victorian church was built on the site of a 13th century
predecessor, which was documented in 1263. The church was enlarged in
medieval times and the resulting structure consisted of a lofty nave
and chancel, north and south aisles and a northwest tower with spire.
In
1547, although no record is kept to indicate when the first clock
appears in Birmingham, during this year the King's Commissioners report
that the Guild of the Holy Cross are responsible "ffor keeping the
Clocke and the Chyme" at a cost of four shillings and four pence a year
at St Martin's Church. In 1690, the churchwardens "dressed the church
in brick". All was cased in brick with the exception of the spire. John
Cheshire rebuilt 40 feet of the spire in 1781, which was strengthened
by an iron spindle running up its centre for a length of 105 feet. It
was secured to the sidewalls at every ten feet by braces. In 1801,
several metres from the top of the spire were replaced after they were
found to have decayed. The tops of the four pinnacles surrounding the
main spire were also rebuilt. By 1808, the spire had been struck by
lightning three times. In 1853, the brick casing was removed
from the tower by Philip Charles Hardwick, who added the open-air
pulpit. The church also contained an organ, the reedwork of which had
been done by John Snetzler. However, the pipes were found to be
ineffective due to their proximity to the church roof and walls. In
1873, the church was demolished and rebuilt, preserving an earlier
tower and spire. During the demolition,
medieval wall paintings and decorations were discovered in the chancel,
including the charity of St Martin dividing his cloak with a beggar.
The
exterior is built of rockfaced grimshill stone. The interior is of
sandstone and an open timber roof.[Wikipedia, St Martin in the Bullring, Birmingham Churches] |
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| St Peter & St Paul, Aston Juxta, Birmingham.
Until the 19th century Aston was an extensive parish comprising a
number of townships. The Domesday Book mentions a priest here in 1086,
though the church may have been an Anglo-Saxon minster long before
that. Except for the tower, the church was rebuilt by between 1879 and
1890. Aston was an extensive parish and a manor of some local
importance before the Norman Conquest. At Domesday it was one of the
more valuable manors in the Birmingham area. In 1086 Birmingham manor
was valued at 20 shillings for tax purposes while Aston was valued at
100 shillings. A course of red sandstone in the north wall of the
church may have belonged to a church of the Norman period. The Norman
building was very likely rebuilt in the 13th century. This remnant was
presumably destroyed when the nave and chancel were rebuilt in the late
19th century. The bulk of the church before the 19th-century rebuilding
was probably built in the 13th century. All that now remains of the
Medieval church is the tower with its tall spire, which dates from the
15th century. The present church, built in brownish-grey sandstone,
dates from 1879-1890.[A History of Birmingham Churches] Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England, northwest of Birmingham and historically a part of Staffordshire. The name Walsall is thought to have derived from the words "Walh halh", meaning "valley of the Celtic speakers". Walsall is first referenced as 'Walesho' in a document dated 1002. By the first part of the 13th century, Walsall was a small market town, with the weekly market being introduced in 1220. The mayor of Walsall was created as a political position in the 14th century. The Industrial Revolution changed Walsall from a village of 2,000 people in the 16th century to a town of over 86,000 in approximately 200 years. The town manufactured a wide range of products including saddles, chains, buckles and plated ware. Nearby, limestone quarrying provided the town with much prosperity. Walsall has had many industries, from coal mining to metal working. In the late 19th century, the coal mines ran dry, and Walsall became internationally famous for its leather trade. Walsall still manufactures the Queen's handbags and leathergoods for the Prince of Wales. Walsall is the traditional home of the English saddle manufacturing industry. In 1821, St. Matthew's Church was demolished with exception of the tower and chancel and replaced at a cost of £20,000. In 1824, the Walsall Corporation received an Act of Parliament to improve the town by providing lighting and a gas works. The Church is first mentioned in 1200 although the Crypt contains a bricked-up Norman doorway and Early English lancet windows c.1150. Although dedicated to All Saints as early as 1391, the Church has been known as St. Matthew's since the 18th century.[Wikipedia, St Matthew's] |
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| Ashchurch
is a village and former civil parish in the Tewkesbury district of
Gloucestershire, England. The parish was originally called Eastchurch,
due to its position east of the parish and town of Tewkesbury, and had
a population of 6,064 at the 2001 UK census. The former Ashchurch
Parish covered the village of Ashchurch, the large Northway estate, and
the settlements of Aston Cross, Aston on Carrant, Pamington and Natton.
The parish once extended even further west to include the area called
Newtown, but this was transferred to Tewkesbury in 1931. The
parish church is dedicated to St Nicholas. Building the church began in
1092 and consecration followed in 1121. Many partly carved pieces of
stone can be found in the walls sugesting that the building used some
of the waste stone from Tewkesbury Abbey. The first recorded service
was for a confirmation in 1145 attended by the Bishop of Worcester. The
church features a long nave having walls that lean outwards reminding
one of a ship's hull. This is a reference to St Nicholas also being the
patron saint of seamen. During the 13th century the north aisle was
added, followed by a fine, pinnacled tower in the 14th century. The oak
rood screen dividing the sanctuary from the nave dates from the 15th
century. The existence of such an ancient screen is rare as many were
destroyed in Cromwellian times.[Wikipedia, St Nicholas] Deritend is an historic area of Birmingham, England. Deritend was a crossing point of the River Rea before Birmingham was of any significance. When Peter de Bermingham obtained a charter for a market around 1156 the area to the west of the crossing, Digbeth and beyond, grew into what is now Birmingham. Deritend (in the past called Der-yat-end, possibly Deer Gate End) was across the river towards Warwick in the parish of Aston. The name is likely of medieval origin and probably refers to one of the deer parks of the de Birmingham family. Deritend lies east of the river and was from Anglo-Saxon times always part of the parish of Aston, although it was part of the manor of Birmingham. Deritend is first mentioned in 1276 when it is reported that an area on the road in the town of Birmingham encroached into an area of land in the parish of Aston. The first mention of Deritend by name is by Sir John de Birmyneham in 1381, who refers to it as 'Duryzatehende'. In 1538 John Leland wrote: "I cam thoroughe a praty strete or evar [before] I enteryd into Bremischam toune [Birmingham]. This strete, as I remember, is caullyd Dyrtey [Deritend], in it dwelle smithes and cuttelers, and there is a brooke [River Rea] that devydithe this strete from Bremisham. Dyrtey is but an hamlet or membre longynge to [Aston] paroche therby and is clene seperated from Bremischam paroche. There is at the end of Dyrtey a propre chaple [St John's] and mansion howse of timbar [The Old Crown], hard on the rype [bank] as the brooke cummithe down, and as I went thrwghe the forde by the bridge, the watar ran downe on the right hond, and a few miles lowere goithe into Tame rypa dextra [on the right bank]. This broke risethe, as some say, a 4. or 5. miles above Bremicham toward the Blake Hills in Worcestershire. This broke above Dyrtey brekethe into two armes that a litle benethe the bridge close agayne." Deritend was granted the right to its own chapel of ease in 1380, and the right to elect a priest the following year. The church of St John the Baptist was built on Deritend High Street at Chapel House Street. In 1735 it was rebuilt in neo-classical style. The church was out of use by 1939 and demolished 1947. The Old Crown pub in Deritend High Street is claimed to be the oldest extant secular building in Birmingham, claiming to date back to c.1368, retaining its "black and white" timber frame, although almost all of the present building dates from the early 16th century. It was probably the Guild Hall of St John the Baptist during the 15th century and included the priest's house and a school for members' children. By 1538 it was a mansion house. Deritend was locally considered a desirable area in the 1700s, still on the edge of open countryside. An advertisement from 1750 read: "To be Lett, And entered upon immediately, A very good new-built House, four Rooms on a Floor, with a Brew-house and Stable, and other conveniences, a very good Garden, walled in, and a Fish Pond in it, situate very pleasant by the Water Side, near the Bridge, in Birmingham." A resident, reminiscing on the late 1700s, wrote: "There used to be pleasure boats for rowing parties up the river under Deritend Bridge, then just finished and put up in place of the old pier bridge. Having passed Bradford Street and Cheapside bridges they arrived at the lovely sequestered and elegant gardens of Apollo House in Moseley Street. This hotel and pleasure gardens on the banks of the River Rea eventually failed and the house subsequently became the residence of several well-to-do families." After the cutting of the Warwick & Birmingham Canal in 1799, Deritend's Deritend's population boomed, reaching 18,000 by 1841.In 1807 Robert Southey wrote: "The noise of Birmingham is beyond description; the hammers seem never to be at rest. The filth is sickening: filthy as some of our own towns may be, their dirt is inoffensive; it lies in idle heaps, which annoy none but those who walk within the little reach of their effluvia. But here it is active and moving, a living principle of mischief, which fills the whole atmosphere and penetrates every where, spotting and staining every thing, and getting into the pores and nostrils. I feel as if my throat wanted sweeping like an English chimney." By the mid-1800s it was a maze of narrow streets and courts intermingled with the noise and pollution of industry & Deritend was considered the 'dirty end' of Birmingham, with perhaps 100 or more forges in the Digbeth and Deritend area. There were also tanneries, which would have contributed to the smoke and smell. In 1838, when Birmingham was granted its Borough Charter, Deritend officially became part of Birmingham, at the time it was a mixture of small industry and poor quality housing and remained so until after World War 2, with the large slum clearances which were completed during the 1960s.[Wikipedia, A History of Birmingham Places & Placenames] |
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| Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. It is the second most populous British city, after London, with a population of 1,028,701 in 2009. A medium-sized market town during the medieval period, Birmingham grew to international prominence in the 18th century at the heart of the Midlands Enlightenment and subsequent Industrial Revolution, which saw the town at the forefront of worldwide developments in science, technology and economic organisation, producing a series of innovations that laid many of the foundations of modern industrial society. By 1791 it was being hailed as "the first manufacturing town in the world". Birmingham's distinctive economic profile, with thousands of small workshops practising a wide variety of specialised and highly-skilled trades, encouraged exceptional levels of creativity and innovation, and provided a diverse and resilient economic base for an industrial prosperity that was to last into the final quarter of the 20th century. Some of the earliest evidence of settlement in Birmingham are artefacts dating back 10,400 years discovered near Curzon Street in the city centre. In the early 7th century, Birmingham was an Anglo-Saxon farming hamlet on the banks of the River Rea. It is commonly believed that the name 'Birmingham' comes from "Beorma inga ham", meaning farmstead of the sons (or descendants) of Beorma. Birmingham was first recorded in written documents by the Domesday Book of 1086 as a small village, worth only 20 shillings. In 1166 the holder of the manor of Birmingham, Peter de Birmingham, was granted a royal charter to hold a market in his castle, which in time became known as the Bull Ring, transforming Birmingham from a village to a market town. The de Birmingham family continued to be Lords of Birmingham until the 1530s when Edward de Birmingham was cheated out of its lordship by John Dudley. As early as the 16th century, Birmingham's access to supplies of iron ore and coal meant that metalworking industries became established. By the time of the English Civil War in the 17th century, Birmingham had become an important manufacturing town with a reputation for producing small arms. Arms manufacture in Birmingham became a staple trade and was concentrated in the area known as the Gun Quarter. During the Industrial Revolution Birmingham grew rapidly into a major industrial centre and the town prospered. Birmingham’s population grew from 15,000 in the late 17th century to 70,000 a century later. By the 1820s, an extensive canal system had been constructed, giving greater access to natural resources to fuel to industries. Railways arrived in Birmingham in 1837. During the Victorian era, the population of Birmingham grew rapidly to well over half a million and Birmingham became the second largest population centre in England.[Wikipedia] |
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| St Philip, Birmingham. The Cathedral Church of Saint Philip is the
Church of England cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Birmingham.
Built as a parish church and consecrated in 1715, St Philip's became
the cathedral of the newly-formed Diocese of Birmingham in 1905. St
Philip's was built in the early 18th century in the Baroque style by
Thomas Archer. It is the third smallest cathedral in England. St
Philip's Church was planned when the nearby medieval church of St
Martin in the Bull Ring became insufficient to house its congregation
because of the growing population of Birmingham. The land, previously
named The Barley Close, was donated by Robert Philips in 1710. It it
was dedicated to the Apostle Philip as a tribute to the benefactor
Robert Philips. St Philip's served as a Parish church from 1715 to
1905. The tower was completed in 1725. Externally the Baroque style
building is surrounded by tall windows between pilasters
of low relief, supporting a balustrade at roof level with an urn rising
above each pilaster. The western end is marked by a single tower which
rises in stages and is surmounted by a lead-covered dome and delicate
lantern. The building is of brick and is faced with stone quarried on
Thomas Archer’s estate at Umberslade.[Wikipedia, St Philips Church] Temple Bar is the barrier marking the westernmost extent of the City of London on the road to Westminster, where Fleet Street becomes the Strand. Until 1878, this boundary was demarcated by a stone gateway designed by Christopher Wren. It is the only survivng gateway to the City. In the Middle Ages, the authority of the City of London Corporation reached beyond the city's ancient walls in several places (the Liberties of London); to regulate trade into the city, barriers were erected on the major roads wherever the true boundary was a substantial distance from the old gatehouse. Temple Bar was the most famous of these, since traffic between London (England's prime commercial centre) and Westminster (the political centre) passed through it. Its name comes from the Temple Church, which has given its name to a wider area south of Fleet Street, the Temple, once belonging to the Knights Templar, which is located nearby. Today Temple Bar is marked by a stone monument in the middle of the roadway. The earliest Temple Bar may have been no more than a turnpike; there was a gate of some kind from 1293. By the late Middle Ages a wooden archway (with a prison above) stood on the spot. Although it escaped damage by the Great Fire of London, it was decided as part of the improvements undertaken by the City to rebuild the structure. Commissioned by King Charles II, and designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the fine arch of Portland stone was constructed between 1669 and 1672. During the 18th century, the heads of traitors were mounted on pikes and exhibited on the roof. In 1878 the City of London Corporation, eager to widen the road but unwilling to destroy so historic a monument, dismantled it and stored its 2,700 stones carefully. In 1880, the brewer Sir Henry Meux bought the stones and re-erected the arch as a gateway at his house, Theobalds Park, between Enfield and Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, where it remained until 2003. In 2004 it returned to London when it was moved to Paternoster Square, just north of St Paul's Cathedral.[Wikipedia, City of London] |
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| Whitechapel is a
built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It
is notably best known for being the location of the infamous Jack the
Ripper murders in the late 1880s. Whitechapel's heart is Whitechapel
High Street, extending further east as Whitechapel Road, named after a
small chapel of ease dedicated to St Mary. The church's earliest known
rector was Hugh de Fulbourne in 1329 and around 1338 it became the
parish church of Whitechapel, called St Mary Matfelon. The church was
destroyed through enemy action in World War II and its location and
graveyard is now a public garden on the south side of the road. High
Street was anciently the initial part of the Roman road between the
City of London and Colchester, exiting the city at Aldgate. By the late
16th century the suburb of Whitechapel and the surrounding area had
started becoming 'the other half' of London. Located east of Aldgate,
outside the City Walls and beyond official controls, it attracted the
less fragrant activities of the city, particularly tanneries,
breweries, foundries and slaughterhouses. Population shifts from rural
areas to London from the 17th century to the mid-19th century resulted
in great numbers of more or less destitute people taking up residence
amidst the industries and mercantile interests that had attracted them.
By the 1840s Whitechapel, along with the enclaves of Wapping, Aldgate,
Bethnal Green, Mile End, Limehouse, Bow, Bromley-by-Bow, Poplar,
Shadwell and Stepney (collectively known today as "the East End", had
evolved, or devolved, into classic "Dickensian" London, with problems
of poverty and overcrowding. Whitechapel Road itself was not
particularly squalid through most of this period—it was the warrens of
small dark streets branching from it that contained the greatest
suffering, filth and danger, such as Dorset Street (now a private alley
but once described as "the worst street in London".[Wikipedia] The Guild Church of St Dunstan-in-the-West is in Fleet Street, London. It is dedicated to a former bishop of London and archbishop of Canterbury. First founded between 988 and 1070 A.D., there is a possibility that a church on this site was one of the Lundenwic strand settlement churches, like St Martin's in the Fields, the first St Mary le Strand, St Clement Danes and St Brides. These churches may pre-date the churches later to fall within the City walled area. It is not known exactly when the original church was built, but is though to date to before 1000AD. It was first mentioned in written records in 1185. The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers has been associated with the church since the fifteenth century. The church narrowly escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666. The Dean of Westminster roused forty scholars from Westminster School in the middle of the night, who formed a fire brigade which extinguished the flames with buckets of water to only three doors away. In 1829 the medieval church of St Dunstan was demolished to facilitate the widening of Fleet Street, and a new church was built on its burial ground. The first stone of the new building was laid in 1831. St Dunstan-in-the-West was a well-known landmark in previous centuries because of its magnificent clock. This dates from 1671, and was the first public clock in London to have a minute hand. The figures of the two giants strike the hours and quarters, and turn their heads.[Wikipedia, St Dunstan] |
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| Alveston is a parish in Warwickshire, England, to the east of
Stratford-Upon-Avon. Its present boundaries seem to be approximately
those given in a Saxon charter of 985. The suffix of “ton” in the names
Alveston and Tiddington means a farmstead or settlement of Saxon
origin. Alveston is believed to be named after Aenulf, a Saxon chief.
The site of the Old Church also indicates that the original Saxon
settlement was along Mill Lane leading to a ford across the river.
Little is known of the early history of the village, except the
granting of a Charter in 955 AD, although it is clearly an earlier
settlement than the later and larger development of
Stratford-upon-Avon. The origins of the name Tiddington are less clear.
Possibly named after Tidda or Tilda. The earliest spelling was
“Tidinctune” in 969. The parish includes the two separate villages of
Alveston and Tiddington and part of the hamlet of Bridgetown. The Avon
is crossed by a ferry at Alveston village and a ford near the mill, the
'Doddanford' of 985. Lower down the stream opposite Cliffe Cottage is
the probable site of Welcombe Ford. There was an Iron Age settlement in
Tiddington as shown by crop marks near the river. Tiddington has
yielded abundant evidence both of Roman and Saxon occupation. A Roman
industrial settlement yielded remains including a tile kiln, furnaces
and coins indicating a prolonged occupation, which may even have
survived the withdrawal of the legions. A Saxon cemetery, dating to the
8th and 9th centuries, was discovered in 1935. The Manor House, just
east of Clopton Bridge, is mostly a timber-framed two story building,
parts of which date to c.1500 or earlier. The Old Rectory, south-east
of the church, with walls almost completely of close-set studding,
dates to the early 1500s. The brick facing is somewhat more recent.
Alveston Lodge, next to the rectory, is traditionally said to have been
the residence of William More, Prior of Worcester, 1518–1535. In the
Domesday Book Alveston parish was occupied by 43 families, about 200
people, larger than Stratford-upon-Avon at the time. The village lies
chiefly east of the churches, and few of the houses are old. One
noticeable house fairly near the ferry is of 17th-century
timber-framing in two stories above a high stone basement. The mill at
Alveston is mentioned as early as 966. Domesday records three mills
here, worth 40s. In 1240 there were two corn mills in Alveston and a
corn mill and fulling mill in Tiddington. Two watermills and a fishery
were included with the site of the manor in 1570. In 1650 there were
three water mills and a fulling mill near the manor-house. Alveston
throughout its history has been essentially a freeholders' village. In
1240 the free tenements comprised more than one-third of the manor. The
demesne in 1240 consisted of 4 carucates of land 'with the new
addition'. By 1699 the heath was being ploughed and fenced in for corn,
and a part of the Black Ground Field was hitched for feeding horses. A
part of the heath was ordered to be laid down with grass seeds in 1704,
and within the next 30 years these new crops, among which clover is
first specifically mentioned in 1719, were introduced into four of the
common fields, being generally sown together with oats or barley. The
cultivation of turnips for sheep feed began on the heath in 1729. A
petition for inclosure was approved by the House of Commons in 1771.
The inclosure established 6 large farms ranging from 142 to 407 acres,
and 5 others of between 50 and 100 acres. Smaller allotments were made
to 9 other proprietors. The largest holdings were those of Newsham
Peers, Lord Lifford (300 acres, now Alveston Pasture Farm), and Thomas
Hiron (now Alveston Hill Farm, 275 acres). The great majority of the
individual proprietors came of families which had been settled in the
parish since before 1600. Tiddington, although from earliest times a
separate township from Alveston, has never been a separate manor.
Although the first major battle of the English civil war was fought at
Edgehill, only 14 miles away, Alveston, largely escaped the full force
of war with only minor threats, thefts and skirmishes. In 1744 Alveston
was lauded as a health spa. On Alveston Hill there was a spring and a
pool where the sick bathed in hope of a cure. "Alveston, a village and a parish in Stratford on Avon district,
Warwick. The village stands near the Avon, under Welcombe hills, amid
charming environs, 2.5 miles ENE of Stratford-on-Avon; was pronounced
by Dr. Parry the Montpelier of England; and has a post office under
Stratford-on-Avon. The parish contains also the pleasant village of
Tiddington. Acres, 4,300. Real property, £8,531. Pop., 844. Houses,
191. The property is much subdivided. A chief residence is Alveston
House. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester. Value,
£220. Patron, the Rector of Hampton-Lucy. The church contains some fine
tombs of the Lucys, and is very good. Charities, £46."[1872 Imperial
Gazetteer of England and Wales] The
parish church is dedicated to St James. In 1837 it was resolved to
build a new Church and on the 1/8/1837 the foundation stone of the
present St James’ was laid by Mrs Fortescue-Knottesford of Alveston
Manor. The completed building was consecrated on 16/5/1839 by the
Bishop of Worcester. The present church of St James consists of a
chancel with north and south chapels, a broad nave, south porch, and
west tower. There are four bells, one modern, the others are dated
1658, 1616 inscribed 'god save noble king James and Thomas Townsend'
and 1729. The architect for the new church, William Walker, reputedly
designed the church based on Westminster Abbey. It has an imposing
structure with a high roof space and impressive hammer beams and is
considerably larger than its predecessor. The new building had seating
for 570 people, 316 of which were declared to be “free and
unappropriated for ever” (ie not assigned to a particular family). The
construction costs were small, even for the time, just £2,640, much of
the materials having been recycled from the old church. By 1871 the
population of the Parish of Alveston had risen to almost 1,000. St
James was considered too small and the east end of the church was
enlarged in 1875. The tower was restored in 1945. The walls of the Lady
Chapel are lined with seventeenth century panelling. The remains of the
old parish church stand about 1/4 mile north and consist of the almost
derelict chancel, built of 18th-century red brick with rusticated angle
dressings, and covered with rough-cast cement; the roof is tiled. The
east window is unglazed. In the south wall was a doorway, now blocked
to form an external recess. In this is reset the elaborately carved
tympanum of a 12th-century doorway, and two carved capitals. There are
eight funeral monuments inside, the oldest and most interesting of
which is that of Nicholas Lane, who died 1595. There is no mention of a
priest at Alveston in the Domesday Survey. In 1240 the church was a
chapelry of Hampton Lucy, remaining such until 1858. Although the old
church fell into disuse it was not totally demolished, the chancel was
left intact. The Old Church was restored in 1945 and again between
2000-2005. In 2006 it was rededicated by the Bishop and it remains in
use as a church today, with a weekly service in Summer.[Alveston Parish History, Parish of Alveston, British History Online]"Alveston, a village and a parish in Warwickshire. The village stands near the Avon, under Welcombe Hills, amid charming environs, 2 1/2 miles ENE of Stratford-on-Avon. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Stratford-on-Avon. The parish contains also the hamlets of Tiddington and Bridgetown. Acreage, 2886; population, 954. There are several gentlemen's residences in the village. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester; value, £190. Patron, the rector of Hampton Lucy. The church formerly belonged to the abbey of Tewkesbury, and is an ancient stone edifice with transepts and a pinnacled western tower. It was restored in 1876, at a cost of £4000."[1895 Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales] "The
old church, dedicated to St James, which adjoins the park of Alveston
House, and in which most of the members of the family of Peers lie
buried, is now but a ruin. The chancel, with a bellcote, is all that
remains of the original structure, the nave having been pulled down
when the present church was built, about a quarter of a mile distant,
in 1839. Beyond the monuments and two carvings in stone of the
thirteenth century there is nothing of interest in this church, which
is now used for funeral services for the members of such families as
have vaults in the churchyard.'[Miscellanea genealogica et heraldica, 1906] |
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| "...crossing the rush-fringed stream, now overhung with osiers, wreathed too with the flowering branches of the sweet rose briar, and leaving the ferry boat we land in the broad pasture grounds of Alveston. We see a tower in front, reminding us of a trim, modern gothic church. But that seemed to stare coldly toward the road, and far away from the houses of the village. We therefore naturally enquire, as we approach those nestling dwellings, - Where the old church stood? and find, in out way, the original church-yard, with its graves and gravestones, far from the modem structure, and wholly undisturbed. Not so the church which hallowed it. Of that we find only the lettered floor, now grass-grown ; beyond which occurs a plaistered remnant, newly-tiled and glazed, embodying all that now remains of the original chancel. A curious bas-relief, some three feet long, cut in hard freestone, is preserved among this plaistering at the west; its execution is inexpressibly rude, and the subject, for aught we know, ante-dilurial. For the two fighting monsters moat conspicuous, resemble no class with which we are acquainted in later zoology. Another curious relic is also preserved on the south side. This is semi-circular, of the same material as the last, and rests upon two capitals divested of their pillars ; having originally formed the head of a small doorway. The subjects here are in relief, but the workmanship is somewhat better. There are two strange quadrupeds, gardent as the heralds say, in the upper part ; and below is a female figure, habited in a rich costume, surrounded by rows of bow-knots in conjunction with very involved lacing or cordage."[Illustrated Guide to Stratford-on-Avon (May, 1847)] |
