WILLENHALL
The former hamlet and civil parish of Willenhall
lay two miles south-east of Coventry between the
River Sowe and the River Avon. The hamlet was a
detached part of the ancient parish of Holy Trinity,
Coventry, but remained in Knightlow Hundred and
was not included in the county of the city in 1451.
It was recognized as a civil parish in 1881, (fn. 2) and was
then in Foleshill Union (later Rural District). The
parish was extinguished in 1932 when 464 acres in
the north-west were transferred to Coventry County
Borough and 308 acres in the south-east to Baginton
civil parish in Warwick Rural District. (fn. 3)
The north-west of Willenhall was bounded by the
River Sowe, the south and south-east by the Avon
and by the valley of a stream which runs southwards
to the Avon from the Bogs in Binley. On the southwest the boundary lay several hundred yards west of
London Road and on the north-east roughly along
the line of the railway from Rugby to Coventry,
with an irregularly-shaped tongue of land stretching
north towards Ernesford Grange. The land rises
from all sides to Willenhall Wood in the centre of
the former parish.
London Road enters the former parish from Ryton
on Dunsmore by Ryton Bridge over the River Avon
and leaves it again by Willenhall Bridge over the
River Sowe into Whitley. The railway crosses the
River Sowe by Sowe Viaduct. The Coventry bypass, here called Stonebridge Highway, branches
from London Road at Tollbar End on the former
parish boundary. St. James Lane leaves London
Road near Willenhall Bridge and crosses the middle
of Willenhall, by Little (formerly Upper) Farm, to
Binley. Brandon Lane leaves London Road near
Ryton Bridge and crosses the south of the area by
Lower Farm, towards Brandon. A track in the east
runs from St. James Lane to Lower Farm. Most of
the north-western part of Willenhall, now in
Coventry, is covered by modern housing estates; the
south-east remains rural.
MANORS AND ESTATES.
Willenhall first
appears distinctly in the late 12th century: the chapel
there was among property confirmed to Coventry
Priory in 1183-4, (fn. 4) and in 1195 hay was being sold
from the priory's estate at Willenhall, which was
then, with the rest of the priory's possessions,
temporarily in the bishop's hands. (fn. 5) The Willenhall
estate was referred to as a manor in a confirmation to
the priory of 1221. (fn. 6) At about the same time members
of the Willenhall family, who were the principal
tenants of the priory there until the early 15th
century, began to appear as witnesses to charters. (fn. 7)
In 1279 the priory held the estate with free
warren (granted in 1257), (fn. 8) view of frankpledge, and
the assize of bread and ale, by unknown warrant and
without liability for scutage. (fn. 9) The priory had threequarters of a virgate, with meadow and wood, in
demesne. The only other notable landholder
represented in the village was John Hastings, lord of
Allesley, who held a small plot, later called Hastingscroft, from the priory. The priory had two free
tenants, Robert son of Geoffrey (Willenhall), and
John Cross, who each held a half-virgate; Robert
also held a water-mill. (fn. 10) There were eight (fn. 11) villein
tenants with three virgates, and six cottagers.
The description of the Willenhall holding as a
half-virgate in 1279 may be misleading. In 1252,
when Geoffrey Willenhall did homage for it, it was
described as a house, a mill, and a carucate of land. (fn. 12)
The mill was identified as Finford Mill when
Geoffrey's son Robert did homage in 1291. In 1340,
when Robert's son John was in possession, the land
consisted of four arable crofts, a meadow, and a
field of pasture, (fn. 13) and the priory granted him
another piece of woodland in 1342. (fn. 14)
In the 1360s there seems to have been an attempt
to assert that the Willenhall family held their estate
not of the priory but of the manor of Cheylesmore.
In 1360 there was an inquiry into what land Thomas
Willenhall might hold of the Prince of Wales in
Willenhall. (fn. 15) When John Willenhall died in 1365, his
land was said to be held of the honor of Chester. (fn. 16)
The priory retained the wardship of the young heir,
while Thomas Willenhall, apparently John's brother,
unsuccessfully pursued his claim to the estate with
Cheylesmore manor. (fn. 17) In the early-15th-century
rental another John held the estate of the priory as it
had been described in 1340. John seems not to have
been living in Willenhall, (fn. 18) but in 1539 the family
was still there, in the person of William Willenhall,
who held Willenhall Hall, but apparently no land. (fn. 19)
There is no further trace of this family.
The successors of John Cross, the second free
tenant in 1279, also survived to the early 15th
century. Henry Cross sold a holding which included
a half-virgate to Henry Barr of Coventry in 1339, (fn. 20)
but the Cross family then acquired Heycroft,
apparently in exchange, and became the tenants of
Hastingscroft and of a holding next to it which
included Marlcroft and a half-virgate. The property
descended from William to Adam and thence to
another John Cross. It was this John who in the
early 15th century claimed to hold in fee; as a result
of the claim the prior took the property in hand and
thereafter the family disappears. (fn. 21)
The priory's estate was remarkably stable during
the 250 years of its recorded existence. The only
known transactions were in 1364, when a house was
bought, (fn. 22) and in 1368, when the priory acquired the
small Barr holding through Barr's daughter, Edith;
the prior was presumably only eliminating an
intermediate tenancy since it already held the lordship. (fn. 23) Otherwise, there were sixteen tenants about
1390 and in 1410-11, as there had been in 1279; this
number had fallen to thirteen by 1539. There were
4¾ virgates, in addition to closes, in both 1279 and
1340, and 5¾ in 1410-11; by 1539 most of the land
was described in terms other than virgates. The total
rents of the villein and cottager holdings, after rising
sharply from £3 10s. in 1279, then remained at £9
to £10 in 1390, 1410-11, and 1539. (fn. 24)
In 1544 the estate of the dissolved priory was
granted to Sir Richard Lee who regranted it to John
Hales of Coventry. (fn. 25) The estate remained in the
possession of the Hales family until the 18th century;
a grant by Christopher Hales to Edward Hasylwood
and Thomas Dawra in 1556 (fn. 26) was presumably only
a lease or a mortgage. In 1720 Sir Edward Hales
sold the estate to John Montagu, Duke of Montagu,
and Montagu sold it in 1722 to the statesman and
diplomat, Richard Hill of Hawkstone (Salop). After
Hill's death in 1727 the estate came by a settlement
to his nephew, Rowland Hill (created a baronet in
the same year), and was held by the Hill family until
the 19th century. The Hills seem to have been in
financial difficulties after 1798, and the Willenhall
estate was apparently sold by 1809 to James Wyatt,
whose memorial stone described him as of Willenhall
House in 1814. (fn. 27)
James R. Wyatt was the landlord, and was
managing the estates with great care, from 1830 to
1840. (fn. 28) There were then seven farms and two smaller
holdings on the estate. (fn. 29) It is unlikely that the
Haleses or the Hills ever lived at Willenhall, the hall
shown in 1793 probably being occupied by a
tenant. (fn. 30) James Wyatt may have built or rebuilt the
Willenhall House in which he lived; the younger
James Wyatt did not live there. The house was let,
with 40 acres of pasture, in 1830, (fn. 31) and was occupied
by James Nellor during the 1830s. (fn. 32) Samuel Gorton
was living at Willenhall House in 1904. (fn. 33) Otherwise
the ownership has not been traced. Coventry
corporation acquired the land, and a housing estate
was built after 1950. (fn. 34)
GENERAL HISTORY.
The hamlet of Willenhall
was in the 15th century centred around the junction
of the present London Road and St. James Lane. (fn. 35)
Along the stretch of London Road, then called
Weeping Lane, from this junction to the bridge over
the River Sowe, were several cottages, the tithe barn,
and the priory's 'chamber'. Along the south-western
stretch of St. James Lane, called Newton Lane, were
other cottages, with the site of the chapel and its
graveyard to the north, and the house of the Willenhall family to the north-east. The north-eastern
stretch of St. James Lane, towards Binley, was called
Wood Lane.
The references to virgates and selions indicate that
some part of the parish at this time lay open, and it is
probable that the field called Newton Field, north of
the hamlet and the chapel, formed the principal open
field of the parish. South of Wood Lane were Little
Wood and Willenhall Wood, which were kept in the
hands of successive landlords and still partly
survived, with their ancient names, in the mid 20th
century. There were crofts around these woods, and
to the north-east around the Willenhalls' house.
South again was the great Finford Meadow, kept in
hand by the priory in the 15th century and mown
with the aid of labour services, but leased by 1539.
The priory had a pound, possibly on the site
occupied by the village pound in the 19th century on
the main road, between the hamlet and Finford
Meadow. Finford Mill, immediately west of Ryton
Bridge, was in the parish of Baginton, though part of
the Willenhall estate.
In the early 13th century Willenhall Wood and
Little Wood, and the area around them extending to
what became the north-east boundary of the parish,
was part of a district common to the inhabitants and
landowners of the surrounding villages. During the
century agreements were made by the prior with the
Abbot of Combe and Robert Joilin of Binley,
defining boundaries and commoning rights. The
Willenhall tenants had at this time the same rights
as their lord. (fn. 36) By 1279 the priory was inclosing the
wood and depriving the tenants of their pasture. (fn. 37)
In 1410-11 the woods were inclosed, and the pasture
'of plain and wood' between them and the boundary
was said to be the priory's. Only the Willenhall
family retained rights in the area, by specific leases of
wood and pasture. (fn. 38) The tenants' commoning rights
were not entirely extinguished, for there was a piece
called Willenhall Green in the 16th century, (fn. 39) and a
Willenhall Common, with gates on the eastern
boundary of the parish, in the early 19th century.
There may also have been common meadow in
Willenhall Meadow and Town Meadow, (fn. 40) but the
rights do not appear to have survived into the 19th
century.
The labour services of the tenants in 1279 were
light. The holders of half and quarter virgates did
two days' mowing and collecting and carried the
hay, and did two days' reaping at the harvest; the
cottagers did three days' stacking and collecting of
hay. (fn. 41) In 1390 and 1410-11 the services varied from
tenant to tenant, but were very similar to those in
1279. Most tenants did one or more days' mowing
and carrying on the 'hammes' in Finford Meadow;
some tenements had a section of the meadow
permanently allotted to them. Hay or food was by
this period to be carried specifically to Coventry. The
priory was leasing the small demesne that it had had
in 1279, and the reaping service was done at the
'Metebote' on the demesne farm at Harnall or was
commuted for 4d. (fn. 42)
There is no sign in the rentals of any effects of the
Black Death, though the abatements of 15th-century
subsidies were particularly large for Willenhall, (fn. 43)
but the abandonment of the chapel (fn. 44) may have been
connected with a decline in population.
The standard rent throughout the period was
13s. 4d. for a half-virgate and 6s. 8d. for a quartervirgate; there is no evidence in Willenhall of the
acreage of a virgate. The rise in the priory's income
from rents between 1279 and 1390 (fn. 45) was due not to
commutation of services or an increase in existing
rents, but to the leasing of the demesne, and, more
important, to new rent from crofts. (fn. 46) The priory's
old demesne may be identified with land held by the
Cross family in 1390 and 1410-11, and with the
oddly described 'three quartons [quarter virgates] of
arable and other separable land' leased to Roger
Adnett in 1539. (fn. 47)
The largest sums among the rents in 1539 were
again not increased rents, but the result of radical
changes in the priory's agricultural policy. Newton
Field, probably the remains of the old common field
by then inclosed, was leased as pasture to a single
tenant. Besides this general inclosure, some piecemeal inclosure is suggested by the descriptions of
the Willenhall family's holding and of the former
demesne. (fn. 48) References to virgates or parts of
virgates held 'in three fields' in 1410-11 (fn. 49) indicate a
three-course rotation where the open field survived.
Finford Meadow was also leased in 1539. The landlord's regard for Finford and its neighbouring
meadow, Prior's Darling, was demonstrated at the
Dissolution, when the tenant, who had obtained a
60-year lease in 1528, was persuaded to surrender it
for one of 21 years. There was no reference to labour
services in the 18th century. (fn. 50)
Until the present century the Willenhall inhabitants had few occupations other than farming.
There were millers at Finford, and in 1280 two
carpenters of Willenhall took a lease of Alderford
Mill in Pinley. (fn. 51) In the 14th century there was a
Richard Willenhall who was a cobbler, (fn. 52) and a
family called Collins or Wright who were apparently
smiths. (fn. 53) London Road south-east of Willenhall
Bridge was called the Smithy Hill in the early 19th
century. (fn. 54) The smithy itself was mentioned at about
the same time, (fn. 55) and was marked on London Road
near the pound at the end of the century. (fn. 56) Innkeeping, another trade to be expected on London
Road, developed in the 17th century, (fn. 57) but the only
inn in the 19th century seems to have been the
Crown Inn on St. James Lane towards Binley,
mentioned in the 1830s. (fn. 58) There was also a chandler
in the late 17th century. (fn. 59) The only industrial
activity has been at the brick and tile works north of
St. James Lane; this was in existence by 1850 (fn. 60) and
survived until just before the First World War. (fn. 61)
There was no specific reference in the Middle
Ages to London Road, which, by passing through
the parish, has always formed its most important
feature. The bridges - Willenhall Bridge and
Ryton Bridge - by which the road crosses the Sowe
and the Avon were mentioned in 1410-11, though
not by those names, and there was a family called
'atte Brugge' in the 14th century. (fn. 62) By Leland's
time (1535-43) there was a stone bridge of five
arches at Willenhall. (fn. 63) A line of banks west of Dell
Close suggests that the stretch of London Road
called Weeping Lane ran up from Willenhall Bridge
to the east of the present road, and was directly
aligned with St. James Lane. (fn. 64) The modern course
of the road was probably laid out by the turnpike
company in 1724. (fn. 65)
The upkeep of the roads and bridge was a
continual problem in the 17th century, disputes
arising between the inhabitants and the county
concerning responsibility for repairs. (fn. 66) The inhabitants of Willenhall were constantly in trouble for
not repairing the main road; this road was given
various names, including Willenhall Lane, London
Road, and Daventry Road. (fn. 67) In 1632 there were said
to be two highways, that from Coventry to Southam
(London Road), and another from Leicester to
Warwick; (fn. 68) the latter was presumably a route bypassing Coventry through Binley, Willenhall, and
Baginton, using St. James Lane, but this is the only
reference to it as a highway. There was a toll gate
on London Road, after it was turnpiked, near the
junction with Brandon Lane at what became known
as Tollbar End. The road was considerably improved
in 1836, and the gradient of the hill between Willenhall Bridge and Finford Bridge lowered. (fn. 69)
There were thirteen houses on the Willenhall
estate in 1644, (fn. 70) as there had been in 1539. By 1730
this had risen again to fifteen, about the medieval
figure. (fn. 71) The turnpiking of London Road seems to
have encouraged building along the road south of the
old village. By 1801 the population was 126. The
population fell to 84 in 1811 (though it rose again
slightly to 100 in 1821 and 120 in 1831), and the
number of agricultural labourers also fell in those
years. (fn. 72) This local decline may be associated with the
financial difficulties of the Hill family in the same
period. Willenhall House was probably built at this
time. (fn. 73) During the 19th century some cottages at the
former village centre seem to have disappeared and
been replaced by buildings such as Manor Cottages
to the north and Grange Cottages to the east. At the
end of the century several houses, including The
Chace, were built just on the Willenhall side of
Willenhall Bridge. (fn. 74) These houses represent the only
suburban incursion into Willenhall from Coventry
before the parish was extinguished in 1932. The
Chace, a large building in a gabled, half-timbered
style, is now a hotel (1964). In 1921 there were in
Willenhall 25 houses and 129 inhabitants. (fn. 75)
In the 1830s the farms in Willenhall were Hall
Farm occupying land in the north and north-east,
Upper (later Little) Farm in the centre, and Lower
Farm in the east, all of between 100 and 200 acres;
and Willenhall House Farm in the north-west,
Packwoods Farm in the south, Crown Farm in the
north-east, and Chapel Farm in the north, all with
less than 100 acres. (fn. 76) Hall, Willenhall Hall, or Manor
Farm, as it was later called, probably represented the
former Willenhall family holding; Chapel Farm,
which included Chapel Yard (the former graveyard)
and the chapel site, and buildings in the old village,
may have been the former demesne holding. Willenhall House and its small farm had probably been
comparatively recently established. (fn. 77) This farming
structure survived largely undisturbed into the 20th
century. (fn. 78)
Between the wars about a hundred houses were
built in the neighbourhood of St. James Lane and
London Road, and in 1950 Coventry corporation
began to develop Willenhall Wood as one of its
three new self-contained communities on the outskirts of the city. (fn. 79) The nucleus of the development,
containing a shopping precinct', communal buildings,
and the new parish church of St. John the Divine, (fn. 80)
covers the site of the Manor or Willenhall Hall Farm
estate. The farmhouse, which was a gabled stone
building retaining some 17th-century features, (fn. 81) was
demolished and a new public house occupies the
site. A few chestnut trees from the avenue leading
to the farm have been left standing in Robin Hood
Road. Other farms which have disappeared with the
spread of housing are Chapel Farm, Willenhall
House Farm, and Crown Farm. The farmhouse of
Little (formerly Upper) Farm, an early-19thcentury brick building, was being used in 1964 as a
community centre. Most of Little Wood has been
destroyed, but Willenhall Wood is preserved as a
public open space. Two of the housing estates at
Willenhall, containing between them over 1,100
dwellings and completed in 1960, were among the
first in England to be laid out on 'Radburn' lines, a
system which gives complete segregation for traffic
and pedestrians. (fn. 82) The only vehicular access to the
houses is by roads serving their back doors near
which individual garages are provided, while the
front doors and gardens overlook parkland and are
approached by footpaths.
Along London Road a few buildings from the old
village survive. At the corner of St. James Lane are
two pairs of cottages, now with roughcast brick walls,
but probably originally timber-framed and dating
from the 17th century. Stone House Farm, just
south of the former parish boundary, is one of the
older buildings which still stand on the south-west
side of London Road. The original house was of
stone ashlar with the date '1687' and the name
'Thomas Viner' appearing on a formerly exposed
gable-end. (fn. 83) Later brick additions include an 18thcentury rear wing and a new front of about 1840.
The south-eastern part of Willenhall, now in
Baginton civil parish and outside the city boundary,
contains Lower Farm and also some of the land
formerly belonging to Little Farm and Packwoods
Farm; this included the former Finford Meadow.
This area was still rural in 1964.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
In the 13th century
Coventry Priory had a court leet and probably also a
manorial court at Willenhall. By 1340, however, the
court leet for all the priory's tenants in the district
east of Coventry, including Willenhall, was being
held at Sowe, and there is no evidence of a manorial
court in the 14th and 15th centuries. (fn. 84) The sum
called the common fine paid in 1410-11 by most of
the tenants, at 1s. or 6d. each, and worth 8s. in
1539, may represent commutation of judicial obligations. (fn. 85)
In the 14th century there was a manorial officer,
the tenant William Collins or Wright, who was
called the bailiff of Newton; he seems to have been
an elected field reeve. (fn. 86) At the Dissolution, although
the former demesne, the open field, and Finford
Meadow, were leased, there was a salaried bailiff,
Alexander Colley, who may have been principally
concerned with the management of the woods. (fn. 87)
In the 17th century there was a constable and an
overseer, and later two overseers. The constable's
office was filled by annual rotation, from house to
house, and assumption of office was confirmed by
what was called the court leet of the manor; there
were several disputes when householders refused to
serve their turn. (fn. 88) Overseers were elected. From
1682 to 1686 there was a dispute on the assessment
of rates, which was settled by determining that the
assessment should be on the yardland 'as formerly'
and not on annual value. (fn. 89) As there was no longer
any open field, the village holdings presumably had
some traditional valuation in virgates.
In the 19th century the parish appears to have
been administered as part of Holy Trinity parish,
Coventry. From 1894 until the disappearance of the
civil parish in 1932 there was a parish council for
Willenhall. (fn. 90)