ELMDON
Acreage: 1, 133.
Population: 1911, 210; 1921, 181; 1931, 225.
This small parish, measuring 2 miles from north to
south by a little over a mile at its greatest breadth, is
bounded on the east by the Low Brook and on the west
by a branch of Hatchford Brook. The land rises from
about 310 ft. in the north to 400 ft. at and to the south
of the church and Hall, a late-18th-century stone building replacing a former Tudor house. (fn. 1) Half a mile to
the north-east is the village, lying on the road from
Coventry north-westwards to Birmingham at the point
where it is crossed by Damson Lane. The Cock Inn,
on the north side of the Coventry road, is mentioned
in 1672 as 'the house of Francis Hobby commonly
called the Sign of the Cock', (fn. 2) and is a building of half-H
plan with walls of 17th-century square timber-framing.
Opposite it is a farm-house of brick with four gables,
possibly of 17th-century origin, with a contemporary
barn.
Damson Lane runs southwards, passing Dunstan
Farm (fn. 3) and Whar Hall Farm, (fn. 4) a late-18th-century
house with earlier timber-framed outbuildings.
There has been a great deal of building in the parish
in recent years, Elmdon having become a suburb of
Birmingham with a population of over 5,000 persons. (fn. 5)
MANOR
At the time of the Domesday Survey
ELMDON was held by Roger, of Turchil,
as ½ hide; it had previously been held by
Tochi. (fn. 6) As with Turchil's other estates, the overlordship came to the Earls of Warwick and descended with
that earldom. (fn. 7)
Early in the 13th century the Whitacres were holding land there; for in 1221 Jordan de Whitacre granted
land in Elmdon to Gunnora, daughter of Richard son
of Turkil, (fn. 8) to hold of him and his heirs. Some time
before 1224 (fn. 9) he also granted land there to Elias son of
Elias de Makinton. (fn. 10) Simon de Whitacre, Jordan's son,
held Elmdon as half a knight's fee from Simon de
Bercheston. (fn. 11) In 1235 he is said to hold the half-fee
of the Earl of Warwick, (fn. 12) but in 1242 Hugh de
Arderne appears as mesne lord intermediate between
them, (fn. 13) and from that time at least the manor was held
of the lord of the manor of Hampton-in-Arden. (fn. 14) The
principal seat of the Whitacre family was at Over Whitacre, and Elmdon followed the descent of that manor (fn. 15)
(q.v.) until the middle of the 16th century.
Whitacre. Sable three voided lozenges argent.
Hore. Sable three cinqfoils argent pierced gules.
The Hore family, who in the 15th century, by
marriage with the heiress of the Whitacres, became
lords of half the manor of Over Whitacre, (fn. 16) and
apparently of the whole manor of Elmdon, held land
in Elmdon at least from c. 1230, when Thomas, son
of Henry and Sybil, granted to Henry le Hore and
Margery his wife all his land in Elmdon together with
services and escheats of Ingram Clement, (fn. 17) possibly
Margery's father. (fn. 18) In 1314–15 Richard le Hore demised all his land in Elmdon to Sir John Pecche, lord of
Hampton-in-Arden. (fn. 19) From the reign of Edward III
there is a series of deeds concerning land in Elmdon
in which members of the Hore family were involved.
The earliest, dated 1348, is a grant by Richard son of
Sir Richard de Whitacre to Thomas (fn. 20) son of John
Wauters of Pilatenhal, that he should hold the land
which Geoffrey Wauters of the same place formerly
held in Elmdon. (fn. 21) At a later date, 1369, Thomas
settled the land with some other in Elmdon (fn. 22) on himself and his wife Agnes in tail. (fn. 23) A deed (fn. 24) of 1370
witnesses to an agreement between Richard de Whitacre, lord of Elmdon, and Thomas Hore, regarding the
inclosure of a common way in Elmdon from the church
towards Solihull and Thomas's house (fn. 25) in Richard's
field called 'Colverhousfeld' and in a plot of Thomas's
land called 'Shutecroft'. (fn. 26) This Thomas was probably
grandfather of the Thomas Hore who married Margaret Waldeyve, representative of the Whitacres, and
had a son Alan, whose daughter Catherine married John
Butler and died seised of Elmdon manor in 1517. (fn. 27)
In 1542 John Butler son and heir of Catherine
Butler of Solihull sold the manor of Elmdon to Thomas
Marowe, (fn. 28) who let it to farm to Richard Newport of
Hunningham, (fn. 29) who in turn regranted it to Thomas
Marowe, his executors, administrators, and assigns,
whereby the manor came to Thomas Hanford, who
apparently successfully defended
his claim to the manor against
Samuel Marowe the son of
Thomas. (fn. 30) About 1570 Henry
Maine (fn. 31) purchased Elmdon from
Thomas Hanford and it descended
in the Maine family (fn. 32) until the
second quarter of the 18th century. In 1654 the manor of Elmdon was conveyed to John Griffith
and John Wollaston, (fn. 33) presumably
for a settlement, as John Maine
married Dorothy daughter of
John Griffith (fn. 34) and John Wollaston was probably the brother-in-law of John
Maine. (fn. 35)
Maine. Argent a bend sable with three right hands argent thereon.
In 1739 (fn. 36) Anna Maria and Jane Brearly received
the manor of Elmdon from Anne Baine, widow, (fn. 37) and
Paul Baine with the advowson of the church. This
evidently was not a real transfer of rights, as Paul Baine
was lord of the manor in 1752 (fn. 38) and presented to the
benefice of Elmdon in 1756. (fn. 39) Some time between
1756 and 1789 the manor came into the hands of Isaac
Spooner. (fn. 40) His son Abraham married Elizabeth Lillingston and took her name. He was killed in 1834 by
the fall of a tree, and the manor was sold to W. C.
Alston, who was succeeded in 1862 by his son William
Alston (fn. 41) . The manorial rights were held in 1932 by
Mrs. E. L. Alston-Roberts-West. (fn. 42)
There are several memorials to the Spooner and
Lillingston families in Elmdon Church; one member
of the family was Archdeacon of Coventry, and Archbishop Tait married Catherine
the youngest daughter of Archdeacon Spooner at Elmdon in
1843. (fn. 43)
Lillingston. Party argent and or a bugle sable garnished or and stringed gules between three crescents sable each charged with an ermine spot argent.
Elmdon is referred to as a
manor from at least 1256, (fn. 44) but
in the 17th century a dispute
arose as to whether it had any
right to such a description. Depositions were taken of various
inhabitants. (fn. 45) Most of the deponents stated that Elmdon was a
separate parish and township, and
one alleged his belief that John
Maine's ancestors held courts
there. Other deponents affirmed
that the tenants of Elmdon appeared at the court of
Hampton-in-Arden, but that the third-borough of
Elmdon was usually chosen from the tenants of certain
lands in Elmdon. Several stated that John Maine the
defendant's father had heriot at the death of their
respective fathers, and one went so far as to say that
he had felons' goods, waifs and strays. The Court Rolls
of Hampton-in-Arden of the 14th century show Elmdon as represented there by a tythingman and paying
a fixed sum of money to the lord of Hampton-inArden. (fn. 46) When George II leased the manor of
Hampton-in-Arden to Harry Gough a special reference
was made in the grant (fn. 47) to the common fine of 5s.
payable by the tenants of the manor, of which the
tenants of Elmdon were responsible for 1s. The only
definite reference to a court at Elmdon is in 1718. (fn. 48)
CHURCH
The old church of ST. NICHOLAS
was pulled down; it now consists of a
chancel—a five-sided apse—nave, and
west tower. A monument to Abraham Spooner, lord
of the manor, died 1788, records that he rebuilt the
church in 1781, which was, in fact, the year in which
the work was completed. (fn. 49)
In the chancel is a 17th-century chair with a box
seat, carved panelled back with a pediment carved with
a crowned head, shaped elbows, turned legs, and
twisted stretcher.
In the south-east window of the nave are four 18thcentury medallions of enamelled glass 'from the ancient
church', placed here in memory of the Rev. Canon
G. Hayter, Rector 1892–1934, and his wife Alice
Margaretta, d. 1937. One (circular) represents the
Last Supper and the other three (oval) have allegorical
figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity.
The communion plate includes a chalice given by
Barbara wife of Isaac Spooner in 1795.
The parish registers begin in 1538.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of the church at
Elmdon followed, in the main, the
descent of the manor. The only exception appears to have been in the latter part of the
17th century, when presentations were made by the
Crown. (fn. 50) The reason given (fn. 51) for this is that John
Maine, the lord of the manor, after the death of the
incumbent in 1665 from plague, fled, and the new incumbent obtained a presentation under the Great Seal.
On his resignation in 1691, the lord of the manor at
that time being James Maine, a lunatic, his curate who
followed him did likewise. William Mayne, however,
had recovered his rights by 1719. (fn. 52) In 1900 the
patronage was in the hands of F.G. Innes-Lillingston; (fn. 53)
but in 1901 it was acquired by the Church Trust Fund. (fn. 54)
Elmdon cannot claim connexions with many famous
people, but it is not without interesting associations.
On 30 May 1797 William Wilberforce married Barbara Ann, eldest daughter of Isaac Spooner of Elmdon
Hall, (fn. 55) and his sons Robert Isaac (1802–57) and
Samuel (1805–73) were both born there. (fn. 56) Henry
Crewe Boutflower, (fn. 57) Hulsean essayist, was curate at
Elmdon in 1821 and rector there from 1857 until his
death in 1863. He was buried at Elmdon.
CHARITIES
Charities of Mayne and Paul Baine
and the Alston Charity. Mr. Mayne
by will bequeathed £20 and Paul
Baine £10, the interest to be distributed to the poor
of the parish in bread. The endowment of £30 was
in 1781 loaned to the churchwardens towards the
expenses of rebuilding the parish church. In 1874
W. C. Alston gave £150, to replace the original endowment of £30, for the benefit of the poor. The interest,
£4 2s. 8d. per annum, is distributed to the poor in
coal. By a scheme of the Charity Commissioners of the
16 June 1874 the rector and churchwardens for the
time being were appointed trustees of the charities.