BOLEHALL AND GLASCOTE
Acreage: 658.
Population: 1911, 4,711; 1921, 5,278; 1931, 2,330.
The parish lies to the south and west of Amington,
its western boundary being the Anker and then the
Tame as far south as the Kettle Brook, which divides
it from Wilnecote. The road from Tamworth crosses
the Anker by Bole Bridge and branches north-east
through Bolehall village to Amington and south-east
uphill through Glascote to Atherstone. At Glascote is
a colliery and large terra-cotta works, connected by rail
with the Coventry Canal and the L.M.S. Railway from
Birmingham to Derby, and a road runs south past
Kettlebrook Colliery and the disused Dumolo's Colliery
to Wilnecote. The parish formerly extended west of
the Anker to include part of Tamworth and the district
of Perry Crofts, between the river and the Tamworth—Ashby de la Zouch road, but in 1934 most of this
portion was assigned to Tamworth and Staffordshire.
The parish church of St. George, Glascote, was
erected in 1880 from designs by the late Basil Champneys, in the 14th-century style. It consists of a chancel,
gabled central tower, nave, north porch, and south
aisle; the walls are of red brick with Bath stone dressings, and the roofs are tiled.
Bole Hall is situated on the south bank of the Anker
close to Bole Bridge. It dates from about 1720, is of
two stories, attics and basement, and is built of red
brick with stone dressings. The plan is rectangular,
being two parallel ranges with gabled east and west
ends. The south and principal front has a slightly
projecting middle bay, in which is the square-headed
entrance with rusticated stone jambs and voussoirs and
a curved pediment. Near each end of the front is a
brick pilaster with a moulded stone base and Doric
capital, and the wall has a stone plinth, moulded string-course and cornice, and a plain brick parapet. The
windows have flat gauged arches of bricks with stone
key-blocks. In the roof are hipped dormers. The back
is similar but plainer, being entirely of brick. The
ground-level here is much lower (close to the river-bank) and the basement has a vaulted covered way
with round arches, projecting so that the top forms a
wide balcony to the ground floor. The east side also
has brick pilasters with stone caps, and the gables have
moulded stone copings. The west side is plainer and
windows have been altered. The entrance opens into
a hall which extends to the east wall and is lined with
original bolection-moulded panelling. The staircase off
the west end of the hall has shaped brackets to the ends
of the steps, but its original balusters are replaced by
plain iron standards. The rest of the interior has been
modernized but the north-west room retains a moulded
marble fire-place of the period.
The forecourt is entered by a middle gateway with
brick posts having moulded stone caps and cone finials.
The wrought-iron gate and overthrow are said to have
come from a mansion belonging to the Marquess of
Donegal. In the overthrow is a doubled monogram,
apparently A.L.F., for Arthur (Chichester) created
Lord Fisherwick in 1790 (and Marquess of Donegal
in 1791).
MANORS
BOLEHALL
BOLEHALL was presumably originally
part of Amington. In 1198 Osbert de
Clinton made an agreement with Hawise
Burdet and her son Ralph about the site of his mill of
Bolebridge in Amington; (fn. 1) but nothing appears to be
known of the manor of Bole Hall until 1390, when it
was settled by Sir John de Clinton on himself and his
wife Elizabeth. (fn. 2) After his death in 1396 she continued
to hold it, with her then husband Sir John Russel, (fn. 3)
until her own death in 1423, when it was held of the
Earl of Warwick. (fn. 4) One third of the manor was held in
dower by Margaret (St. Leger) widow of Sir John's
great-grandson John, Lord Clinton, when she married
Walter Hungerford. (fn. 5) The John, Lord Clinton, who
died in 1515 allowed the manor-house to fall into
ruin, (fn. 6) and settled the manor on his son Thomas and
his wife Joan, who in 1515 leased it for forty years to
Lady Dorothy widow of Sir John Ferrers. (fn. 7) In 1539
Edward, Lord Clinton and Say, sold the manor and
water-mill to James Leveson, (fn. 8) a merchant of the Staple,
who gave it with his daughter to Walter Aston. (fn. 9) He
died in 1589, having settled the manor on his son
Edward, (fn. 10) who died seised thereof in 1597. (fn. 11) From his
son Sir Walter Aston, bart., it was bought by William
Anson, (fn. 12) who sold in 1615 to William Comberford. (fn. 13)
William's widow Anne died seised of the manor, of
which the manor-house was then in the tenure of James
Ramsbotham, in 1626, (fn. 14) and their son William Comberford in 1650 conveyed the manor to Francis Curzon. (fn. 15) After this the descent of the manor is obscure.
In 1749 Samuel Hill of Shenstone Park, Staffs., was
apparently lord of the manor; (fn. 16) and by 1782 it had
been acquired by Viscount (later Marquess) Townshend, (fn. 17) after which it descended with Tamworth
Castle and was bought by the Corporation of Tamworth in 1897. (fn. 18)
GLASCOTE
GLASCOTE seems to have been held in the 12th
century by William son of Hugh of Hatton, (fn. 19) possibly
in right of his wife Maud. (fn. 20) His daughter Margaret
married Osbert de Clinton, (fn. 21) and he gave ¼ knight's
fee in Glascote and 'Clingefeld' to Ralph fitz Ralph, (fn. 22)
who in 1206 acquired 2 carucates in the same places
from Hugh de Culy. (fn. 23) Ralph's son Nicholas fitz Ralph
left a son Giles who was under age in 1262, when
Thomas de Clinton granted his wardship to Ralph
Basset of Drayton. (fn. 24) Similarly Maud de Clinton, widow
of Thomas, granted the wardship of Giles's daughter
and heir Isabel to Philip Marmion, who married her
to his (illegitimate) (fn. 25) son Robert and acquired a life
interest in this manor. (fn. 26) On his death in 1291 it
reverted to Robert Marmion and Isabel and descended
with Nether Whitacre (q.v.) until the middle of the
16th century. By that time it was held in two moieties,
one by the family of Longueville, the other by that of
Ferrers of Chartley. Sir John Longueville was twice
married; by his first wife he had a daughter Anne, who
was mother of John Cheyney; by his second wife he
had a son Arthur. (fn. 27) Arthur Longueville conveyed
Nether Whitacre to John Cheyney, (fn. 28) who in 1544
conveyed lands in Glascote to him. (fn. 29) Arthur's grandson Sir Henry Longueville died in 1621, seised of the
moiety of the manor, (fn. 30) which his son Edward still
owned in 1636. (fn. 31)
The Ferrers moiety descended in that family and
was held by George Ferrers, Marquess Townshend,
in 1815. (fn. 32) It was acquired by the Corporation of
Tamworth in 1897 with Bole Hall (q.v.).
In the 12th century William le Franceis of Tamworth gave to the nuns of Polesworth all his land in
Glascote which he had received from Hugh son of
William. (fn. 33) These tenements, which produced 13s. 4d.
in rents in 1535, (fn. 34) were given with other estates of
Polesworth to Richard, Robert, and Roger Taverner
in 1545. (fn. 35)
The manor of PERRY CROFT, which in 1291 was
held of the king by service of finding coal and litter for
the king's chamber when he should come to Tamworth, (fn. 36) descended with Glascote, being similarly
divided into moieties. William de Clinton, Earl of
Huntingdon, is said to have acquired the second moiety
from Richard de Whitacre in 1342; (fn. 37) and in 1365
John Waryn of Burton Stather (Lincs.) and Hulma his
wife conveyed ⅓ of the manor, which was held by
Hulma in dower, to Fulk de Birmingham, (fn. 38) from whom
it descended to Sir William Ferrers, who held ¼ of the
manors of Perry Croft and Glascote in 1450. (fn. 39)
Thomas, Lord Clinton and Say, held 'the manor' and
leased his farm of Perycrofte to John Jekys shortly
before his death in 1517, (fn. 40) and his son Edward
sold it with Bole Hall (q.v.) to James Leveson in
1539. (fn. 41)