NETHER WHITACRE
Acreage: 1,995.
Population: 1911, 606; 1921, 726; 1931, 748.
This parish, 2 miles in width from east to west and
1½ miles in depth, is separated on the south from Shustoke by the old course of the Bourne River, part of
which is now covered by the Shustoke Reservoir. The
western boundary is mainly formed by the River Tame.
From Whitacre Station, just over the south-western
boundary of the parish in Shustoke, the Birmingham-Derby line of the L.M.S. Railway runs due north
through the parish; a branch line to Nuneaton runs
close to the southern boundary. The parish is covered
with a network of lanes, in one complex of which,
slightly north of the centre, lies the village with the
church.
An Inclosure Act affecting 400 acres in this parish
was passed in 1825. (fn. 1)
Whitacre Hall, ¾ mile north-east of the church, is
an L-shaped house facing south, of which the south
block was rebuilt in the 18th century: the back wing
is probably of the 17th century and has very heavy
chamfered ceiling-beams. The walls are rough-casted.
The chief interest is the large square moated area,
which is of medieval origin and was evidently constructed for defensive purposes. The moat is stonelined on the inner faces, and at each angle except the
north-eastern is a square shell-tower of red sandstone
with open sides towards the internal area. Each wall,
including the two short sides overlooking the length
of the moat, is pierced by a loop. Spanning the south
arm on solid foundations (not arched) is a small Elizabethan gate house, large enough to admit a small
vehicle, built of red brick and having an outer curvilinear gable-head. The entrance, in a square recess on
the outer face, is round-headed and has the original
nail-studded gate hung with plain strap-hinges. In it
is a wicket door hung with large ornamental winghinges, nearly of cock's head type, one original and
one copy. The inner gable-head is of timber-framing
with a moulded cambered bressummer or tie-beam
facially carved with running foliage. The framing has
two quatrefoils in squares and other patterns, a fleur de
lis, acorns, and a rose-sprig, with plaster infilling. The
side-walls have upper and lower loops overlooking the
moat and have moulded wall-plates. Outside the moat
are timber-framed farm-buildings.
The village about the church is scattered and contains several old buildings. A farm-house north-east of
the church is of H-shaped plan facing north. The main
block and the western gabled cross-wing are of timber-framing of c. 1600. The south end of the wing has a
jettied upper story with a moulded bressummer and a
slightly projecting gable-head with a dentilled tie-beam.
The other wing is mostly of modern brick. A small
building behind is of pigeon-house size and has north
and south gables of old timber-framing.
The Dog Inn farther east, mostly of brick, shows
some old timber-framing, and a farm-house east of it is
of mid-17th-century framing. A cottage at the crossroads, west of the church, with an attached smithy,
a former inn now a cottage, and two other cottages
farther west are of mid-17th-century framing.
Hoggrell's End, a hamlet about ¾ mile south-west of
the church, has five or six ancient buildings, two or
three of more than average interest. 'The Dingle', a
farm-house, is chiefly of brick but shows some 17th-century timber-framing and there is a timber-framed
barn east of it. Mount Cottage, on the east side of the
road at the right angle bend, is of mid-16th-century
date and may have been part of a larger building, now
largely replaced by later wings (separate tenements).
This part is of two stories, the upper partly in the
roof, with walls of close-set studding, of which only
a little is left in the lower. The north gable-head has
herring-bone framing in square panels. The plain
central chimney-shaft is of thin bricks, and there is an
8-ft. fire-place, towards the south room, that once had
a projecting oven west of it. This room has an open-timbered ceiling with chamfered beam and joists, and
east of the fire-place an ancient door. The low windows
to the upper story have been blocked and higher
dormers substituted. The tie-beam between the rooms
is peculiar in that part of it is lifted in the solid to form
an arch over a dwarf doorway. The purlins have
straight wind-braces. The east wing has some 17th-century framing in its north wall, the others being
rough-casted. The south wing is of modern brickwork.
A cottage and a farm-house to the west show 17th-century timber-framing. The first is said to have an
ancient stone staircase.
'The Old House', farther west, is a renovated and
enlarged house dated 1593. It was of T-shaped plan,
the head facing south being the main block, but a modern
north wing makes the plan H-shaped facing west, the
former kitchen being converted to the middle entrance-hall. The east and west ends of the south wing have
jettied upper stories with moulded bressummers on
brackets, and projecting gable-heads. The upper stories
have panels with herring-bone studding and the west
gable-head has geometrical patterns with curved braces.
Most of the west patterning is outlined with modern
boards, but much of the original work is visible inside.
The south side, of close-set studding in the upper part,
is rough-casted outside. The western (larger) room
has a moulded ceiling-beam and in the central chimneystack is a stone fire-place with moulded jambs and four-centred head, carved panelled frieze and moulded shelf
with three projections. The seven frieze carvings are:
middle a bird, next on either side a leopard (heads
towards middle), the next outer a trefoil, and outermost a device perhaps a capital I. The east room has an
open-timbered ceiling and north of it is a staircase of
solid oak balks. The upper rooms have chamfered
beams and the roof trusses have heavy principals and
cambered collar-beams. Two old battened doors have
original moulded wooden grips, &c.
A farm-house east of Hoggrell's End, facing west,
is mostly rebuilt with brickwork, but shows some 17th-century framing in the north and south gable-heads
with curve-cambered tie-beams.
Farther east a farm-house, now tenements known as
Hayfields Cottages, is built of timber-framing of c.
1600. It is of rectangular plan, but the easternmost bay
is a gabled cross-wing and has on the north front a
tie-beam curve-cambered to form an arch with the
curved braces that support it. A projecting chimneystack on the east side is of red sandstone and has two
diagonal shafts of thin bricks. In front of the main
block is a small gabled porch dated 1663. The building
is said to have been reconditioned but has old ceiling-beams, &c.
At Botts Green, ¾ mile east-south-east of the church,
is a large farm-house which is one of the best local
examples of timber-framing. It has a modern date 1593
on the porch and has framing bearing some resemblance
to that of the 'Old House' of that date at Hoggrell's
End, but some of the internal details suggest an earlier
origin. It is a long building (c. 72 ft.), including a
cross-wing of c. 17 ft. that projects 4½ ft. in front at the
north end. The southern part (c. 45 ft.) is treated
symmetrically and has a middle porch-wing. The upper
story of the main wall is (or was) of herring-bone
framing, but north of the porch the whole wall from
the ground has been replaced with 18th-century brickwork and painted with false timbering. North of this
and south of the porch, the original timbers survive
above modern one-story pentices. The porch is built
of local cream sandstone; the entrance has moulded
jambs and a depressed arch in a square head with a
fluted frieze and cornice. On either side of the entrance
is a small pilaster with a foliage and fleur de lis finial.
Above these and also at the angles of the porch are
short corbel-pilasters, over which the cornice breaks
forward. The side-walls of the porch are pierced by
small square ornamental lights: the southern may be
medieval and has tracery forming a quatrefoil. The
northern, on the same motif but differently treated, is
of the date of the porch. The ceiling has a moulded
beam. The heavy battened door, divided by ribs into
vertical panels, has original strap-hinges and knocker-handle with an ornamental plate. Above the stonework is a cove of plaster to a jettied upper story on the
three faces. This has a moulded bressummer and is
similarly treated with herring-bone work. The front
has a four-light window with a projecting moulded
frame, mullions, transom, and sill on carved brackets.
Below the window the wall face has a large fleur de lis
in raised woodwork with plastered infilling. The gable-head also projects on a stop-moulded bressummer with
curved brackets and has quatrefoil patterns in square
panels.
The north wing has a stone plinth and close-set
studding to the lower story, with straight braces at the
angle-posts; the jettied upper story and gable-head
resemble those of the porch. Both lower stories have
four-light projecting windows like that over the porch:
the brackets below the upper have moulded pendant-ends. Below this window is a wide timber sunk-carved
with another but cruder fleur de lis, and there is another
in the gable-head, below a modern window. The
north side and east end have close-set studding (9-in.
studs, 7-in. spaces) to the lower story and herring-bone
to the upper, and the east projecting gable-head also
has herring-bone work. Blocked windows appear in
both walls. The east side has a small porch (opposite
the west porch) of two stories, the lower of brick but
having a moulded oak-framed entrance with a door
nearly resembling the western. The upper story has
herring-bone work in the front and gable-head; the
south side and its gable-head are of modern brick.
The entrances open into a cross-passage between the
backs of two wide fire-places, under a round stone arch.
The southern fire-place is plain (in the kitchen), the
northern is of stone with moulded jambs and four-centred head, now mostly hidden by a modern fire-place. Over it is exposed the frieze, which has shallow
pilasters, carved with fleurs de lis above fluting, and a
moulded shelf that breaks forward over each pilaster.
Above the shelf the wall has a carved treble rose. This
room, probably the house-place, has a stop-moulded
ceiling-beam like those at Moat Farm, Shustoke. The
south kitchen has an original beam with large chamfers
and moulded stops. The small room north of the house-place, with the lean-to in front, has a plain ceiling but
may have been part of the house-place originally, or it
may have contained the original staircase. The present
stair is in the modern east annexe. The north wing,
now the dairy, was a more important room and has
similar stop-moulded cross-beams, and exposed stopchamfered joists. Part of the upper story has widely
chamfered beams, one on moulded brackets, and a
stone fire-place has an arched head. The roof over the
north wing has straight wind-braces to the purlins. The
fire-places in this wing are modernized, but the plain
shaft over is of 17th-century bricks. The shafts over
the other pair are modern.
Close south-east of the house is a two-storied square
building that may have been a pigeon-house. The
lower story is of stone rubble that appears to be
medieval and has a four-centred south doorway. In the
north wall is a window blocked with 17th-century
brickwork; and over it is carved a rose in relief. The
upper story is of herring-bone timber-work resembling
the house and has projecting east and west gable-heads
on square bressummers. A later doorway is cut in the
east wall, with steps leading up to it. The lower story
has a heavy stop-chamfered ceiling-beam and the roof
has straight wind-braces to the purlins.
The forecourt has a gateway with stone posts that
have moulded capitals and ball-heads.
MANOR
At the time of the Domesday Survey 3½
hides in all were accounted for under the
name of Whitacre. Of these, Turchil
held 2 hides less 1 virgate, including woodland 1 league
long and ½ league broad, and his tenant was Eduin. (fn. 2)
Two Ulvrics had held it in the time of King Edward. (fn. 3)
Another 3 virgates were held by Robert de Veci in
1086, (fn. 4) and Ailric had formerly held it. (fn. 5) There are
grounds for assuming that these two holdings, 2½ hides
in all, formed what afterwards became the manor of
NETHER WHITACRE, (fn. 6) and that they passed into
the possession of Robert Marmion. (fn. 7)
Robert Marmion enfeoffed William son of Ralph of
1 knight's fee between 1135 and 1166, (fn. 8) and this may
be identified with the knight's fee held of another
Robert Marmion in 1235–6 by Ralph son of Ralph,
said to have been William's son. (fn. 9) The over-lordship
descended with the Marmions and their heirs, lords
of Tamworth Castle, at least down to 1387. (fn. 10)
Ralph son of Ralph was apparently succeeded by
his son Nicholas son of Ralph. (fn. 11)
Nicholas died before 1262, and
a few days before his death,
settled on Margery daughter of
Geoffrey de Appleby on her
marriage with his son and heir
Giles, 10 virgates of land in
Nether Whitacre. (fn. 12) Giles left a
daughter and heiress Isabel, who
became a ward of Philip Marmion and by him was given in
marriage to Robert Marmion. (fn. 13)
She was dead by 1292. (fn. 14) Robert
had a house in Whitacre in 1286, (fn. 15) and was holding
a fee there in 1291 (fn. 16) and 1295. (fn. 17) He was still lord of
this fee in 1316. (fn. 18)
Marmion. Vair a fesse gules.
Robert Marmion is said to have leased this manor,
with others (fn. 19) for his lifetime to Ralph Basset of Drayton. (fn. 20) There was a conveyance of Nether Whitacre to
Ralph Basset in 1320 by Eustace of Hardeshull and
Amice his wife, (fn. 21) who is believed to have been Robert
Marmion's heiress. (fn. 22) In 1329 Amice, then the widow of
John de Whitacre, is said to have passed away her right
in half the manor to Ralph Basset, (fn. 23) who in 1340 assigned £20 a year from land there to chaplains in the
church of St. John the Baptist at Drayton. (fn. 24) The rest
he conveyed a few months later to William de Clinton,
Earl of Huntingdon, (fn. 25) who before the end of 1344
had given this half of Nether Whitacre, except the £20
rent there, to Maxstoke Priory. (fn. 26) This may be identical
with the demesne lands and rents in Nether Whitacre
that descended with the manor of Shustoke (q.v.), being
returned to William de Clinton in 1346. (fn. 27) At his death
in 1353 he had in Nether Whitacre ½ messuage, a
carucate of land, 6 acres of wood, 4 acres of meadow,
and 10s. rent, held of Sir Baldwin Frivyll by knight's
service. (fn. 28) His heir was his nephew John, Lord Clinton, (fn. 29) who at his own death in 1397 was said to be
holding half the manor of Nether Whitacre, except the
inclosed park, formerly part of the said half-manor, of
the heirs of Sir John de Pecche, (fn. 30) again by some confusion with Over Whitacre in the matter of the over-lordship. The subsequent history of this half-manor is
uncertain, but it may have passed into the hands of the
Bermingham family through Elizabeth, John's widow,
who had previously been the wife of Sir John de
Bermingham. (fn. 31)
Meanwhile in 1330 Richard de Wytakere, son of
Simon, settled a moiety of the manor of Nether Whitacre on himself and his wife Amabel and their heirs. (fn. 32)
In 1364 ⅓ of ½ of the manor was leased to Fulk de
Birmyngeham by John Waryn of Burton-Stather, co.
Lincs., and Hulma his wife, for her lifetime at an
annual rent of £12. (fn. 33) Fulk was father of Thomas de
Birmingham, whose wife Isabel is said to have been
daughter of John de Whitacre (heir of Richard son of
Simon) and of Amice daughter of Sir Robert Marmion
and Isabel. (fn. 34) Thomas left a daughter Elizabeth, who
married Thomas de la Roche, and left two daughters
and co-heiresses, Ellen wife of Edmund Ferrers of
Chartley, and Elizabeth wife of George Longevile. (fn. 35)
Sir Edmund Ferrers died in 1435 holding half the
manor in right of his wife. (fn. 36) In 1439, a year before her
death, Ellen and her second husband Sir Philip Chetewynd conveyed the moiety to John Ferrers, brother of
William, Lord Ferrers, for a settlement on three of her
sons. (fn. 37) John Ferrers conveyed it in 1443 to trustees, (fn. 38)
and in 1445, after the death of
Sir Philip Chetewynd, it was
conveyed to Ellen's son Sir
William Ferrers and his wife
Elizabeth. (fn. 39) Sir William died in
1450, leaving a daughter Anne,
aged about 12 years but already
married to Walter Devereux. (fn. 40)
Elizabeth continued to hold the
½ manor and conveyed it to
feoffees in 1455. (fn. 41) She was
succeeded after her death in
1471 by her young grandson
John Devereux, Lord Ferrers, (fn. 42)
whose son Walter Devereux, Lord Ferrers and afterwards Viscount Hereford, conveyed to trustees what
was described as the manor of Whitacre, in 1512. (fn. 43)
He died in 1558, after which time his widow Margaret
was tenant for life of the manor. (fn. 44) Her husband's
grandson Walter, Viscount Hereford, in 1571 conveyed the reversion after her death to Edmund
Scarnynge. (fn. 45)
Devereux. Argent a fesse gules with three roundels gules in the chief.
George Longueville was holding a moiety of the manor
in 1436. (fn. 46) He had a son Richard who was a minor in
1423. (fn. 47) In 1541 this moiety was
conveyed, apparently to trustees,
by Sir John Longueville, and
Arthur and Richard Longueville, (fn. 48) and in the following
year the reversion, after the
death of Sir John, was granted
to John Cheyney of Chesham
Waterside, co. Bucks., (fn. 49) the son
of Anne daughter and heiress
of Sir John Longueville and
wife of Drew Cheyney. (fn. 50) In
1571 John Cheyney, with Henry
his son and Henry's wife Agnes,
conveyed this moiety (described as the 'manor' of
Nether Whitacre) to Edmund Scarnynge, (fn. 51) who
earlier in the year had acquired the reversion of the
other half (see above). In 1576 Scarnynge and his
wife Eleanor conveyed the manor to Henry Cheyney, (fn. 52)
who is said to have conveyed it in the following year
to John Purefey. (fn. 53) In 1589 John and Isabel Purefey
conveyed the manor to Laurence Washington and
George Villars, (fn. 54) and in 1592 George Villars and
Mary his wife sold it to Edward Brabazon. (fn. 55) Edward,
since 1616 Baron Brabazon of Ardee, died in 1625, (fn. 56)
and was succeeded by his son William, Lord Brabazon
and, after 1627, Earl of Meath, (fn. 57) who sold the manor
in 1631 to Sir John and Sir Robert King and Sir John's
heirs. (fn. 58) Sir Robert King, of Boyle, co. Roscommon,
married Sophia, widow of Viscount Wimbledon, and
died in 1657. (fn. 59) In 1681 Sophia, Viscountess Wimbledon, with Sir Thomas Barnardiston and Elizabeth,
her son-in-law and daughter, and Frances Ellis, widow,
her stepdaughter, conveyed the manor to Humphrey
Jennens (fn. 60) of Erdington Hall, co. Warw., who devised
it to his eldest son Charles Jennens of Gopsall, co.
Leics., who was holding it in about 1730 (fn. 61) and from
whom it passed presumably in 1747 with the Gopsall
estate to his only surviving son Charles, (fn. 62) who was
holding it in 1764. (fn. 63) He died in 1773, (fn. 64) leaving a
sister Elizabeth whose daughter married Assheton
Curzon, Lord Curzon of Penn, and brought the Jennens
estates into this family. (fn. 65) Their grandson Richard
William Penn Curzon owned Nether Whitacre in
1818 (fn. 66) and, as Earl Howe, was still holding it in 1850. (fn. 67)
All manorial rights now appear to have lapsed.
Longueville. Gules a fesse dancetty ermine between six crosslets argent.
The two halves of the manor together with the
residence called Whitacre Hall were leased in 1542 or
1543 for a term of 42 years to John Starkey. (fn. 68) John
Purefey claimed that the remainder of the lease had
been sold to him by Starkey in 1569. (fn. 69)
The right of free warren in his demesne lands in
Whitacre was granted, in 1257, to William de Waure, (fn. 70)
lord of Waver Merston (q.v.). He was later found to
be holding ½ carucate of land in Whitacre, with a park
worth 20s. and rents worth 18s., of the fee of Mowbray. (fn. 71) His grandson, (fn. 72) another William, together
with his wife Alice, daughter of Robert Louet of
Newton, conveyed a manor of Whitacre with others to
Robert de Waure for life, with reversion to themselves. (fn. 73)
Nothing further is heard of it.
A virgate of land in Nether Whitacre was given by
Robert Marmion to Aubrey, abbess of Polesworth. (fn. 74)
After the Dissolution, lands late of the monastery of
Polesworth were sold by the Crown in 1546 to George
Rythe and Thomas Grantham of Lincoln's Inn. (fn. 75)
They were then in the tenure of John Smythe. (fn. 76)
A close called Canwall More in Nether Whitacre
was held by Canwell Priory, co. Staffs., though by
whom it was originally granted does not appear. (fn. 77) The
lands of the priory here were given in 1526 to Wolsey (fn. 78)
and were used to endow his college at Ipswich. (fn. 79) They
were tenanted in 1526 by William Edwards. (fn. 80) In 1532
this property was granted by the Crown to trustees to
the use of St. George's Chapel, Windsor. (fn. 81)
CHURCH
The parish church of ST. GILES consists of a chancel with a north vestry and
organ-chamber, nave, south porch, and
west tower.
The tower dates from the 16th century—the first
half or middle—but the remainder of the building has
no ancient features except the jambs of the east window
and the rubble walling, which may be 14th-century
work. The building was restored in 1870: this seems
to have included the rebuilding of the south wall of the
nave and the complete renovation of the windows and
doorways of the nave and chancel, and new roofs and
furniture. The resetting of a number of carved stones
in the tower walls, most of them apparently of the 14th
century, may perhaps indicate an earlier tower.
All the windows and other details are modern unless
otherwise described.
The chancel (about 19 ft. by 15 ft.) has an east
window of three trefoiled lights and tracery: the jambs
of one chamfer are ancient, probably 14th century. In
the north wall is an archway to the organ-chamber and
vestry and east of it a recess with a credence shelf. On
the south side is a window of two trefoiled ogee-headed
lights and a quatrefoil. The walls are of medieval red
rubblework with heavy angle-dressings at the east
angles.
The pointed chancel arch is entirely modern.
The nave (49 ft. by 22 ft.) has four north and three
south windows of two trefoiled lights and varying
tracery. The pointed south doorway is of two chamfered
orders. Just west of the third north window is a straight
joint marking the jamb of a former north doorway.
The north wall is of ancient rubble, but the south wall
and porch are of modern coursed yellow stone.
The gabled roofs are modern.
The vestry and organ chamber has a two-light
traceried east window, a north window of one light,
and a west window that was like it but is now reduced
for a monument to Charles Jennens, 1773, who was a
benefactor to the church.
The 16th-century west tower (about 10 ft. square)
is built of red sandstone ashlar and is divided into two
stages, the lower a tall one, by a moulded string-course.
It has a plinth of two courses, the upper moulded, and
a plain parapet. At the west angles are diagonal buttresses of four stages with moulded offsets to each of the
stages and at the east are north and south square buttresses. In the south-west angle is a stair-vice (not
projecting) with a four-centred doorway in the inner
splayed angle. The 16th-century arch to the nave has
responds of two chamfered orders, the inner with a
plain moulded capital. The neck-mould is continued
in the outer order, which is stopped out to square immediately above it. The two-centred head is of two
chamfered orders, both stopped out to square at the
springing.
The old west window is set very much to the north
of the middle of the wall because of the stair-vice: it is
of two plain pointed lights and spandrel in a four-centred
head with a hood-mould and a three-centred rear arch.
In the south wall is a modern four-centred doorway; it
has wide inner splays, which may indicate an earlier
doorway or an altered window.
The second story has a small round window—probably a later piercing—just below the string-course
on the south side, and a loop-light to the vice. The
bell-chamber has two-light windows like the lower
west window. There are about a dozen reset carved
stones in the tower walls; these include beast-heads or
grotesques (perhaps gargoyles) in the middle of the
intermediate string-course on each face, a number of
human-head corbels, mostly defaced, one of them a
woman's head with a 14th-century head-dress, and a
half-hexagonal base of a niche carved with a priest's or
monk's head and shoulders. Also a small trefoiled ogee
head of a light now reglazed for the vice.
The font and other fittings and furniture are modern.
In the quatrefoil of the south chancel-window is a
14th-century white and yellow angel with green wings,
holding a censer. The infilling is of ruby glass.
There are three bells: (fn. 82) the second by Newcome of
Leicester 1612, the other two by Thomas Hedderley
of Nottingham 1783 and 1785.
The registers of baptisms and burials begin in 1539
but are defective and out of chronological order; entries of marriages begin in 1564. (fn. 83)
ADVOWSON
Already by 1280 the chapel of
Nether Whitacre was appropriated to
Markyate Priory. (fn. 84) The advowson
then descended with that of Over Whitacre (q.v.), at
least until 1545, when both were granted to Thomas
Marrow. (fn. 85)
In 1631 the Earl of Meath conveyed the advowson
of Nether Whitacre to Sir John and Sir Robert King
along with the manor, with which it subsequently
descended. Charlotte, Lady Howe, presented in 1804, (fn. 86)
and Earl Howe is the present patron. (fn. 87)
The RECTORY followed the descent of the advowson at least until 1545. (fn. 88) In 1580, however, Sir John
Throckmorton died holding it of the queen as of the
manor of East Greenwich. (fn. 89) It passed to the Crown on
the attainder of his son, Sir Francis Throckmorton, in
1584 and was afterwards held by John Cowper and
William Kente. (fn. 90) On 15 November 1589 the queen
granted the rectory to Sir Edward Stanley, (fn. 91) but in
1594 it was conveyed by Ambrose and John Cowper to
Edward Brabazon, (fn. 92) after which time it again descended
with the advowson until 1681. (fn. 93)
CHARITIES
John Broughton gave 12s. for ever
to be paid out of a house and land in
this parish known as Plumpton Suit,
to be distributed among the poor on Easter Monday.
The charge is now paid by the owner of Holt Hall and
distributed to widows and old people.
John Birch gave 20s. to be paid yearly out of land
called Fruitful or Woodstill lying near Little Sutton,
to be given to the poor on Christmas Day, one moiety
in bread and the other in books for the use of poor
children. The charge was redeemed in 1902 for a sum
of £40 2½ per cent. Annuities producing 20s. annually,
which are now distributed to widows and old couples.
Thomas Biddle by will dated 28 June 1869 gave to
the churchwardens and overseers of Nether Whitacre
a field containing 3 acres known as Apple Tree Field,
to distribute the rent among the poor of the parish.
The charity is now regulated by a Scheme of the
Charity Commissioners of 22 November 1907. The
property is let in allotments at an annual rent of
about £7.