COSTON or COFTON HACKETT
Coftun (x cent.); Costone (xi cent.).
Coston Hackett, a small and hilly parish, covers an
area of 1,299 acres, which includes 224 acres of
arable land, 766 acres of pasture and 90 acres of
woods and plantations. (fn. 1) In 1911 a small part of
King's Norton was added to this parish. Bilberry
Hill (800 ft.) and Coston Hill (800 ft.), part of the
Lickey Hills, bound Coston Hackett on the west.
The former evidently derived its name from the bilberry, which gave its name also to 'Bilberry wake,'
held on the three Sundays following Midsummer.
The chief road is a branch from the main road
between Birmingham and Bromsgrove, which enters
the parish near Rednal and passes south through
Kendal End to Alvechurch. From this road there
are two branches, Groveley Lane, which cuts through
the parish in a north-easterly direction and joins the
main road from Birmingham to Evesham, and another
which passes through the village of Coston Hackett to
Coston Richard Farm.
The village of Coston Hackett is situated about
9 miles south-west of Birmingham on the eastern
slopes of the Lickey Hills. The village is small and
scattered. It presents no features of interest, with the
exception of Coston Hall, formerly the manor-house
of the Leicesters and Jolliffes, in which Charles I is
said to have spent the night after Hawkesley House
was taken 14 May 1645. (fn. 2) Though otherwise completely modernized it still retains its original late
14th-century hall. On the north-west of the hall,
parallel and of equal length with it, is an L-shaped
block of buildings, which appears to be part of the
original house. This is now occupied by the kitchen
and offices, and has been so completely altered internally, and re-faced externally with stone in the
quasi-Gothic taste of the early 19th century, that all
trace of the original arrangement has been obliterated.
The material of this portion of the house is probably
half-timber, though concealed by modern casings of
stone and brick. On the north-east side of the hall
an early 19th-century house, three stories high, has
replaced the original buildings, some of the cellars of
which remain, though no work here appears to be
earlier than the end of the 16th century. The hall,
recently restored, measures about 38 ft. by 21 ft.
The roof is a splendid specimen of mediaeval carpentry.
There are nine hammer-beam trusses, two of which
are good copies of the 18th century, the hall, as
originally constructed, being of six bays only. The
hammer-beams are strutted from each main upright
by solid moulded braces resting upon octagonal
corbels of wood, beneath each of which is a shieldshaped block of the same material. Immediately
below this level a deep and elaborately moulded
wooden cornice runs round the walls of the hall;
a cornice of equal elaboration marks the wallplates. At about one-third the height of the roof are
moulded and cambered collars, strutted from the
hammer-beams by curved braces, forming depressed
four-centred arches, having at their centres carved
pentagonal bosses. The spandrels between the collars
and the ridge are occupied by slender wooden uprights. Each slope of the roof is divided into three
compartments by two heavily-moulded purlins. The
framing of the original louvre opening still survives
between the fourth and fifth trusses from the east.
Upon the corbels are shields with the following
charges: an eagle displayed; party-palewise indented;
a bend cotised; a cheveron; the bend cotised quartering
and impaling the cheveron; and a cheveron between
three lilies. The lower part of the walls has been
recently panelled, and at the south-east is a modern
fireplace. All the windows are modern. Externally
no original detail remains.
The Upper Bittell reservoir, a feeder of the
Worcester and Birmingham Canal, is partly in Coston
parish, and there is also a smaller reservoir which lies
to the east of Bilberry Hill and from which the water
is conveyed by the little River Arrow to the Lower
Bittell reservoir in Alvechurch parish.
The soil is marl and the subsoil gravel, sand and
clay. There is a small quarry where Wenlock limestone was worked at the time of the making of the
Worcester and Birmingham Canal, and there are some
gravel-pits. The population is entirely agricultural,
the chief crops raised being wheat, barley and beans.
There are also large orchards of apples and pears.
The inclosure award for the parish is dated 1 June
1831. (fn. 3)
A pasture called Erneys alias Ernest occurs among
the place-names. (fn. 4) There also may be mentioned
The Lady Field, Moat Close and The Sprights. (fn. 5)
MANORS
Five cassata of land in the vill of
COFTON were given in 780 by King
Offa to the church of St. Peter, which his
grandfather Eanulf had founded at Bredon. (fn. 6) When
this monastery became annexed to that of St. Mary
of Worcester the property at Cofton passed to the
latter church and as five cassata 'on Coftune aet
tham hamstealle' was leased for five lives by Bishop
Aelhun in 849 to Berhtwulf, King of Mercia, in
exchange for his protection for the church of
Worcester. (fn. 7) Berhtwulf appears immediately to have
transferred his interest to his servant Egbert. (fn. 8) The
land afterwards passed to King Athelstan, who in
930 granted it to the church of St. Mary, Worcester. (fn. 9)
It still belonged to the church of Worcester as a
berewick of the manor of Alvechurch in 1086. (fn. 10) At
the same time Urse D'Abitot was holding 3 hides of
land there, of which Turold held two and Walter one,
and which Leofgeat, Ælfric and Æthelric had held as
three manors before the Conquest. (fn. 11)
A hide of land at Coston, which appears to have
formed the manor subsequently known as COSTON
HACKETT, remained a member of the Bishop of
Worcester's manor of Alvechurch at least as late as
the end of the 13th century, (fn. 12) and was held of that
manor. Under the bishop this manor was held by
the Beauchamps, Urse's successors, as of their barony
of Elmley, and the mesne overlordship followed the
descent of the honour of Elmley Castle until 1637,
when it is mentioned for the last time. (fn. 13)
Under these lords the manor of Coston Hackett
was held by the Hacket family for knight service.
The knight's fee in Worcestershire, held of William
de Beauchamp in 1166 by William Hacket, (fn. 14) included
this manor. Early in the 13th century Ralph Hacket
held it as 1 hide of land, (fn. 15) and it was probably he
who in 1226–7 agreed with Alda widow of Thomas
Hacket that she should hold half a knight's fee in
Coston in part satisfaction of her dower. (fn. 16) The manor
probably belonged to Walter Hacket in 1270, when he
was summoned by the Bishop of Worcester to be at
London with horse and arms 'for the honour of the
Holy Church and peace of the land.' (fn. 17) Some interest
in Coston Hackett seems to have passed like Oddingley
to the Mortimers, and was confirmed in 1284 by
Edmund Mortimer to his brother Roger. (fn. 18) About
1280 it was in the hands of Maud Hacket. (fn. 19) As at
Oddingley some right in this manor passed to John de
Costentyn and his wife Margery, for in 1293–4
Robert Leicester and Catherine his wife claimed
2 carucates of land in Coston and Alvechurch against
John de Costentyn and Margery. (fn. 20) Their claim was
quashed owing to an error in the spelling of Alvechurch, and John Costentyn seems to have remained
in possession of the manor until 1299. (fn. 21) Robert
Leicester held half a knight's fee at Coston Hackett in
1316, (fn. 22) and in 1346 the manor belonged to his
widow Maud, who is styled 'Maud Hacket, who was
the wife of Robert de Leicester.' (fn. 23) It would seem
possible that the name Maud is given in error for
Katherine, for in a return of knights' fees of the same
date Katherine Hacket was said to be holding land in
Coston which had formerly been held by Ralph
Hacket (fn. 24) and Katherine Hacket paid a subsidy of
2s. at Coston in 1327. (fn. 25)
The manor evidently descended in the Leicester
family. In 1431 it was held by Henry Leicester, (fn. 26)
and William Leicester, lord of Coston Hackett, died in
1508. (fn. 27) On the death of William Leicester in 1525
it passed, after provision being made for his wife Anne,
to his nephew John More, (fn. 28) who was succeeded in
1535 by three daughters, Jane wife of Michael Ashfield, formerly wife of James Dineley, Margaret wife
of William Stanford, and Eleanor wife of John Folliott. (fn. 29)
The Folliotts seem to have retained their share at any
rate until 1620, when Thomas Folliott son of John and
Eleanor (fn. 30) died seised of a capital messuage or farm
in Coston Hackett, which was settled on his eldest son
John. (fn. 31)
The rest of the manor was conveyed in 1573 by
Jane Parker, widow, the eldest daughter of John
More, who had married as a third husband Thomas
Parker, and Thomas Dineley, evidently her son
by her first husband, to Ralph Sheldon and John
Middlemore, (fn. 32) evidently for settlement on Thomas
Dineley and his wife Jane. Their daughter Mary
married John Childe and she and her husband conveyed the manor to Edward Skinner, a clothier
of Ledbury, in 1594. (fn. 33) The latter appears to
have settled most of the property on his eldest son
Richard, (fn. 34) and at the time of his death in 1631
held only Coston Hall and the advowson of the
chapel. (fn. 35) Richard Skinner died in 1633, leaving four
daughters, Elizabeth, Mary, Margaret and Theodocia. (fn. 36)
Coston Hackett passed to
Margaret and her husband
Thomas Jolliffe, a favourite of
Charles I, whom he attended
on the scaffold. He is said
by Nash to have been represented in a picture formerly
in the dining room of Coston
Hall 'with a melancholy despairing countenance with his
pistols and sword hanging on
a pillar before him' and holding 'a key in his hand which
the tradition of the family
says was given to him by Charles I when in prison
that he might have access to him when he pleased.' (fn. 37)
Benjamin Jolliffe son of Thomas and Margaret died
in 1719, leaving three sons and two daughters. (fn. 38)
The eldest son Thomas succeeded, (fn. 39) but died childless
in 1758, leaving the manor to Rebecca Lowe, the
daughter of one of his sisters, for life, with reversion
to Michael Biddulph, the son of his other sister. (fn. 40)
Rebecca Lowe died in 1791, (fn. 41) and Michael Biddulph,
after the death of his son Thomas in 1793, (fn. 42) seems
to have settled it on his grandson Robert Biddulph, (fn. 43)
and with him sold it about 1812 to Other Archer,
sixth Earl of Plymouth. (fn. 44) From the latter it has
descended to the fourteenth Lord Windsor, the present Earl of Plymouth.
Jolliffe. Argent a pile vert with three right hands argent thereon.
The manor of COSTON RICHARD, which was
held for knight service under the lords of Elmley
Castle, (fn. 45) was probably included in a knight's fee held in
1166 by Richard de Coston of William de Beauchamp. (fn. 46)
John de Coston, witness to a grant to Dudley Priory
[1160–1206], (fn. 47) may have been owner of the manor
which was in the possession of Richard de Coston
early in the 13th century. (fn. 48) Walter de Coston, who
in 1256 was exempted from being put on assizes,
&c., against his will, was possibly lord of Coston. (fn. 49) In
1262–3 John de Coston granted this manor for life
to Richard de Coston, who was to render for it the
service of half a knight's fee. (fn. 50) Richard son of Alexander de Coston still held land at Coston in 1283–4. (fn. 51)
Sybil eldest daughter of John de Coston was holding
the manor in 1316. (fn. 52) She appears to have been succeeded before 1327 (fn. 53) by Lucy wife of Alexander de
Hodington, possibly her daughter or sister, who was
still holding the manor in 1346, when she is called
the heir of John de Coston. (fn. 54) In 1428 it was held
by the heirs of Lucy de Hodington, (fn. 55) and in 1431
Thomas Webb held certain lands at Coston, and John
Walsingham held a quarter of a knight's fee in Coston
Richard. (fn. 56) John Walsingham was apparently lord
of the manor in 1525, (fn. 57) and it was held in 1567 by
Edward Walsingham, who had inherited it from his
brother John and his father John. (fn. 58) Before 1594 it
had been acquired by William Child, the lord of
Coston Hackett, (fn. 59) and has since followed the same
descent as that manor. (fn. 60) Coston Richard is not mentioned as a separate manor after the end of the 18th
century, but the name still survives in a farm-house
which lies near the boundaries of Alvechurch.
A water-mill belonged to one of the manors at the
time of the Domesday Survey (fn. 61) and seems to have
passed with Coston Hackett to the Leicesters. (fn. 62) It
is last mentioned in 1573, when it was settled with
the manor on Thomas Dineley and Jane his wife. (fn. 63)
There are now no mills in existence in the parish,
but there was probably at one time a windmill, as a
field still bears the name Windmill Field.
The manor of GROVELEY belonged to the college
of Westbury in co. Gloucester in 1536, (fn. 64) and was
granted with it in 1544 to Sir Ralph Sadleir, (fn. 65) who
sold it in 1548–9 to John Combes. (fn. 66) The latter died
in 1550, leaving a son John, (fn. 67) who evidently sold the
manor to Sir John Lyttelton. Sir John in 1590 left it
by his will to his nephew George, the eldest son of Roger
Lyttelton, (fn. 68) whose brother Humphrey seems to have
sold it to Francis Heton. (fn. 69) Early in the 19th century the estate then known as Groveley Hall was
in the possession of Robert Middleton Biddulph, who
sold it to John Pickering. His trustees conveyed it
in 1820 to John Merry, (fn. 70) who added to it by the
purchase of adjoining land. John Merry died in
1856 and left the estate to his son William Lucas
Merry, who sold it in 1872 to Ambrose Biggs of
Birmingham. It was purchased of him in 1883 by
Joseph Billing Baldwin of King's Norton, who left it
to his son and daughter Major James Baldwin and
Mrs. Fanny Jolly, who are the present joint owners. (fn. 71)
CHURCH
The church of ST. MICHAEL consists of a chancel 20 ft. by 16 ft. 6 in.
with a modern organ chamber on the
north side, and a nave 38 ft. 6 in. by 20 ft. 6 in.
having a bell-turret at the west end. These measurements are all internal.
The building was restored in 1861 and the earliest
remaining portions date from the latter half of the 14th
century. The east window is of three lights, with
modern tracery under a pointed head. The walling
and moulded jambs are old and appear to date from
the 14th century. In the modern north wall is an arch
opening into the organ chamber, and to the east of it
a pointed window. The south wall is old, but the
two windows are modern. Between them is a pointed
doorway with a moulded label and head stops, and
further east is a piscina. The chancel arch is modern.
In the north wall of the nave are two squareheaded windows of three and two lights respectively,
the tracery in each case being modern, and a low
square-headed door. Externally the wall has been
straightened by a facing 9 in. thick for most of its
height. In the south wall are two windows similar
to those opposite. A 15th-century doorway, with a
moulded label and head stops, opens into an ancient
porch built of wood. The west wall of the nave has
been rebuilt; it has square angle buttresses and a large
reconstructed 15th-century central buttress under a
16th-century bell-turret containing two bells.
The font is modern, and the pulpit and the communion rail are made up of old oak.
In the chancel is an incised alabaster slab to William
Leicester and his wives Eleanor and Anne, with three
effigies under canopies. William Leicester wears
plate armour with scalloped tuiles and rounded sabbatons. His head rests on a tilting helm crested with
a roebuck and his feet on a dog. His wives wear
kennel head-dresses and from their girdles hang
pomanders. Below the first wife Eleanor is a scroll,
partly illegible, inscribed 'Non intres in judicium cũ
aĩabus tuorum …,' and below William Leicester
and his second wife are a boy and girl. The marginal inscription reads:—'Hic jacent corpora Wi[llel]mi
Leysestur dñi de Coston hacket Elinore et Anne
uxorum suarum qui quidem Wi[llel]mus obiit [blank] die
[blank] anno dñi mi[llessi]mo ccccc [blank] et dicta
Elionora fuit filia Edmundi (?) Worley Armig[']i et
obiit 7 die mensis Januarii (?) ao dñi mi[llessi]mo cccccxiiii
quorum aīab[z] p[ro]picietur deus Amen.' Above the
canopies are shields, the husband bearing: quarterly
(1) a fesse between three fleurs de lis, (2) a lion passant,
(3) ermine a bend, (4) a bend engrailed ermine. Above
the first wife is the coat: a chief with a raven impaling a cheveron between three bulls' heads cabossed;
and over the second: a cheveron between three
hunting horns.
In the nave is an alabaster tablet to William
Babington, 1625, and his wife Eleanor daughter of
Sir Edward Lyttelton, who died 1671; this was
formerly in the chancel. There are also monuments to
various members of the Jolliffe family.
The two bells are dated 1717.
The plate consists of a small paten, date probably
about 1520, a cup with the hall mark of 1661, presented in 1827, a paten of 1827, and a modern flagon.
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i)
(much injured by damp) contains all entries 1550 to
1629; (ii) 1630 to 1651; (iii) 1654 to 1683,
when there is a blank until 1702; (iv) 1702 to 1712;
(v) 1712 to 1754; (vi) baptisms and burials 1785 to
1812; (vii) marriages 1755 to 1812.
In the churchyard is the base of an old cross.
ADVOWSON
The church of Coston Hackett
was a chapel annexed to the church
of Northfield (fn. 72) until 1866, when it
was separated from Northfield. (fn. 73) It is now a vicarage
in the gift of Mrs. Deakin.
There are no endowed charities.