WEETHLEY
Acreage: 642.
Population: 1911, 21; 1921, 23; 1931, 23.
Weethley is situated at the west end of Ragley Park,
2¼ miles west from Wixford station on the Redditch
and Evesham branch of the London, Midland and
Scottish Railway, and 3 miles south-west from Alcester,
on the borders of Worcestershire. It lies between 200
and 400 ft. above sea-level, its soil and subsoil being clay.
The population is now less than half what it was at
the beginning of the 19th century, and inequalities in
the soil near the church suggest that there were formerly more houses in this vicinity. A farm-house near
the church has 17th-century timber-framed and brick
buildings.
Manor
Weethley was said to have been given to
the abbey of Evesham by Kenred, King of
Mercia, in 708, (fn. 1) but lost in the reign of
King Edmund, and regained by Abbot Manny only
a few years before the Conquest. (fn. 2) At the time of the
Domesday Survey the abbey held 3 hides there. (fn. 3) The
Evesham cartulary shows that these were held by the
abbot's brother Ralph, (fn. 4) and that later they were
divided between two branches of the family; Simon
son of Ralph of Coughton and Ralph of Kinwarton
each holding 1½ hides. (fn. 5) On the death of Abbot Walter
his kinsmen were forced to give up many of the lands
they held of the abbey, and it seems probable that
Weethley came into the possession of Urse d'Abitot.
D'Abitot. Ermine a chief bendy or and sable.
John d'Abitot held land there in 1257–8, (fn. 6) and in
the reign of Edward I Alexander d'Abitot was returned
as holding 3 hides in Weethley by doing military
service for the abbot, on payment
of all his expenses. (fn. 7) At the
perambulation of the forest of
Feckenham made in 1300 he was
described as holding the township
and wood of Weethley. (fn. 8) The
next holder of the manor appears
to have been Malcolm Musard,
from whom the abbey regained
possession during the abbacy of
William de Chiriton (1317–44). (fn. 9)
This was disputed by his son
John, who, with Simon and
Walter Musard and an armed band, entered Weethley,
killed three of the abbot's servants, stole over 300 sheep,
40 pigs, horses, cows, and oxen, and maintained themselves there for several weeks. At least five commissions
were appointed in 1344 to discover the truth of the raid,
but the result is not known. (fn. 10) In 1349, however, John
Musard remitted all his claims to the abbot. (fn. 11) In
Sept. 1392 the abbey received a further grant of lands
in Weethley from one Thomas Patty. (fn. 12)
On the dissolution of the abbey, the king granted the
manor of Weethley, then worth £7 2s. 8d., (fn. 13) to Dame
Maud Lane, (fn. 14) who sold it in Nov. 1543 to Nicholas
Fortescue of Cookhill, Worcs. (fn. 15) He died in 1549 and
the next year his widow Katherine was granted custody
of 'the site of the late monastery of Weethley and of
the manor', together with the wardship of her young
son William. (fn. 16) He was succeeded in 1605 by his
son Nicholas, an ardent Roman Catholic, who died in
1633. (fn. 17) His son William was also a Roman Catholic
and royalist, and before his death, in 1649, his estates
had been sequestered. The manor of Weethley was
found to be charged with debts far beyond its value.
Three people claimed annuities from it and two others
held mortgages on lands within it, while a creditor of
John Fortescue claimed £50 from the estate. (fn. 18) In 1661
the manor was the subject of a lawsuit between John
Fortescue, who had been disinherited by his father
because he would not follow the Catholic faith, and
his younger brother Francis. (fn. 19) Several more lawsuits
followed, (fn. 20) until Weethley was ultimately sold by
Nicholas Fortescue to Humphrey Jennens in 1695. (fn. 21)
Charles son of Charles Jennens held half the manor in
1765. (fn. 22) It passed to his sister and heir Elizabeth wife
of Assheton Curzon, later Baron Curzon of Penn,
whose grandson the Hon. Richard Curzon held it in
1820. (fn. 23) His son Earl Howe held the manor in 1872,
but by 1877 it had come into the possession of the
Marquess of Hertford, (fn. 24) and is now held by the
8th Marquess.
Fortescue. Azure a bend engrailed argent plain cotised or with a border gobony argent and azure.
Curzon. Argent a bend sable with three popingays or thereon.
Church
The church of ST. JAMES was built
in 1857–8 of lias stone in the 13thcentury style and consists of an apsidal
chancel, nave with bell-turret, north porch, and south
vestry. It replaced an ancient building, restored in
1839, (fn. 25) which was no doubt that described c. 1640:
'The chappell is buylded all of tymber, being halftymbered both the chancell and the church. It standeth
on a pretty high hill; southwards and westwards it hath
a great discent and a very fyne prospect. There is both
buriall and christning here. . . . There are no armes nor
monuments.' (fn. 26)
The register of burials begins 1572, baptisms 1613,
and marriages in 1605. (fn. 27)
Advowson
The chapel of Weethley, which was
attached to the church of Kinwarton,
(q.v.) was held by Ralph of Kinwarton,
and given by him to the abbey of Evesham towards the
close of the 12th century. (fn. 28) In 1413 an agreement was
made by which the inhabitants were to provide a clerk
to officiate in the chapel, to whom the rector of Kinwarton should pay 26s. 8d. yearly. (fn. 29) In 1730 the
curate's salary was about £20. (fn. 30) The living is now
annexed to the rectory of Arrow, and is in the gift of
the Marquess of Hertford.