BUTLERS MARSTON
Acreage: 1,777.
Population: 1911, 218; 1921, 199; 1931, 182.
The parish is separated on the north from Combrook
by the Dene Brook, and part of its eastern boundary is
formed by another stream, which turns west to run
half-way across the parish and then north to flow into
the Dene Brook. It was probably on this stream that
stood the two mills, worth 11s., mentioned in the
Domesday Survey. (fn. 1) In 1226 Maurice le Boteler
granted to the Prior of Studley 20s. rent from the two
mills, then leased by John de Tisho (who had sublet
them to Richard de Kinton at 2 marks). (fn. 2) One mill
belonged to the manor in 1279, (fn. 3) but after this there
appears to be no reference to any mill here. At the
point where the stream turns north is a mound called
the Round Hill, and ¼ mile north of it, adjoining the
village, is another known as the Bank; both are marked
on the 6-in. O.S. map as tumuli.
The village, mostly along the road to Kineton, contains a few cottages with stone walls and thatched roofs
which may be of the 17th century but have no distinctive features. At the north end of the village West
Mead House, alleged to have been the original manorhouse, (fn. 4) has been rebuilt but retains stone gate-posts of
the late 17th century, having moulded capitals with
ball finials.
The country is open, lying mostly at elevations
between 270 ft. and 300 ft., the highest ground being
at the south-east corner, where Herd Hill rises to
390 ft. The chief road runs from east to west, from
Kineton to Pillerton Hersey, and was laid out in 1771
when the parish was inclosed, 32½ yardlands containing
1,139 acres being affected. (fn. 5)
Manor
The manor of Marston, which had been
held under the Confessor by Baldwin, was
in 1086 held in demesne by Hugh de
Grentemaisnil. It was rated at 10 hides and had
attached to it two burgages in Warwick; there were
also two Frenchmen tenants there. (fn. 6) When Hugh
bestowed on the abbey of St. Evroul two-thirds of the
tithes of all his demesnes he also gave the monks 16
villeins to take charge of these tithes, and of these one
was at Marston. (fn. 7) Robert, Earl of Leicester, acquired
the Grentemaisnil estates from Hugh's son Ives (fn. 8) and
evidently enfeoffed Ralph le Boteler in this manor,
which therefore became known as BUTLERS
MARSTON. It descended with Oversley in Arrow
(q.v.) (fn. 9) and was held of the Earl of Leicester as 2 knights'
fees by William le Boteler in 1279. (fn. 10) His son William
held it of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, in 1298 as 1
knight's fee, his tenants being bound to attend the earl's
view of frank pledge. (fn. 11) When this William died in
1334 he was holding only a moiety of the manor, (fn. 12) but
in 1343 his son William settled the manor on himself
with remainder to his son William and his wife Elizabeth, (fn. 13) whose daughter and heir Elizabeth married
Sir Robert Ferrers. The manor then passed with
Oversley to the Nevills and Gascoignes and was sold
by Sir William Gascoigne in 1537 to Thomas Cromwell. (fn. 14)
Boteler. Gules a fesse checky argent and sable between six crosses formy argent.
Loggin. Or a lion passant sable and in chief three piles sable.
On the attainder of Thomas Cromwell the manor
came into the king's hands and was granted in 1542 to
Richard Fermour and Anne his wife, (fn. 15) the grant being
renewed in 1544 to them and their son John. (fn. 16) They
in 1550 conveyed the manor to King Edward VI, (fn. 17)
who granted it in 1553 to Peter Temple and Thomas
Lee, (fn. 18) who split up the estate and sold parcels of it to
various persons; (fn. 19) the site of the manor and the
demesnes and some 17 yardlands of copyhold they
sold to John Woodward, (fn. 20) who was already tenant
there, (fn. 21) and he died in 1555 seised thereof. (fn. 22) His son
Richard died in 1557, (fn. 23) and his son John conveyed
the manor to his brother Thomas, (fn. 24) whose son John
in 1618 sold it to William Loggin of Swalecliff
(Oxon.). (fn. 25) He died in 1635 (fn. 26) and the manor remained
in the family (fn. 27) until 1753, when William Loggin,
clerk, Samuel Cobb and Grace his wife, and William
Draper conveyed it to James Wright. (fn. 28)
Certain manorial rights in Butlers Marston seem to
have become attached to Eatington, as various members
of the Shirley family appear as lords of the manor
between 1718 and 1764. (fn. 29) James Wright is so called
in 1752, and in 1791 Mary Woodward is termed
lessee of the manor. (fn. 30) Apparently this family recovered
the estate, as in 1850 Mrs. A. L. Woodward and Miss
Woodward were living at the manor-house and were
said to be ladies of the manor. (fn. 31) In 1936 William
Faulkner was lord of the manor. (fn. 32)
In 1202 Ralph Boteler granted to Henry Mallore
7 virgates in Marston, with the 7 villeins holding
them, (fn. 33) and in 1279 these 7 virgates were held by
Ralph de Ardern of John Mallore, who held of
William Boteler. (fn. 34)
In 1535 Pinley Priory possessed tenements in
Butlers Marston which produced 7s. in rents; (fn. 35) and
in 1544 a messuage here which had belonged to the
nunnery was granted to William Sheldon. (fn. 36)
Plan of Butlers Marston Church.
Church
The parish church of SS. PETER
AND PAUL consists of a chancel with
a south vestry and organ-chamber, nave,
south aisle with a small south porch, and west tower.
The history of the development as shown in the
fabric itself has been much confused by modern restorations and repairs, but the nave probably marks the
original 12th-century or earlier nave and doubtless had
a chancel. The earliest apparent addition was a narrow
south aisle of mid-late-12th-century date and of this
the arcade of three bays survives. The chancel seems
to have been rebuilt or enlarged in the 13th or 14th
century, perhaps both, but there is very little evidence
left in the architectural details. The aisle was widened
in the 14th century, and the west tower added in the
15th. The nave has a 17th-century roof; the others
are modern. The side walls of the chancel were
refaced externally, if not mostly rebuilt, in the 18th
century. The various repairs culminated in a restoration in 1872 which was drastic, perhaps of necessity
because of earlier alterations; it included the entire
rebuilding of the north wall of the nave, the renewal of
the chancel arch, &c., and the provision of new roofs.
The chancel (about 25½ ft. by 15 ft.) has an east
window of three trefoiled lights and net tracery in a
two-centred head. It is all modern except the inner
splays of rubble with angle dressings and the chamfered
rear-arch of the 14th century. In the middle of the
north wall is a single trefoiled ogee-headed light under
a pointed main head, also modern but with ancient
rubble splays and rough splayed and pointed rear-arch
which may be of the 13th century. The courses are
generally smaller than those of the walling. In the
south wall is a modern doorway to the vestry, and
patching above it indicates a former south window.
West of it is a modern archway.
The east wall is built of 14th-century dark brown
stone except for several courses of squared grey-white
rubble below the window, probably earlier masonry
re-used. It has remains of a chamfered plinth of the
dark brown stone. The gable-copings and diagonal
buttresses are modern. The north wall has several
lowest courses of the brown stone above the remains of
the old chamfered plinth, but above these all is of
18th-century facing of coursed and squared grey-white
stone. Below the window is an inscribed stone WT 87
(probably for 1787). At the eaves is an older hollowed
string-course. The south wall is similar, but has only
one original brown base-course, and no plinth is visible.
Internally the wall faces are of approximately coursed
grey-white squared rubble, with many larger stones in
the east wall. The south wall has larger roughly
dressed square stones as re-entering quoins against the
east and west walls. Large squared stones a little below
the wall-plates mark the former stone corbels for a
three-bay roof, now cut back to the wall-face.
The high-pitched gabled roof of three bays is
modern and is covered with tiles. The chancel arch
is modern: the inner order of the pointed head is
carried on corbel capitals. South of it is a 15th-century
narrow rectangular squint; it is 21 in. high and the sill
is 4 ft. 8 in. above the nave floor, but filling in of red
brick shows it was formerly 2 ft. lower.
The nave (about 41½ ft. by 19½ ft.) has three modern
north windows, each of two trefoiled lights and tracery.
The wall is modern, of grey-white coursed rubble with
some old brown stones re-used; the buttresses, that are
older than the windows, divide it into three bays. The
thickness, 3 ft., indicates that it was probably of the
12th century before rebuilding. The east wall has
been stripped of its plaster and is roughly coursed
squared rubble. Above the east gable is a restored
sanctus bell-cote but no bell.
The mid-late-12th-century south arcade is of three
12¾ ft. bays. The two pillars—c. 29 in. diameter—are cylindrical, without visible bases. The responds
are of the same peculiar treatment as those at Shotteswell and Tysoe churches, with shallow arcs of about
7-in. projection instead of half-rounds. The eastern
has a large torus-moulded base on a high square subbase. The western is a much lower chamfered base on
a square sub-base. The capitals, only 7 in high, change
from round to square, their hollowed undersides, except
the westernmost, being carved with a series of plain
palmate leaves. The abaci are grooved and hollowchamfered. The two-centred arches are of one square
order with small voussoirs and have plain square hoods
on both faces. On the aisle side immediately above the
arcade is an ovolo-moulded oversailing string-course of
about 6 in.-projection to the greater thickness of the
original wall. All is of a lightish brown stone.
The low-pitched roof is probably of the 17th century,
but has modern wall-plates and boarding. It is divided
into three bays by chamfered cambered main beams
(partly repaired) which are carried on modern wood
corbels carved as angels with shields. The purlins,
ridge-pole, and most of the stop-chamfered common
rafters are ancient but the carved bosses on them are
modern. On the east face of the tower are the lines of
the earlier high-pitched roof.
The south aisle (c. 9½ ft. wide) has unpierced east
and west walls. In the south wall are two squareheaded windows. The eastern is a wide one of four
lights with jambs and head of two chamfered orders
and an external label of 14th-century form with return
stops. It is of a chocolate-brown stone and may be a
17th-century alteration and widening of a 14th-century
window. The other, close to the west end, is of two
narrower lights in yellow-brown stone and has a label
of late-15th-century type that probably dates the
window. The south doorway is of the 14th century
and has ovolo-moulded jambs and pointed head and a
hood-mould of the same section as that of the wide
window, all of brown stone.
The south wall is of approximately coursed greywhite squared rubble, perhaps of the 17th century, but
just below the sill level is a rough brown stone stringcourse or very high chamfered plinth which is obviously
earlier. Three small ancient buttresses of brown ashlar
with chamfered plinths level with the main stringcourse divide the wall into two bays. In front of the
doorway is a small and shallow modern porch. The
west wall is of squared irregularly coursed small white
stones, but about 1½ yds. from the south wall of the
tower is a broken vertical seam, north of which most
of the masonry is of the more ancient yellow-brown
stone, probably 12th century. The coping has ancient
stones. The lean-to roof is modern.
The west tower (about 11 ft. east to west by 10 ft.)
is of three stages with plain weather-courses, a moulded
and chamfered plinth, and an embattled parapet with
returned copings to the merlons: the parapet stringcourse has various carvings of human faces, small
animals such as a rat and a rabbit and, on the east face,
a lion passant. In all but the east face are spouts. The
walls are faced externally with coursed yellow ashlar;
inside they show coursed and squared white rubble. At
the angles are diagonal buttresses up to the bell-chamber
stage. The tower is not central with the nave, and while
the south-east buttress is carried partly by a splay corbel
in the south-west angle of the nave, the north-east
buttress has its two east faces projecting from the west
wall of the nave and carried on three courses of corbelling.
The lofty narrow archway to the nave is of a darkishgrey sandstone; both pointed head and responds are of
two chamfered orders, but at the springing-level is an
impost mould about 16 in. high, the top vertical face
being in one splay but the curved under-side fashioned
to the double chamfers. It is continued along the west
wall as a string-course.
In the west wall is a window of two trefoiled lights
below a segmental-pointed head with an external hoodmould having volute or disk stops. The splays are of
white ashlar and it has a segmental rear-arch. The
second stage has north and south loop-lights and the
bell-chamber has windows similar to the lower west
window with the addition of a transom, below which
the lights have similar trefoiled heads.
The font, of the 15th century, is octagonal; it has a
wide bowl panelled on each face with a quatrefoil in a
square and with a hollowed underside. The stem is
slender and each face has a trefoiled panel. The base
is moulded.
The pulpit, dated 1632, is set in the north-east
angle of the nave and is of octagonal plan: it shows five
faces, of which four are panelled with round-headed
arches on enriched pilasters and upper carvings of foliage
in low relief. At the angles are small round shafts
carrying a frieze and cornice. The north-west face
(towards the north wall) is plainer except for the frieze.
The lectern is partly made up of similar carving.
In the chancel floor is a stone slab concealed by
quire-stalls, showing part of an incised long cross-stem
and half-round bow-base possibly medieval. There are
several floor slabs to members of the Woodward family
of the 18th and 19th centuries.
There are five bells: the treble of 1662; the second is
medieval inscribed: '[S]ancta Katerina ora pro nobis';
the third and fourth by Henry Bagley 1652; and the
tenor with a Latin inscription: 'Vox d[omi]ni ihū xp[ist]i vox
exultacionis et salutis.' (fn. 37)
The communion plate includes a large cup, without
hall-mark and apparently foreign, and a paten of 1750. (fn. 38)
The registers begin in 1539.
In the churchyard north of the chancel is the base of
a medieval cross, of square plan with double-chamfered
faces and mounted on two steps of square plan.
A headstone east of the chancel is to Mary wife of
William Marshall and daughter of Ralph and Alice
Greenaway, died 21 November 1697. There are
other headstones nearly as ancient.
Advowson
There was a priest, implying a
church, at Marston in 1086. (fn. 39) The
church of Marston was given by
Ralph le Boteler to the Abbey of Alcester when he
founded that house in 1140. (fn. 40) It was valued at £8 in
1291, at which time the Prior of Ware (Herts.) had
tithes in the parish worth 13s. 4d., (fn. 41) these representing
the grant made by Hugh de Grentemaisnil to the abbey
of St. Evroul, (fn. 42) of which Ware was the chief English
cell. In 1465 Alcester was reduced to the status of a
priory and cell of Evesham Abbey, (fn. 43) which therefore
acquired the patronage. The rectory had been appropriated at an early date, certainly before 1268, (fn. 44) and
the endowment of the vicarage consisted in a sum of
£8 3s. 4d. in 1535, (fn. 45) when the rectory was farmed for
£17. (fn. 46)
After the Dissolution the advowson was retained by
the Crown until 1553, when it was granted, with the
rectory, to Thomas Reve and George Cotton, (fn. 47) who
sold to Richard Woodward in 1553. (fn. 48) The advowson
remained in this family (fn. 49) until 1609, when John
Woodward and Alice his wife conveyed it to Richard
Abraham. (fn. 50) Richard and William Abraham were
dealing with the rectory and advowson in 1611 (fn. 51)
and 1634. (fn. 52) . In 1683 and 1686 John Newsham and
his sons Thomas and Charles were dealing with the
advowson, (fn. 53) and in 1719 Thomas Newsham, senior
and junior, and William Newsham, junior, conveyed
it to John Bowdall, (fn. 54) but probably only for a settlement, as Thomas Newsham was apparently patron in
1761. (fn. 55) Charles Henry Talbot presented in 1770, (fn. 56)
and by 1789 the advowson had been acquired by the
Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford, (fn. 57) the
present holders.
Charity
William Loggin by will dated 20 July
1635 gave 20s. a year for ever to be paid
out of his parsonage and rectory of Ettington to the poor of Butlers Marston. The rentcharge
now issues out of Witfield Farm and Swalcliffe Farm in
Ettington and is applied for the benefit of the poor of
the parish.