BOURTON-ON-DUNSMORE
Acreage: 2,144.
Population: 1911, 265; 1921, 294; 1931, 256.
The southern boundary of the parish is formed by
the River Leam, and part of the western by a small
stream which joins another coming south-west from
Draycote shortly before meeting the river. The village
of Bourton, with the church, rectory and Hall, lies
near the western edge of the parish on the roads from
Birdingbury and Frankton. A quarter of a mile north
of it the road called the Straight Mile crosses Bourton
Heath to meet the Coventry-Northampton road where
it touches the northern boundary of the parish. Half
a mile east, and slightly south, of the church is the
hamlet of Draycote, and between the village and the
hamlet, each of which contains a few thatched timberframed cottages, runs the Rugby and Leamington
branch of the former L.M.S. Railway. The land to
the north and west of the railway is flat, lying almost
entirely between elevations of 360 ft. and 370 ft., but
it falls to the south-east, most of Draycote being below
the 300 ft. contour line. The country is open, with
only a few small spinneys. Draycote was inclosed under
an Act of 1765, the Award, dated 6 July 1766, affecting
some 1,300 (fn. 1) acres in Bourton parish.
Manors
In 1086 the Count of Meulan held 5
hides in BOURTON which Ingenulf held
of him; before the Conquest this had been
held by Lewin. (fn. 2) Ingenulf, who also held of the count
Ibstock in Leicestershire, (fn. 3) was presumably the founder
of an eponymous family, as Robert de Borton, who was
living in 1123, (fn. 4) had a brother Ingenulf who took the
name of Ibstock. (fn. 5) The overlordship, as was the case
with most of the count's manors, came to the Earls of
Warwick, of whom it was held as 1 knight's fee. (fn. 6) The
mesne lordship of this fee was held by the Verdons of
Brandon (q.v.) from early in the 13th century, Roese
de Verdon holding it in 1242. (fn. 7) After the death of
Theobald de Verdon in 1316 the fee was assigned in
dower to his widow Elizabeth de Burgh, (fn. 8) with reversion at first to his eldest daughter Joan and her husband
Thomas Furnival, (fn. 9) but subsequently to his second
daughter Elizabeth wife of Bartholomew de Burghersh, (fn. 10) whose son Bartholomew inherited it in 1360. (fn. 11)
When he sold the manor of Brandon to Sir John Delves
in 1370 (fn. 12) this mesne lordship passed with it.
Robert de Borton, mentioned above, had a son
Richard, who had two sons, William and Sir Henry. (fn. 13)
The latter left three daughters as coheirs: Ada wife of
Robert de Garshale; Joan, whose husband seems to
have been a cadet of the Verdons; and Maud, who is
said to have had a son Thomas who died without issue. (fn. 14)
In 1235 the fee was said to be held of the Earl of Warwick by Philip de Esseby and Robert de Garshale; (fn. 15)
in 1242 they and Robert de Verdon held it of Roese de
Verdon under the earl. (fn. 16) Presumably Philip was husband of Maud; he is called son of Robert de Esseby (fn. 17)
in 1217, when he and Robert de Garshale and Nicholas
de Verdon, the mesne lord, all returned to their fealty
and were received into the king's favour. (fn. 18) By 1316
the Esseby interest had disappeared and 1¾ fees in
Bourton and Draycote were held jointly by Thomas de
Garshale and Robert de Verdon, (fn. 19) as they still were
said to be in 1335. (fn. 20) This last return, however, may
have been out of date, as in an inquest of further inquiry
two years later the tenants are given as Henry de
Preyers and John de Verdon. (fn. 21) Thomas de Garshale
seems in fact to have been dead by 1326, when his son
Robert settled the manor of
Bourton on himself and his wife
Amice and their issue. (fn. 22) It is
probable that by 1337 Robert
was dead and that Henry de
Preyers was guardian of his
daughter and heir Elizabeth,
who married Sir Robert Burdet
of Huncote, Leics. (fn. 23) Their son
Robert, who was under age and
in ward to Lady Elizabeth de
Burgh, widow of Theobald de
Verdon, in 1361, (fn. 24) died without
issue and the manor passed to
his brother Sir John Burdet, whose daughter and heir
Elizabeth married Sir Humphrey Stafford of Grafton. (fn. 25)
In this family it remained for about 200 years, except
that on the attainder of Humphrey Stafford (fn. 26) at the
accession of Henry VII the manor was forfeited to the
king and was granted by him in 1488 to Sir Edward
Ponyngs in tail male. (fn. 27) In 1515, however, Stafford's
estates were restored to him. (fn. 28) About 1590 the then
Sir Humphrey Stafford sold the manor to John Shuckburgh, (fn. 29) who died in 1599, having previously settled it
on his son Henry. (fn. 30) The latter died in 1626 seised of
the manor, which is then said to be held of the manor
of Kitt Court, parcel of the former preceptory of
Balsall. (fn. 31) It descended in the Shuckburgh family until
c. 1910, when it was acquired by James Frederick Shaw,
who was lord of the manor in 1937. (fn. 32)
Garshale. Quarterly argent and sable a bend gules with three fleurs de lis argent thereon.
Sir John de Verdon (see above) held the fee jointly
with Robert Burdet in 1346 (fn. 33) and in 1359 when Sir
John Delves had acquired the manor of Brandon he
attorned to the latter for Bourton and Draycote. (fn. 34)
His elder son Nicholas was living in 1380, (fn. 35) but by
1386 Sir John's estates seem to have passed to his
nephew Ralph, son of his brother Robert. (fn. 36) It was
probably this Robert Verdon who had settled the
manor of DRAYCOTE on himself and his wife Emma
in 1326. (fn. 37) From the Verdons the manor was evidently
bought by Sir William Bagot of Baginton. (fn. 38) His
daughter Isabel with her husband Sir Thomas Stafford
sold it to John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, (fn. 39) whose
son King Henry IV gave it in 1410 to the Dean and
Chapter of Newark College, Leicester, for a chantry of
two priests for the souls of his parents. (fn. 40)
After the suppression of the college the manor of
Draycote was granted in April 1549 to Thomas
Hawkins, alias Fisher, (fn. 41) who sold it in July of that
year to John Smyth. (fn. 42) He died in 1553, leaving a
widow Elizabeth, who subsequently married Robert
Warner and died in 1554, (fn. 43) and three young daughters:
Margery married Thomas Worcester; Alice married
Thomas Flavell; and Agnes (also called Anne) married
Richard Mathew and died in 1563, (fn. 44) when her share
of the manor passed to her sisters. (fn. 45) Margery's son
William Worcester bought Alice's share and her son
Thomas held the manor in 1640. (fn. 46) His son William
married Anne daughter of Nicholas Grimshawe of
Knowle and died in 1692. On the death of his son
Thomas in 1699 the estate went to the latter's four
sisters. (fn. 47) Of these Eliza married Col. Thomas Wilson,
and in 1729 he and Grace Worcester were holding the
manor. (fn. 48) Grace and Sir Theophilus Biddulph, bart.
were dealing with it in 1748, (fn. 49) and by 1790 the whole
manor was in the hands of the Biddulphs, (fn. 50) with whom
it has remained.
Church
The church of ST. PETER stands in a
small churchyard. It consists of a chancel,
nave, north chapel, north and south aisles,
tower, and vestry. It was almost entirely rebuilt in the
14th century and all that remains of the earlier church
is a blocked south doorway to the chancel, the font, and
probably part of the east bay of the south arcade. The
clearstory, north aisle, and porch were added in the 19th
century and the tower was rebuilt. It has been drastically refaced and restored. The chancel is built of limestone rubble with sandstone dressings and has a tiled
roof of rather low pitch, a splayed plinth with a beaded
lower edge, and rebuilt diagonal buttresses at the
angles. The east end has a modern window of three
pointed lights and above it the wall has been refaced.
The south wall has been largely rebuilt but retains the
jambs of an early-13th-century doorway with a large
roll moulding; it is blocked and the head replaced by
a timber lintel at springing level. East of the doorway
there is a square-headed window of three trefoil ogee
lights, of three hollow splayed orders, with a hoodmould without stops, and to the west a three-light
square-headed window of one splay, probably 17th
century. On the north side is a small vestry with a
tiled roof and to the east a pointed two-light window of
two splayed orders.
The south aisle has a slated roof with a moulded
eaves-course of red sandstone and is lighted by three
square-headed three-light windows of two hollowsplayed orders, one on the east and two on the south, all
much restored. The wall has been refaced with a mixture
of squared and coursed limestone and sandstone with a
plinth of red sandstone ashlar. The modern clearstory
is lighted by two square-headed windows of two trefoil
lights. The west end of the nave has been rebuilt with
a pointed doorway of two splayed orders, a hoodmould with head-stops; above the door is a pointed
traceried window of two trefoil lights, and at sill level
a string-course, dropped in two stages to the sill of the
aisle window. The north aisle has a slated roof, and a
diagonal buttress at the angle, and is lighted on the west
by a pointed traceried window of two trefoil lights, and
on the north by a modern square-headed window of
three trefoil ogee lights. The clearstory has two windows, as on the south. The porch and the doorway into
the chapel are modern. It has a stone-paved floor,
stone-vaulted roof, a pointed entrance of two splays
with a hood-mould and floriated stops; the mouldings
of the pointed doorway arch die out on splayed
jambs. The chapel has been refaced or rebuilt and the
windows renewed. It has a tiled roof and is lighted by
a pointed traceried window of three trefoil ogee lights
on the north and by a two-light on the east. The tower
is built of squared and coursed masonry and rises in
three stages, marked by string-courses; it is crowned
with an octagonal spire, bell-cast at the base, resting on
a hollow moulding. The angles of the upper stage are
splayed off into an octagon to accommodate the spire,
which has gabled steeple lights near its base on the
cardinal faces. The belfry windows on all four faces
are pointed, of two trefoil lights with pierced quatrefoils; to the ringing-chamber there are pointed single
trefoil lights on the south and east faces, and on the
west a two-light pointed window with a clock-dial
above.
The chancel (23 ft. 2 in. by 15 ft.) is paved with
stone and has two steps to the altar; the walls are
plastered. It has an open king-post roof of the 17th
century, with moulded tie-beams and struts shaped to
form tracery, and is supported on wall-posts with
curved brackets. The altar rails are also of the 17th
century, with turned balusters having moulded brackets
at the top under the moulded rail on the west side only.
In the south wall there is a piscina with a plain pointed
arch and a square basin. Below the window to the
east is a shallow square recess and over the blocked
13th-century doorway a modern flat head. In the
north wall there is a modern pointed doorway to the
vestry.
The nave (45 ft. 2 in. by 17 ft. 10 in.) is paved with
stone and has a low-pitched lead-covered roof. The
south arcade consists of four bays of pointed arches of
two splayed orders, the east bay supported on responds
and a pier, thickly rendered with cement, with splayed
capitals, also of cement. The south side of the pier has
been hacked away, probably in removing the west wall
of a 13th-century chapel when the church was rebuilt
in the 14th century. The wall over the arch is thinner
than the rest of the arcade. The other arches are supported on octagonal pillars with moulded capitals and
bases, except at the east end, where the arch dies out on
the pier. The west bay has been built up between the
pillar and the respond to carry the tower, and a pointed
doorway arch formed to give access. The north arcade,
of two bays, is a copy of the south but supported on a
moulded corbel at the west end instead of a respond.
The chancel and chapel arches are pointed, of two
orders, the inner a splay and the outer a wave moulding,
continued to the ground. The west door and window
have splayed reveals with segmental pointed reararches. The pulpit, dated 1607, is of oak and placed on
the south side of the chancel arch. It is octagonal, but
rectangular below for a reading-desk, with carved and
moulded panels, finished with a moulded capping supported on moulded brackets.
The south aisle (37 ft. 2 in. by 9 ft. 4 in.) is paved
with stone and has a low-pitched roof with stopchamfered beams supported on wall-posts and curved
brackets resting on moulded stone corbels. In the south
wall at the east end is a piscina with a trefoil ogee head
and the remains of a circular basin; above it there is a
wall memorial to Thomas Worcester of Draycote, died
1698. There is a segmental pointed arch to the tower
and in front of it is a 13th-century stone font, octagonal
with a deep lead-lined basin, each side carved with a
trefoil under a gable with a foliated finial.
The north aisle (22 ft. by 8 ft. 10 in.) is paved with
stone and the roof is a copy of the roof of the south
aisle. The eastern half of the aisle is occupied by the
organ.
The north chapel (19 ft. by 16 ft. 1 in.), which has
a modern open roof, is occupied by seven large slate
memorial slabs raised one foot above the floor, and an
eighth has been lowered to floor level for the door to the
porch. The west wall has a modern pointed arch opening into the aisle and in the south wall, east of the arch,
there is a piscina with a trefoil ogee head, from which
the basin is missing. On the east side of the piscina, a
14th-century effigy, on a slightly tapered slab, has been
built upright into the wall, with the lower portion
concealed by one of the raised memorials. It appears to
represent a cleric with his hands conjoined in prayer.
On the walls there are 11 wall memorials, and 4 hatchments in addition to the 8 floor slabs, all to members of
the Shuckburgh family, dating from 1717 to 1943.
The tower (6 ft. 10 in. square) is paved with stone,
the walls are plastered, and the window has splayed
reveals with a pointed rear arch.
There are two bells by Thomas Newcombe (c.
1600), the second inscribed with an alphabet, and one
of 1827 by R. Taylor & Sons, Oxford. (fn. 51)
The registers begin in 1560.
Advowson
The advowson of the church remained attached to the manor throughout. The rectory was valued at £8 in
1291 (fn. 52) and at £19 17s. 2d. in 1535. (fn. 53) The benefice
was united with that of Frankton in 1932.
A free chapel at Draycote was granted to William
Grice and Charles Newcomen in 1566, (fn. 54) but there
seems to be no other trace of its existence.
Charities
By the Inclosure Award for the
Lordship of Draycote dated 3 February 1767 an allotment containing 5a.
1r. 29p., part of Bourton Heath, was awarded to the
churchwardens of Bourton in trust that the rents and
profits should be applied as those of the ground for
which the same land was awarded had of ancient times
been applied. These uses were apparently towards the
repairs of the church, and the rent now received is
applied for the same purpose.
Poor's Allotment for fuel. By the above-mentioned
Award an allotment containing 10 acres, part of Bourton Heath, was awarded to trustees for the use of the
poor of the parish. The body of trustees of the charity
consists of the rector of Bourton ex officio, the present
heirs of Sir Theophilus Biddulph and John Shuckburgh, esq., and three persons appointed by the parish
council of Bourton-on-Dunsmore.
William Smith. This parish participates in the
charity of William Smith and receives 4s. per annum,
which in accordance with the terms of the bequest is
required to be distributed in bread to the poorest people
of the parish. For particulars of the charity see under
the parish of Bilton.