HARBURY
Acreage: 3,397.
Population: 1911, 1,160; 1921, 1,192; 1931, 1,246.
Harbury is a large parish and village in the centre
of the county, about 5 miles south-east of Leamington
and 3 miles south-west of Southam. The eastern
boundary of the parish is formed by the river Itchen,
and on the west it reaches for a short distance to the
Fosse Way. At Deppers Bridge over the Itchen the
height above sea level is only 260 ft., but the village,
which is central in the parish, stands on a hill of over
400 ft., through which the former G.W.R. main line
to Birmingham runs in a mile-long cutting, an important engineering feat in its time and so mentioned in
White's Directory of 1850. There is a station (Southam
Road and Harbury) about a mile east of the village,
and at the south-east corner of the parish, where the
railway crosses the Itchen, there are large cement
works, which form a very prominent feature in the
landscape.
The village has many stone and brick houses of the
17th and 18th centuries, and a few timber-framed with
thatched roofs. In the middle of the village is a large
circular 18th-century windmill, without sails, its base
built of stone, with red brick above. Two windmills
are mentioned on the abbot of Combe's property in
1279 (fn. 1) and 1291 and one on the Kenilworth property
in the latter year. (fn. 2) The parish is not traversed by any
main road, and in 1625 Harbury was described as 'no
thoroughfare'. (fn. 3) The land is 'poor and unproductive' (fn. 4)
and in 1740 the village is called Hungry Harbury. (fn. 5)
It has, however, always been a large one, with 148 houses
in 1730, (fn. 6) and in the middle of the last century acted
as a reservoir of labour for neighbouring 'close' parishes
like Chesterton and Ufton. (fn. 7) In 1638 it was ordered
that Kingston in Chesterton should contribute towards
the poor of Harbury. (fn. 8) There was a Quaker meeting
here in 1758–9. (fn. 9)
An Inclosure Act for 120 yardlands, or 3,600 acres,
was passed in 1779. (fn. 10) The names Leicester House
Farm and Temple House are to be associated with
the Earls of Leicester and Knights Templars, former
landowners in Harbury. In 1397 Deppers Bridge was
out of repair, and was ordered to be renewed by the
lords of the manor of Ladbroke, who had built it on
their own land for their own convenience, and not by
the villagers of Harbury and Ladbroke, who had been
presented as liable. (fn. 11)
Noteworthy men connected with Harbury include
Sir Joseph Wagstaffe (fl. 1655), (fn. 12) soldier of fortune,
who led the abortive Wiltshire rebellion of 1655,
probably a junior member of the Wagstaffe family who
were prominent in this village, and Richard Jago
(1715–81), (fn. 13) poet, vicar here from 1746 to 1771.
Adjoining the churchyard on the north side there
is the school, (fn. 14) founded by Thomas Wagstaffe in 1611,
with a panel inscribed:
Wagstaff
1611
Estab. by Decree in Chancery
(Butler versus Wagstaffe)
Confirmed by order of ye same court
1637
(Attorn: Gen. versus Baber)
1759
Restored a.d. 1866.
It is L-shaped, built of squared and coursed limestone
with dressings of brown sandstone, and has a continuous plinth of one splay. The west wing is of two
stories, probably to accommodate a resident schoolmaster, and the east, which has no upper floor, forms one
large schoolroom. The northern half of the west wing is
occupied by a classroom, and the front portion by an
open lobby and a small office. The upper floor has
been divided up and is used for storage, but the room
over the classroom has an original stone chimney-piece.
The entrance doorway has a chamfered four-centred
head, but its original oak door, of small square moulded
panels, has been removed and is now (1949) lying in
the vicarage stables. The schoolroom has a fire-place
in the centre of the north wall, with four-light windows
on either side, a five-light transomed window on the
east, and two of five lights on the south. At the west
end there is a contemporary glazed oak screen with
moulded panels, and above it a gallery front of heavy
turned balusters with a moulded capping, now boarded
over at the back. It has two doors, one original leading
to the lobby and a later inserted door into the classroom. The classroom has a stone chimney-piece in the
north wall with a chamfered four-centred head, a fourlight window which has had its sill lowered, and on
the west a five-light window. The small room in the
front is lighted by a four-light window on the south
and has an inserted fire-place on the west. There is a
gable to the east wing and gables to the north and south
ends of the west wing with ball finials, and on the south,
at first-floor level, is the inscribed tablet in a moulded
frame, flanked by three-light windows, and on the
ground floor is the entrance archway with a fourcentred head within a square moulding, and a fourlight window to the office. The windows throughout
are square-headed, of one splay, with label mouldings
having return ends. The roofs have been re-tiled and
the chimneys rebuilt in brick.
About half a mile south-west of the church is the
Manor House, an L-shaped two-story building with
gabled wings to the south front. The west wing has a
modern brick extension, making the plan H-shaped.
It dates from about the middle of the 16th century and
although modernized and added to, it retains some
interesting features. It is an unusual mixture of construction; the northern end of the east wing is built of
stone, with moulded square-headed windows; south of
this it is stone with half-timber above; and the remainder
of the east front is entirely of timber-framing. On the
south front, the east wing is stone with a modern redbrick gable, and the west stone with half-timber above.
Between the wings is the hall, with a central door
flanked by two-light windows. The door has a moulded
oak frame, a four-centred head with sunk spandrels,
and on either side 18th-century pilasters with Ionic
capitals supporting a projecting semicircular hood.
The windows have carved and moulded oak frames in
the form of pilasters with crocketed pinnacles. The
hall is stone-paved and the walls are panelled with oak,
some contemporary. The open fire-place has a carved
oak lintel with the initials H.G., and on the east side is
a 17th-century staircase with turned balusters, square
newels with carved finials, and a contemporary dog
gate at the foot. The stone chimney-pieces in the two
wings have moulded four-centred heads, and jambs
with moulded stops; one has carved spandrels and all
probably date from the middle of the 16th century.
There is oak panelling in most of the rooms, some
brought from elsewhere. Leading to the present kitchen
there is a contemporary doorway with a moulded oak
frame and four-centred head, fitted with a door of three
vertical moulded panels. The roofs have been re-tiled
and the chimney-stacks rebuilt in brick.
Manors
Harbury was one of the places in which
Wulfric Spot gave an estate to Burton
Abbey (Staffs.) in 1003, (fn. 15) but there is no
later evidence of any connexion with Burton. In 1086
HARBURY had a total assessment of 12½ hides, of
which 1 hide and 1 virgate in Harbury were held by
Coventry cathedral priory, though not apparently of
Earl Leofric's original endowment. Having been laid
waste by the king's army this was worth only 2s. as
against 10s. before 1066. (fn. 16) There were four other
estates: William Buenvasleth having 3 virgates that
had been held freely by Ulwin before 1066; (fn. 17) Wazelin
holding 2 hides of Henry de Ferrers, this having been
part of Siward Barn's estates; (fn. 18) William 4 hides of
Turchil, which had been in the possession of Ordric; (fn. 19)
and the remaining 4½ hides, in 1086 the property of
the Count of Meulan, had before 1066 been held by
Lewin and Alric, on whom Domesday Book adds the
note that they could sell, but not withdraw themselves
(discedere) with their land. (fn. 20)
Coventry Priory is not subsequently mentioned as a
landholder in Harbury, and from the correspondence
in area Dugdale is probably right in identifying this
holding with the 5 virgates held in 1279 by Kenilworth
Priory, 4 of them in demesne. (fn. 21) This priory during
the preceding century had received grants of land
totalling 3 virgates, one from Thomas son of Gurmund
in 1199 (fn. 22) and two from Gilbert Mallore in 1227, (fn. 23)
which may account for the 3 virgates of William
Buenvasleth in 1086 which are not subsequently mentioned as a separate holding. A further gift of 2 virgates
and 9 acres was made to Kenilworth before 1279 by
Robert son of Odo. (fn. 24) The total value of the Kenilworth
property in Harbury was in 1291 £4 10s. (fn. 25) and
(excluding the rectory) £7 11s. in 1535; (fn. 26) it was kept
in crown hands till 1561, when it was granted as a
manor to John Fisher and Thomas Dabridgecourt, the
former receiving the site of the manor-house, then
occupied by Thomas Wagstaff. (fn. 27) They re-granted it
in the next year to Thomas Fisher or Hawkins, (fn. 28)
possibly a relative, who had been M.P. for Warwick
and a confidential agent of the Duke of Northumberland. (fn. 29) He died in possession in 1577, when this manor
was stated to be held of the Crown. (fn. 30) Edward Fisher
his son conveyed it by fine in
1592 to Sir Henry Poole and
others, (fn. 31) and Edward's son John
sold it to Thomas Coxe of
Bishop's Itchington, the latter
in 1622 selling it to Richard
Wagstaff, (fn. 32) a member of a family
that had been settled in Harbury
for some generations. (fn. 33) He and
others dealt with 'the manor of
Killingworth (i.e. Kenilworth)
in Harbury' by fine in 1635 (fn. 34)
and 1638. (fn. 35) By the marriage
in 1697 of Sir Edward Bagot,
bart., to Frances, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas
Wagstaff, (fn. 36) it passed to the Bagot family, who were
lords in 1730, (fn. 37) after which date it was not reckoned
a separate manor.
Wagstaff. Argent two bends engrailed sable the lower cut short and in sinister chief a scallop sable.
As regards the Ferrers holding, 1 knight's fee, in
Harbury and Chesterton (q.v.), was held in 1166 by
Odo son of John, of William de Boscherville, under Earl
William de Ferrers. (fn. 38) In 1203 a lawsuit occurred over
this fee, Isabel de Say, widow of Ralph de Boscherville,
claiming it in dower against Odo's son Robert. (fn. 39) The
matter was settled by Isabel quitclaiming her right and
Robert agreeing to hold the fee of Hugh de Picheford
and Burga his wife, daughter and heiress of Ralph de
Boscherville, for 20s. yearly. (fn. 40) In 1242–3 this fee was
held by Odo de Herberbiry of Ralph de Picheford of
the Earl Ferrers. (fn. 41) In 1279 Robert son of Odo granted
this fee, of which the demesne lands amounted to
175½ acres, with meadow and pasture, with 2 hides in
Chesterton, and in Harbury some 13 virgates, of which
Robert's daughters Julian and Elizabeth each held one
and Thomas Ode two, with the chief messuage and all
services due, to the abbey of Combe. (fn. 42) In 1285 the
Abbot of Combe had view of frankpledge and assize of
bread and ale in his Warwickshire manors, including
Harbury. (fn. 43) The Combe property also included 2 carucates granted in 1202 by Henry de Elmton, saving a
life-tenancy of Reynold Basset for 2s. yearly, (fn. 44) and a
large portion of the Meulan holding in Harbury (see
below). In 1484 William Catesby was granted by the
Abbot and Convent of Combe a yearly rent of 26s. 8d.
for life secured on their Harbury estates. (fn. 45) These
estates were valued at £12 0s. 7d. before the Dissolution; (fn. 46) they were not granted out by the Crown till
1582, when the recipients were Edmund Frost and
John Walker and their heirs. (fn. 47) They sold this Harbury
manor to Thomas Wagstaff, a London lawyer, brother
of Richard Wagstaff who subsequently bought the
Kenilworth manor (see above). Thomas Wagstaff
subsequently sold it, probably in the early years of the
17th century, to William Cookes of Snitterfield. (fn. 48) The
sons of the latter, John (the first to be styled 'of Harbury'
in the 1682–3 Visitation (fn. 49) ), and Henry Cookes, with
Hester the wife of the latter, settled the manor in 1648
on William Cookes, John's second son, and John
Townsend, a member of his wife's family, (fn. 50) Thomas
Cookes, William's great-nephew, executing a similar
transaction in 1694. (fn. 51) About 1717 this manor was
bought by Henry Greswold of Solihull, who was lord
in that year; (fn. 52) his brother the Rev. Marshall Greswold
was in possession when William Thomas made his
revision of Dugdale. (fn. 53) The manor has since remained
with the Greswolds and their descendants, Anne (Henry
Greswold's daughter) being lady of the manor in
1750–3, David Lewis (husband of Mary, Marshall
Greswold's last surviving child) lord in 1759–66, (fn. 54)
his son Henry Greswold Lewis between 1776 (fn. 55) and
1821 (fn. 56) and Capt. Edmund Meysy Wigley Greswold
(vouchee in a recovery of 1832 (fn. 57) ) from 1829 to his
death in 1833. (fn. 58) He was succeeded by his uncle Henry
Greswold, whose executors held the manor in 1850. (fn. 59)
By the marriage of Dorothy, Henry's sister, to John
Williams of Pitmaston (Worcs.) in 1800, the manor
passed to this family, who took the additional surname
of Greswolde. (fn. 60) Since the death of Capt. Francis
Wigley Greswolde-Williams in 1931 the manorial
rights seem to have lapsed.
Turchil's 4 hides passed to the earls of Warwick,
who were the overlords of a fee in Harbury in 1235–6
and 1242–3 (fn. 61) and in 1401. (fn. 62) In the first case Robert le
Megre is stated to be the tenant, and in the second he
is said to hold of Henry de Lodbroc, who held of the
Earl of Warwick. Another Henry de Lodbroc is
mentioned as chief tenant in 1316. (fn. 63) This family had
long been settled at Harbury and Ladbroke, though
not descended from the William who was Turchil's
subtenant in 1086, as suggested by Dugdale. (fn. 64) About
1130 there was a dispute between Robert de Lodbroc
and Geoffrey de Clinton, chamberlain and treasurer of
Henry I, as to the tenure of lands in Harbury, the
right of the former being confirmed as a tenant of
Geoffrey. (fn. 65) At this period the family divided into two
branches, Ralph the son of Robert being known as
le Megre, a nickname that attached also to his descendants. His grandson Robert was the subtenant and
cousin of Henry de Lodbroc (see above). William le
Megre, son of this Robert, left two daughters as
heiresses, Amice the wife of John le Lou and Margery
the wife of Philip le Lou. Their respective portions
were both granted away to other subtenants by the end
of the 13th century, Amice and her husband conveying
to Eustace de Hacche in 1290 16 messuages, 2 gardens,
2 carucates, and 16 virgates of land, 12 acres of meadow,
and 16s. of rent in Harbury and Wappenbury, (fn. 66) and
Philip le Lou conveying a messuage, a carcucate of land,
and 7 acres of meadow to Nicholas le Trimenel and
Mabel his wife in 1295. (fn. 67)
The other branch of the Lodbroc family, probably
the senior as the le Megre fee was held of them, continued to have interests in Harbury till nearly the end
of the 14th century. In 1300 Henry de Lodbroc,
grandson of the previous Henry, granted a life-tenancy
of half a virgate to Robert Ede of Harbury and Alice
his wife, for 5s. rent and suit of court. (fn. 68) The same
Henry settled the manor, for 10 marks sterling annually,
on his son John and his wife Hawise, daughter of Sir
Robert de Daventry, (fn. 69) in 1323. (fn. 70) Two years later he
granted the life-tenancy of another half-virgate, formerly
held by John Page, to Thomas le Prestis and Alice his
wife for 5s., (fn. 71) and in 1326 John de Lodbroc granted a
life-interest in 5 marks rent to his father-in-law. (fn. 72) In
1328 he granted land and a mill to Simon the miller
and his wife Margery for life, which property had in
the same year been granted to him by John son of John
Wylecokes of Harbury. (fn. 73) Another life-tenancy was
made by John de Lodbroc in 1335 of a house, croft,
and 1½ acres of land at le Euednest in Harbury to
John le Ferur and Joan his wife; these had been held
by Henry Attestretusende, and the rent was 4s. and
a heriot at death. (fn. 74) In 1350 the manor was settled on
Hawise, John de Lodbroc's widow, with remainder
to John's son Thomas and Alice daughter of William
Catesby and their heirs. (fn. 75) Thomas de Lodbroc and
his brothers John and Hugh all died without issue,
the manor descending to their sister Alice, wife of
Lewis Cardican or Cook, who was 30 years of age in
1386. (fn. 76) Her daughter and heiress Katharine married
William Hathwyk, who was the Earl of Warwick's tenant
in 1401. (fn. 77) His son John held the manor in 1432–3,
when it was rated at one-eighth of a knight's fee. (fn. 78)
In 1529 Robert Corbett conveyed a manor in
Harbury to Michael Dormer, (fn. 79) and in the following
year Joan Hall, formerly Corbett, widow (perhaps his
mother) made another conveyance to Edward Underhill, (fn. 80) who died seised of this manor in 1547. (fn. 81) In 1553
his sons John and William, with Katharine Dormer,
widow of Michael, settled the manor on her for life,
with remainder to (her fourth son) (fn. 82) John Dormer. (fn. 83)
He and his brother William conveyed the manor in
1591 to John Camden, (fn. 84) to whom it was confirmed in
1594 by John Stampe and Isabel his wife, (fn. 85) who was
niece and heir of John Dormer. (fn. 86)
In 1635 John Bickley died in possession of a manor
held of Francis, Lord Dunsmore (afterwards Earl of
Chichester), which had been settled by his father
Robert at John's marriage in 1619 to Anne Phippes;
his son, another John, was aged 7 at his father's death. (fn. 87)
The 4½ hides of the Count of Meulan passed to the
earls of Leicester, but disappeared fairly soon as a
separate entity, although this had been the largest of
the Domesday holdings in Harbury. The immediate
subtenant of the earls in the reign of Henry I was
Geoffrey de Clinton, who as already stated was in
dispute with Robert de Lodbroc the tenant of the
4 hides of the earls of Warwick. (fn. 88) His son Geoffrey
gave the church of Harbury, with 2 virgates of land,
to Kenilworth Priory. (fn. 89) Henry de Clinton, son of the
younger Geoffrey, granted much of the remainder of
his land to various persons; 100s. worth to Henry
Mallore in 1201, (fn. 90) and other portions to Reynold
Basset, who also acquired land here from Henry
Mallore, which Robert 'Fitz-Pernel', Earl of Leicester,
confirmed to him, and from Walter le Bret. (fn. 91) In 1201
Reynold Basset granted 2 carucates and 5 virgates in
Harbury to the Abbot of Combe, (fn. 92) who as a tenant of
Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster and of
Leicester, held estates in Harbury that included two
mills, a dovecote, and a garden (total value £9 2s.) in
1291 (fn. 93) and were reckoned at a fifth and a quarter of a
knight's fee in 1298. (fn. 94) By the same inquisition John
Mallore was declared to hold a quarter of a knight's
fee, (fn. 95) which was held by others of the same name in
1330 and 1361 of the honor of Leicester. (fn. 96) It was
separately distinguished as late as 1428 as having been
held by John Mallore, though the overlord is unnamed. (fn. 97) Reynold Basset must have kept a small part
of his estates when he made his grant to Combe Abbey,
for in 1326 a commission of oyer and terminer was
issued regarding a complaint by Ralph Basset that when
abroad in the king's service persons had broken into
various of his estates, including Harbury, and assaulted
his servants. (fn. 98) But the greater part of the Clinton
property in Harbury had by the beginning of the 13th
century been granted to Kenilworth and Combe
Abbeys, and descended with these monasteries' holdings
in Harbury from other sources (see above).
Land in Harbury was in the reign of Henry II given
by the younger Geoffrey de Clinton and his son Henry
to the Knights Templars who, in 1185, had rather over
10 virgates of Henry's fee, of which 5 virgates of
demesne and 'the court' were then leased to Seffrid the
Dean (of Chichester). (fn. 99) In 1200 they sought warranty
from Henry de Clinton of a number of grants which
he had made in Harbury and Tachbrook amounting
to 6 virgates, 1 acre, and 2 cotlands, as well as 2 hides
given by Geoffrey, of which they had lost 'the chief
court' and 1 virgate. (fn. 1) The Harbury portion consisted
of 1 carucate, 2 virgates, and 6 acres, together with
5 virgates in demesne, held in 1279 from Robert son
of Odo, under Earl Ferrers. (fn. 2) After the suppression of
the Templars in 1308 this property evidently passed
to the Hospitallers, whose prior was suing William son
of Thomas Oede for land in Harbury in 1347; (fn. 3) and
the grant to John Fisher in 1562 included a capital
messuage in Harbury late of the Hospital of St. John
of Jerusalem. (fn. 4)
Richard de Barre, with the assent of Robert, Earl
of Leicester (1163–8), gave his land in Harbury to
Nuneaton Priory, subject to a rent of 10 marks during
his life. (fn. 5) And 2 virgates in Harbury were granted by
Robert le Megre in 1213 to the Priory of Nuneaton, (fn. 6)
the prioress being reckoned as one of the 'lords' of
Harbury in 1279. (fn. 7) The Nuneaton property in
'Horrebury' (? Harbury) was in 1535 worth £3 5s. 8d. (fn. 8)
and was included in the grant to Fisher in 1582. (fn. 9)
The Priory of Clattercote in Oxfordshire had a grant
of land here from Philip son of Miles of Coventry,
which they transferred to Combe Abbey in 1242. (fn. 10)
Church
The church of ALL SAINTS lies to the
north of the village, in the centre of a small
churchyard entered by a modern lychgate. It consists of chancel, nave, north and south
aisles, north chapel, and west tower. When built in
the latter part of the 13th century it consisted of chancel,
nave, south aisle, and west tower. It has been much
altered in modern times, the south aisle widened, a
north aisle and chapel added, most of the windows
renewed, and the upper part of the tower rebuilt in
red brickwork, the whole building re-roofed, and most
of the walls refaced. All the roofs are tiled.
The east gable wall of the chancel is built of small
limestone rubble with occasional blocks of dressed
sandstone and dressed stone angle buttresses. The
three-light moulded tracery window with a pointed
arch and hood-moulding is modern. On the south
side, also built of rubble, are two modern squareheaded windows of two trefoil lights with label mouldings, and between them a narrow doorway with a
pointed arch of one splay, probably of 14th-century
date; at the western end there is a low-side lancet
window with a single splay, the lower part blocked
with masonry. The north side, also of rubble, has a
long narrow lancet window at the east end, dating
from the 13th century; the remainder of this wall is
occupied by a modern vestry. The east wall of the
south aisle has a modern three-light tracery window
with a pointed arch and hood-moulding stopped on
square blocks. On the south side there are two similar
windows with a buttress between, and to the west a
modern doorway with a moulded pointed arch of two
orders, the outer supported on attached shafts with
moulded capitals and bases. In the west wall there is a
four-light window to the nave and a three-light to the
north aisle similar to those in the south aisle. The north
aisle is lighted by three three-light and one two-light
tracery windows, and has a north door; all similar to
those in the south aisle. The vestry is a continuation
of the aisle and has a pointed arch doorway of one splay
and lighted on the east side by a three-light window
similar to that in the aisle. Against its north wall
there is a small brick-built boiler-house with a tiled
roof.
The west tower must have given trouble from the
time it was built; the original shallow flat buttresses
were unequal to arresting a tendency for its west wall
to lean outwards and, as a result, massive buttresses in
four weathered stages were built at the west corners,
partly overlapping the original ones. The upper part
of the second and belfry stages had been taken down to
the level of the ridge of the nave roof, where the tower
was finished off with a low pyramidal roof; (fn. 11) they were
rebuilt in red brick, perhaps when the bells were recast
in 1811. The tower, built of roughly coursed limestone rubble with worked sandstone dressings, is in
three stages, with buttresses at each corner, that at the
north-east angle coming down in the nave. On the
west face in the first stage is a lancet window with a
single splay and above, in the second stage, which is
marked by a weathered splay, there is the blocked
lower half of a narrow window. From half-way up
this stage the tower is continued in modern brickwork.
The buttress at the north-west corner is embodied in
the modern nave wall. The later buttress to the south
overlaps a loop light to the tower stair, and a square
opening has been left in the north side to act as a
borrowed light. On the south side in the lower stage
there is a lancet window and above it in the second
stage a diamond-shaped painted wooden clock dial
dated 1835, but the clock itself dates from the 18th
century. Above the clock in the brickwork is a roundheaded window to the ringing-chamber. On the face
of the buttress to the west there is an incised and
painted sundial with an inscription—'Time flieth what
dost . . .' The modern brick belfry stage has a battlemented parapet with plain cement copings, a cement
string-course marking the third stage, and roundheaded openings in each face.
The chancel (30 ft. 9 in. by 16 ft. 9 in.) has a
modern tiled floor with two steps from the nave, one
at the altar rail, and two to the altar. The modern
roof is of the hammer-beam type. The east window
has a pointed rear-arch and splayed stop-chamfered
jambs and below it a modern carved stone reredos
with coloured tile panels. At the east end of the south
wall there is a modern piscina with a stop-chamfered
trefoil head. The two modern windows have flatshouldered rear-arches, and the doorway between them
a pointed one with a single splay. At the west end the
low-side window has a splayed recess with a flat head.
Fixed to this wall is a small brass inscription to Anne
Wagstaff, died 1624. The western half of the north
wall has been removed and a wide arch inserted,
opening into the modern vestry, the organ being placed
under the arch. In the eastern end the 13th-century
lancet window has a widely splayed recess with a
pointed rear-arch.
The nave (65 ft. 2 in. by 20 ft. 9 in.) has a tile and
wood-block floor and an open roof of the queen-post
type with curved brackets to the tie-beams. The south
arcade has three bays with pointed arches of two
splayed orders supported on octagonal pillars with
richly moulded capitals and bases. At the ends the
inner order dies out on flat responds and the outer
continues down to splayed stops. The tower arch is of
three splayed orders, the inner resting on responds,
which repeat the inner order, with restored moulded
capitals and single-splay bases, the two outer splays
dying out on the walls.
The south aisle (38 ft. 9 in. by 16 ft. 6 in.) was
widened when the nave was rebuilt and the north aisle
added. The line of the earlier lean-to roof can be seen
on the east wall of the tower below the modern kingpost truss roof. The arch from the aisle to the tower
was not widened with the aisle but its south jamb was
rebuilt; it is of three splayed orders, the inner order
resting on a respond with a moulded capital on the
south and dying out on the tower pier on the north.
The modern north arcade is of five bays with pointed
arches, octagonal pillars and capitals in harmony with
the original on the south. The chancel arch is of two
splayed orders which continue down to splayed stops
without capitals, dating from about the middle of the
14th century. In the floor at the west end is a large
stone slab to Alys Wagstaffe, died 1563, inlaid with
an inscribed brass border enclosing the matrix for a
female figure and on her right is a brass figure of
her daughter in the dress of the period, her hands
clasped in prayer, and on her left the matrix for her
(five) sons. There are two brass inscriptions outside
the border and two within. (fn. 12)
The north aisle (65 ft. 5 in. by 16 ft. 10 in.) is paved
with tiles, and the open roof is a form of queen-post
with curved brackets to the tie-beams. All the windows
have pointed stop-chamfered rear-arches. In the floor
at the west end is a large stone slab with a brass coat
of arms in a lozenge with crest and mantling, and below
a brass tablet to James Wright, died 1685. Opposite
the north door is a modern stone font with an octagonal
basin, having foliated panels on all sides, octagonal
shaft, moulded base, and a circular basin lined with
copper. In front of the north door there is an early17th-century carved chest with a plain panelled lid.
The vestry is a continuation of the north aisle and shut
off from it by a wooden screen. On the north side
there is a door and a recess with a segmental-pointed
arch. The floor is tiled.
The tower (15 ft. 3 in. by 15 ft. 5 in.) is paved with
tiles and has an octagonal base in the centre for the
font, now in the north aisle. The two lancet windows
have widely-splayed jambs and sills with pointed reararches. The south-west corner is splayed for the door
to the tower staircase, which has a pointed arch formed
of two stones. On the walls there are several 18th- and
19th-century memorials, and against the south wall an
oak chest with iron bands terminating in fleurs-de-lis,
two locks, and hasps for padlocks, probably early18th-century.
The five bells were recast by Thomas Mears in 1811. (fn. 13)
The plate consists of a silver chalice with cover
inscribed 'Harberbery 1576,' the hallmark illegible.
The registers commence 1564.
Advowson
The church was granted to Kenilworth Priory by the younger Geoffrey
de Clinton about the middle of the
12th century. (fn. 14) His gift was ratified by Robert de
Lodbroke and his brother William, a priest, and by
Robert's son Ralph le Megre, in the presence of his
grandmother, his wife, and her mother and her uncle
Ralph de Parco, with the addition of 2 virgates of land,
one of them in remorse for having laid violent hands
on the canons in a quarrel as to their rights to it. (fn. 15)
It was appropriated to the priory by Bishop Muschamp
in the reign of John. (fn. 16) The patronage remained with
the convent; just before the Dissolution they granted
a turn, which was not exercised till 1550, to Nicholas
Cooke and others. (fn. 17) The rectory and advowson were
retained by the Crown till 1589–90, when they were
granted to Richard Thekeston and others. (fn. 18) They
were soon passed to the Wagstaff family, Henry and
Thomas in 1598 conveying the advowson to Richard
Wagstaff, (fn. 19) subsequently lord of one of the Harbury
manors. Between 1633, when Richard Wagstaff
presented, (fn. 20) and 1638 (fn. 21) the advowson came into the
hands of James Wright; he or his son James presented
in 1670, (fn. 22) and Dorothy Wright of Warwick in 1711. (fn. 23)
By 1743 the advowson had passed to the Newsham or
Newsam family, who continued to hold it for more
than a century, the Rev. Clement Newsam (died
c. 1852) being incumbent as well as patron. (fn. 24) The
next presentation was made by trustees, (fn. 25) and after
being in private hands early in the 20th century
(Mrs. Edith Kearney patron, 1900, (fn. 26) Mrs. Beardsworth, 1915), (fn. 27) the advowson is again in the hands
of trustees. (fn. 28)
The value of the church in 1291 was £12 4s. 8d.,
together with pensions of 10s. yearly to the Prior of
Warmington and 12s. yearly to the Prior of Tutbury
(Staffs.) (fn. 29) In 1535 the rectory was farmed at £10 (fn. 30)
and the vicarage was worth £5 clear. (fn. 31) At this time
Tutbury still received the 12s. pension, in lieu of tithes
from Kenilworth. (fn. 32) This pension must have been
derived from the gift of 'Vasolinus' of two-thirds of the
tithes of his demesne in Harbury and Chesterton, which
gift was confirmed by Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby,
between 1140 and 1160. (fn. 33) The pension to Warmington originated in a grant of tithes here and elsewhere
made by Robert, Count of Meulan, and his brother
Henry, Earl of Warwick, to the abbey of Préaux,
confirmed by William I c. 1080. (fn. 34) Warmington
Priory was a cell of Préaux and was granted in 1428
to the Carthusians of Witham (Somerset), (fn. 35) but there
is no evidence of the 10s. being paid to them.
Charities
John Jorge. It is recited in a deed
dated 20 May 1736 that certain land
in Harbury was given for the relief of
the poor and the maintenance and repair of the church
of Harbury. The land has been sold and the proceeds
of sale invested. The annual income amounts to
£47 14s. 8d.
Poor's Allotment. Upon the inclosure of the common
fields of Harbury about 1780 an allotment of 30 acres
was awarded in lieu of the right of the poor to cut
furze. The allotment is now let, producing an annual
income of £33 1s.
The charities are regulated by schemes of the
Charity Commissioners dated 16 June 1865 and
31 July 1869. The schemes appoint a body of trustees
and directs that one moiety of the income of Jorge's
charity shall be applied towards the maintenance of
the fabric of the parish church, inclusive of the tower
and steeple but exclusive of the chancel, and, subject
thereto, towards defraying the other expenses usually
covered by a church rate, and the other moiety and
the income of the Poor's Allotment shall be applied in
the provision of clothes, bedding, &c., for the most
deserving poor persons resident in the parish.