CHURCH LAWFORD
Acreage: 1,767.
Population: 1911, 232; 1921, 271; 1931, 280.
The River Avon forms the northern boundary of the
parish, and on it, no doubt, was the mill worth 10s. 6d.
which was mentioned in the Domesday Survey (fn. 1) and
was later given to the monks of Pipewell Abbey, being
valued at 5s. in 1291. (fn. 2) The small village lies to the
west of the church between the river and the road
leading west from Rugby, close to which the railway
from Rugby to Birmingham cuts straight across the
parish. The country is open, rising gently from about
260 ft. in the north to 360 ft. in the south. A terrier of
the glebe in 1635 speaks of 'the inclosure of some parts
of the fields here fifty years ago', (fn. 3) probably by Thomas
Wightman, who had put out of cultivation 140 acres
of arable. (fn. 4)
An undated early-18th-century petition of 22 inhabitants of Church Lawford (3 of whom signed with
their marks) to the Duke of Montagu for the establishment of a charity school has been preserved. (fn. 5) The
Montagu estates here were rented at £704 17s. 10d.
(plus woodland valued at £259 6s. 6d.) in 1710, and
£1,115 15s. 6d. in 1796, when there were 36 tenants,
and the duke owned all but about 100 acres of the
parish ('the quantity of lands in this manor is between
1,600 and 1,700 acres'). (fn. 6) As early as 1710 only 154
acres were arable, pasture accounting for 1,465 acres
and river and upland meadow for 109. An undated
survey, circa 1717, gives 37 tenants of 1,679 acres,
valued at £770 14s. 10d., besides 84 acres of glebe and
29 of wood, waste, &c. (fn. 7)
Manor
In 1086 the 5-hide unit of [CHURCH]
LAWFORD was among the estates held of
Earl Roger of Shrewsbury by Rainald de
Bailleul; before the Conquest Chetelbert held it. (fn. 8) In
the reign of Henry II Roger Heyrun was lord of this
manor. (fn. 9) He was probably son of the William 'Hairo'
who held land in Warwickshire in 1130. (fn. 10) There seem
to have been three Rogers, all benefactors to Combe
Abbey, (fn. 11) of whom it was probably the second who was
dealing with land in Lawford in 1200, (fn. 12) and the third
who was acquitted on a charge of arson in 1221. (fn. 13) On
this occasion his brother William was mentioned as
suspected, while among Roger's sureties were John
Heyrun (presumably his brother) and William de
Wavere of Lawford (John's son-in-law). Roger Heyrun, who in 1243 held a knight's fee in 'Lawford Heyrun' of John FitzAlan, (fn. 14) one coheir of Earl Roger, died
in or shortly before 1251, leaving a widow Agnes,
daughter of Richard atte Halle; (fn. 15) and, his brother
John being dead, his heir was the latter's daughter
Julian, then wife of William de Wavere. (fn. 16) William
took his wife's name of Heyrun and left a son John and
a daughter Margery, married to William de Newenham. (fn. 17) In 1307 John Heyrun settled the manor on
himself for life with remainder to (his nephew) Robert
son of William de Newenham and his wife Elizabeth
daughter of Thomas Boydyn in tail, with contingent
remainders to Nicholas, Julian, Walter, and Richard,
brothers and sister of Robert. (fn. 18) This Robert is identified by Dugdale with Robert de Lalleford (i.e. Lawford), who figures as the chief taxpayer in Church
Lawford to the subsidy of 1332; (fn. 19) but the Pipewell
chronicler expressly states that Robert de Lalleford
acquired his rights by purchase and not by heredity. (fn. 20)
He was knight of the shire in 1340 and died before
1346, when his son John de Lalleford granted the
manor to John Whitwell for life. (fn. 21) After the death of
John de Lalleford his brother William is said to have
granted the manor in 1361 to Walter Whythors and
Isabel his wife, who conveyed it to trustees. (fn. 22)
By some means the manor came into the hands of the
Staffords (fn. 23) and was held by Humphrey, Duke of
Buckingham, at his death on the field of Northampton
in 1460. (fn. 24) After the attainder of Edward, Duke of
Buckingham, in 1521 it was granted to Thomas,
Marquess of Dorset, (fn. 25) whose son Henry, Duke of
Suffolk, was also attainted, and in November 1554 the
manor, with the park (20 acres) and other appurtenances, was granted to Robert Bayly, the elder and
younger. (fn. 26) In May 1555 they had leave to convey the
property to Thomas Leigh, alderman of London. (fn. 27)
His grandson Francis, Lord Dunsmore, was holding
the manor about 1640 (fn. 28) and through his daughter
Elizabeth it passed with Dunchurch (q.v.) to the
Dukes of Montagu and Buccleuch.
The abbey of Combe received a number of small
grants of land in Church Lawford from the Heyruns
and others, Roger Heyrun and his widow Agnes both
being buried in the abbey church. (fn. 29) In 1291 the
Combe property in this parish produced £3 17s. 8d.
yearly, (fn. 30) and in 1535 their rents amounted to £4 3s. 6d. (fn. 31)
At the Dissolution the Combe estates were granted to
the Duchess of Richmond for life and in May 1557 all
the Crown's rights in such of this property as lay in
Church Lawford were conveyed to Sir Rowland Hill
and Thomas Leigh, the owner of the manor. (fn. 32)
The Northamptonshire abbey of Pipewell also held
land in the parish, (fn. 33) the chief grant made to them being
one from Roger (III) Heyrun of waste ground at
Bromehill, or Marham, where the monks planted trees
and established a sheep-run, and a water-mill and the
site for a windmill. (fn. 34) In 1535 their rents here amounted
to 52s. (fn. 35) After the Dissolution this property was
granted in 1553 to John Grene of Westminster and
Ralph Hall, scrivener. (fn. 36)
Stude was among the possessions of Coventry Priory
confirmed in 1221 by Pope Honorius III, (fn. 37) and a
chapel here is alleged to have been appropriated to the
priory in 1260. (fn. 38) In 1528 the convent leased 100
acres and several groves at the Stode on Dunsmore
Heath to Thomas Bromeswyse, his wife, and two
sons for their lives; (fn. 39) and in 1554 this property
was sold by the Crown to Thomas Reve and Giles
Isham. (fn. 40)
Philip de Wynchecumbe in 1246 granted 1½ virgates in Church Lawford to the priory of the Holy
Sepulchre, Warwick. (fn. 41) In 1535 the priory was receiving 20s. in rents from this parish, (fn. 42) and in 1544 a
messuage here which had belonged to the priory was
included in a grant to John Burges and Edward Wotton,
Doctors of Medicine. (fn. 43)
Church
The church of ST. PETER is situated
to the east of the village, standing on the
north side of a large churchyard. It consists of a chancel, nave, north and south aisles, west
tower, north porch, and a vestry. It was rebuilt in the
gothic style in hammer-dressed sandstone ashlar in
1874, and all that has been retained of the previous
church is three bays of the 14th-century north arcade,
two piscinas, the font, and some fragments of tracery
and early-14th-century slabs with foliated crosses built
into the tower walls. A low side window and two
lancets, redressed and restored have been re-used in the
north wall of the chancel.
The chancel has a tiled roof and is lighted on the
north by the low side window, a lancet, and a pointed
three-light window; on the east by one of five lights;
and on the south by one three-light. All the windows
except the re-used lancets and low side are traceried and
have hood-moulds with carved stops. The aisles have
low-pitched lean-to roofs covered with lead, and the
nave a tiled one of steep pitch. Each aisle is lighted by
four two-light windows, with single ones east and west.
The clearstory has five three-light windows on each
side.
The tower, which rises in three stages, divided by
string-courses, has buttresses at each angle, and a
battlemented parapet with gargoyles at each angle. On
the north side is the tower staircase, square, splayed to
an octagonal battlemented turret. There are single
lights to the second stage and the belfry has two-light
traceried windows on each face. The west doorway,
combined with a three-light pointed traceried window,
has a pointed head, carved spandrels, and a band
decorated with three shields and the date 1874. The
porch has a moulded pointed entrance arch on detached shafts with foliated capitals and moulded
bases. The doorway has a moulded arch with a hoodmould.
The chancel (30 ft. 10 in. by 15 ft. 6 in.) has a
14th-century piscina at the eastern end of the south
wall, with an ogee trefoiled head and twin circular
basins, the projecting portion a restoration. Opposite,
in the north wall, there is an aumbry with a shelf and
the iron hinge-pins of a door. There are two steps to
the altar, which is modern, but the rails with turned
balusters date from the 17th century and below the
window on the south side there is some panelling inscribed enis thoi 1618; further sections of this oak
panelling are fixed at the eastern ends of both aisles.
On the south side an arcade of two bays of pointed
arches opens into an organ chamber and vestry.
The nave (51 ft. 4 in. by 15 ft. 6 in.) has an open
roof with moulded members, the tie-beams with central
carved bosses. The arcades each consist of five bays of
pointed arches of two splayed orders on octagonal
pillars with moulded capitals and bases. The three
eastern bays of the north arcade are 14th century, the
pillars being constructed of alternate courses of light
and red sandstone. Below the corbel supporting the
east bay there is a 14th-century piscina with a trefoil
ogee head, fitted with a modern circular basin. The
chancel arch is of two moulded orders with a hoodmould, the inner order supported on moulded corbels.
The pulpit, placed to the south of the chancel arch, is
octagonal with carved panels and dates from the 17th
century; it stands on a modern stone base. The font
in the south-west corner is octagonal, of red sandstone
with a moulded basin on an octagonal stem splayed to
a square base. It dates from the 14th century and has a
deep lead-lined basin.
The south aisle (51 ft. 4 in. by 10 ft. 6 in.) has a
dummy south doorway with a round head and standing
in the recess so formed there is a memorial slab with the
following inscription:
Here in a steedfast hope of joyful resurrection resteth ye
bodye of Tho: Evans Gentleman, borne at Henlan in ye
coun: of denbigh who attended on ye great seale of England
as ordinarie messenger about XXX yeares & about 13
yeares one of ye 4 ordinarye of ye receipt he gave by his
last will fyftye poundes for a stock to continnue for ever
that ye profit thereof yearilie raused might be imployed
towards ye repayre of this church where his body is interred. Besides divers other good soms of money for ye
releefe of ye poore & repaire of ye churches in such places
as he had lived in and having accomplished ye age of
LXXVII years he deceased at Newenham Regis ye XII
day of august AoD MDCXII.
At the east end there is an arched opening to the organ
chamber. The north aisle is the same length as the
south but 11 ft. 6 in. wide.
The tower (10 ft. square) paved with stone, has a
painted list of charities on the walls, and a framed Royal
Arms of George III. The arch is pointed, of five
splayed orders to the nave and two to the tower, the
inner order supported on moulded corbels.
Of the bells, the treble, by Watts of Leicester, 1621,
was given by Mark Brewster, a London wool merchant
who died at Moscow. Two others were recast by
J. Taylor & Co. in 1872. (fn. 44) A fourth bell was added
later, and in 1932 the ring was augmented to six. (fn. 44a)
The plate consists of a pewter flagon; a silver flagon,
the gift of Revd. R. Edmunds 1851; a silver chalice of
1667; two silver patens of 1851, and two pewter
plates.
The registers commence 1575.
Advowson
At some date between 1086 and
1094 Hugh Baldran and Aeliz his
wife gave to the Norman abbey of St.
Pierre-sur-Dives the churches of Wolston and of St.
Peter of Lawford ('Ledleford'), the latter with its
endowment of 1 hide of land. His grant was confirmed
by his lord Rainald de Bailleul and by Roger, Earl of
Shrewsbury. (fn. 45) During the long wars with France the
abbey's English possessions, which were administered
from its cell of Wolston Priory, were frequently in the
hands of the king, who presented to Lawford Church; (fn. 46)
and at last, in 1394, the abbey sold its English property
to the Carthusian priory of Coventry. (fn. 47) The church,
which was valued at £6 13s. 4d. in 1291, (fn. 48) was not
appropriated and in 1535 the Carthusians were receiving from it only a pension of 50s., (fn. 49) the clear value
of the rectory being then £11 15s. 4d. (fn. 50) After the
Dissolution the advowson was acquired by Sir Thomas
Leigh, who presented in 1559, (fn. 51) and it then descended
with the manor until 1919, when it was transferred to
the Bishop of Coventry. Since 1595 the benefice has
been united with that of Kings Newnham. Terriers of
1635 and 1698 show 80 acres of glebe, in 4 plots; at
neither of these dates was there any rectory house. (fn. 52)
The only known evidence for the alleged chapel of
Stude (mentioned above) seems to be the occurrence
of 'William son of the chaplain of Stude', accused of
homicide at Lawford in 1232, (fn. 53) and the statement in
1276 that William Bagod when sheriff (1271) caused
20 sheep, worth 20s. to be taken from the chaplain of
Stade (sic) for the king's service and paid nothing for
them. (fn. 54)
Charities
The Rev. Robert Edmonds by his
will proved on 17 August 1863 bequeathed to the rector and churchwardens of Church Lawford £500, the interest to be
laid out on 25 March in every year in the following
manner: viz. £5 towards the support of the Sunday
School penny club, £2 for the purchase or towards the
repair of books in the old parish library, and the remainder in the purchase of either coals, blankets, or
sheeting, or in certain named articles of grocery, to be
distributed generally among the poor of the parishes of
Church Lawford and King's Newnham, special favour
to be shown to the widows, the aged, and those having
large families. The testator directed that the recipients
of the charity shall be members of the Church of
England. Miss Anne Edmonds, a niece of the testator
gave £200 in augmentation of his gift to be held upon
the same trusts. By an Order dated 21 December 1906
the Charity Commissioners determined that the part
of the endowment of the charities which ought to be
applied to educational purposes consists of the sum of
£200 Consols, part of the sum of £555 15s. 3d. like
Stock constituting the endowment of the charities. The
annual income of the charities for the poor amounts to
£8 17s. 8d.
James Croft by will dated 30 June 1830 gave to the
minister and parish officers of Church Lawford £500,
to apply yearly £10, part of the interest, in educating
5 boys and 5 girls, children of the most deserving poor
of the parish, and to distribute the remainder of the
interest on New Year's day in blankets, sheets, and
coals amongst the most deserving and industrious poor
of the parish. The annual income of the charity for the
poor amounts to £5 8s.