NEWBOLD-ON-AVON
Acreage:
Newbold, 1,628
Cosford, 557
Little Lawford, 444
Long Lawford, 1,715
Total 4,344.
Population:
Newbold, 1911, 728; 1921, 720; 1931, 1,685.
Cosford, 1911, 47; 1921, 41; 1931, 30.
Little Lawford, 1911, 24; 1921, 26; 1931, 21.
Long Lawford, 1911, 869; 1921, 912; 1931, 900.
The old parish contained the five townships or hamlets (fn. 1) of Newbold, Little Harborough, Cosford, Little
Lawford, and Long Lawford, of which the three last
became civil parishes in the 19th century. By the
Rugby Urban District Extension Order of 1931 Newbold itself became part of the Urban District (since
1932 Borough) of Rugby, Little Harborough being
transferred to Great Harborough. (fn. 2)
The eastern boundary of the old parish is formed by
the River Swift, running for 1¾ miles southwards into
the River Avon. To the west of this stream Cosford
forms a roughly rectangular block, averaging 1 mile
from north to south and about ¾ mile across, the hamlet
lying in the extreme north on the right bank of the
Swift. The north boundary runs down Spike Lane and
westwards along other small lanes to Cathiron, whence
a small stream runs southwards into the Avon. From
the west end of Spike Lane a road leads south past
Little Harborough to the village of Newbold, grouped
to the north of the church on the road running west
from Brownsover to King's Newnham. The village
lies at the top of one deep bend of the Avon, which
then makes a reverse bend, at the southern tip of which
is Thurnmill (see below), probably on the site of the
mill at Long Lawford recorded in the Domesday
Survey as worth 14s. (fn. 3) At this point there is an island
in the river and just east of it the Sow Brook enters the
Avon. This brook and one of its branches form the
eastern boundary of Long Lawford, of which the large
village stretches for nearly half a mile along a road
which runs north from the Rugby-Church Lawford
road, with its chapel of St. John, built in 1839, at its
north end. Immediately beyond the chapel begins the
township of Little Lawford, which lies on either side
of the Avon. The mill here, mentioned in the Domesday Survey as worth 4s., (fn. 4) was on the site of the later
Little Lawford corn mill, the island opposite it being
referred to in the 12th century as 'the holm south of
the mill'. (fn. 5) The mill was then held by the monks
of Pipewell Abbey and an agreement was made by
which the men of Roger Pantolf were to have
access to the river for fishing when the mill-pond was
full. (fn. 6)
The Oxford Canal crosses the parish immediately
north of Newbold village, with a branch leading to the
Newbold Lime Works, south of the church. The
Leicester and Rugby line of the former L.M.S. Railway
runs through the centre of Cosford; the main line from
Rugby to Birmingham crosses the parish due west just
below Long Lawford village; and the Trent Valley
branch leads north-west from the Avon to Cathiron
Spinney; but there is no station in the parish.
The older part of the village of Newbold, consisting
of red brick 18th-century houses and some timberframed of the 17th century, lies west of the church on
a hill. At the foot of the hill, to the east, a modern
settlement has developed.
Little Lawford, or Hall Farm, on the north boundary,
is a long rectangular building, two stories high, of the
16th century, built of squared limestone with sandstone dressings and a chamfered plinth. It has a modern
slated roof, brick chimneys, and two dormer windows.
The west front was refaced and a plain parapet added
in 1604. There is a string-course at first-floor level,
and it has four square-headed three-light windows
equally spaced to each floor; the mullions have been
removed and timber frames inserted, except in one to
the south which has been blocked and retains its
mullions; all have hood-moulds with return ends.
Above a modern central porch and door is a tablet with
the date 1604. The back retains some 16th-century
features; it has two wide doorways with four-centred
heads, one towards each end, and several original
square-headed windows of two splays to the ground
floor; the first-floor windows have been blocked and
modern frames inserted. There are original two-light
windows to the roof space in the north and south
gables. The interior has been modernized and no
original features remain.
An elaborate agreement (fn. 7) was made in 1210 between
the abbey of Pipewell and Roger Pantolf by which the
monks were to have pasturage rights for all the cattle
and beasts of their grange of Long Lawford and of
Thurnmill on Long Lawford Moor, including a
thousand sheep if Roger or his heirs put sheep on the
moor. They were also allowed to cut turves up to the
edge of the Church Lawford turbary, where they could
not cut them. The thicket (spinetum) of Thurnmill
was divided between the monks and Roger and each
could do what they would with their half. The monks
had fishing rights in their mill-pond and the right
to set fish-traps (corbellas) in the 'Lavaleisun aqua'
(perhaps the Sow Brook), but Roger had all the fishing
in the Avon.
In 1333 John de Merynton, farmer of Newbold
Grange, forcibly inclosed 'la grene' in front of the
grange, where the tenants, great and small, had grazing
rights. (fn. 8) In 1773 there is reference to 'late inclosure' at
Long Lawford having altered the constitution of the
yardlands. (fn. 9) By 1735 Cosford, Little Harborough, and
Cathiron had mostly been inclosed, but the centre of
the parish was still open-field. (fn. 10) Open fields in Newbold and Long Lawford Heath were inclosed under an
Act of 1773. (fn. 11)
Manors
NEWBOLD, assessed at 8 hides, was
among the estates held by Geoffrey de
Wirce in 1086, (fn. 12) and with his other lands
came to Niel d'Aubigny and his descendants the Mowbrays, two fees here being held of John de Mowbray
at his death in 1361. (fn. 13) Early in the 12th century
Robert de Stuteville was enfeoffed in Newbold, (fn. 14) and
the mesne lordship remained with his descendants, (fn. 15)
Thomas, Lord Wake of Lidell, holding it in 1349, (fn. 16)
and Elizabeth, dowager Countess of Kent, in 1411, (fn. 17)
in which year the lordship of the quarter-fee passed to
Margaret, widow of the Earl of Somerset and coheir of
Elizabeth's husband John, Earl of Kent. (fn. 18)
Roger de Stuteville (grandson of Robert) gave the
manor of Newbold-on-Avon to his sister's son Roger
Pantolf, (fn. 19) from whom it was sometimes known as
NEWBOLD PANTOLF, or PAUNTON. (fn. 20) Roger's
son and heir William Pantolf was a benefactor of the
Northamptonshire abbey of Pipewell, to which he
retired in his old age; but because he was turned out of
his chamber to make room for 'a great Justice' (who
was probably on circuit) William went off in anger to
the priory of Monks Kirby, where he died (c. 1245)
and left to that house his chief messuage, 3 carucates of
land, and fishing rights in the Avon, which he had
intended to leave to Pipewell. (fn. 21) William left no issue
and his coheirs were his sisters Emma, who married
Robert de Waver, lord of Chesters Over, and Burga,
who gave her share to Pipewell. (fn. 22) The Waver portion
of Newbold was held of Thomas Wake of Lidell in
1349 as a quarter-fee by Thomas de Waver; (fn. 23) it is
said to have been bought by William Barbour, whose
granddaughter married Richard Dalby of Brockhampton. (fn. 24) Richard died in 1477 seised of a quarter of the
manor of Newbold, held of the Duke of Norfolk
(representing the Mowbrays), leaving a son Robert. (fn. 25)
The priory of Monks Kirby held a moiety of the
manor of Newbold Paunton in 1276 and had done so
for the past twenty years. (fn. 26) In 1305 the grants of free
warren and other franchises made to the priory included Newbold, (fn. 27) which was also among the manors
of the priory confirmed to the Carthusians of Axholme
in 1415. (fn. 28) At the Dissolution this estate was probably
absorbed into the manor of Monks Kirby (q.v.), as
tenements in Newbold Paunton which were held in
1626 by Adolphus Ryplingham had formed part of the
Earl of Hertford's manor of Monks Kirby; (fn. 29) but a
so-called manor of Newbold 'Pantoffe', formerly of
Axholme monastery, was acquired in 1640 by William
Boughton (fn. 30) and presumably descended with his other
estates in this parish.
Burga de Bending, Roger Pantolf's daughter, gave
to Pipewell Abbey land in Mikelhamme near Thyrnemill (molendinum de Spineto) in Newbold. (fn. 31) By 1291
the abbey had in Newbold, besides 1 carucate at
Thyrnemill worth 16s., 2 carucates worth 30s., a mill
worth 6s. 8d., and 6s. in rents. (fn. 32) In 1321 the monks
leased the grange of Newbold to John de Merynton,
Henry his brother, and Hugh and Agnes their parents,
for their lives; the hall at this time was in ruin but
there was an excellent barn, and the other buildings
were all rebuilt. (fn. 33) The grange was acquired, with that
of Long Lawford, by Edward Boughton in 1542. (fn. 34) It
is called a manor in 1640, when William Boughton
had it. (fn. 35)
The estates of Geoffrey de Wirce in 1086 included
5 hides in [LONG] LAWFORD. (fn. 36) In the second
half of the 12th century Sir John de Stuteville, who
was lord of Long Lawford, Newbold, and Cosford,
gave to Pipewell Abbey the grange of Lawford with
the 'inland', or demesne, appurtenant to it; he also
gave a thicket (placeam spinosam) called Blakethyrne,
where the monks built a water-mill and a fulling-mill
adjoining it and changed its name to Thyrnemill—which mills were completely destroyed by fire on the
day of St. Thomas the martyr (29 December) 1328. (fn. 37)
Henry II confirmed to the abbey the gifts of Robert de
Stuteville, John his brother, and John and Roger, sons
of the said John in Lawford. (fn. 38) Many other gifts of
land in Long Lawford (fn. 39) were made to the abbey, and
by 1349 the knight's fee in Newbold, Lawford, and
Cosford, which had been held of the Wakes by 'the
heirs of Roger Pantolf' in 1281, (fn. 40) was held by the
Abbot of Pipewell. (fn. 41) In 1291 the abbey had in Lawford 5 carucates worth £3, rents amounting to 14s., a
mill worth 10s., 2s. from pleas in their manorial court,
and 6s. 8d. of farm stock. (fn. 42) In 1535 the monks were
deriving £3 0s. 10½d. from Long Lawford and 9s. 4d.
from Cosford. (fn. 43) Between 1483 and 1485 the convent
of Pipewell demised the granges of Long Lawford and
Newbold, with that of Bilton, to Richard Boughton,
William Boughton (his son) and Agnes his wife, for
99 years. (fn. 44) William in 1522 made a settlement on his
son Edward, then aged 14, who in 1542 obtained from
the Crown a grant in fee of the granges, (fn. 45) of which he
died seised in 1547, (fn. 46) his son William being then only
4 years old. (fn. 47) This William died in 1596, similarly
seised, (fn. 48) and the granges descended with the manor of
Little Lawford (see below), until the murder of Sir
Theodosius Boughton in 1780, when Long Lawford
went, with Brownsover in Clifton (q.v.) to his sister
Theodosia, who married Sir Egerton Leigh. The
manor was held in 1936 by Capt. Henry Allesley Ward
Boughton-Leigh. (fn. 49)
Manors of Lawford and Cosford, formerly of Pipewell Abbey, were granted by the Crown in June 1553
to John Grene of Westminster and Ralph Hall, scrivener, (fn. 50) who in January 1554 had licence to grant
them to Elizabeth Boughton, widow. (fn. 51) She had been
wife of Sir Nicholas Barrington and then second wife
of William (son of Richard) Boughton. (fn. 52) In September
1556 she settled tenements in Long Lawford on
Thomas Boughton, the eldest of her seven sons, and
his wife, Margaret daughter of Edward Cave. (fn. 53) It is
possible that these manors were conveyed after her
death in 1558 (fn. 54) to Thomas Wightman, who in 1562
alienated manors of Lawford, Newbold, and Cosford
to Sir Thomas Leigh and Alice his wife. (fn. 55) These
manors then descended with Dunchurch (q.v.) to the
Dukes of Montagu and Buccleuch. (fn. 56) In 1710 the
Duke held courts leet and baron in Long Lawford and
Newbold and free fishery in the Avon, which with
½ yardland and 2 closes in Newbold and in Bilton were
worth £5, in addition to chief rents of 4s. 8½d. In 1732
the Montagu estate in Newbold amounted to 1,230
acres, including 14 kept by the duke in his own hands
and 35 in glebe. His 15 tenants included Sir Edward
(237) and Lady Boughton (400 acres) and the Duchy
of Lancaster (269 acres). (fn. 57)
In 1086 [LITTLE] LAWFORD, rated at 2 hides,
was held of Turchil by Leveva. (fn. 58) With other estates
of Turchil it came to the Earls of Warwick, being held
of the earl in 1235 and 1242 as one-fifth knight's fee. (fn. 59)
The one-fifth fee was assigned in dower to Alice widow
of Earl Guy in 1316, (fn. 60) and was held by Earl Thomas at
his death in 1400. (fn. 61)
Roger de Craft held the manor in the 12th century,
when he granted a mill here to the monks of Pipewell,
to hold by payment of 2 marks rent, his gift being confirmed by Henry II. (fn. 62) The rent was remitted by his
son Roger, (fn. 63) the monks later agreeing to pay 10s. yearly
to the priory of Monks Kirby, as rectors of Newbold,
in lieu of the tithes from the mill, which they could not
pay without infringing the privileges of the Cistercian
Order. (fn. 64) Roger is said to have granted the vill of Little
Lawford to John de Chavini, who bestowed it on
Combe Abbey. (fn. 65) That abbey, whose property here
was valued at £1 8s. 7d. in 1291, (fn. 66) came to an agreement with Pipewell in 1226 by which the monks of
Pipewell were to pay yearly to Combe 20s. in return
for a messuage and 6 acres of land; but by the 15th
century it was not known where this messuage and
land was, 'and that passes man's understanding and is
truly marvellous', (fn. 67) so that the compiler of the Pipewell chartulary sarcastically observes that the payment
was made 'because the moon shines on the water, as
the saying is'; (fn. 68) none the less the payment was still
being made in 1535. (fn. 69) Roger de Craft, however, held
the one-fifth fee in 1235 and 1242. (fn. 70) He died c. 1250,
his coheirs being his three sisters, (fn. 71) but this manor seems
to have passed to Geoffrey de Craft (perhaps his uncle),
who was murdered here in 1255. (fn. 72) He had married
Maud sister of Philip (son of Roger (fn. 73) ) Pantolf. (fn. 74) This
Philip was associated with a Roger de Craft in 1268 in
a suit with the Prior of Monks Kirby. (fn. 75) Geoffrey de
Craft is said to have been lord of the manor in 1276, (fn. 76)
and in 1316 the one-fifth fee was held by the abbots of
Combe and Pipewell and Geoffrey de Craft. (fn. 77) Alice
de Craft, who was one of the largest taxpayers in Little
Lawford in 1332, (fn. 78) was dealing with land here in
1327. (fn. 79) In 1360 licence for an oratory at Lawford in
Newbold was granted for two years to John de Merynton, (fn. 80) and similar licences were granted to Thomas
de Merynton for his manor of Little Lawford in 1367,
1370, 1372, and 1376. (fn. 81) A John Merynton of Lawford occurs in 1399, (fn. 82) and there is mention in 1406 of
Thomas Merynton of Little Lawford and Margery
his wife, (fn. 83) but in 1440 Geoffrey Allesley (fn. 84) and Eleanor
his wife and Thomas Boughton and Elizabeth his wife
(their daughter) (fn. 85) made a settlement of the manor, (fn. 86)
and in 1449 Giles Norton and Alice his wife conveyed
her rights in the manor to Thomas and Elizabeth. (fn. 87)
Their great-grandson Edward Boughton had, as already
mentioned, acquired the Pipewell property in this
parish and died in 1547 seised of the manor of Little
Lawford, which he had settled on his wife Elizabeth (fn. 88)
(one of the daughters and coheirs of William Willington). It then descended in the family of Boughton
with Brownsover in Clifton
(q.v.), until the murder of Sir
Theodosius Boughton, 8th baronet, in 1780; (fn. 89) his successor, Sir
Edward Boughton, pulled down
Lawford Hall and sold the manor
to John Caldecott in 1793, (fn. 90)
who built Holbrook Grange
and was lord of the manor until
1835. From him it passed to
Charles Marriott Caldecott,
whose daughter Merriel, widow
of Charles Godfrey Bolam, held
the estate in 1937. (fn. 91)
Caldecott. Argent a fesse azure fretty or between three cinquefoils gules.
The Wake knight's fee held by the Pantolfs and
Wavers lay in Newbold, Lawford, and Cosford. (fn. 92) The
portion constituting the manor of COSFORD evidently descended with Cesters Over in Monks Kirby
(q.v.) in the Waver family, being held at her death in
1545 by Christine, daughter of Sir Henry Waver and
wife first of William Browne and then of Humphrey
Dymmock. (fn. 93) The Abbey of Pipewell also held land
here, (fn. 94) called a manor when granted to John Grame
and Ralph Hall (fn. 95) and by them conveyed to Elizabeth
Boughton in 1554. (fn. 96) Two manors of Cosford have
descended with the Boughton and Montagu manors of
Long Lawford respectively. (fn. 97) The Montagu manor
was much the larger, comprising 532 acres in 1732.
Rugby School appears among the 21 tenants, holding
48 acres. (fn. 98)
Little Harborough was one of the places in which
the Abbey of Combe had grants of free warren and other
franchises in 1305. (fn. 99) It is referred to as a grange in
1258 (fn. 1) and the abbey's rents here in 1291 amounted to
5s. 9d. (fn. 2) In 1361 a quarter-fee here was held of John
de Mowbray by the Prior of Monks Kirby, (fn. 3) but the
place was never a manor. In 1732 513 acres here
belonged to the Duke of Montagu, his chief tenant
being Sir Edward Boughton. (fn. 4)
Church
The church of ST. BOTOLPH
stands just below the summit of a hill
in a small churchyard. It dates from the
15th century and is built on the site of an earlier one,
indicated by an exposed portion of an early-14thcentury tiled floor 3 in. below the present level of the
nave floor. The chancel was rebuilt in the 19th century, a parapet was added to the south aisle and the
whole church reroofed. It consists of a chancel, nave,
north and south aisles, north and south porches, and
west tower. It is constructed of a mixture of sandstone
and limestone rubble with sandstone dressings.
The rebuilt chancel is of sandstone ashlar with
diagonal buttresses at the angles, central buttresses on
the north and south, and a low-pitched roof behind a
plain parapet. The east end is lighted by a traceried
window of three cinquefoil lights with hood-mould and
head-stops; the north side by two of two lights; the
south also by two of two lights, with a moulded pointed
doorway between them. The south aisle has diagonal
buttresses at the angles and a low-pitched roof behind
a rebuilt plain parapet with crocketed pinnacles at
each end; the string-course at its base has also been renewed, but retains two original gargoyles. It is lighted by
four traceried windows of three lights with four-centred
heads of two hollow splays, one west of the porch, two
east, and one in the west wall.
The south porch is rectangular, with diagonal buttresses at the angles, terminating above a plain parapet
in crocketed pinnacles. It is built of red sandstone
ashlar, but has been almost entirely refaced and the
pinnacles, centre panel, and parapets have been renewed. The entrance is wide with a richly moulded
four-centred head, the mouldings continuing down the
jambs to splayed stops. Above the entrance, spandrels
have been formed by continuing the parapet to meet
the apex of a low-pitched gable, where it is carried up
as a panel containing a sundial within a canopied niche. (fn. 5)
The ceiling is a stone vault with moulded ribs resting
on carved and moulded corbels in each angle and
terminating in an octagonal boss decorated with four
quatrefoils. On either side there is a pointed traceried
window of two trefoil lights with a hood-mould. The
doorway is modern and has splayed jambs with a fourcentred head; the stone seats on both sides are also
modern.
The clearstory has battlemented parapets on moulded
string-courses with carved gargoyles at intervals and is
lighted on both sides by four traceried windows each
of three trefoil lights under four-centred heads; all
their tracery has been restored. The north aisle is
similar to the south except for the omission of the
parapet wall.
The north porch, built of red sandstone ashlar, has a
low-pitched roof behind a plain parapet, diagonal buttresses at the angles and a moulded plinth. Internally
it has a plain flat plaster ceiling. The entrance has a
pointed arch with a deep moulded splay and hoodmould, both supported on moulded capitals, the arch
mouldings being continued down the jambs to die out
on the splayed plinth. On the porch side all the mouldings have been hacked off to a rough splay. On each
side of the entrance there are two moulded trefoiled
niches with elaborate gabled and crocketed canopies,
and below there are bowl-shaped pedestals for images,
supported on short half-round shafts. The buttresses
are panelled with trefoiled heads, gabled and crocketed
and terminating in bases for missing pinnacles. The
stonework has been somewhat mutilated and is badly
decayed, and much of the detail has been lost. It is
lighted on each side by a pointed hollow-moulded window of two trefoil lights with a pierced quatrefoil.
The doorway has a four-centred arch under a flat head.
The tower, built of red sandstone ashlar, rises in four
stages, diminished by weathered offsets at each stage
except on the west side, which is diminished at the two
upper stories only. The two lower stages have wide
flat buttresses splayed to diagonal and carried up to the
top of a battlemented parapet to form square bases for
pinnacles, now missing. The parapet rests on a coved
string-course with grotesque gargoyles on each face. A
large moulded traceried window of five cinquefoil
lights with a hood-mould and mask stops occupies the
two lower stages of the west side. On the south is a
square-headed loop-light to the ringing-chamber, and
on the second stage of the west buttress there is a
sundial. There is a narrow doorway with a fourcentred head to the tower stair on the north side against
the west buttress, the stair having loop-lights in each
stage, and in the third stage there is a clock dial. The
belfry windows on each face have two cinquefoil lights
under four-centred heads of two splayed orders.
The 19th-century chancel (30 ft. by 15 ft. 4 in.) is
paved with stone, including some 18th-century memorial slabs, and has plastered walls. The altar and
rails are of oak and date from the 17th century, the
rails having turned oak balusters with moulded rail and
sole-piece. On the north wall there are two 19thcentury memorials, one to Sir Egerton Leigh, bart.,
died 1818; and built against the south wall there is a
large black and white marble monument, (fn. 6) by John
Hunt of Northampton, to Sir William Boughton, died
1716, and his wife Catherine. It has two figures, lifesize, in the dress of the period. Between them is a
large urn flanked by two skulls. Behind them there is
a canopy supported on Corinthian pilasters with a scroll
pediment containing a coat of arms with curtains below
drawn back to reveal three cherubs' heads in clouds.
On the south wall, suspended from an iron bracket is a
helmet with the Boughton crest and a sword, probably
17th-century.
The nave (56 ft. by 18 ft. 4 in.) has plastered walls
and a modern roof supported on the original corbels.
The arcades each consist of four bays with pointed
arches of two splayed orders supported on lozengeshaped piers composed of the outer arch splays and
roll-mouldings, which die out on plain bases. At each
end there are responds formed by half-piers. The inner
order rests on large roll-mouldings with moulded
capitals and smaller ones are continued as shafts on
either side with moulded capitals to support the nave
and aisle roofs. At the east end of the south arcade
there is a narrow ogee-headed doorway, rebated for a
door to a circular stair leading to an upper door with a
chamfered pointed head which gave access to a roodloft. The chancel arch is pointed, of two splayed
orders, supported on responds which repeat the arch
mouldings with a moulded capital to the inner order.
On the nave side, a modern label-moulding with return
ends has been added; above it there is a framed royal
arms, dated 1796. The tower arch is pointed, of three
splayed orders, resting on half-round responds with
moulded capitals and bases. All the clearstory windows
have plain four-centred rear-arches. The pulpit of oak,
placed to the north of the chancel arch and dated 1909,
is octagonal with linenfold panels. The font, standing
in the centre of the nave at the western end, is of stone,
octagonal, each side decorated with sunk quatrefoils,
and supported on a panelled octagonal shaft, the panels
having trefoiled heads. It has a deep lead-lined basin,
the lead being dressed over the rim and finished with a
cable-moulded edge. The stonework has been redressed, but it probably dates from the early 14th
century.
The north aisle (52 ft. 6 in. by 9 ft. 3 in.) has a
modern roof supported on the original corbels, a stonepaved floor and unplastered walls. In the north side of
the arcade wall at its eastern end there is a piscina with
a four-centred head, but the projecting portion of its
basin has been cut away. The door and windows have
plain four-centred rear-arches.
The south aisle (53 ft. 10 in. by 10 ft. 6 in.) is
similar to the north, but the western bay has been
screened off as a vestry and organ chamber. The eastern
bay has been enclosed by an oak open panelled screen
dated 1905, presented by a member of the Boughton
family to enclose four monuments. The earliest of
these monuments is that of Geoffrey Allesley and
Eleanor his wife, who died 1441. It is an altar tomb
with trefoil-headed panels, ten on each side and three
at the ends. The slab, which has a hollow-moulded
edge with paterae, is of white alabaster incised with the
outlines of a man and woman in the dress of the period
with dogs at their feet and a marginal inscription, the
outlines and inscription filled with pitch. (fn. 7) Under a
modern tomb recess in the south wall there is a similar
type of monument (fn. 8) with a marginal inscription to
Thomas Boughton and Elizabeth his wife, died 1454.
The two figures are in black outline, with six shields
enamelled in black and red, three above, and three
below the figures. The man is dressed in armour,
wearing spurs and has a dagger on his right side and a
sword on his left, his feet resting on a muzzled bear
with a collar and chain. The woman is in the dress of
the period, two dogs at her feet each holding the hem
of her dress in their teeth. The sides have roundheaded panels containing demi-angels holding blank
shields. On the north wall there is an alabaster wall
memorial, redecorated in colour, to Edward Boughton,
died 1548, and his wife Elizabeth, died 1583. (fn. 9) It is in
two tiers separated by an inscription, each tier has fluted
columns at the ends supporting a cornice. In the upper
tier, on the left are two women wearing ruffles, and a
swathed child, one of the women kneeling at a desk
with an open book. On the right are a man in armour
kneeling at a desk and three swathed children. Between
the two kneeling figures there is an heraldic shield. The
lower tier is divided into two panels by a fluted column,
the left panel having the standing figures of a man and
woman holding a shield of arms between them, each
carrying a scroll. The woman wears a ruffle and the
man armour, with a sword on his left side. The panel
to the right contains the standing figure of a man in
doublet and hose holding a scroll in one hand and a
shield of arms, the sinister half left blank. There is no
inscription to the lower tier. Opposite, on the south
wall there is another monument of similar type, to
Edward Boughton and Elizabeth his wife; Edward
died 1625, Elizabeth died 1619; and to his son William, died 1635, and Abigale his wife, died 1636. (fn. 10) In
the upper tier are a man and woman kneeling, with a
shield of arms between them, on the left a son and two
shields, on the right a daughter and one shield. The
man is in armour and both are wearing ruffles. In the
lower tier are a man and woman kneeling, with a desk
between them an open book facing each. Above the
desk there is a shield, and another to the left of the man.
On the left are three sons kneeling, two now headless;
on the right two daughters, both have their heads
missing. The man is in armour and the woman in the
dress of the period. It is surmounted by a pediment
containing a shield of arms and below the lower inscription there is a pendant representing a heart.
The tower (12 ft. by 11 ft.) has unplastered walls
and is shut off from the nave by a wrought iron railing
with ornamental panels each end, ornamental cresting,
and the Boughton arms and crest blazoned in colour.
These railings originally enclosed the monument in the
chancel to Sir Wm. Boughton. A doorway has been
cut through the wall to the tower stair to give internal
access in addition to the original external door. The
upper stage is corbelled out to an octagon for a spire
which has either been destroyed or was never built.
The clock is by Sam Dalton of Rugby and dated
1795. An earlier clock was in bad condition in 1655
but the parishioners refused to contribute to its repair,
'they having no benefit thereby'. (fn. 11) In the nave and
aisle there are a number of 17th-century forms with
turned legs and ovolo-moulded edges to the seats.
These may date from 1653, when it was said that many
'substantial parishioners' had no seats in the church
and other seats were so narrow that people could not
kneel in them. Moreover, most of the church was filled
with servants and boys, while aged people and others of
better rank were seated near the door, in so cold a part
of the church, standing upon a hill, that they cannot
endure the cold in the winter. Mr. Richard Hall, the
rector, and the churchwardens were to appoint seats. (fn. 12)
Sir William Boughton, the patron, then advanced
£16 10s. out of his own pocket to repair the church,
which was so in decay that people could not sit dry to
hear the Word of God, but the parishioners disputed
the levying of a church rate. (fn. 13)
In the chancel there are two 17th-century oak chairs
with carved backs and turned front legs, one dated
I.P. 1675. An early-18th-century carved chair with
cane back and seat and a long oak chest of the 17th
century with a panelled front, half-hexagonal shaped
lid bound with iron straps, and fitted with four locks.
The plate consists of a silver alms-dish, the gift of
Dame Catherine Boughton, 1703; a silver flagon—gift of Sir Wm. Boughton, bart., 1708; and a silver
chalice, with hallmark of 1732.
There are six bells, all cast by John Briant in 1792,
one being then new and the other five recast from the
metal of four old bells. (fn. 14)
The registers commence in 1559.
The chapel of ST. JOHN, at Long Lawford,
north of the village in a small churchyard, consists of a
chancel, nave, south porch, and a small vestry. It was
built in 1839 of red brick with artificial stone dressings,
now washed over with cement; the roof is slated and
has a bell-cote for a single bell at the west end. It has
triple lancet windows on the east and west and three
lancets on the north and south. Internally the walls are
plastered and the floor is stone paved. The nave is
40 ft. by 25 ft. and the chancel 15 ft. by 7 ft. 6 in.
There is a pointed arch to the chancel with a corresponding one to a recess at the west end. The plate
consists of a silver flagon, chalice, and paten, the gift of
J. Caldecott in 1839.
The churchyard is entered by a timber-framed lychgate roofed with stone slates, erected in 1902.
Advowson
The church and tithes of Newboldon-Avon were given to the abbey of
St. Nicholas, Angers, by Geoffrey de
Wirce and were therefore part of the endowment of
that abbey's cell, the priory of Monks Kirby. (fn. 15) Early
in the 13th century the church was appropriated, the
monks receiving two-thirds of the issues of the rectory
and the vicar the other third. (fn. 16) In 1291 it was valued
at £12 13s. 4d. (fn. 17) With the other possessions of the
priory it passed to the Carthusian priory of Axholme,
amongst whose property the rectory and advowson
were surrendered to Henry VIII in 1539. (fn. 18) They
remained in the hands of the Crown until 1640, when
they were bought with the Axholme manor of Newbold (fn. 19) (see above), with which they have since descended with the Boughton estate.
A tenement called the Chantry House with lands in
this parish belonging to a former chantry in Newbold
was granted in 1564, to William Grice and Anthony
Foster. (fn. 20)
Charities
Alice Elizabeth Ward BoughtonLeigh, by will dated 11 May 1923
bequeathed £100 to the vicar and
churchwardens of Newbold-on-Avon, the income to be
applied in the purchase of coals to be distributed each
Christmastide among the deserving poor of this parish.
The annual income of the charity amounts to £3 10s.
approximately.
Richard Fostered by will dated 10 August 1508
gave his house and land at Frankton to the parishes of
Rugby and Newbold-on-Avon, the yearly rent to be
divided equally between them; that portion of rent
that the parish of Rugby should receive to remain to
the maintenance of so much of the Rugby Bridge as
they were bound to repair; and that portion that the
parish of Newbold-on-Avon should receive to remain
to the maintenance of the Long Bridge, betwixt Long
Lawford and Newbold. The charity is regulated by
schemes of the Charity Commissioners dated 24 March
1903 and 19 December 1933. The schemes appoint
trustees to administer the charity and direct the application of the income of the charity. The annual income of
the Newbold-upon-Avon branch of the charity amounts
to £68 approximately.
George Millington. It is recorded that in 1734 he
gave 5s. annually on Good Friday to be distributed in
the parish church of Newbold at the discretion of the
minister and churchwardens among such poor of the
parish as usually attend divine service and should be
there that day. The charity is now regulated by a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 7 April
1891 which appoints a body of trustees and directs
that the annual income shall be applied for the benefit
of deserving and necessitous persons of this parish.
John Pearson, by will dated 27 January 1866 bequeathed to the vicar and churchwardens £200, to lay
out the interest in the purchase of bread, coals, or
blankets, to be distributed annually on 24 December
among the deserving and poor inhabitants of the parish.
The annual income of the charity amounts to £5 6s. 8d.
Mary Elizabeth Norman, by will dated 16 December
1924 bequeathed £250, the income to be applied in
keeping in thorough repair the graves of the Norman
family in the churchyard of Newbold and, subject
thereto, in keeping in repair the said churchyard.
Thomas Goodman Norman by will dated 12 May
1926 bequeathed £250, the income to be applied in
like manner.
Sir Edward Boughton by an indenture dated 18
September 1716 conveyed a piece of ground in Rugby
upon trust that the yearly rents and profits should be
paid to the poor of the town of Long Lawford.
Poors' Plot. The earliest account respecting the
land belonging to this charity is contained in a lease
dated 25 March 1719, by which John Bradford, overseer of the poor of the liberties of Long Lawford, for
himself and for the other inhabitants and for his successors, overseers of the poor there, demised to Thomas
Bagshawe that parcel of inclosed ground commonly
called the Poors' Plot in Long Lawford, containing 20
acres or thereabouts, to hold for 21 years at the rent of
£10 5s. per annum to the overseer of the poor of the
liberties of Long Lawford.
William Smith. This parish participates in this charity
to the amount of 4s. each year, 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 parish of Bilton.
James Croft, by will dated 30 June 1830 gave to the
minister and parish officers of Long Lawford £400, to
apply yearly £10, part of the interest, in educating 10
children of the most deserving poor of Long Lawford
in some school at Long Lawford, and to distribute the
remainder of the interest on New Year's Day in clothing
and fuel amongst the most deserving industrious poor of
Long Lawford.
The above-mentioned charities are regulated by
schemes of the Charity Commissioners dated 8 March
1904 and 30 June 1908 under the title of the United
Charities of Sir Edward Boughton and others. The
schemes appoint a body of trustees and contain directions for the application of the income of the charities,
which amounts to £325.
Miss Louisa Hartlet Townsend's Reading Rooms.
By an indenture dated 15 February 1886 the building
and premises in Long Lawford used as three readingrooms and a cottage adjoining were settled upon trust
to be used as reading-rooms and coffee-house by and
for the inhabitants of the hamlet of Long Lawford and
for a residence for the manager or manageress of the
reading-rooms and coffee-house. The deed provides
that the reading-rooms be for ever hereafter called
'Miss Louisa Hartlet Townsend's Reading Rooms' and
be under the sole control and management of the
trustees or of a committee or manager to be appointed
by the trustees.