RYTON-ON-DUNSMORE
Acreage: 2,275.
Population: 1911, 552; 1921, 614; 1931, 697.
Ryton-on-Dunsmore is a village and parish 4½ miles
south-east from Coventry on the main London road,
which here crosses the River Avon. The river forms
most of the north and west boundaries of the parish,
the lie of the land being from south-east (336 ft. above
sea level) to 217 ft. at Ryton Bridge in the north-west
corner. Ryton Wood covers several hundred acres on
the south side of the parish, and there are other small
plantations. 'The soyl here is of a light sandy disposition, and beareth Rye best of any Grain', (fn. 1) but this crop,
which gives the village its name, is now little grown in
Warwickshire, and Ryton is not in the parts of the
county where it is at all in evidence. (fn. 2) The parish is
well served with main roads; in addition to the one
from London to Birmingham there is the road from
Coventry to Oxford, which leaves it at Ryton Bridge
and runs south-east across the parish, and both these
are crossed by the road from Warwick to Rugby. The
village is mostly situated in the triangle formed by
these three roads, its street running northwards to the
Avon. There are a few timber-framed houses, of no
greatage. The nearest station is Brandon and Wolston on
the Rugby-Birmingham section of the former L.M.S.R.,
2½ miles away; there is no railway through the parish.
The inclosure of 300 acres of arable land by the
prior of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem was reported
by the Commission of 1517; (fn. 3) another 200 acres were
put out of cultivation by Sir Thomas Dilke about a
century later. (fn. 4) The parish was inclosed under an Act
of 1760. (fn. 5)
A serious fire occurred in 1654, when at least
7 houses with their barns and other outbuildings were
destroyed, representing £447 damage, besides more
than £400 to houses of others 'of good ability' who
were not eligible for relief. (fn. 6)
On the east of the parish, where the London road
enters that of Stretton-on-Dunsmore, is Knightlow
Hill, the site of the meeting place of the hundred.
The custom of 'wroth silver', the collection by the
agent of the Duke of Buccleuch, as lord of the hundred,
of various moneys from the constituent parishes, is still
observed annually on 11 November. (fn. 7)
Manor
RYTON was one of the vills given by
Earl Leofric to Coventry Priory in 1043. (fn. 8)
But in Dugdale's words 'it seems, that the
Monks chopt it quickly away, though it appears not
how', (fn. 9) for by 1066 it was held by 'Alwin' (Ælfwine),
and in 1086 by his son Turchil of Warwick, being
then assessed at 3½ hides and including woodland half
a league by 2 furlongs, and a mill worth 12s. The
value had seriously decreased, from 100s. in 1066 to
60s. in 1086. (fn. 10)
The manor remained with Turchil's descendants,
the Arden or Arderne family, for about 200 years. (fn. 11)
In 1239 Thomas de Arderne received from Nicholas
de Wythebroc, for a consideration of 20 marks silver
and a palfrey, 300 acres of land, 40 of meadow, 80 of
wood and a mill, and also a virgate of land and 10 acres
of meadow. (fn. 12) He granted a life tenure of 3 virgates
to his mother Eustacia in 1243, (fn. 13) and was still lord of
Ryton in 1272. (fn. 14) In 1279 the demesne contained
3 carucates and a mill, and there were 3 bond tenants,
each with 1½ yardlands, also 15 freeholders with 8¼
yardlands, 3½ acres and a rood. (fn. 15) At this time the
Knights Hospitallers had 1 yardland held by 2 freeholders, and a mill. Three years later there was a
lawsuit between Thomas de Arderne and the Hospitallers, which was settled by the former handing over
200 acres of land, 12 of meadow, 10 of wood and a
mill. (fn. 16) In 1286 Thomas de Arderne received licence
to alienate the whole manor to the Hospitallers, (fn. 17)
and the prior of the order was returned as lord of
Ryton in 1316. (fn. 18) The last tenant of the manor under
the Hospitallers was Constance Benet, who had a
29-year lease, for £18, dating from 1533. (fn. 19) After the
suppression of the order the manor remained with
the Crown till 1550, when it was granted, to be held
in chief for 36s. yearly, to John Dudley, Earl of
Warwick. (fn. 20) After his attainder and execution the
manor was leased for 21 years from June 1555 to
John Manne. (fn. 21) Queen Mary in 1558 granted the
manor to the revived order of the Hospital of St. John
of Jerusalem, of which Sir Thomas Tresham was
appointed prior, (fn. 22) but this was reversed on the accession
of Elizabeth, the manor being granted to Ambrose
Dudley, Earl of Warwick, and his heirs male in 1562. (fn. 23)
Plan of Ryton-on-Dunsmore Church
He died without surviving issue in 1590, and after
another short interval in crown hands the manor was
granted (1598) to Randolph
Crew of Lincoln's Inn and
Richard Cartwright of London,
and their heirs. (fn. 24) The following year they sold it to Thomas
Dilke. (fn. 25) He and his son Fisher
Dilke were dealing with the
manor in 1613, (fn. 26) and his grandson Thomas held it of the king
as of the manor of East Greenwich at his death in 1639. (fn. 27) His
successor was his half-brother
William, (fn. 28) who with his wife Honor (Ward) dealt
with it in 1663; (fn. 29) and the manor remained with the
family, (fn. 30) the descent being similar to that of Maxstoke
in Hemlingford Hundred (q.v.). (fn. 31)
Siward de Ardern, Turchil's son, granted the mill
of Ryton to Thorney Abbey (Cambs.). (fn. 32) This was
confirmed to the abbey by Gregory IX in 1240, (fn. 33) and
seems to have been attached to their manor of Sawbridge in Wolfhamcote. (fn. 34)
Church
The church of ST. LEONARD is
situated on the north side of the main
Coventry-Northampton road, on a level
site in the centre of a large, recently extended, churchyard. It consists of chancel, nave, west tower, vestry,
and a south porch. It was built of red sandstone rubble
with worked dressings late in the 11th century,
probably consisting of a chancel and nave, and it was
apparently not until the 15th century that a west tower
was added. A vestry with a gallery over was added in
the 19th century, and more recently the south porch
was rebuilt. The tower is a lofty and imposing structure,
out of proportion to so small a church, and the presence
of angle buttresses on its east side, which make a very
awkward junction with the nave, suggests that it was
intended to rebuild the body of the church on a similar
scale. All the roofs are covered with modern tiles.
Dilke. Gules a lion party argent and or.
The east wall of the chancel has been entirely rebuilt
in red sandstone ashlar with angle buttresses, splayed
plinth, a weathered offset at sill level, and a window of
three trefoil lights with a segmental arch. The north
side is built of red sandstone rubble patched with
ashlar, and in the centre there is a late-11th-century
round-headed window with a large roll moulding and
plain cushion capitals on detached shafts with moulded
bases, the shafts, bases, and sill being modern restorations. A little to the west is a narrow 12th-century
lancet window. The south side has been extensively
patched with ashlar, but part of a blocked 11th-century
window corresponding with the one on the north still
remains. It is now lighted by a modern window of
three trefoil lights with a square head and hoodmoulding, and by a 16th-century two-light, single-splay,
square-headed window. The south wall of the nave
has also been patched with ashlar. In the centre
there is a blocked 11th-century semicircular-headed
window and to the east a large 15th-century window of
three trefoil lights with a four-centred arch of two
splayed orders, the outer one hollow. The south door,
of late-11th-century date, has a semicircular arch of
two orders, the inner a square and the outer a large
roll moulding with a flush reeded outer band. The
arch is supported on detached shafts with slightly
tapered capitals, splayed impost mouldings, and bases
which are a reverse of the capitals. It is fitted with a
16th-century oak door of four panels, formed by applied
hollow-splayed mouldings, hung on plain strap hinges.
In front is a modern porch built of red brick with a
tiled roof, and above it a modern lunette with a red
brick arch. West of the porch a square single-light
window has been roughly cut through the wall. On
the north side there is an 11th-century doorway,
similar to and nearly opposite the one on the south side.
but with a plain tympanum and a simple scroll on the
capitals. A massive modern buttress (fn. 34a) built over the
west jamb has destroyed its shaft and capital; no bases to
the shafts are visible, but they probably exist below
the present ground level. The door opening has been
built up to form a square window. Above the doorway is a modern lunette, as on the south side. The
remainder of this wall is taken up by the 19th-century
vestry.
The tower is divided by a moulded string-course
into two stages with angle buttresses at all four corners
rising in four weathered stages to the string-course at
the base of a battlemented parapet with crocketed
pinnacles and grotesque gargoyles at each corner. The
west door, in the centre of the tower, has a fourcentred arch with deep hollow-moulded splays continued down the jambs to a splayed stop. Above the
door is a window of three cinquefoil lights and tracery,
with similar mouldings and a hood-moulding with
mask stops; it is a modern restoration, except for the
jambs and hood-moulding. Above the window is a
clock face. The belfry has windows with two cinquefoil lights of two splayed orders and hood-mouldings
with mask stops; the lower halves on all four faces are
blocked with ashlar, with louvres above. On the south
side there are two loop-lights to the spiral staircase and
a small rectangular light in the centre, which is repeated
on the north face.
The chancel (19 ft. 2 in. by 16 ft. 4 in.) is paved
with modern tiles, with one step to the chancel and
two to the altar. The roof is modern, of the trussed
rafter type, with semicircular ribs, and the walls,
except the east one, are plastered. The modern window
recess on the south side has a segmental-pointed arch,
and the earlier window a segmental arch. On the north
side the 11th-century window has a wide-splayed recess
with a semicircular arch, and the lancet a wide splay
with a pointed arch. The altar rails are 17th-century
oak with turned balusters and a moulded rail, but the
altar table is modern. On the south wall is a small brass
with the following inscription to Moses Macham,
minister of Ryton, who died 29 June 1712:
Lo here doth ly a shining light
wrapped up in the shades of night
the sheppard is took from his sheep
but O would they his doctrine keep
and practice the rules that he did give
So shall ye Pastor and ye People live.
On the right of the inscription is engraved an elaborate
lantern standing on a coffin, and beside it a skeleton
holding to a tree. On the north wall is a mural tablet
to Edward Bonham, died 1679. Fixed to the front
of the benches are two carved tracery-headed panels,
each of two trefoils, probably late-15th-century.
The inscription and group of six daughters, described
by Dr. Thomas as the remains of the brass of Richard
Wulmer (16th century), were sold by a former vicar
and churchwardens and are in private hands. (fn. 35)
The nave (41 ft. by 21 ft.) has a four-centred
vaulted plaster ceiling and below it are two 16thcentury cambered tie-beams, the one to the east
retaining a central carved boss, supported on curved
brackets, with contemporary moulded wall-plates on
both sides. The window on the east has a splayed
recess with a four-centred arch. The chancel arch is
modern, inserted in 1929. The tower arch is a lofty
one of two orders supported on responds with moulded
capitals to the inner order, the outer one continuing
to the floor to a square stop. The walls are plastered.
The red-brick vestry with a gallery over was built
in 1812; (fn. 36) at the same time the church was re-seated.
The tower (11 ft. by 11 ft.) is paved with brick and
the walls are ashlar. In the south-west corner there is
a narrow doorway to the tower staircase, with a fourcentred chamfered arch. The window recess is splayed
and has a pointed arch, the doorway a deep splay with
a four-centred arch.
The pulpit, placed on the south side of the chancel
arch, is octagonal, built up of 17th-century carved
panels. The red sandstone font, which stands in front
of the tower arch, is octagonal, reduced to a square
shaft with splays, standing on a modern splayed base.
It dates from early in the 12th century, and has a deep
circular lead-lined basin.
There are three bells: (fn. 37) (1) recast by Mears in 1864;
(2) by William Watts, c. 1595; (3) by John Masters,
1653.
The registers begin in 1538.
Advowson
The church was granted in 1249
by the prior of Coventry to the dean
and chapter of Lichfield as a prebend, (fn. 38)
and was worth £10 in 1291. (fn. 39) In 1535 the rectory was
worth £11 6s. 8d., with 20s. pension to the dean and
chapter and 8s. to the archdeacon, the rector holding the
prebendal stall. (fn. 40) He, as prebendary, continued to hold
the patronage of the perpetual curacy till, under the Act
of 1840, (fn. 41) it was conveyed to the Bishop of Worcester;
it is now a vicarage in the gift of the Bishop of Coventry.
An augmentation of £11 6s. 8d. was granted in 1657
by the Trustees for the Maintenance of Ministers. (fn. 42)
Charities
Dilke's Charity. The Parliamentary
Returns of 1786 state that — Dilke
gave, by deed, £30, vested in the churchwardens, and producing 30s. a year. The endowment of
the charity now consists of an annual payment of this
amount.
Thomas Bayes. It is stated in the printed Parliamentary Reports of the Former Commissioners for Inquiring Concerning Charities dated in 1834 that there is a
close of land in Ryton called Poor's Meadow, said to
have been left long ago by Thomas Bayes. The land
was sold in 1932 and the proceeds of sale invested.
Mary Turner by will dated 24 September 1607
charged certain property in Solihull, with the annual
payment of £3 6s. 8d. for the relief of the poor impotent
and most needy people dwelling in the parishes of
Kenilworth, Stivichall, Baginton, Stoneleigh; Bubbenhall, Ryton, Woolston, Stretton, Marton, and
Wappenbury: the sum of 6s. 8d. to be paid to the
churchwardens and overseers of each parish for
distribution in accordance with the directions contained in the will. The rent-charge was redeemed in
1923 in consideration of a sum of £133 6s. 8d. 2½%
Consols, producing £3 6s. 8d. annually.
The total annual income of the above-mentioned
charities amounts to £3 11s. 10d. which is given to
the poor of the parish in bread. The trustees of the
charities are appointed by the parish council.