WARDLEY
Werlea (xi cent.); Warleg (xii cent.); Warley,
Warlee, Warle (xiii cent.); Wardeley (xiv cent.).
The parish of Wardley comprises 748 acres and lies
on the borders of Leicestershire. The soil is clay
and the subsoil consists of Middle and Lower Lias
and Inferior Oolite. The land falls from the northeast of the parish, where it reaches 535 ft. above the
Ordnance datum, to Eye Brook, known in the 13th
century as 'Litelye' water, (fn. 1) which forms the parish
and county boundary on the west, where the land falls
to a little under 300 ft. The parish lay in the Forest
of Rutland or Leighfield, from which grants of trees
and deer were made to the tenants of the manor in
the 13th century; (fn. 2) at the present day the parish is
all pasture and woodland, Wardley Wood occupying
a large part of the south-east of the parish. The
village stands on high land about a quarter of a mile
south of the main road from Leicester to Uppingham,
from which latter town it is distant about 2½ miles.
The cottages, which are mainly of stone, with stone,
thatch or slate roofs, border a twisting and undulating
lane branching from the main road to Uppingham.
Like other neighbouring villages, evidences of former
prosperity may be seen in the use of the walls of
ruined cottages as boundary walls, etc. Wardley
House, near the church, is a good stone-built farmhouse with barns and outbuildings. The nearest
station is at East Norton (co. Leic.) on the London and
North Eastern and the London Midland and Scottish
Railways 2½ miles west of the village.
Manor
The manor of WARDLEY is not
mentioned in Domesday Book (1086),
but was probably included amongst the
unnamed berewicks attached to Ridlington. (fn. 3) Later it
became attached to the Barony of Oakham (q.v.), of
which it was held as half a knight's fee, but the exact
date is not known. (fn. 4) In the early 12th century,
Wardley was probably held by Richard Bassett, who,
with his wife, Maud Ridel, about 1125, founded
Launde Priory (co. Leic.), to which he gave the advowson of the church. (fn. 5) His son and heir Geoffrey Ridel,
about 1160, granted Wardley to John son of John,
whom he describes as his brother. On doing homage
for Wardley and other lands, John gave a war-horse
and a gold ring to Ridel. From another charter, he
may be identified with John de Stuteville, who by
1166 had become by recent enfeoffment a military
tenant of considerable importance under Ridel. (fn. 6) His
successor was probably Roger de Stuteville, a benefactor in Wardley of Launde Priory. (fn. 7)
Wardley: Old Cottages
At the close of the 12th century, however, the immediate tenant of the manor was William Pantulf, (fn. 8)
through whose daughter Isolda the manor came to her
son Robert de Tateshale, who had succeeded in 1223. (fn. 9)
A second Robert was holding of the Barony of Oakham
in 1285 and died seised of the lordship of Wardley in
or before 1304, (fn. 10) and his son and heir, a third Robert,
died on 30 January 1306, while in the king's wardship.
His lands were divided between Emma, wife of Adam
de Caylly, Joan, the wife of Robert de Driby, and
Isabel, wife of John de Orreby, sisters of Robert,
the grandfather or father, (fn. 11) or their heirs, and Wardley
was assigned to Isabel, who obtained seisin in 1309. (fn. 12)
Her heir was her son Philip de Orreby, (fn. 13) who died
in his father's lifetime, leaving a son John. (fn. 14) On
the death of John de Orreby, husband of Isabel,
in 1328, the wardship of John, his grandson, was
granted to Geoffrey le Scrop. (fn. 15) Joan, widow of
Robert de Tateshale, the father, died in 1336 when
John was still a minor. (fn. 16) John died in 1354 leaving
a daughter Joan, then an infant, (fn. 17) who died before
1377, when the custody of her daughter Mary de Percy
was granted to Henry de Percy, Earl of Northumberland. (fn. 18) Mary married John de Roos of Hamelak
and died in 1395 without issue, when a partition was
made of her lands between (1) Constantine de Clifton,
son of Constantine the son of Adam, the son of
Margery the daughter of Thomas Cayley, the son of
Emma Tateshale the sister of Isabel mother of Philip
de Orreby, ancestor of the said Mary, and (2) Ralph
de Cromwell, knt., husband of Maud daughter of
John Bernak, son of Alice widow of William de Bernak
and daughter of Joan de Driby sister of the said Isabel
de Orreby. (fn. 19) The Tateshale overlordship of Wardley
is, however, last mentioned in 1362. (fn. 20)
Tateshale. Checky or and gules a chief ermine.
Orreby. Gules two lions passant argent and a label or.
Wardley was subinfeudated into three portions, all
held in demesne of the immediate tenants by military
service. In the early 13th century, the main portion,
to which the manorial rights were attached, was held
apparently of William Pantulf, by Sir Henry Murdac,
whose brother William may have preceded him here
as well as at Ayston, which Sir Henry obtained in
1204. (fn. 21) From a later Sir Henry Murdac, Peter de
Neville seized Wardley, which was valued at £20 per
annum, during the rising of Simon de Montfort, but it
had been restored by 1265. (fn. 22) Probably this Peter was
the tenant of 4½ acres of land, forming the smallest of
the three holdings in Wardley, which was held
directly from the Tateshales and not from Murdac; (fn. 23)
his granddaughter Alice, wife of John Hakluyt of
Braunston, held it of the Orrebys in 1362. (fn. 24) The
manor, however, apparently passed from Sir Henry
Murdac, who was living in 1269, (fn. 25) to his son William,
and from this date it followed the descent of Ayston
(q.v.). Mr. Vere Finch is now lord of the manor and
sole landowner in the parish.
The third holding in Wardley, which probably consisted of a messuage and one virgate of land, was held
directly of the Tateshales by military service. (fn. 26) In
the 12th century it was apparently held by the Silitot
family. Walter de Silitot was a witness of the charters
of Geoffrey Ridel, granting Wardley to John de
Stuteville. (fn. 27) John de Silitot, son of Hugh, in the
early 13th century charged a certain bovate of land,
which Roger de Stuteville had given to Nuneaton
Priory, with a rent of 4s. a year for the benefit of the
nuns, on condition that his father Hugh and his heirs
should hold it for ever by that rent. (fn. 28) Possibly he
was identical with John son of Hugh de Wardley, who
seems to have held land there in 1249 together with
Nicholas de Criol. (fn. 29) Before 1284 Silitot's holding
seems to have been divided between two heiresses,
Emma, wife of Nicholas Brymynghurst, and Isabel,
wife of John de Boyville. (fn. 30) In 1288 Nicholas and Emma
made a composition with the prioress of Nuneaton,
with regard to the rent from the bovate of land granted
by Stuteville, (fn. 31) and Nicholas was still the tenant in
1306 and 1309. (fn. 32) He died before 1312 and was
succeeded by his son John, who in that year made an
agreement with the nuns as to arrears. (fn. 33) The holding
seems shortly afterwards to have passed to John
Hakluyt, who died in 1358, seised of a capital messuage
and land in Wardley. (fn. 34) His successors in the manor
of Braunston (q.v.) held land in Wardley in 1391
and 1435. (fn. 35) In 1536 Richard Chesilden, presumably
a younger son of the Chesildens of Braunston (q.v.),
held lands in Wardley at the time of his death. (fn. 36)
In 1306 John de Boyville answered for Isabella's
moiety of Wardley, (fn. 37) and he seems to have been living
in 1320. (fn. 38) He was succeeded by Peter de Boyville,
a contemporary of John Hakluyt, (fn. 39) but by 1428
these sub-tenancies had disappeared, and the manor
was held in demesne by the John Boyville, last
in the descent from Thomas Boyville and Alice
Murdac. (fn. 40)
Church
The church of ST. BOTOLPH consists of chancel 19 ft. 4 in. by 17 ft. 9 in.,
aisleless nave 38 ft. 9 in. by 18 ft., south
porch, and west tower 5 ft. 10 in. square, all these
measurements being internal. The tower is surmounted by a broach spire.
The chancel is modern, having been entirely
rebuilt in 1871, but the nave is substantially of early
13th-century date. The tower and spire and the
porch are of the 14th century, towards the end of
which period, or early in the 15th century, the nave
walls were heightened by the addition of a clearstory.
All the walls are plastered internally.
The chancel has a high-pitched stone-slated eaved
roof (fn. 41) and diagonal angle buttresses. The fourcentred east window is apparently an old one re-used,
and is of 15th-century date, of four cinquefoiled lights,
but without tracery; in the south wall is a modern
two-light window, but the north wall is blank. The
pointed piscina recess, (fn. 42) and a rectangular aumbry
on the north side, belong to the former chancel. The
arch to the nave is modern. (fn. 43)
The nave is of rubble, but its only original architectural features are the south doorway and two 13thcentury windows, one on each side of the porch.
Near the east end of the south wall is a small squareheaded window of late date, probably inserted to
light the reading desk. (fn. 44) The south doorway has a
semicircular arch of two orders, the inner with a
round moulding, resting on moulded imposts, the
outer chamfered order on nook-shafts with capitals
of early conventional foliage and moulded bases.
The window west of the porch is a plain lancet (fn. 45)
with hood-mould, but that to the east is of two pointed
lights with uncusped circle in the head, a good example
of early plate tracery. (fn. 46) There are no windows in the
lower part of the north wall, and a blocked roundheaded doorway (fn. 47) is apparently not ancient. The
clearstory windows, three on each side, are squareheaded and of two trefoiled lights, with hood-moulds.
On the east face of the tower is the line of the former
high-pitched roof of the nave. The existing lowpitched oak roof is ancient, but of very plain character,
with chamfered principals; it is of four bays and
lead-covered without parapets. The porch is also
leaded, with flat-pitched coped gable, diagonal
buttresses, and pointed doorway of two chamfered
orders. There are wooden gates, and on the gable is
a sundial dated 1694.
The tower is of three stages with moulded plinth
and pairs of buttresses stopping at the middle stage.
The west window consists of a single trefoiled opening,
but on the north and south the lower stage is blank.
In the middle stage there is a small square-headed
window on the south side only; the pointed bellchamber windows are of two trefoiled lights with a
quatrefoil in the head. There is no vice. The arch
to the nave is of two chamfered orders, the inner
resting on head corbels, the outer continued to the
ground. On its west side the arch is blocked by
a studded partition. The short broach spire has
plain angles and two tiers of gabled lights on its
cardinal faces. The lower lights have two trefoiled
openings with a quatrefoil in the head; the upper
are single. There is a band at the level of the upper
lights. The finial and vane are modern.
The font consists of a plain octagonal bowl with
curved sides, dated 1797.
The plain square pews were 'introduced some years
before the tide for church restoration had set in.' (fn. 48)
In the chancel are memorials to George Bridges
Brudenell, of Ayston (d. 1801), his sister Caroline
(d. 1803) relict of Sir Samuel Fludyer, bt., and her
son George Fludyer (d. 1837). The Brudenell
vault was closed in 1871. (fn. 49) In the nave are memorials
to George Godfrey (d. 1813) and his great-nephew
George Godfrey Ward (d. 1819). (fn. 50)
At the west end of the nave is a barrel organ by
T. C. Bates and Son, London.
There are two bells in the tower, the smaller dated
1677, and the other a 16th-century bell by Thomas
Newcombe (II) of Leicester, inscribed 'Thoma.' (fn. 51)
The plate consists of a cup and cover paten of
1638–9, with maker's mark B.F., the cup inscribed
'St. Botolph, Wardley,' and the paten '1638 Ex dono
Joh. Roberts 48'; and an undated paten with maker's
mark F.W., inscribed 'In usu ecclesiæ parochialis de
Wardley Rutland, Deus dedit.' There are also a
pewter dish and flagon. (fn. 52)
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms
and marriages 1574–1703, burials 1574–1709; (ii)
baptisms 1703–1802, marriages 1703–54, burials
1709–1802; (iii) baptisms and burials 1803–1812;
(iv) marriages 1757–1812.
Advowson
The church of Wardley, to which
the chapel of Belton was appurtenant, (fn. 53) appears to have been
granted by Edward the Confessor to Westminster
Abbey. (fn. 54) The monks, in spite of obtaining a confirmation of the church of Wardley and chapel of
Belton from William the Conqueror in 1067, (fn. 55) do not
seem to have obtained possession of them, although
the charter was confirmed as late as 1335 by
Edward III. (fn. 56) Actually the advowson in the early
part of the 12th century was in the hands of Richard
Bassett, who, with his wife Maud, daughter of
Geoffrey Ridel, granted it to the priory of Launde in
Leicestershire. (fn. 57) The grant was confirmed both by
Henry I and Henry II. (fn. 58) In 1202 William Pantulf, (fn. 59)
and in 1205 the Abbot of Westminster, (fn. 60) brought
suits against the priory of Launde to recover the
advowson, but without success, and the priory of
Launde retained the advowson until the Dissolution. (fn. 61)
In 1244 a vicar was instituted in the church of
Wardley, the right of presentation belonging to the
rector. The vicar provided a chaplain and the
vicarage consisted of the altarage of the whole parish,
3 virgates of land with meadow and the tithes of the
mills. The vicar paid the synodals, all other expenses
being borne by the rector. (fn. 62) It seems probable that
this institution of a vicarage lapsed, since in 1398 the
priory obtained leave to appropriate the church
towards the support of two canons of the house to
serve the chantry recently founded at Launde by the
king. The vicarage was instituted in 1403, but the
church was served by a canon of Launde, appointed
at the will of the prior, while a certain sum was
ordered to be set aside from the rectory for distribution amongst poor parishioners. (fn. 63) In 1428, a pension
of 16d. was paid yearly from the rectory and chapel
to the priory, (fn. 64) and the living was subsequently
described as the rectory of Wardley with the vicarage
of Belton. After the dissolution of the priory, the
arrangements for the vicarage at Wardley lapsed.
The advowson came into the king's hands and
apparently a rector was appointed to the cure of souls.
At Belton the vicarage remained, though it was still
attached to Wardley and certain tithes and lands
there belonging to the rectory were retained by the
Crown. (fn. 65) In 1548, Edward VI granted the advowsons
of the rectory and church of Wardley and of the vicarage of Belton, together with tithes and land in Belton,
to Gregory, Lord Cromwell and his wife Elizabeth
for their lives. (fn. 66) On the death of Gregory in 1551, (fn. 67)
his widow obtained a new grant from Queen Mary in
1553. A further grant was made by Queen Elizabeth
in 1558 to Lady Cromwell and her second husband
John Paulet, Lord St. John, for their lives or at the
queen's pleasure. (fn. 68) They presented jointly in 1559
and Sir John Paulet alone in 1565. (fn. 69) After the death
of Elizabeth, Lady St. John in 1568, the rectory and
advowson were leased for 21 years to her son Henry,
Lord Cromwell (fn. 70) who presented in 1575 and 1579. (fn. 71)
The lease was renewed (fn. 72) and he died in possession.
Early in the 17th century the advowson reverted to the
Crown and in 1609 King James I presented. The
Crown remained patrons until 1874, when the
patronage passed by exchange to the Bishop of
Peterborough. (fn. 73)
A hermitage existed at Wardley which escaped the
immediate dissolution under the Chantries Act of
1547. In 1584, however, Sir Edmund Brudenell was
holding the Hermitage and its site, valued at 6d. a
year, but it was then taken into possession of the
Crown as concealed land and granted by Queen
Elizabeth to William Kirkham and Richard Gardner
and their heirs. (fn. 74)
Charity
This parish participates in the
charity of the Rev. Abraham Jobson
particulars of which are set out under
the parish of Belton.