Butlers Marston Warwickshire
Church of St Peter & St Paul, Butlers Marston, Warwickshire. (Marston = a dwelling on marshy land), was occupied in the 7c by the Hwicce people who converted to Christianity about that time
It was held by Baldwin under Edward the Confessor before 1066, and given by the Conqueror with other estates across the Midlands to Hugh de Greatemisnil who gifted two thirds of all the church tithes on his lands to the Norman abbey of St Eroul.
The 1086 Domesday Survey mentions a priest here implying also a chapel which was probably the size of the present nave.. Soon after 1100 Robert Earl of Leicester acquired these estates from Hugh's son Ivo , and Marston was given to his butler Ralph de Boteler who gave the church to his newly founded priory at Alcester c1175. Thus the name changed to Marston Butlers or Butlers Marston.
Also c1175 a narrow south aisle was added which in 14c was widened and the chancel built on its present lines. Alcester priory paid for vicar's to the parish including Miles of Cirencester in 1306 and Philip of Warmington in 1349
The tower was begun c1450.
After the Mid 16c Dissolution of the priory the tithes , vicarage & advowson were in the hands of the Crown until 1553, when it was granted to Thomas Reve and George Cotton, who sold them on to local landowner Richard Woodward whose father John 1555 had already bought the manor.
Richard Woodward took up residence in the old parsonage house providing a home for the vicar in a much smaller property alongside. He and his descendants continued to enjoy the income from the tithes and to choose the vicars for the next 65 years. Richard died in 1602 a wealthy man, having moved to Stratford leaving his brother Thomas to manage the property . By c1615 the woodwards were accused of allowing 6 houses to fall into decay and converting 270 acres from arable to the more lucrative sheep farming. This boded ill for the village and the population dropped.
By 1616 the parishioners were complaining about the state of the vicarage and the smallness of the vicar's stipend paid by the Woodwards which had not risen much since medieval days.
By 1620 Richard Woodward's sons had more or less sold up, the new owners being the Abrahams who had married into their family. From them it passed again by marriage, to Thomas Newsham under whom things went from bad to worse. By 1674 the vicarage had been let to a "poor family" as no vicar could be found willing to serve for such a small stipend. Ten years later the vicarage was said to be about to fall down. In 1691 Newsham agreed to exchange the vicarage and its land with another cottage of far less value, restoring the old vicarage and land for his own use. He then moved to Warwick but still in 1719 was reported by the parishioners for failing to keep the church in good repair.
Help came with £400 from Queen Anne's Bounty to support poorer parishes in 1735 and another £400 by private donation in 1767. Even so the value of the living by 1782 was still ony £20. No resident vicar could be found and the vicarage was now a "ruinous thatched cottage" being let to tenants. Served by the vicar at Kineton, the lack of a resident vicar meant that many a Sunday passed without a service resulting
in the villagers flocking to the alternative Methodist chapel opened in the 1820s
From the 1760s Christchurch college Oxford had begun buying property in the village acquiring the tithes and the right to nominate a vicar. One of its owngraduates , Thomas Littlehayes became vicar and was provided with a new vicarage to live in, by 1839 he started to refurbish the church, doing away with te huge box pews & putting in benches for the poorer folk. He also started a Sunday School. In his zeal for the village's moral welfare he unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the opening of a beershop run by a known poacher and sheepstealer.
In 1866 another graduate George Fuller Thomaas arrived, who enlarged the vicarage , and during his incumbency of 20 years the church was restored by architect Thomas Naden which included entire reroofing, rebuilding the chancel arch, new chancel windows and the additions of a south porch and vestry. (The earlier steeper pitch of the nave roof can be clearly seen) The biggest change was the rebuilding of the nave north wall, thankfully keeping the 17c nave ceiling intact.
By this time only a third of the villagers were still attending the Methodist chapel.
His next 2 successors completed the work and funded the restoration of the tower
The extended vicarage proved to be too big and expensive for the next vicar Samuel Walton Kay who tried by forgery to augment his income , was stripped of his living and sentenced in 1898 to 12 months imprisonment
The tower has 6 bells; Two are medieval, one inscribed "Sancta Katerina ora pro nobis' ; One of 1662 given by William Loggin & William Abraham; Two where made in 1652 by Henry Bagley; . the tenor with a Latin inscription: 'Vox d[omi]ni ihū xp[ist]i vox exultacionis et salutis.' The most recent in 1947
Butlers Marston Warwickshire
Church of St Peter & St Paul, Butlers Marston, Warwickshire. (Marston = a dwelling on marshy land), was occupied in the 7c by the Hwicce people who converted to Christianity about that time
It was held by Baldwin under Edward the Confessor before 1066, and given by the Conqueror with other estates across the Midlands to Hugh de Greatemisnil who gifted two thirds of all the church tithes on his lands to the Norman abbey of St Eroul.
The 1086 Domesday Survey mentions a priest here implying also a chapel which was probably the size of the present nave.. Soon after 1100 Robert Earl of Leicester acquired these estates from Hugh's son Ivo , and Marston was given to his butler Ralph de Boteler who gave the church to his newly founded priory at Alcester c1175. Thus the name changed to Marston Butlers or Butlers Marston.
Also c1175 a narrow south aisle was added which in 14c was widened and the chancel built on its present lines. Alcester priory paid for vicar's to the parish including Miles of Cirencester in 1306 and Philip of Warmington in 1349
The tower was begun c1450.
After the Mid 16c Dissolution of the priory the tithes , vicarage & advowson were in the hands of the Crown until 1553, when it was granted to Thomas Reve and George Cotton, who sold them on to local landowner Richard Woodward whose father John 1555 had already bought the manor.
Richard Woodward took up residence in the old parsonage house providing a home for the vicar in a much smaller property alongside. He and his descendants continued to enjoy the income from the tithes and to choose the vicars for the next 65 years. Richard died in 1602 a wealthy man, having moved to Stratford leaving his brother Thomas to manage the property . By c1615 the woodwards were accused of allowing 6 houses to fall into decay and converting 270 acres from arable to the more lucrative sheep farming. This boded ill for the village and the population dropped.
By 1616 the parishioners were complaining about the state of the vicarage and the smallness of the vicar's stipend paid by the Woodwards which had not risen much since medieval days.
By 1620 Richard Woodward's sons had more or less sold up, the new owners being the Abrahams who had married into their family. From them it passed again by marriage, to Thomas Newsham under whom things went from bad to worse. By 1674 the vicarage had been let to a "poor family" as no vicar could be found willing to serve for such a small stipend. Ten years later the vicarage was said to be about to fall down. In 1691 Newsham agreed to exchange the vicarage and its land with another cottage of far less value, restoring the old vicarage and land for his own use. He then moved to Warwick but still in 1719 was reported by the parishioners for failing to keep the church in good repair.
Help came with £400 from Queen Anne's Bounty to support poorer parishes in 1735 and another £400 by private donation in 1767. Even so the value of the living by 1782 was still ony £20. No resident vicar could be found and the vicarage was now a "ruinous thatched cottage" being let to tenants. Served by the vicar at Kineton, the lack of a resident vicar meant that many a Sunday passed without a service resulting
in the villagers flocking to the alternative Methodist chapel opened in the 1820s
From the 1760s Christchurch college Oxford had begun buying property in the village acquiring the tithes and the right to nominate a vicar. One of its owngraduates , Thomas Littlehayes became vicar and was provided with a new vicarage to live in, by 1839 he started to refurbish the church, doing away with te huge box pews & putting in benches for the poorer folk. He also started a Sunday School. In his zeal for the village's moral welfare he unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the opening of a beershop run by a known poacher and sheepstealer.
In 1866 another graduate George Fuller Thomaas arrived, who enlarged the vicarage , and during his incumbency of 20 years the church was restored by architect Thomas Naden which included entire reroofing, rebuilding the chancel arch, new chancel windows and the additions of a south porch and vestry. (The earlier steeper pitch of the nave roof can be clearly seen) The biggest change was the rebuilding of the nave north wall, thankfully keeping the 17c nave ceiling intact.
By this time only a third of the villagers were still attending the Methodist chapel.
His next 2 successors completed the work and funded the restoration of the tower
The extended vicarage proved to be too big and expensive for the next vicar Samuel Walton Kay who tried by forgery to augment his income , was stripped of his living and sentenced in 1898 to 12 months imprisonment
The tower has 6 bells; Two are medieval, one inscribed "Sancta Katerina ora pro nobis' ; One of 1662 given by William Loggin & William Abraham; Two where made in 1652 by Henry Bagley; . the tenor with a Latin inscription: 'Vox d[omi]ni ihū xp[ist]i vox exultacionis et salutis.' The most recent in 1947