Austrey

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Austrey
St. Nicholas, Austrey - geograph.org.uk - 118988.jpg
Saint Nicholas parish church, Austrey
Austrey is located in Warwickshire
Austrey
Austrey
Location within Warwickshire
Population1,527 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSK294065
• London104 miles
Civil parish
  • Austrey
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townAtherstone
Postcode districtCV9
Dialling code01827
PoliceWarwickshire
FireWarwickshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament
WebsiteWelcome to Austrey
List of places
UK
England
Warwickshire
52°39′21″N 1°33′55″W / 52.655751°N 1.565414°W / 52.655751; -1.565414Coordinates: 52°39′21″N 1°33′55″W / 52.655751°N 1.565414°W / 52.655751; -1.565414

Austrey is a village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire District of Warwickshire, England.[2] and the village lies at the northern extremity of the County.

Location / transport[]

With a population of over 1,500 inhabitants, Austrey lies in a peaceful, pretty and central location at the far northeastern extremity of North Warwickshire and is also uniquely close to three County Boundaries of Leicestershire (less than a mile to the East), Staffordshire (less than two miles to the North) and Derbyshire (less than four miles to the North East). North Warwickshire Villages of Newton Regis (1 mile), Polesworth (3 miles), Dordon (4 miles), Warton (1.5 miles), No Man's Heath (1.5 miles) and Leicestershire villages of Appleby Parva (1.5 miles), Appleby Magna (2 miles), Twycross (2.5 miles), Norton-juxta-Twycross (1.5 miles), Orton on the Hill (1.5 miles) are the local neighbouring villages.
Austrey is two miles by road from Junction 11 of the M42 / A42 and this Motorway / A Road corridor provides excellent access to many fast transport links:-
Road:- M1 (Jcn 23A – 15 miles (via A42)), M6 Toll (M6 Toll Start /Junction 9 M42 – 15 miles (via M42)), short motorway and A road links to the centre of at least five of the countries major cities:- Birmingham (M42/M6/M38M) – 26 miles, Leicester (A42/A511/A50) – 23 miles, Nottingham (A42/M1/A52) – 30 miles, Derby (A42/A511/A514) – 24 miles and Coventry (A444) – 23 miles. The village is also close to five towns:- Atherstone, home of the administrative offices of the borough of North Warwickshire (6 miles), Tamworth (6.5 miles), Ashby-de-la-Zouch (8 miles), Swadlincote (9 miles) and Nuneaton (11 miles).
Rail:- Birmingham International Station (23 miles), Nottingham East Midlands Parkway (21 miles), Tamworth Railway Station (7 miles), Atherstone Railway Station (7 miles), Polesworth Railway Station (4 miles)
Air:- Birmingham International Airport (23 miles), East Midlands Airport (17 miles), Manchester Airport (83 miles) and London Luton Airport (82 miles).
Bus:- Austrey has the benefit of Arriva Local Bus services and is located on the 785 Bus Route.
Click here to view the Arriva Tamworth Bus Network Map
Click here for Arriva interactive Bus Journey Planner and Timetables
Map:- Austrey highlighted on Google's Interactive / Satellite / Navigation Map

Amenities and facilities[]

Austrey is a vibrant and active village that has the benefit of a Village Shop / Post Office, C of E Primary School, Pre-School and a Playgroup. The village has two Church's, St Nicholas Church of England that dates back to the 13th century and an early-19th-century Baptist Church. The Bird in Hand 15th Century Thatched Pub and Village Hall (former Parochial School, erected 1850) are both well frequented. The area in and around Austrey has many equestrian (horse) livery yards and stables providing great facilities for equine enthusiasts.

Local Medical Centres / Doctors are Polesworth (3.5 miles) / Dordon (5 miles) or Appleby Magna (2.5 miles) / Measham (5miles) Measham Medical Centre also runs a Community / Shuttle Bus that leaves the village twice a week – Monday 11:30 am and Thursday 9:30 am.

There are a number of Village Clubs and Societies including:- Allotment Society, Archery Group, Art Group, Austrey Rangers Football Club, Bridge Club, Cricket Club, Gardening Society, Golf Society. Neighbourhood Watch, Scout Group, Tennis Club, The WI and a Walking Group.

There are a number of mobile businesses that regularly visit the village and these include a Butcher, Fruit and Vegetable van, Dairy Crest Milk, Mobile Library and Fish and Chip van.

Ocado, Sainsbury's and Tesco Direct / Groceries all deliver to the village.

Most of the village properties have the benefit of all mains services / public utilities including gas, water, sewerage, telephone / broadband and electricity.

2011 Census Neighbourhood Statistics can be found here.

Origins of the parish[]

The village was sometimes spelt 'Alestry'.[3] In the Saxon era Austrey formed part of a great block of seventy or eighty midland vills belonging to Wulfric Spot, the Mercian nobleman who founded Burton Abbey. In Wulfric Spot's will of 1004 Wulfric left Austrey "as it now stands with meat and with men", to one of his thegns who later transferred this part of the vill to the abbey.

After the Norman conquest of England the abbot was forced to share suzerainty with Nigel d'Aubigny, one of the Conqueror's trusted retinue, who was given lands in the parish as part of the spoils of the English defeat. Although he retained two and a half hides in Austrey, the abbot was no longer the principal landowner in the parish. Domesday Book of 1086 records 42 inhabitants in the town.

The monks of Burton took advantage of rising wool prices in the medieval period to sublet their estates for sheep walks. Aubigny lands reverted to Burton Abbey.

In 1538 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries the Abbey surrendered its lands to the Crown.[4] In 1541 the abbey was refounded as a collegiate church and Austrey manor was restored to it.[4] However, in 1545 the collegiate church was dissolved and in 1546 the Crown granted Austrey manor to Sir William Paget.[4] His son Henry Paget inherited Austrey manor in 1563 and still owned it in 1587.[4]

Thereafter the manor was divided into freehold farms that were sold to the wealthier tenants.[citation needed] One of the Austrey manors came into the possession of the Kendalls of Smithsby through marriage with one of Henry Alstre's co-heiresses in 1433.[citation needed] The Kendalls were well-established in Austrey by 1550 and they continued to consolidate their position after this date.[citation needed] The other Austrey manor held by Sir Walter Aston was broken up and divided among his tenants in the early 17th century.[citation needed]

By the Tudor period the village was divided into two separate parts: the original settlement cluster around the church and market cross at Over End and a later extension at Nether End.

The Kendalls, hereditary lords of the manor, declared support for Parliament at the outbreak of the Civil War and became involved with conventicles and dissent in the latter half of the 17th century.[citation needed] Henry Kendall was governor of the parliamentary garrison at Maxstoke from March 1644 to October 1645.[citation needed] The parish provided free quartering for a considerable force of parliamentarians commanded by Colonel Drummond and Sir Thomas Fairfax in 1646.[citation needed]

It is the namesake of Austrey School, Karachi, Pakistan.[5]

Parish church[]

Austrey had a parish church by 1155.[4] The oldest part of the present Church of England parish church of Saint Nicholas is the Early English Gothic tower,[6] which was built in the middle of the 13th century. The remainder of the church was rebuilt early in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style.[6] The nave has a clerestory and is flanked by north and south aisles, each of four bays.[6] The Gothic Revival architect Ewan Christian restored the chancel with new windows in 1844–45.[6]

The bell-tower has a ring of five bells.[7] Three including the tenor were cast by Hugh Watts II[7] of Leicester[8] in 1632.[7] Another was cast by Thomas Rudhall[7] of Gloucester[8] in 1770.[7] The treble was recast by James Barwell[7] of Birmingham[8] in 1911[7] from another 1632 bell by Hugh Watts.[4]

The original church had a leaded roof with castellated wall. Drawings of the church in the pre-Victorian format are held by Birmingham Central Library. In the Victorian era the current pitched roof replaced the original and the porch was added.

St. Nicholas' parish is now part of the Parish of All Souls, North Warwickshire along with the villages of Newton Regis, Seckington, Shuttington and Warton.[9]

Settlement[]

The line of earthworks below the church in the area known as the Bishop's Field are part of a complex of water management ducts and ponds with this area used as water meadows. A quote from George Barwell of Shuttington in 1790 :- "in the parish of Austrey where he was born it has been the custom ever since he can remember (sixty years) to throw the rich waters which are collected in rainy seasons on the common fields lying on the side of the hill above the village, over the meadows which are below it, by means of floodgates and floating trenches." Also in the Bishops Field is a natural spring known as the holy well. The new settlement at the Nether End probably originated with Earl Leofric's original grant to Burton Abbey, which would account for the siting of the monks' farmstead at nearby Bishop's Farm.[citation needed] The medieval pattern of settlement was scythe-shaped with tenements lining the main street running roughly parallel to the ridgeway from Orton to No man's heath.[citation needed] The earliest record of the customary tenants on Sir William Paget's demesne in Tudor times is a partial list of the Austrey copyholders with the number of virgates held by each from a surviving manor court roll. (Paget Court Roll 1646 D(W)1734/J2009 in Staffordshire Record Office[citation needed] All but two of the twelve tenants listed on the demesne in 1546 held a single virgate; one (Richard Cryspe) had a quarter and the other (Elizabeth Clerke) two virgates.[citation needed] Most of these family names are listed in the 17th century attached to Austrey farmers or craftsmen paying for a single hearth in the hearth tax returns.[citation needed]

The two ends of the village had separate water treatment reed beds on the streams just outside the village – the area behind the current sewage pumping system at the South West corner of the village is still owned by Severn Trent Water.

The parish has a Church of England primary school[10] and a bus link to the local secondary school in Polesworth.

Austrey was judged Warwickshire's Calor Village of the Year in September 2008

References[]

  1. ^ "Area: Austrey CP (Parish): 2011 Census". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  2. ^ OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) :ISBN 0 319 46404 0
  3. ^ The Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry: Austrey Archived 6 September 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Salzman, 1947, pages 9–13
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Pevsner & Wedgwood, 1966, page 79
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Place: Austrey S Nicholas". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Bell Founders". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  9. ^ All Souls – North Warwickshire Parish Web site
  10. ^ "Austrey C of E Primary School". Archived from the original on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.

Printed sources[]

  • Bridgeman, C.G.O. (1916). The Burton Abbey Twelfth Century Surveys. Staffordshire Historical Commission. pp. 244–247.
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (Philip and Mary). II. p. 135.
  • Jeayes, Isaac Herbert (1937). Burton Abbey Charters. Staffordshire Historical Commission. p. 187.
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus; Wedgwood, Alexandra (1966). The Buildings of England: Warwickshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 79–80. ISBN 0-14-0710-31-0.
  • Salzman, L.F., ed. (1947). Victoria County History: A History of the County of Warwick, Volume 4. pp. 9–13.
  • Warwick County Records: Hearth Tax Returns. II. pp. 2–10.
  • Roberts, A. The Farming Inhabitants of Appleby and Austrey, Adelaide University PhD thesis, 1984

External links[]

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