St James' Church is an 18th-century chapel situated in the grounds of Packington Hall, near Meriden, Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
The church was built in 1789 to a design by architect Joseph Bonomi for the Earl of Aylesford as a private family chapel. It is said to commemorate the recovery of George III from insanity.
The red brick church, in neo-classical style, has an unusual square plan with four corner turrets topped with domes and finials.
It houses an organ built by Thomas Parker, to specifications outlined by Handel in 1749, for his librettist Charles Jennens. Jennens' home, Gopsall Hall, has not survived, but the organ passed to his relatives the Earls of Aylesford. [1] The instrument was filmed and recorded for the documentary The Elusive English Organ .
Earl of Aylesford, in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1714 for the lawyer and politician Heneage Finch, 1st Baron Guernsey. He had already been created Baron Guernsey in the Peerage of England in 1703. Finch was the younger son of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham and the great-grandson of Elizabeth Heneage, 1st Countess of Winchilsea. Lord Aylesford's eldest son, the second Earl, represented Maidstone and Surrey in Parliament. In 1712, he married Mary Fisher, daughter of Sir Clement Fisher, 3rd Baronet. Through this marriage Packington Hall in Warwickshire came into the Finch family. Their son, the third Earl, sat as a Member of Parliament for Leicestershire and Maidstone. His eldest son, the fourth Earl, represented Castle Rising and Maidstone in the House of Commons, and after entering the House of Lords on his father's death, served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard from 1783 to 1804 and as Lord Steward of the Household from 1804 to 1812.
Joseph Bonomi the Elder was an Italian architect and draughtsman who spent most of his career in England where he became a successful designer of country houses. Bonomi was Robert Adam’s leading draughtsman.
The Collegiate Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon, is a Grade I listed parish church of the Church of England in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. It is often known simply as Holy Trinity Church or as Shakespeare's Church, due to its fame as the place of baptism, marriage and burial of William Shakespeare. More than 200,000 tourists visit the church each year.
Great Packington is a hamlet, civil parish and country park in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. The parish of Meriden is to the south-east, and Little Packington to the west. At Great Packington is Packington estate, which includes Packington Hall, Packington Old Hall and St James' Church.
Nether Whitacre is a small village and larger rural civil parish in North Warwickshire, Warwickshire, England.
The Collegiate Church of St Mary is a Church of England parish church in Warwick, Warwickshire, England. It is in the centre of the town just east of the market place. It is grade I listed, and a member of the Major Churches Network.
Offchurch Bury is a manor house one mile north-west of the centre of the village of Offchurch, Warwickshire, England. It is supposed to represent the site of a palace of the Anglo-Saxon King Offa of Mercia (d.796), after which Offchurch is named, "bury" being a corruption of "burh" meaning a fortified place. William Dugdale in his Antiquities of Warwickshire (1656) stated concerning the manor of Offchurch:
Charles Jennens was an English landowner and patron of the arts. As a friend of Handel, he helped author the libretti of several of his oratorios, most notably Messiah.
Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford, PC, FRS, FSA, styled Lord Guernsey between 1757 and 1777, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1772 to 1777 when he succeeded to a peerage. He was also a landscape artist.
Gopsall is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Twycross, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It is located between the villages of Appleby Magna, Shackerstone, Twycross and Snarestone. In 1931 the parish had a population of 13. Gopsall was formerly an extra-parochial tract, from 1858 Gopsall was a civil parish in its own right, on 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Twycross.
Packington Old Hall is a 17th-century manor house situated at Great Packington, near Meriden, Warwickshire. It is a Grade II* listed building.
Packington Hall is a 17th-century mansion situated at Great Packington, near Meriden, Warwickshire, England the seat of the Earl of Aylesford. It is a Grade II* listed building.
Wroxall Abbey is a substantial Victorian mansion house situated at Wroxall, Warwickshire which was converted for use as a hotel, spa, wedding venue and conference centre. It is a Grade II listed building.
All Saints' Church is the parish church of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England. It is a grade II* listed building. The church is inclusive and supports women's ordained ministry and equality for LGBTQIA+ people within the church.
Moreton Morrell is a village and civil parish in the county of Warwickshire, England. It is part of the historic hundred of Kington and is located about three and a half miles north west of the village of Kineton. The settlement was first mentioned in the Domesday Book as Moreton. From at least Norman times, it has consisted of the village of Moreton and the hamlet of Morrell. The parish of Moreton Morrell is bounded on the east and south east by the Fosse Way, and consists of Little Morrell in the north, the village of Moreton Morrell, and Moreton Paddox in the south.
St George's Church, Edgbaston, is a parish church in the Church of England in Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Heneage Finch, 2nd Earl of Aylesford (1683–1757) was a British peer and member of the House of Lords, styled Lord Guernsey from 1714 to 1719.
Deeping St James Priory was a priory in Deeping St James, Lincolnshire, England. It was a dependency of Thorney Abbey.
Pooley Hall is a Manor house built in 1509 on the outskirts of Polesworth, Warwickshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and a private residence.
Louisa Finch, Countess of Aylesford was an English naturalist and botanical illustrator who made studies and paintings of the plants, algae, and fungi from the Warwickshire area.