Wormleighton is a village in Warwickshire on top of Wormleighton Hill overlooking the River Cherwell, England. The population taken at the 2011 census was 183. [1]
The original village was by the banks of the Cherwell and can still be seen as a series of humps and hollows on the East bank of the Oxford Canal.
The present village sits on the crest of the hill. At one end is St Peter's Church, which has a Norman tower and nave, made of local ironstone, with small added Gothic aisles. It has a graveyard around it, accessible to local sheep, and hints of a circular enclosure. A path from the church takes the visitor directly to the remains of the old 16th-century Manor house, of which the first view is a fine old chimney, then the great hall can be seen, part made of stone, part of brick. The gatehouse is Jacobean, and has a date of 1613 upon it.
The manor house was slighted by the Parliamentarians as it was a Royalist stronghold. The village was abandoned after the English Civil War when the Spencer family home Wormleighton Manor was burned down in 1645. The village, however, was refounded in the 19th century, and there is a very fine Arts and Crafts group of buildings, as well as a number of thatched cottages.
The first mention of a post office in the village is in September 1853, when a type of postmark known as an undated circle was issued. [2] The post office closed in 1971. The historic family of Wormleighton is based in the North West of England. During the Second World War, Captain Ronald fought with distinction and was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1944. The Spencer family fortune derived from Sir John Spencer of Wormleighton, Warwickshire, who bought Althorp in 1508 with the huge profits from his sheep-rearing business. In 1498 an inquest jury [3] recorded that 60 villagers had been evicted from the Wormleighton Estate "weeping, to wander in idleness ... perished of hunger". [4]
The Church has remaining box pews, a Norman font, and an interesting tomb to Robert Spencer which gives his death date in 1610 (he died in France) both in the new Gregorian calendar (used in France from 1582) and in the old Julian calendar which was still used in Britain until 1752.
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Gloucestershire to the west. The city of Oxford is the largest settlement and county town.
The Spencer family is an aristocratic family in the United Kingdom. From the 16th century, its members have held numerous titles, including the dukedom of Marlborough, the earldoms of Sunderland and Spencer, and the Churchill barony. Two prominent members of the family during the 20th century were Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales.
Staverton is a village and civil parish in the south-west of Northamptonshire, England. It is 2.3 miles west of Daventry, 7.9 miles east of Southam and 15.3 miles east of Leamington Spa. It straddles the A425 road from Daventry to Leamington. The Jurassic Way long-distance footpath between Banbury and Stamford passes through the village.
Great Brington is a village in Northamptonshire, England, in the civil parish of Brington, which at the 2011 Census had a population of about 200. St Mary the Virgin's church is the parish church.
Cropredy is a village and civil parish on the River Cherwell, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Banbury in Oxfordshire.
Alderminster is a village and civil parish on the River Stour about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. The village is on the A3400 road between Stratford-upon-Avon and Shipston-on-Stour. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 491.
Austrey is a village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire District of Warwickshire, England.
Leamington Hastings is a small village and larger civil parish in Warwickshire, England. The civil parish covers Leamington Hastings itself, plus the nearby hamlets of Broadwell, Hill and Kites Hardwick. Its population in the 2011 census was 440, increasing slightly to 466 at the 2021 census.
Grandborough is a small village and civil parish in the Rugby district, in the county of Warwickshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Calcutt, Grandborough Fields and Woolscott. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 424. Grandborough is in a rural area of eastern Warwickshire, around six miles (10 km) south of Rugby and six miles northwest of Daventry, Northamptonshire. Grandborough is about two miles from the nearest main roads and can be reached by country lanes from the A45 to the east, and the A426 to the west.
Seighford is a village and civil parish about 3 miles (5 km) west of Stafford in Staffordshire, England. The population of this civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,793. The ford across a small stream is the origin of the village's toponym. The village has a red brick Church of England parish church, St Chad's, and a 16th-century Tudor mansion.
Fenny Compton is a village and parish in Warwickshire, England, about eight miles north of Banbury. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 797, increasing to 808 at the 2011 census. Its name comes from the Anglo-Saxon Fennig Cumbtūn meaning "marshy farmstead in a valley".
Lighthorne is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. It is about 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Leamington Spa. The population taken at the 2011 census was 361. Lighthorne is a small village in a valley and is near Moreton Morrell, Kineton and Wellesbourne. The first mention of a post office in the village is in October 1849, when a type of postmark known as an undated circle was issued. The parish church of St. Lawrence stands in a valley west of the village. It is built of stone in the late-13th century style but the west tower was rebuilt in 1771 and the remainder of the church in 1875–6. In October 2008, Lighthorne Parish council bought the telephone box in the village from the BT Group.
Althorp is a lost village within the grounds of the Althorp estate in the English county of Northamptonshire. The village is recorded in the Domesday Book. In the 15th century, the manor was held by the Catesby family who were probably responsible for clearing the settlement, for by 1505, the records show that there were no tenants. In 1508, the parish, including the cleared settlement of Althorp, was sold to John Spencer of Wormleighton in Warwickshire. By 1577, the land in the parish had been divided into four large sheep pastures. Althorp remains a civil parish.
Hampton Gay is a village in the civil parish of Hampton Gay and Poyle, in the Cherwell district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is in the Cherwell Valley about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Kidlington. In 1931 the parish had a population of 28. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished to form "Hampton Gay and Poyle".
Wormleighton Manor is a manor house in the civil parish of Wormleighton in the historic county of Warwickshire, England. It belonged to the wealthy Spencer family during the 16th and 17th century. Much of the house was burned down by Royalists during the English Civil War in 1645 and abandoned by the Spencers in favour of Althorp in Northamptonshire, which contains some materials salvaged from Wormleighton to this day. Today, all that is left of the manor, which was once four times the size of Althorp, is the Wormleighton Manor Gatehouse and Tower Cottage which is a Grade II listed building, and the northern range of the manor.
Fritwell is a village and civil parish about 5+1⁄2 miles (9 km) northwest of Bicester in Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 736.
Shotteswell is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 221. The parish is bounded on three sides by Oxfordshire and is about 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Banbury.
Sir John Spencer was an English nobleman, politician, knight, sheriff, landowner, and Member of Parliament. He was an early member of the Spencer family.
Sir John Spencer was an English nobleman who was widely admired, in his time, for his administration of the family estates. He inherited large estates in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, and increased his lands and fortunes extensively. Spencer was also a politician, who served as member of parliament for several years, and known for his support of Whig issues.
Stoneton is a hamlet and manor in Warwickshire, England. It lies just to the northeast of Wormleighton. It was documented in the Domesday Book. From the late 15th century onwards the wealthy Spencer family owned land here, and owned the manor in conjunction with nearby Wormleighton Manor. Little remains of the original village, which lies in a field next to the manor. The moat has been restored to Stoneton Manor, using water supplied from a nearby spring. A windfarm with 8-13 turbines has been proposed in the vicinity since June 2012, with a capacity of up to 16MW of low carbon energy.
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