In 2014 a series of articles were published in the Church Lawford and King’s Newnham Parish Newsletter reflecting the history of the two villages. These articles, written by Liz Parvin (King’s Newnham) and Keith Sinfield (Church Lawford) have been digitised and distributed throughout this archive depending on the period they cover.
Both Liz and Keith looked at the this period, starting with looking at how King’s Newnham was affected
King’s Newnham: 1540-1750
This period came just after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. At this point the lands in King’s Newnham were seized by the King and were held by the crown until, during the reign of Edward VI, they were granted to John, Duke of Northumberland. After that they passed to several different families and came under the same ownership as Church Lawford. In 1571 the two manors belonged to Sir William Leigh and it was he who seems to be blamed for the decline of King’s Newnham because he enclosed land which had previously been common land. However, in spite of this ‘decline’, the baths seem to have been popular. The History of the County of Warwick tells us that:
It was at this time, however, that the mineral springs in the east of the parish became of some eminence, John Gifford of Chillington (Staffs.), a recusant, being allowed to resort there for his health for 14 days in 1581 and again for an unlimited time in 1586. (fn. 3). In 1587 Dr. Walter Bayley, physician to the Queen, published “A Brief Discours of certain Bathes . neere .Newnam Regis”, (fn. 4) Camden (fn. 5) describes them as ‘three springs… whose water, of a milky colour and taste is accounted good against the stone. It certainly is extremely diuretic, heals and closes up wounds presently, taken with salt purges, with sugar binds.’
These baths are close to where ‘Bath Cottage’ (now called Siloam) stands.
The church, St Laurence’s, was still in use in 1730 when it was described by a Dr. Thomas: ‘The seats are very handsome; on the walls of the church are painted in fresco the four Evangelists in full proportion, on the northside wall of the Chancell, the offerings of the wise men and on the south wall, the taking down of our Saviour from the cross.’
What a shame these are now lost to us! There were some burials of some members of the Leigh family there in the mid-1600’s but we shall come back to that interesting, and slightly gruesome, story in the next instalment!
As for other buildings; the mill was still there and in working order you may recall that the mill was mentioned in the Domesday book and before, so it has a long history. The Warwickshire historical archive suggest that the Manor House, (now Manor farm), was built during this period and there is a suggestion that there may have been a brewhouse and malthouse there as well (the beginnings of a drinking tradition in King’s Newnham??!!). However, the present owners, and the Georgian society, place its construction in the next century The current Newnham Hall was not there but there was another house on the same site that was pulled down in 1776; a small part of that remains connected to the current house. The Dovecote was there (perhaps a ‘left-over1 from the time of the monks?). The Warwickshire records also claim there was a ‘gazebo’ on the ‘island’ in the river below King’s Newnham and that traces of it were visible in the 19th century. The records also show that there was a lime works in the region of Brown’s Spinney at the east end of King s Newnham no doubt one of the many that there were in this limestone area.
It seems there is a history of dissent in King’s Newnham (!) as in 1672 there were enough religious Dissenters’ for the house of Abraham Worth to be licensed for Presbyterian worship. I have no information as to where that house was.
1 From: Parishes; Newnham Regis’. A History of the County of Warwick Volume 6. Knightlow Hundred https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol6/pp193-194
Date accessed: 21st April 2014.
Keith Sinfield then looked at Church Lawford for the same period.
Church Lawford: 1540-1750
As Liz Parvin pointed out in her contribution, this period came just after Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries. The consequent changes in land ownership brought about by this act (the Act of Supremacy) applied as much to Church Lawford as they did to King’s Newnham.
But in terms of social upheaval this was just the beginning more was to come as. a), successive monarchs holding various religious beliefs imposed these on their subjects, and b). the English Civil Wars brought about both the removal and restoration of the monarchy.
Taking listed building status as an indication of historical merit, Church Lawford boasts (if that is the right word!) seven such ‘edifices’. For those wishing to know more, details can be found on the website at Ref. 1. For the period with which we are concerned, though, there are two entries which deserve a mention: (1). The Manor House, dating from Elizabeth I’s time (1558-1603) and, (2). A pair of semi-detached cottages, originally part of a longer row, dating from the 17ltl / early 18th Century. Both buildings would probably still be recognised by villagers of the period, were those people to be transported to our time. St Peter’s Church, also listed, has earlier origins (13th & 14lh C), however, the building we now see is the product of extensive rebuilding in 1872 and, I dare say, would not so easily be recognised by our time travellers.
James I (James II of Scotland) succeeded Elizabeth I, paving the way for the Union of England & Scotland. Moving on to the period of the English Civil War(s): it appears that the people of our region supported the Parliamentarians that is, apart from at least one unlucky individual. One of six lead-lined coffins discovered in the 1850s in a vault beneath St Laurence’s Church, King’s Newnham, contained the body of an unidentified headless man he is thought to have been a royalist sympathiser beheaded at the same time as Charles I! Liz has produced an article about the discovery of the coffins here.
With the restoration of the monarchy (Charles II, 1660) it was pretty well “business as usual” for the common people, but the scientists (‘natural philosophers’) of the day were making great strides. This was the time of Isaac Newton (1642-1727) but it was also the period of The Great Plague of London (1665-66). Mercifully, in Church Lawford, and such parishes outside London, the effects of the plague were not so great since, during this period, fewer than 10% had mortality rates greater than normal.
Though not in the same league as Isaac Newton, a notable inventor chose to make his home in Church Lawford in the early 1700s. The gentleman’s name was Christopher Holtum and, had things turned out differently, motor-cars could have been introduced to the world long before Karl Benz’s car of 1886. For it was in 1711 that Christopher Holtum gave notice in London newspapers that he would be demonstrating ‘…a chariot in which a man may travel without horses…’(see Ref.2). Sadly, nothing came of his invention and he and his wife left London and came to Church Lawford, occupying a cottage in Church Road with rent paid by his in-laws the Garfields. In a workshop attached to the cottage he set up a clock-making business (the Church Lawford the Garfields are noted for, reputably, sharing ancestry with James A. Garfield, 20th president of the USA and the second to be assassinated).
Christopher Holtum and his wife Ann died in May 1749 and with them the Holtum line, for the two children they had were both daughters.
There is circumstantial evidence that Christopher knew the Dalton family of clockmakers in Church Lawford and that one of the Daltons may have served an apprenticeship with him. The Dalton family were more successful in the clock-making business than Christopher, but a number of ‘Holtum’ clocks are still to be found, inscribed ‘Christopher Holtum Church Lawford’.
References: 1). https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/advanced-search/
enter Church Lawford parish
2). https://thenationalcv.org.uk/more.html – select Article 17.
Keith Sinfield
For supplementary information, in an account written during the 19th Century see either Church Lawford Background History, or King’s Newnham Background History.
For details of the hundreds of Warwickshire consult British History Online at https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol3/pp1-4
For old maps of the villages, notably an 18th Century Church Lawford map see the Old Maps page here.