Lea Marston
| Lea Marston | |
|---|---|
  Lea Marston Location within Warwickshire | |
| Population | 378 (2011 census)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SP2093 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SUTTON COLDFIELD |
| Postcode district | B76 |
| Dialling code | 01675 |
| Police | Warwickshire |
| Fire | Warwickshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Lea Marston is a village and civil parish on the River Tame in Warwickshire, England, about 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Atherstone. Lea Marston is close to the county boundary with Birmingham and about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east of Sutton Coldfield.
Manor[edit]
The Domesday Book of 1086 records that Robert Despenser held estates of nine hides at "Merston" and one hide at "Leth".[2] By 1235 Robert Marmion of Tamworth Castle held Marston and by 1253 the de la Launde family held Lea.[2] By the early part of the 16th century the two manors were referred to together and were generally held together.[2] The Adderley family acquired Lea Marston in the first half of the 17th century when Charles Adderley married Anne Arden[2] of Park Hall in Castle Bromwich. It descended in the family to Charles Bowyer Adderley,[2] who was created 1st Baron Norton in 1878 and still held Lea Marston in 1905.[2] Adderley manor house was remodelled for the Adderley family in the 18th century and was called Hams Hall.
Parish church[edit]
The Church of England parish church of Saint John the Baptist seems to have existed by 1252, when it was a dependent chapelry of Coleshill parish church and was granted to the Benedictine Markyate Priory.[2] The south wall of the nave and possibly the north wall date from this era.[2] Two windows in the north wall are early 14th century in style.[2] The nave was extended 9 feet (2.7 m) westwards in the 15th century for the addition of a bell-cot.[2] The south porch is another addition that seems to date from the 15th century.[2] In 1876-77 the chancel was rebuilt and the north-west tower was added.[2]
The tower has three bells, the oldest of which was cast by John Rudhall of Gloucester[3] in 1791.[2][4] The other two were cast by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough[3] in 1855 and 1873.[2][4] The church contains numerous monuments to members of the Adderley family,[2][5] including one from 1784 made of Coade stone.[5] The Rev. Thomas Bray was briefly vicar of Lea Marston in about 1693.[2] Dr Bray later founded the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in 1699 and the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts in 1701.
Economic history[edit]
There are records of a watermill in the parish in the Domesday Book of 1086, and again in 1291 and 1703.[5] In 1909 a section of the Midland Railway was built through Lea Marston parish linking Kingsbury and Water Orton to bypass Whitacre Junction. The line passes immediately south-east of Lea Marston village but there is no station. In the 20th century there were three Hams Hall Power Stations in the parish.[5] Hams Hall A was built in 1927-29, Hams Hall B in 1949 and Hams Hall C in 1958.[5] They were decommissioned in 1975, 1981 and 1992 respectively and each was demolished within a few years of closure. The site has since been redeveloped as Hams Hall Distribution Park. Lea Marston has a four-star hotel (the Lea Marston Hotel[6]) and a curry house - The Pavilion
References[edit]
- ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Salzman, 1947, pages 114-116
- ^ a b "Bell Founders". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ a b "Lea Marston S John Bapt". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Pevsner & Wedgwood, 1966, page 332
- ^ Lea Marston Hotel
Sources[edit]
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Wedgwood, Alexandra (1966). Warwickshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 332.
- Salzman, L.F., ed. (1947). A History of the County of Warwick, Volume 4: Hemlingford Hundred. Victoria County History. pp. 114–116.
External links[edit]
Media related to Lea Marston at Wikimedia Commons