Parishes: Haseley

HASELEY

Acreage: 1,201.

Population: 1911, 238; 1921, 222; 1931, 242.

Haseley is a long narrow parish between Honiley and Hatton, the northern part consisting of a strip less than half a mile wide, dividing Honiley from Wroxall. The main Birmingham to Warwick road runs close to the western boundary, and about ¼ mile from Haseley Hall a branch leads to the right to Honiley, going over a hill called Haseley Knob, about 400 ft. above Ordnance datum.

The manor-house and park with the church and rectory are in the extreme south, but there is no village, the inhabitants living in scattered farms. The mill is on Inchford Brook, close to the old manor-house. There was a mill at Haseley in 1086, (fn. 1) and two watermills in 1632. (fn. 2)

The Old Manor House, about 300 yards north-east of the church, is dated 1561, and was built by Clement Throckmorton, whose initials with those of his wife Katherine appear on the porch. The oldest part of the house is L-shaped, the main block facing south and the wing extending to the south at the east end. The house was enlarged more than once in the 18th century to the east and north. It is now partly two tenements and partly unoccupied. The principal feature of the south front is the porch-wing; the lower story is of stone; it has a moulded Tudor doorway with carved spandrels; the remainder is of Classic Renaissance style with Ionic pilasters on pedestals, and a moulded entablature. The spandrels are carved with foliage and cartouches having the initials CT and KT, respectively tied together by tasselled cords. Between the doorhead and the architrave is the inscription anno dom 1561. The frieze of the entablature bears the inscription: (W. side) the hebrves xiii (S. front) non habemvs hic manentem civitatem sed pre (E. side, hidden by the staircase, said to be) teriavnvm (?). The upper story and the gable-head are both jettied. The walls of the older part are said to be timberframing but are covered with rough-cast and the windows are modernized.

The porch entrance opens into the west side of the hall. This has a projecting chimneystack of stone on its north side, its fireplace having a Tudor arch with side pilasters and frieze decorated with lozenge-shaped patterns. Over the fire-place is a repainted carved achievement of the Throckmorton arms (eight quarters), helm and falcon crest, in a frame enriched with strap ornament. The ceiling has chamfered beams. The entrance and other doors are of the 18th century with fielded panels. The room in the south-east wing is lined with late16th-century panelling and the room above with panelling, partly original and partly somewhat later. The fire-place is of the early 18th century: the ceiling is covered in plaster. The east wing is of 18th-century brickwork with sash windows. The lower room, the former Drawing Room, is lined with contemporary panelling and the room above has a dado of 17th-century panelling. South of these is the main staircase of the 18th century, with turned balusters and curved ramps to the hand-rail. North of this is a narrower wing with tall windows having wood mullions and transoms. The west side of the house is of later 18th-century brickwork, and there are low modern additions at the back. Some of the garden walls south and south-east are of stonework of the 16th century.

The present Manor House, about ¼ mile to the south in the park, is entirely modern.

The former Rectory, south of the church, has been modernized, but a barn, now converted into a cottage, shows some 17th-century framing in its north wall. Glebe Farm, ¼ mile to the north, also has some timber-framed farm buildings. There is no house.

Moat Farm at the north end of the parish is of red brick but has some 17th-century framing in the outbuildings and the farmstead is surrounded by a large rectangular moat of which the east and part of the north sides contain water.

Manor

Azur held HASELEY before the Conquest. In 1086 it was part of the land of Hasculf Musard, and was held of him by Humphrey, ancestor of the family of Hastang. (fn. 3) Hasculf, or Hascoit, was a Breton who held land in Gloucestershire and Derbyshire, and whose chief seat was the castle of 'La Musardere' in Gloucestershire. (fn. 4) The overlordship of the Musards was recognized in 1234, (fn. 5) but does not appear after that date.

Aytrop, or Eutrope, Hastang, son of Humphrey the Domesday tenant, gave to William Turpin of the King's Chamber his vill of Haseley, excepting the land which he had already given to the nuns of Wroxall. (fn. 6) For this grant William paid 80 marks to Eutrope and ½ mark to Humphrey, Eutrope's heir, and undertook to do the service due for ½ and 1/10 knight's fee. This grant is not dated, but in 1194 a farmer paid the king 14s. 10d. for half a year's farm of Haseley which had belonged to William Turpin, (fn. 7) and in 1199 Haseley was among the escheats for which a farm of 50s. was paid. (fn. 8) Haseley must have been restored to William, for he sold part of it to Roger son of Turpin de Cherlecote. This grant was confirmed by Eutrope Hastang, son of the above-named Eutrope, who claimed the overlordship of the land, (fn. 9) and the service of ²/5 knight's fee. For this confirmation Roger paid 5 marks to Eutrope and 1 mark to his wife Amice. (fn. 10) William Turpin sold another part of Haseley to Joscelin son of Hugh, also called Joscelin Marshall, who gave it to Roger de Cherlecote, as well as releasing him from the homage which was due to Joscelin from Roger's part of the manor. There was also a rent of 50s. payable from Haseley to the nuns of Clerkenwell and the prioress released Roger from this payment. (fn. 11) In 1202 Roger de Cherlecote paid ½ mark that Joscelin's grant to him might be enrolled upon the Pipe Roll. (fn. 12) This did not apparently secure Roger in his possession, for in 1212 Adam Hastang son of Eutrope agreed to give Robert de Barevill half of any land in Haseley which Robert should succeed in recovering from Roger and William de Cherlecote. (fn. 13) Probably Robert was unsuccessful, for in 1223 Thomas de Cherlecote son of Roger secured his claim by obtain ing from Osbert brother of William Turpin all the muniments he had relating to Haseley. (fn. 14) Sir Thomas de Cherlecote, also known as Sir Thomas de Haseley, died in 1263, it was at first supposed by suicide by drowning himself in his fishpond at Haseley. Subsequently it was found that he had been strangled and cast into the pool by three of his servants. (fn. 15) His son (fn. 16) Thomas obtained a grant of free warren at Haseley in 1267. (fn. 17) He was afterwards knighted and held several offices in Warwickshire. He died about 1300. His widow Anne and his son Robert sold the manor to Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, in 1301. (fn. 18) On the earl's death in 1315 Haseley Manor was assigned to his widow Alice, who died in 1324–5. (fn. 19) Her son Thomas, Earl of Warwick, assigned the manor among others to trustees in 1345 to raise portions for his daughters. (fn. 20) This manor descended with Warwick Castle and was conveyed with it in 1487 by Anne, Countess of Warwick, to Henry VII. (fn. 21)

The manor remained in the Crown until 1547 when, in fulfilment of the intentions of his father, Edward VI granted it to John Dudley, Viscount Lisle, who was at the same time created Earl of Warwick. (fn. 22) Three years later the earl exchanged it with the king for other estates, but a few months later it was re-exchanged and became once more the property of the earl, (fn. 23) who was in 1551 created Duke of Northumberland. (fn. 24) He was attainted in 1553 and the manor was forfeited.

Michael Throckmorton, a younger brother of Sir George Throckmorton of Coughton, obtained from Queen Mary in 1554 a grant of Haseley Manor and the park, with free warren and chace, and the lodge there. (fn. 25) Michael spent much of his life in Italy, having entered the service of Cardinal Pole in 1537, originally as a spy upon him in the interests of the English government. Eventually, however, Michael became the loyal and affectionate secretary of the Cardinal. (fn. 26) He died at Mantua in November 1558, but had sold the manor of Haseley in September 1554 to his nephew Clement Throckmorton of Kenilworth, (fn. 27) third son of Sir George. Clement in his youth served as cupbearer to his maternal relative Queen Catherine Parr. (fn. 28) He was M.P. for Warwick in 1541 and again in 1547 and for Warwickshire in 1562 and 1572. (fn. 29) He died 1573 (fn. 30) and was buried in Haseley Church. His son Job who succeeded him at Haseley was a noted puritan. He was educated at Queen's College, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1566, and was a friend and supporter of John Penny, the puritan, who in 1589 stayed at Haseley. Here a printing press was secretly set up for the printing of Mar-Prelate Tracts. Job Throckmorton was in 1591 acquitted of a charge of associating with religious malcontents. Towards the end of his life his friendship with the puritan minister John Dod led him to live at Canons Ashby, but on his death in 1601 he was buried at Haseley. (fn. 31) His eldest son Clement was then 20. He married Lettice daughter of Sir Clement Fisher of Packington, upon whom this manor was settled in 1602. (fn. 32) Dugdale describes him as 'a gentleman not a little eminent for his learning and eloquence, having served in sundry Parliaments as one of the knights for the Shire and undergone divers other publiq: imployments'. (fn. 33) On the marriage of his son Clement with Bridget daughter of Sir William Browne of Radford Semely in 1623 Haseley was settled upon him in tail male. (fn. 34) Sir Clement died in 1632 at Haseley, when the younger Clement succeeded. (fn. 35) His eldest son Clement predeceased him and Haseley Manor passed in turn to his younger sons Francis and Robert. (fn. 36) Clement, the only son of Robert, was the last male heir of this family, (fn. 37) and Haseley descended to his daughter Lucy, who presented to the church in 1716. (fn. 38) She married in 1724 William son of the Hon. William Bromley of Baginton, (fn. 39) after whose death she married (before 1743) Richard Chester, who occurs as lord of the manor from 1743 to 1758 (fn. 40) and apparently died in 1760. (fn. 41) From Lucy's son William the manor passed to William Davenport Bromley, who presented to the church between 1775 and 1791. (fn. 42) Sir Edmund Antrobus, bart., had acquired it by 1823, and his nephew the second baronet held it in 1827. (fn. 43) William Henry Commins was lord in 1850, (fn. 44) and Alfred Hewlett by 1900. (fn. 45) From him it came to Mrs. Lant, whose cousin and heir, Howe Hewlett, sold it to J. G. Gray of Combe Abbey.

Park

In 1086 the woodland at Haseley was 1 league in length and 2 furlongs in breadth. (fn. 46) The park may have been made by Sir Thomas de Cherlecote, who obtained a grant of free warren in 1267, or by his father Sir Thomas. It is mentioned in an undated charter of the prioress of Wroxall by which she exchanged land in Hatton near his park of Haseley with Sir Thomas de Haseley. (fn. 47) While the manor of Haseley was in the king's possession keepers of the park were appointed from time to time. (fn. 48) Sir George Throckmorton was appointed to this office in 1529. (fn. 49) His deputy Matthew Edwards and other tenants of Haseley made a survey of the woods in the manor and park of Haseley in 1534, (fn. 50) when there were 2,830 trees of oak and ash in the park and 1,028 trees in the wastes. Haseley Close, Byrche Grove, and Honiley Herne contained 26 acres of oak, hazel, and birch. Timber from the woods had been used in the repair of the park pales and mill and for making stocks and for Warwick Castle mills and pale. In 1632 mention is made of the Old and New Park, (fn. 51) the latter having perhaps been made by the Throckmortons. The present park is partly in the parish of Hatton.

Church

The parish church of ST. MARY consists of a chancel, nave, west tower, and modern south porch.

The nave is probably of 12th-century origin and the chancel of the 13th century. The west tower was added in the 15th century. A special square bay was thrown out on the south side of the chancel to receive the tomb of Clement Throckmorton, who died in 1573. The east wall has been rebuilt and other works carried out in modern times.

The chancel (20½ ft. by 15 ft.) has a modern east window of three lights and vertical tracery. The north wall of ashlar is unpierced. On the south side of the chancel is the square bay, 3 ft. 2 in. deep, containing the Throckmorton tomb. It is built of Kenilworth red sandstone and has a window of four square-headed lights. Above the window (outside) is a moulded stringcourse and above that a gable-head of ashlar with modern barge-boards. In it is another window of three lights with oak frame and mullions.

The small window west of the bay has a plain square head; the shapes of the inner splays suggest a 13thcentury light widened and altered in the 16th century. The pointed chancel arch appears to be of brick and is plastered. The ceiling is plastered below the rafters and collar-beams of the roof.

The nave (about 29½ ft. by 18 to 19 ft. wide) has two north windows, the eastern, of four square-headed lights, is of the 16th century; its eastern splay, coated with old plaster, is very obtuse, but the western is acute. The wall leans out badly but the window is set (or reset?) vertically plumb. The western window is a somewhat earlier feature of two elliptically headed lights with sunk spandrels. The lower part of the wall is of ancient rubble work, the upper part of later squared rubble with some patches of 18th-century brickwork. It has two modern buttresses. The south wall has a 16th-century window of four lights like that opposite, but with acute splays. This with the wall about it is also set upright although the wall to the west of it leans out badly. It has a modern segmental reararch. The south doorway, of the 12th century, has been reset vertically and partly recut. The jambs and round head are of three orders, the innermost a quarterround section, the middle chamfered with broach basestops, and the small outermost of square section: the innermost has modern moulded bases and square imposts: the arch is of small voussoirs. The tall round shallow rear-arch is plastered. The leaning wall west of the doorway is of ancient squared rubble. At each end of the wall is a modern raking buttress and below the 16th-century window are remains of a 12th-century shallow buttress, 3 ft. 8 in. wide and 1 ft. deep. The east end of the nave has been much mutilated, apparently by the displacement of an early chancel arch. Outside, the south angle of the nave is treated as a low buttress projecting eastwards and is of old ashlar, with a double chamfered plinth. The west wall was rebuilt with the tower. The nave-roof, of c. 1500, has a halfround barrel-vault divided by moulded oak ribs into four bays and with five similar ribs running lengthwise. At some of the intersections are bosses crudely carved as shields, roses, etc. The cornices are moulded and embattled and above them some of the cross-ribs are stopped by carved devices.

The west tower (about 9 ft. square) is built of large grey ashlar stones and has a moulded plinth and embattled parapet with a moulded string-course and angle-gargoyles; some of the merlons have perished shields carved on the faces. The north and south sides have fairly low string-courses dividing them into two stages. At the west angles are diagonal buttresses reaching to the bottom of the bell chamber. The east angles have square buttresses above the nave wall. In the south-east angle is a stair-vice, entered from the nave by a four-centred doorway with an ancient door and lighted by loops: it also reaches to the bottom of the bell chamber. A plain four-centred archway opens from the nave. The west doorway has jambs and pointed head of two sunk-chamfered orders and a hoodmould. The west window is of three trefoiled ogeeheaded lights and vertical tracery in a four-centred head with a hood-mould that is continued along the wall as a string-course. The bell chamber is lighted by windows of two trefoiled lights and a quatrefoil in a two-centred head. They have much-perished hoodmoulds with head-stops.

The font is octagonal, the bowl having a moulded lower edge; four adjoining faces from north-east to south have quatrefoiled circular panels with central roses; the other faces are plain: 15th-century.

The pulpit in the chancel is of the 18th century and has four sides of a hexagon with plain fielded panels.

The pews are of the old high form; they are mostly of the 18th century with fielded panels and hinged doors, but one square pew has its east front made up of five bays of 17th-century panelling with imperfect round-headed panels having carved spandrels on fluted pilasters, and jewel ornament.

Some 15th-century glass remains in the tracery of the west window, including five ancient figures, partly made up with modern glass. The upper halves of the two middle piercings have the Annunciation. Below St. Gabriel is a kneeling ecclesiastic in a white cape and blue cassock with the scroll 'Sca Maria ora p nobis' and a modern inscription 'Orate pro anima Dni. Johis. Aynolph Rectoris de Haseley'. (fn. 52) Below the Virgin is a modern figure of a kneeling ecclesiastic wearing a mantle with a red cross, and the words: 'Prior et Canonici Regulares St. Sepulchri Warwick istius Ecclesiae Patroni.' The next north light has a kneeling figure of 'St. Winifride' in a white embroidered mantle and blue gown and holding a cross-staff. The south light has the figure of 'St. Catherine' in a white and red gown and white mantle: she holds a wheel and sword. The names and much of the figures are modern.

In the recess in the chancel is an altar tomb of 18thor 19th-century brick with a slab of slate in which are brass effigies of a man and woman. The man is in Elizabethan armour and wears a sword and dagger. His head rests on a helm, but his feet (with sabbatons) stand on a flowered mound. The woman wears a close cap and veil, bodice with puffed shoulders and tight sleeves and a riband girdle tied by a loop knot and having a cord pendant and book. Her full skirt reveals a brocaded under-skirt. Below them are figures of six sons and seven daughters. The plate with the sons is hinged to reveal 15th-century tabernacle work engraved on the other face. The marginal inscription in black letter commemorates Clement Throckmorton, who died 14 December 1573, and Katherine Nevill his wife. On the slab are four shields and a lozenge with the Throckmorton and Nevill quarterings. (The lozenge is set upside down.) In the window above the tomb are fragments of coloured glass in connexion with it. They include remains of a similar inscription dated (1)573, in Roman capitals, and a shield with parts of the five Nevill quarterings. The latter is set in a foliage wreath.

There are three bells, (fn. 53) the first (uninscribed) of late-14th- or early-15th-century date, the second with a nonsense inscription and a dog between each pair of letters (probably by Thomas Newcombe c. 1565), and the third by Matthew Bagley 1778.

The communion plate includes an Elizabethan cup and cover-paten without hall-marks. (fn. 54)

The earliest registers, from 1588 to 1634, are included in the first volume of the Hatton register: the series is not resumed until 1743.

Advowson

There was a priest at Haseley at the time of the Domesday Survey. (fn. 55) The church was given by Humphrey the brother of the first Eutrope Hastang and by Lecelina mother of Humphrey to the priory of St. Oswald, Nostell, and the gift was confirmed by King Henry III. (fn. 56) It had, however, passed before 1291 to the priory of St. Sepulchre, Warwick, and the priors presented until the Dissolution. (fn. 57)

The advowson was granted with the manor to Michael Throckmorton, and descended with it until 1791 when William Davenport Bromley presented. (fn. 58) Sir Edmund Antrobus, bart., was patron in 1824 (fn. 59) or earlier, until 1860, (fn. 60) when the advowson passed to W. Edwards-Wood. William Lyon of Ford (Salop.) was patron in 1865, and the advowson remained in the Lyon family till about 1891, and then passed to the family of the incumbent, the Rev. Edward Muckleston, who had been appointed in 1865. (fn. 61) It was reunited to the manor about 1912 when Alfred Hewlett became patron, and subsequently Mrs. Lant. In 1943 Mr. Howe Hewlett conveyed the advowson to the Bishop of Coventry. (fn. 62)

Charity

Town Close otherwise Thomas Featherstone's Charity. By an indenture dated 24 October 1674, Thomas Featherstone gave a close of land in Haseley, the issues to be employed in reparations of the church at Haseley, the repairing of the highways there, and the relieving of the poor inhabitants. The land was sold and the endowment now produces £6 12s. annually. By a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 20 August 1886 the churchwardens were appointed trustees of the charity, and the income was to be applied in the maintenance of the fabric of the parish church and of the services in the church, and for the benefit of deserving and necessitous persons.