Report on monthly talk on Friday 15th April 2016
Within the sound of St Peter’s bells in Kineton, the local history group enjoyed a talk by the Captain of the ringers, Graham Nabb. And we did hear some bells, as Graham’s excellent presentation included videos of several peals of bells being rung, as well as a model showing how bells are hung, and an actual bell wheel.
First we learned about making bells. In England this specialist process is now only undertaken by two foundries, one in Whitechapel the other in Loughborough. The Whitechapel foundry dates back to 1570, when Shakespeare was only 6 years old, and is the oldest manufacturing firm in Britain. The historic process still involves horse hair and cow dung in mould making. We had naming of parts, many referring to the human body – crown, head, shoulder, waist, lip and mouth – as we discovered how bells are made, hung and rung.
Graham explained the complex business of bell tuning, and played a recording of how horrible it sounds if they are not well tuned (sorry Crowle, they sounded awful), and what a well-tuned peal sounds like from Worcester Cathedral. Even the cloth-eared among us could tell the difference. The inscriptions cast onto bells in the foundry range from the terse to the comic, with several examples of donors getting their contributions permanently recorded, like one at Bath Abbey: “All you of Bathe who hear me sound Thank Lady Hopton’s hundred pound”.
We saw some examples of enormous bells. The Olympic Bell, weighing almost 23 tonnes with a half tonne clapper, is the largest tuned bell in the world, although it has only rung a few times. It is due to be re-hung in the Olympic Park but it may never ring again because of fears that it is too loud. Paul McCartney blames it for distracting him prior to his 2012 performance of Hey Jude.
English change ringing began in the 17th century as a competitive sport among aristocratic teams, with names such as the Ramblers, Scholars, or Youths, meeting at Inns, and with no connection with the Church and its ceremonies. Changes were rung on anniversaries of national events, or celebrations. The Victorians brought bell ringing into the orbit of the church, and since then commemorative boards in bell towers record the names of the Vicar and Churchwardens as well as of the ringers and the peal commemorated.
Following a short question and answer session Rachel Mander gave the vote of thanks for an informative, entertaining and well illustrated talk, then members and visitors adjourned for teas, coffees and biscuits. On Friday 20th May at 7.30 at Kineton Village Hall Sarah Richardson will tell us about “Warwickshire women and the fight for the vote”. Members and visitors are most welcome.
DF 20.04.2016

Report on monthly talk on Friday 19th Feb 2016
Members and visitors at the Kineton and District Local History Group’s meeting last Friday were royally entertained and informed by archaeologist Richard Buckley as he described the famous discovery of Richard III in a Leicester city municipal car park.
Richard Buckley is the Director of Leicester University Archaeological Services, which undertook the excavation at the instigation of several enthusiastic individuals and groups, who raised the money and carried out background research. The story is well known as a result of the spectacular success of what was reckoned by archaeologists to be a highly speculative part of the investigation, aimed more realistically at finding evidence for the medieval friary in which Richard’s remains were allegedly unceremoniously buried. Dr Buckley gave us the sort of insights which only somebody on the spot and involved in the digging could give. We had the story “from the horse’s mouth”, even his first words (unprintable) when shown the distorted skeleton revealed in almost the first scrape in the first trial trench.
We heard how Leicester developed from Roman beginnings to become a thriving medieval town, with a number of religious houses around it, including the Grey Friars where the King was finally interred. Richard’s progress on the day before the battle of Bosworth included a stay at the White Boar (the King’s crest), which rapidly changed its name to the Blue Boar following the triumph of Henry Tudor. We heard and saw how the spinal deformity and the wounds on the bones matched contemporary descriptions of his death, and subsequent mutilation. Scientific dating and the detailed DNA trail confirmed the identification. Following his reburial in Leicester Cathedral last April perhaps it is no coincidence that since then Leicester City Football Club fortunes have transformed to take them to the top of the table. Even the name of their owners – King Power International – now seems prophetic.
Following a short question session Vice Chairman Roger Gaunt gave the vote of thanks for an informative, entertaining and well illustrated talk, then members and visitors from as far afield as Rugby and Staffordshire adjourned for convivial teas, coffees and biscuits. On Friday 11th March the Group has its AGM and supper at at the Kineton Village Hall at 7.30, at which Stephen Wass promises to give us a seasonal entertainment.
DF 22.02.2016

Report on monthly talk on Friday 15th January 2016
On the coldest day of the year so far the Kineton and District Local History Group gathered to hear their President, Dr Bob Bearman, speak about Stratford-upon-Avon’s Historic Spine. Dr Bearman drew effortlessly on his expertise, and, as the former Head of Archives and Local History at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, he tackled a topic which is obviously close to his heart.
Dr Bearman first answered the question “what is Stratford’s historic spine?” by showing how Stratford grew from nothing in AD 1200 to a planned town set out on a grid of streets south of Bridge Street, the access to the river crossing. He called this the Historic Core, with the route from the Birthplace to Holy Trinity Church comprising the Historic Spine. He justified this identification by pointing out the concentration of nationally important buildings along this route, using well-chosen historic pictures as well as more recent photographs of the same views. However much of the unique historic character of parts of the medieval and Shakespearean town was compromised in the Regency period by what he called “keeping up with Leamington” improvements, especially in Bridge Street. The improvers demolished the market cross, Middle Row, and many picturesque and fascinating buildings before they ran out of steam. However, there are notable timber framed buildings visible along the Historic Spine, and more survive behind many bland stucco facades, with the prominent early stone edifices of the Town Hall and Guild Chapel still projecting into the street line.
In Dr Bearman’s opinion the twin pressures of the car and modern commerce have badly affected our appreciation of these surviving examples of the town’s historic character. The generously wide medieval streets, created to allow Stratford’s traders to set up their stalls, have made it easy for cars to navigate the modern town centre. They now dominate the street scene. His other bugbear was the many unsympathetic shop fronts and fascias which he described as cutting buildings off at the knees. The solutions to these effects are not easy. Several pedestrian schemes from elsewhere illustrated the pitfalls. On the plus side the redesign of some unfortunate Stratford shop fronts has been made possible through local authority grants. The pedestrianisation of Henley Street has removed the cars and coaches which once obscured the Birthplace, but has created a continental atmosphere on what was originally a medieval street with pavements, a carriageway and all the usual street furniture. Dr Bearman was not agin all post-Shakespearean developments, accepting that a healthy commercial life is essential for the town. He was particularly appreciative of the high Victorian HSBC Bank building, pointing out that it had been the site of a bank since 1810.
Following a probing question session Anitra Hall gave a fulsome vote of thanks for a thought-provoking as well as entertaining talk, and the meeting adjourned for convivial teas, coffees and biscuits. On Friday 19th January Richard Buckley will give our next talk, entitled “Richard III and his Discovery in Leicester”. Members and visitors are welcome at the Kineton Village Hall at 7.30 for what promises to be a popular evening.
DF 18.01.2016

Report on monthly talk on Friday 20th November 2015
In a well attended meeting of the Kineton and District Local History Group, local resident David Fisher paid tribute to the 26 men, and one woman, from Bridge Street who served in World War 1. In a talk entitled “Kineton’s Soldiers from Bridge Street, during and after the First World War” David progressed down one side of the road and up the other detailing the military careers of all the men (and sometimes boys) who volunteered, were conscripted, or, in one case, were repeatedly exempted. David was strict in his focus, dismissing the brother of one Bridge Street sailor who had the misfortune to live in Southam Street, all of 100m away.
We heard the stories of characters, some of whom had rarely left the village, who found themselves in Europe, the middle-east and Asia, often in ghastly conditions. The story of Methodist teacher Arthur Gedens was particularly eventful. He joined the Navy and in the eastern Mediterranean he was hospitalised with diarrhea and vomiting, then later with scabies, and later again with an ulcerated leg, and finally he arrived back in Britain with para-typhoid. Recovered, he was sent out to France and was captured in a failed raid at Garvelle in which all but 4 of his regiment were killed or seriously wounded. He was also wounded, earning the MC, and at the end of the war he was hospitalised again. Undeterred he trained in the airforce at Radford Semele, returning to civilian life as an auctioneer living in Bournemouth in a house called Garvelle. David also traced Gedens’ sister Edith, a military nurse who served at a hospital in Rouen. He asked why she was not mentioned on the Roll of Honour – because she was a women?
The Trenfield family from the Red Lion sent 3 sons to the wars. Ernest was part of the rescue party which saved 760 horses and mules when the “Wayfarer” troopship was torpedoed; for this he was awarded the MSM. He survived to take over running the Red Lion. Following a traumatic tour of duty another son, R N Trenfield, emigrated to South Africa, where, in a polically incorrect incident, he shot a world record 6 lions in one encounter. The third son earned the MM and was a noted swordsman and horseman. He was one of several cases where hunting had equipped men with skills which were then still relevant on the battlefield.
Members of David’s own extensive family also served, with tragic results. Two brothers were killed, one in the Balkans where his skills as a linguist had been particularly valuable, and another, Percy, died on the Somme after a distinguished career in the Sino-Japanese War. Part of the title of David’s talk was “ … during and after the First World War” and it was a surprise to hear how many combatants returned and resumed normal occupations, although it is difficult to understand how “normal” life could be after their wartime experiences.
David graciously acknowledged the help of Gill Ashley-Smith and David and Elizabeth Beaumont in the preparation of his talk, and Gill then gave the vote of thanks, emphasising the value of David’s meticulous and detailed research to discover the facts about these local servicemen. The meeting then adjourned for tea, biscuits and gossip in the traditional fashion.
Elizabeth and Richard York are presenting “Drive the Cold Winter Away” in a programme of seasonal music and stories at our Christmas meeting on Friday 11th December. Mulled wine and mince pies will enhance the occasion. Members and visitors are welcome at the Village Hall at 7.30.
DF 21.11.2015

Meeting Report 15th May 2015
At our May meeting in Kineton Village Hall a large gathering of Kineton and District Local History Group members enjoyed a well illustrated talk about architectural follies, given by Elizabeth Allison, assisted by her husband Robert. Elizabeth described some of the odd and fantastical buildings to be found in the British Isles, many of which they had visited. Some follies have been taken over by the Landmark Trust, and the enthusiastic Allisons had stayed in a selection of these.
Elizabeth gave us some possible definitions of a folly – a useless, or ornamental, or disguised or attractive structure. And we saw examples of all of these, drawn from a wide area, including of course our own Edgehill Tower and the Chesterton Windmill. We saw memorials to battles, to wives, to disasters, to national mourning, and to political ambition. Some buildings had deeply felt symbolic intentions, such as the 30 structures in Lord Cobham’s park at Stowe. Others are more frivolous, like Mad Jack Fuller’s mock spire built to win a bet in Surrey, and the Needle’s Eye built by the Duke of Rockingham near Rotherham so he could drive a cart through it for a wager. Attractiveness was high on the list when John Nash designed the Blaise Castle Estate near Bristol to give an almost Disney feel to a group of early 19th century workers’ cottages. Rivalry to build the highest towers led to some notable follies, and other towers have achieved international fame such as Perrett’s Tower and the Severn Trent Water Tower in south Birmingham which may have had a role in Tolkien’s vision of the Two Towers in the Lord of the Rings. Leaving the heights, grottos also featured in the list of follies, where instead of views and vertigo the visitors could shiver at the sight of river gods surrounded by shell and rock decorations and have water splashed over them.
Follies continue to be created, such as the Forbidden Corner in Yorkshire, and the award winning Kielder Belvedere in Northumberland. We even saw crenellations on a suburban garage. Elizabeth and Robert clearly enjoyed their own explorations of these weird buildings and conveyed this to our members, for which Brian Lewis thanked them, while denying that the Pittern Hill Windmill was in any way a folly. Discussions continued as usual over tea, coffee and biscuits.
Next month on the 12th June the group has an evening guided visit to Westcote Manor Farm on Edgehill which is on the site of one of Warwickshire’s many deserted medieval villages, still visible as humps and hollows in the surrounding fields.
DF 19.05.2015

Report on monthly talk on Friday 18th September
For the Kineton Group’s first talk after the summer break Dr Ruth Barbour discussed the proposition “Brailes: an 18th century catholic hotspot?” Ruth is studying the catholic presence in Warwickshire in the troubled centuries following Henry VIII’s break with Rome. It seems to be a story of gradual relaxation of the controls and penalties suffered by catholics, albeit with flare-ups of intolerance, persecution and bigotry. She is particularly interested in how the two religions co-existed in tight-knit rural communities and the experience of the “middling sort” of villager. Brailes stood out as having a particularly active catholic congregation, with a catholic Lord of the Manor. Ruth noted the two meanings of “hotspot” – one an innocent recognition that there were many catholics, and the other implying trouble.
She warned against taking at face value the figures collected by various authorities at various times, but concluded that there were indeed more catholics in Brailes than in most other villages in the county. Ruth concluded that in the country as a whole in the 18th century catholics probably comprised about 1% – 2% of the population, but in Brailes the figure may have been as high as 10%. Members of the Bishop family were notable, providing an early illegal priest, sending a daughter to a French convent, and a son to join an Irish regiment to fight against the English at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745. This was the year of Bonny Prince Charlie’s failed Jacobite uprising.
As to whether the catholics were a source of trouble seems more debateable. Ruth charted the gradual lifting of legal restraints, and the evidence for coexistence of the two communities in Brailes, including the proximity of the early catholic place of worship and the Anglican parish church. A grave slab in the church bears a cross and the letters RIP, denoting catholic beliefs. Against these tokens of tolerance she recounted the antics of a Welsh curate who mounted a campaign of abuse against papacy and the Lord of the Manor, much like a modern twitter troll. Eventually he was removed by an ecclesiastical court. Ruth again cautioned against taking sensational incidents as being typical of the general situation, the 18th century catholic community and its leaders in Brailes seem to have belonged to the large population of English catholics who were content to live under an Anglican monarch and political establishment, but who wished to be allowed to worship in their own way.
Following questions, some raising issues of local ghosts and witchcraft associated with popular superstition, Rachel Mander gave the vote of thanks for a stimulating talk. The meeting then adjourned for tea, biscuits and gossip in the traditional fashion.
Local expert Clive Thomas will bring examples of medieval European swords to illustrate his talk at our next meeting on the 16th October. Visitors are welcome at the Village Hall at 7.30.
DF 22.09.2015

Report on Radway village walk 17th July 2015
Radway has just opened its Civil War exhibition and information centre in the parish church – the Edgehill Battlefield Hub – funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund with support from local people and the diocese of Lichfield and Coventry. On a fine evening Kineton and District Local History Group members were treated to a preview of the Hub plus a guided walk around the village led by Rachel Mander, one of the prime movers of the project. Two more of the project’s organisers, David Beaumont and Brian Douthwaite, were on hand in the church to introduce the exhibits. They pointed out that since the disappearance of the exhibition at the Farnborough Hall outhouses many years ago, there has been no local focus for visitors to the area with an interest in the first major battle of the Civil War in 1642. The Hub is a splendid remedy for that gap.
Edgehill battle was fought on the open fields between Radway and Kineton, now occupied by the MoD depot, where recent work under the direction of the Battlefields Trust has clarified some of the battle dispositions. In the church are finds from the battlefield and displays of what the local villagers would be wearing and accounts of their experiences, brought to life by video interviews with soldiers voiced by actors. There are several manikins dressed in handmade clothes in the style of the 17th century, including an effigy of Captain Kingsmill, killed in the battle, whose monument lies a few feet from his life-size counterpart. Replica flintlock pistols were brandished producing an impressive spark, but no bang!
Rachel Mander led the village walk, pointing out the Grange, the 18th century home of Sanderson Miller, the gentleman architect who built what is now the Castle Inn. Rachel described how his landscaping of the slope up to it predate the designs of Lancelot “Capability” Brown. The empty site of the old church and churchyard is now surrounded by grave slabs bordering the public footpath, but it still contains the Miller tomb. The old cart wash still exists, where carts were stood to swell the wood of the wheels to keep the iron rims attached, although it is now drained to avoid local flooding. We learnt much more about the inhabitants and history of the area, and several innovative roadside wind-up information points allow visitors to access detailed historical information as they walk through the village.
The group made their way to the Radway Institute, formerly a school and now the refurbished village hall, to teas, coffees and cakes provided by Isobel Gill, where the organisers of the event were congratulated on a successful outing. The Edgehill Battlefield Hub is recommended to all who wish to learn more about how this quiet village was once the centre of a murderous conflict, affecting not just the local inhabitants but the whole nation.
The next Group meeting is at 7.30 on Friday September 18th at Kineton Village Hall, when Dr Ruth Barbour from the University of Warwick will talk on “Brailes: an 18th century hotspot”. Visitors are welcome, £2.00 at the door, includes refreshments after the talk.
DF 27.07.2015

Report on evening walk 12th June 2015
More than a score of Kineton and District Local History Group members braved the weather gods’ dire threats of thunderstorms and torrential rain on Friday evening and gathered in a barn at Westcote Manor Farm to see the remains of a once thriving village. In the event the slight drizzle stopped and David Freke led the group around the humps and bumps of one of the best preserved deserted medieval villages in Warwickshire. The only inhabitants now are sheep, a couple of shire horses and sundry wildlife. The big horses were as interested in the group as the group were in the landscape, and they pushed their way to the front when we stopped to view the deep hollow-way which was the medieval way in to the village.
Westcote is border country, at the very edge of Tysoe parish, at the northern fringe of the Cotswolds, close to the national watershed where rain may end up either in the Thames and the North Sea or in the Severn and the Bristol Channel. It is close to the border with Oxfordshire, and the ancient boundary between the Lichfield Coventry and the Worcester bishoprics is one field away. Edgehill is, appropriately, the nearest settlement. The Westcote village houses weres laid out for about 200 metres on either side of a main street on a bench of relatively flat ground beneath the Edgehill woods, where springs still rise to feed the River Dene. The outlines of at least 12 houses, with their property boundaries, gardens and outhouses can still be seen, and in very dry weather the stone footings poke through the turf. Medieval archives held at Magdalen College, Oxford, give some insight into the village, including over fifty field names, and details which show that some houses had a second storey, and that there were vegetable gardens and a dovecot.
The question of why the village, which seemed to have survived the famines and plagues of the 1300s, became deserted by the mid 1400s is not easy to answer, but it was probably because the monastic owners wanted to maximise the profitability of their land, and sheep were more profitable than peasants. This was a common trend in the 15th century, when many Warwickshire villages disappeared or shrank. When monastic land was privatised by Henry VIII in the 1530s Magdalen College in Oxford became Westcote’s new owner, and it stayed in college ownership until well into the 20th century. The cottages on the Edgehill Road have the college coat of arms over a date of 1915 on a date stone under the eaves .
The drizzle began again as the group walked through the old orchard and the new shrubbery to welcome teas, coffees and cakes in the farmhouse, where discussions continued as usual.
Next month on the 17th July the group has an evening guided visit to the new Edgehill Battlefield Hub housed in Radway Church.
DF 14.06.2015

Meeting Report 17th April 2015
At the Group’s April meeting an attentive audience in Kineton Village Hall heard an illustrated talk by Chris Rice, who described the major landscape project he is leading at Compton Verney.
He explained how the original medieval and Tudor manor house with a mill pond and water mill was remodelled in 1711, and then enlarged by Robert Adam in the most up-to-date style in the1760s. At the same time the unfashionable formal avenues of the earlier park were swept away by the more naturalistic landscaping of Capability Brown. Chris Rice used historic maps and plans to demonstrate the dramatic changes Adam and Brown accomplished. The Brownian landscape experience involved buildings as well as well as trees, lakes and grass, and Chris drew our attention to a ruined structure clearly visible from the Kineton to Wellesbourne road which many of us have driven past but not noticed. Other buildings such as the Orangery have disappeared altogether, although the Ha Ha – an essential element of every 18th century park – still survives, albeit in need of some repair. The Icehouse has already been restored.
After the estate was sold by the Verneys in 1922 the house and park deteriorated. In 1993 the Peter Moores Foundation acquired the estate and rescued the derelict house, establishing the flourishing art gallery, and beginning to restore the important historic Capability Brown landscape. The current multi-million pound project, partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, aims to continue the restoration of the landscape. Chris showed some of the past indignities suffered by the historic landscape, including the demolition of the parapet of the elegant 18th century bridge by a wayward jeep during the occupation of the estate by the army during WWII, and the use of the Sphinges on the bridge for target practice in the same period. We heard how Capability Brown himself removed Combrook parish church because it obstructed the view of his improved lake. He moved the important Verney monuments to his new chapel, itself currently undergoing extensive restoration. Chris outlined the project’s aim of recreating some of Brown’s footpaths to make the landscape more accessible, using early documents and archaeological research to discover their original locations and materials. Negotiating the 21st century planning and regulatory pitfalls seems to be a major element of his brief!
We were left in no doubt that when completed the project will greatly enhance our experience of the Compton Verney house and landscape, but the insights Chris Rice gave his Kineton audience will already enrich their next trip to the house and its grounds. Roger Gaunt gave a vote of thanks on behalf of the meeting and discussions continued over tea, coffee and biscuits.
Elizabeth Allison will give us an illustrated talk entitled “Follies: a look at some eccentric buildings” at our next meeting on Friday 15th May at Kineton Village Hall at 7.30pm. Visitors are welcome, the £2.00 at the door includes refreshments after the talk.
DF 26.04.2015