Beaudesert, Warwickshire
Encyclopedia
Beaudesert is a village and civil parish
in the Stratford-on-Avon
district of Warwickshire
, England
, half a mile east across the River Alne to the north and west of Henley-in-Arden
, to which it is closely associated and shares a joint parish council with. The main village, consisting of the church and a single short street of houses, stands close to the river and directly opposite Henley Church. Behind the village to the east rises the hill, locally known as 'The Mount', crowned with the earthwork remains of Beaudesert Castle
of the De Montforts. For many years the name was pronounced "Belser", but is now known locally as Beaudesert, pronounced in the English and not the French fashion.
According to the 2001 census it had a population of 919.
but is now thought to have been included in the entry for Preston Bagot, as part of the lands of the Count of Meulan, Robert of Beaumont
, who had inherited Meulan
through his mother. The portion recorded there appears without doubt to have been the present-day Beaudesert. It was believed to have been anciently known as Donnilee, the name implying the place of a fort, however recent writers such as the Victoria County History
have refuted this and Donnelie is now reckoned to be Honiley in the latest editions of the Domesday Book. Cooper wrote, "Beaudesert does not occur in the Domesday Book and Dugdale conjectures that the place Donnele is identical with it, but recent investigation does not support this view".
Beaudesert, is the name given to it by the Norman family that settled here, meaning "the beautiful waste". The Domesday Book entry states;
"In Ferncombe Hundred, in Prestetone (Preston Bagot), 5 hides
. Hugh holds from him. Land for 3 ploughs. In lordship 1/2 plough; 2 slaves; 1 villager and 3 smallholders with 1 plough. The value was 30s; now 40s. Brictnoth held it freely before 1066".
The Manor passed from the Count of Meulan to Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick
, who enfeoffed
his great-nephew Thurstan, the first of the De Montforts of Beaudesert, and the builder of the castle. About the year 1140, Thurstan obtained from the Empress Matilda
the right to hold a market on Sundays at his castle of Beaudesert. He was succeeded by his son Henry, who died in 1191 and then by his son, Thurstan who, dying in 1216, was succeeded by his son Peter, a minor, and who became a ward of William de Cantelupe
of Aston Cantlow
; it was this association which led him to later side with the Barons. Peter de Montfort
became the most powerful of all the De Montforts and in him the family was at the height of its glory. Peter obtained on, 10 February 1227 the grant of a market on Monday and a yearly fair at his manor of Beaudesert to be held on 'the eve, feast, and morrow of St. Giles'. In the Barons' wars
he sided against the king, Henry III
and was one of those who formulated the Provisions of Oxford
in 1258. He was taken prisoner at Northampton
, but was released and following the Peace of Canterbury
was elected one of the council of nine. He was killed fighting beside his kinsman Simon de Montfort
, although the exact relationship is not known, at Evesham
in 1265. His eldest son Peter was taken prisoner at Evesham and placed in the custody of Thomas de Clare, to whom his forfeited lands were granted, but shortly afterwards he was pardoned and his lands restored to him. The manor then descended to his son John and then to his son, John who was aged 5 at his father's death, in 1296, and named as heir to the castle of Beaudesert. This John was concerned in the execution of Piers Gaveston, but was afterwards pardoned and died fighting for the king
at Bannockburn
in 1314.
parts. The chancel
and south wall of the nave
including the fine South doorway are Norman, the North doorway is also of this date but the North wall is later, the width of the nave having been reduced from its original width, as it cuts into the Norman chancel arch.The tower, of the 15th Century, again is smaller than may be expected and not centered on either the original nor revised axis of the nave. This may be due to parsimony or the instablity of the ground, this instabilty may be the reason for moving the North wall, all of which leave a number of of unsolved architectural issues. The chancel roof, which appears to be a fine piece of Norman vaulting is really an addition of the 19th century, certainly after 1846, proably in 1869. Much of the stained glass is by Morris & Co.
There are three bells, the treble inscribed "ave maria gratia pelan" and the second "ihesvs nazsarinvs rex ivdeorvm", both in Lombardic capitals; they date from about 1350. The third is dated 1711, by Joseph Smith of Edgbaston.
It is most notable for the ruined Beaudesert Castle
.
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the Stratford-on-Avon
Stratford-on-Avon (district)
Stratford-on-Avon is a local government district of southern Warwickshire in England.The district is named "Stratford-on-Avon" to distinguish it from its main town of Stratford-upon-Avon where the district council is based, although this name often causes confusion .The district is mostly rural and...
district of Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, half a mile east across the River Alne to the north and west of Henley-in-Arden
Henley-in-Arden
Henley-in-Arden is a small town in Warwickshire, England. The name is a reference to the former Forest of Arden. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 2,011....
, to which it is closely associated and shares a joint parish council with. The main village, consisting of the church and a single short street of houses, stands close to the river and directly opposite Henley Church. Behind the village to the east rises the hill, locally known as 'The Mount', crowned with the earthwork remains of Beaudesert Castle
Beaudesert Castle
Beaudesert Castle was in the village of Beaudesert to the east of Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire . It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.A motte and bailey castle was built following the Norman conquest possibly on the site of an ancient British fort. A stone castle was built, probably in the 13th...
of the De Montforts. For many years the name was pronounced "Belser", but is now known locally as Beaudesert, pronounced in the English and not the French fashion.
According to the 2001 census it had a population of 919.
History
The village is not mentioned in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
but is now thought to have been included in the entry for Preston Bagot, as part of the lands of the Count of Meulan, Robert of Beaumont
Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan was a powerful English and French nobleman, revered as one of the wisest men of his age...
, who had inherited Meulan
Meulan
Meulan-en-Yvelines is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It hosted part of the sailing events for the 1900 Summer Olympics held in neighboring Paris, and would do so again twenty-four years later.-People:*Mbaye Niang footballer*Ibrahim Sacko...
through his mother. The portion recorded there appears without doubt to have been the present-day Beaudesert. It was believed to have been anciently known as Donnilee, the name implying the place of a fort, however recent writers such as the Victoria County History
Victoria County History
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 and was dedicated to Queen Victoria with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of...
have refuted this and Donnelie is now reckoned to be Honiley in the latest editions of the Domesday Book. Cooper wrote, "Beaudesert does not occur in the Domesday Book and Dugdale conjectures that the place Donnele is identical with it, but recent investigation does not support this view".
Beaudesert, is the name given to it by the Norman family that settled here, meaning "the beautiful waste". The Domesday Book entry states;
"In Ferncombe Hundred, in Prestetone (Preston Bagot), 5 hides
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
. Hugh holds from him. Land for 3 ploughs. In lordship 1/2 plough; 2 slaves; 1 villager and 3 smallholders with 1 plough. The value was 30s; now 40s. Brictnoth held it freely before 1066".
The Manor passed from the Count of Meulan to Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick
Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick
Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick was a Norman nobleman. Henry was the younger son of Roger de Beaumont and Adeline of Meulan, daughter of Waleran I, Count of Meulan. He was given by his father the modest lordship of Le Neubourg, in central Normandy...
, who enfeoffed
Enfeoffment
Under the European feudal system, enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of title in land by a system in which a landowner would give land to one person for the use of another...
his great-nephew Thurstan, the first of the De Montforts of Beaudesert, and the builder of the castle. About the year 1140, Thurstan obtained from the Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
the right to hold a market on Sundays at his castle of Beaudesert. He was succeeded by his son Henry, who died in 1191 and then by his son, Thurstan who, dying in 1216, was succeeded by his son Peter, a minor, and who became a ward of William de Cantelupe
William I de Cantilupe
William I de Cantilupe was an Anglo-Norman baron and royal administrator.-Origins:...
of Aston Cantlow
Aston Cantlow
Aston Cantlow is a village and civil parish in the Stratford district of Warwickshire, England, on the River Alne. It lies north-west of Stratford, and north-east of Wilmcote. The parish stretching across the valley of the Alne includes the villages of Aston Cantlow, Little Alne, Shelfield, and...
; it was this association which led him to later side with the Barons. Peter de Montfort
Peter de Montfort
Sir Peter de Montfort was an English parliamentarian.In 1257 he was High Sheriff of Staffordshire and Shropshire....
became the most powerful of all the De Montforts and in him the family was at the height of its glory. Peter obtained on, 10 February 1227 the grant of a market on Monday and a yearly fair at his manor of Beaudesert to be held on 'the eve, feast, and morrow of St. Giles'. In the Barons' wars
Second Barons' War
The Second Barons' War was a civil war in England between the forces of a number of barons led by Simon de Montfort, against the Royalist forces led by Prince Edward , in the name of Henry III.-Causes:...
he sided against the king, Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
and was one of those who formulated the Provisions of Oxford
Oxford Parliament (1258)
The Oxford Parliament , also known as the "Mad Parliament" and the "First English Parliament", assembled during the reign of Henry III of England. It was established by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. The parlour or prolocutor was Peter de Montfort under the direction of Simon de Montfort...
in 1258. He was taken prisoner at Northampton
Battle of Northampton (1264)
The Battle of Northampton was a battle in the Second Barons' War.In April 1264 an encounter took place, as part of the Baron's War wherein Henry III of England besieged Simon de Montfort's supporters who were holed in at Northampton Castle...
, but was released and following the Peace of Canterbury
Peace of Canterbury
During the Second Barons' War, the Peace of Canterbury was an agreement reached between the baronial government led by Simon de Montfort on one hand, and Henry III of England and his son and heir Edward the later King Edward I on the other...
was elected one of the council of nine. He was killed fighting beside his kinsman Simon de Montfort
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester , sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from other Simon de Montforts, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He led the barons' rebellion against King Henry III of England during the Second Barons' War of 1263-4, and...
, although the exact relationship is not known, at Evesham
Battle of Evesham
The Battle of Evesham was one of the two main battles of 13th century England's Second Barons' War. It marked the defeat of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and the rebellious barons by Prince Edward – later King Edward I – who led the forces of his father, King Henry III...
in 1265. His eldest son Peter was taken prisoner at Evesham and placed in the custody of Thomas de Clare, to whom his forfeited lands were granted, but shortly afterwards he was pardoned and his lands restored to him. The manor then descended to his son John and then to his son, John who was aged 5 at his father's death, in 1296, and named as heir to the castle of Beaudesert. This John was concerned in the execution of Piers Gaveston, but was afterwards pardoned and died fighting for the king
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
at Bannockburn
Battle of Bannockburn
The Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence...
in 1314.
Notable buildings
The parish church, dedicated to St Nicholas was built in 1070 and despite restoration in the 19th century still contains many NormanNorman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
parts. The chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
and south wall of the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
including the fine South doorway are Norman, the North doorway is also of this date but the North wall is later, the width of the nave having been reduced from its original width, as it cuts into the Norman chancel arch.The tower, of the 15th Century, again is smaller than may be expected and not centered on either the original nor revised axis of the nave. This may be due to parsimony or the instablity of the ground, this instabilty may be the reason for moving the North wall, all of which leave a number of of unsolved architectural issues. The chancel roof, which appears to be a fine piece of Norman vaulting is really an addition of the 19th century, certainly after 1846, proably in 1869. Much of the stained glass is by Morris & Co.
There are three bells, the treble inscribed "ave maria gratia pelan" and the second "ihesvs nazsarinvs rex ivdeorvm", both in Lombardic capitals; they date from about 1350. The third is dated 1711, by Joseph Smith of Edgbaston.
It is most notable for the ruined Beaudesert Castle
Beaudesert Castle
Beaudesert Castle was in the village of Beaudesert to the east of Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire . It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.A motte and bailey castle was built following the Norman conquest possibly on the site of an ancient British fort. A stone castle was built, probably in the 13th...
.
Notable people
- Richard JagoRichard JagoRichard Jago was an English poet. He was the third son of Richard Jago, Rector of Beaudesert, Warwickshire.-Education:Jago was educated at Solihull School in the West Midlands. One of the school's five houses bears his name...
, the poet, was born in 1715 at Beaudesert Rectory, Henley in Arden where his father Richard was rector. Educated at Solihull Grammar SchoolSolihull SchoolSolihull School is a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England.2010 saw Solihull School celebrate its 450th anniversary since its foundation in 1560....
, one of the houses is named after him, where he met another minor poet William ShenstoneWilliam ShenstoneWilliam Shenstone was an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes.-Life:...
. From there he went to University College, Oxford where he took his MA in 1738 having been made curate at SnitterfieldSnitterfieldSnitterfield is a village and civil parish in the Stratford on Avon district of Warwickshire, England, less than a mile to the north of the A46 road, 4 ½ miles from Stratford upon Avon, 6 ½ miles from Warwick and from Coventry.-History:...
the previous year. He became vicar of HarburyHarburyHarbury is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. In the 2001 census it had a population of 2,485....
in 1746 and shortly after ChestertonChesterton, WarwickshireChesterton is a small village in Warwickshire, England. It is about five miles south of Leamington Spa, near the villages of Harbury and Lighthorne.-Parish:...
both in Warwickshire followed by Snitterfield in 1754 where he took up residence until his death in 1781. Lord Willoughby de BrokeBaron Willoughby de BrokeBaron Willoughby de Broke is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ in 1491 for Sir Robert Willoughby, of Brooke/Broke manor, Heywood, near Westbury, Wiltshire, de jure 9th Baron Latimer...
presented him with the rectory at KimcoteKimcote and WaltonKimcote and Walton is a parish situated in Leicestershire, approximately 4 miles north east of Lutterworth. The villages of Kimcote and Walton combine to form one parish, with all Saints Parish Church being situated in Kimcote. The parish was the base for many stockingers during the 19th Century....
in Leicestershire in 1771 and he resigned Harbury and Chesterton keeping Snitterfield and Kimcote. His best known poem is the long topographical, Edge Hill (1767).
- William BoothWilliam Booth (forger)William Booth , one of eight children of a farmer and church warden, John Booth, and his wife Mary, was a farmer and forger, who lived at Great Barr, Birmingham...
, who was hanged for forgery in 1812 was born at Hall End Farm near Beaudesert in 1776, 1778 or 1779,(sources vary). One of eight children of a farmer and church warden, John Booth, and his wife Mary, He is the subject of the song "Twice Tried, Twice Hung, Twice Buried" by John Raven. He converted the top floor of his farmhouse in Great BarrGreat BarrGreat Barr is a large and loosely-defined area which straddles the boundaries of Birmingham, West Bromwich and Walsall , West Midlands, England...
, Birmingham into a workshop where he produced forgeries of coins and banknotes. He was caught, tried at Stafford AssizesAssizesAssize or Assizes may refer to:Assize or Assizes may refer to:Assize or Assizes may refer to::;in common law countries :::*assizes , an obsolete judicial inquest...
and sentenced to hang. Booth's execution was bungled, and he fell through the scaffold's trap door, to the floor, however, within two hours, he was hung again and died.