Wilmcote
Encyclopedia
Wilmcote is a village and since 2004 a separate civil parish
in the English county of Warwickshire
, about 3 miles (5 km) north of Stratford-upon-Avon
. Prior to 2004, it was part of the same parish as Aston Cantlow
and the 2001 population for the whole being 1,674.
It has a church, a primary school, a village hall, a village club, one small hotel, a shop and a pub. Visitors are attracted to Mary Arden's House the home of Shakespeares mother
.
, part of the lands of Osbern son of Richard, whose father was Richard FitzScrob (or FitzScrope), builder of Richard's Castle
. The entry reads: "In Pathlow Hundred. Also from Osbern, Urso hold 3 hides
in Wilmcote. Land for 4 ploughs. In lordship 2; 2 slaves; 2 villagers and 2 smallholders with 2 ploughs. Meadow, 24 acres. The value was 30s; now 60s;. Leofwin Doda held it freely before 1066."
By 1205, according to Dugdale, it was held by Brito Camerarius, Chamberlain of Normandy
and in that year was seized by King John, together with the other English lands of Normans
for adhering to the King of France, Phillip II
. In 1228 William de Wilmecote was claiming the advowson of the chapel here against the Archdeacon of Gloucester. In 1316 Wilmcote is called a hamlet of Aston Cantlow, and Laurence Hastings
, who succeeded as Earl of Pembroke
in 1325, is said to have given the manor of GREAT WILMCOTE to John son of John de Wyncote. During the Black Death
(1348–9) Sir John, Eleanor and Joan, and three of the daughters died; and the last of the daughters, Elizabeth, whose wardship had come to the Crown as guardian of the young Earl of Pembroke, died in 1350.
No more is known of the manor until 1561, when an estate described as the manor of Great Wilmcote, including Mary Arden's house and land in Shelfield, was granted by Thomas Fynderne of Nuneaton to Adam Palmer of Aston Cantlow and George Gibbs of Wilmcote. Palmer and Gibbs held jointly until 1575, when a partition was made. The descent of Palmer's portion is not known, but Gibbs's, which included Mary Arden's house, remained in the family until another George Gibbs sold it to Matthew Walford of Claverdon in 1704. Walford's son and heir, also Matthew, married Elizabeth Jones and died in 1729, leaving his estates to be held jointly by his five daughters. Whatever manorial rights may have attached to this property had by now disappeared. At the time of the Inclosure in 1742–3 the manor of Wilmcote was included in that of Aston Cantlow, and Elizabeth Walford, widow, appears in the Award only as the proprietor of 5 yard-lands in the common field.
, and a significant quarrying industry grew up in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, particularly after the opening of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal
in 1816 which was routed through Wilmcote because of its quarries. Today the area has many small disused quarries, mostly filled in, and just-visible paths of tramways linking them to the canal. There is a larger quarry which has not been filled in and which is now a nature reserve
. There are remains of lime kilns, built to turn the limestone into cement.
Wilmcote stone splits well into sheets and was used for paving as well as for building. It was used for paving the floors in the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament
when these were rebuilt in the nineteenth century.
The last of the quarries closed in the early twentieth century, but they have left a great legacy for the village. There are several rows of former quarry workers cottages, built in Wilmcote stone, and a pub called the Masons' Arms. The quarries were one of the main reasons why the canal and railway, which add so much to the village today, were routed through Wilmcote. The first Wilmcote railway station
opened in 1860, on a site alongside the canal wharves: it was replaced by the present station when the line was doubled in 1908.
., Conservative. Nationally it is part of Stratford on Avon
constituency, whose member of parliament following the 2010 election is Nadhim Zahawi
of the Conservative Party
. It is included in the West Midlands
electoral region of the European Parliament.
is situated on the North Warwickshire Line, part of the Great Western Railway
's mainline route from Birmingham
to Cheltenham
. The village is a popular stop on the Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham Canal, and is on a National Cycleway.
The Oxford Movement
was a Catholic revival movement in the Church of England in the early nineteenth century, centred in Oxford and Wilmcote was the site they chose to build a church, a school and a retreat house. The village in the early nineteenth century had no church, it was then a part of the adjoining parish of Aston Cantlow
but with a growing working class population due to the growth of the Wilmcote quarries the village was much in need of a church and a school. The modern church of St. Andrew, built in 1841, is a monument to the influence of the Oxford Movement in the parish. It was built by the Rev. Francis Fortescue-Knottesford and his son, who became the first curate, to meet the semi-industrial conditions created by the opening of the cement works in the 1830's. It is a very unusual small Anglo-Catholic church, dark, spiritual, and on Sundays filled with the smell of incense. It was designed by the renowned architect William Butterfield
, a leader in the Gothic revival.
was born in Wilmcote around 1540. A farmer's daughter, she married one John Shakespeare
, moved to Stratford-upon-Avon, and gave birth to William Shakespeare, recognised as the greatest English playwright to live. Mary Arden's House now owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
is open to the public and houses a museum of countryside life. William Shakespeare's life and times have been very extensively researched and documented and much is therefore known about Wilmcote from the time of Mary Arden onwards.
is set in rural Warwickshire. One character mentioned, however, allows for a greater localization - to the village of Wilmcote. Sly, the drunken tinker, beseeches the Lord: "Ask Marian Hacket, the fat ale-wife of Wincot, if she know me not" [Ind.2.18-19]. The minutes of the Stratford Corporation, 11 November 1584 (approximately a decade before the play), mention "the tythes of Wyncote", the very spelling of the village that appears in the Folio
text of The Shrew.
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 English county 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...
, about 3 miles (5 km) north of Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
. Prior to 2004, it was part of the same parish as 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...
and the 2001 population for the whole being 1,674.
It has a church, a primary school, a village hall, a village club, one small hotel, a shop and a pub. Visitors are attracted to Mary Arden's House the home of Shakespeares mother
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
.
History
Wilmcote, is listed as Wilmecote 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...
, part of the lands of Osbern son of Richard, whose father was Richard FitzScrob (or FitzScrope), builder of Richard's Castle
Richard's Castle
Richard's Castle is a village, castle and two civil parishes on the border of the counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire in England.The village lies on the B4361, 5½ miles south of the historic market town of Ludlow...
. The entry reads: "In Pathlow Hundred. Also from Osbern, Urso hold 3 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...
in Wilmcote. Land for 4 ploughs. In lordship 2; 2 slaves; 2 villagers and 2 smallholders with 2 ploughs. Meadow, 24 acres. The value was 30s; now 60s;. Leofwin Doda held it freely before 1066."
By 1205, according to Dugdale, it was held by Brito Camerarius, Chamberlain of Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
and in that year was seized by King John, together with the other English lands of Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
for adhering to the King of France, Phillip II
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
. In 1228 William de Wilmecote was claiming the advowson of the chapel here against the Archdeacon of Gloucester. In 1316 Wilmcote is called a hamlet of Aston Cantlow, and Laurence Hastings
Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Laurence de Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke was a Norman English nobleman and held the titles 1st Earl of Pembroke , Baron Abergavenny and Baron Hastings under Edward II of England and Edward III of England....
, who succeeded as Earl of Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke is a title created ten times, all in the Peerage of England. It was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, which is the site of Earldom's original seat Pembroke Castle...
in 1325, is said to have given the manor of GREAT WILMCOTE to John son of John de Wyncote. During the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
(1348–9) Sir John, Eleanor and Joan, and three of the daughters died; and the last of the daughters, Elizabeth, whose wardship had come to the Crown as guardian of the young Earl of Pembroke, died in 1350.
No more is known of the manor until 1561, when an estate described as the manor of Great Wilmcote, including Mary Arden's house and land in Shelfield, was granted by Thomas Fynderne of Nuneaton to Adam Palmer of Aston Cantlow and George Gibbs of Wilmcote. Palmer and Gibbs held jointly until 1575, when a partition was made. The descent of Palmer's portion is not known, but Gibbs's, which included Mary Arden's house, remained in the family until another George Gibbs sold it to Matthew Walford of Claverdon in 1704. Walford's son and heir, also Matthew, married Elizabeth Jones and died in 1729, leaving his estates to be held jointly by his five daughters. Whatever manorial rights may have attached to this property had by now disappeared. At the time of the Inclosure in 1742–3 the manor of Wilmcote was included in that of Aston Cantlow, and Elizabeth Walford, widow, appears in the Award only as the proprietor of 5 yard-lands in the common field.
Economy
The geology of the area around Wilmcote contains areas of good limestoneLimestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, and a significant quarrying industry grew up in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, particularly after the opening of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal
Stratford-upon-Avon Canal
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal in the south Midlands of England.The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the Grand Union Canal...
in 1816 which was routed through Wilmcote because of its quarries. Today the area has many small disused quarries, mostly filled in, and just-visible paths of tramways linking them to the canal. There is a larger quarry which has not been filled in and which is now a nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
. There are remains of lime kilns, built to turn the limestone into cement.
Wilmcote stone splits well into sheets and was used for paving as well as for building. It was used for paving the floors in the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
when these were rebuilt in the nineteenth century.
The last of the quarries closed in the early twentieth century, but they have left a great legacy for the village. There are several rows of former quarry workers cottages, built in Wilmcote stone, and a pub called the Masons' Arms. The quarries were one of the main reasons why the canal and railway, which add so much to the village today, were routed through Wilmcote. The first Wilmcote railway station
Wilmcote railway station
Wilmcote railway station serves the village of Wilmcote, about 4 miles north-north-west of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England.The present two-platform station was opened in 1908, at the same time as the inauguration of the North Warwickshire Line, the Great Western Railway's new mainline...
opened in 1860, on a site alongside the canal wharves: it was replaced by the present station when the line was doubled in 1908.
Governance
Wilmcote is part of the Aston Cantlow ward of Stratford on Avon District Council and represented by Councillor Sir William Lawrence BaronetBaronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
., Conservative. Nationally it is part of Stratford on Avon
Stratford-on-Avon (UK Parliament constituency)
-By-elections:-Notes and references:...
constituency, whose member of parliament following the 2010 election is Nadhim Zahawi
Nadhim Zahawi
Nadhim Zahawi is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon since 2010, after the retirement of previous MP John Maples....
of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. It is included in the West Midlands
West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)
West Midlands is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elected 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. The constituency will also elect a "virtual MEP" who will be able to sit in the Parliament if the Treaty of Lisbon comes into effect...
electoral region of the European Parliament.
Geography
Education
Situated in Church Road is Wilmcote Church of England (Voluntary Aided) Primary School, which educates 80 children from the age of 4 to 11.Transport links
Wilmcote railway stationWilmcote railway station
Wilmcote railway station serves the village of Wilmcote, about 4 miles north-north-west of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England.The present two-platform station was opened in 1908, at the same time as the inauguration of the North Warwickshire Line, the Great Western Railway's new mainline...
is situated on the North Warwickshire Line, part of the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
's mainline route from Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
to Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
. The village is a popular stop on the Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham Canal, and is on a National Cycleway.
Religious sites
There was a chapel at Wilmcote, first mentioned in 1228 when the advowson was in dispute between William de Wilmcote, and the Archdeacon of Gloucester. In the 14th century the advowson was held with the manor of Little Wilmcote, until in 1481 Henry de Lisle gave it to the Gild of the Holy Cross at Stratford. The chaplains were instituted and inducted by the vicars of Stratford.The Oxford Movement
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
was a Catholic revival movement in the Church of England in the early nineteenth century, centred in Oxford and Wilmcote was the site they chose to build a church, a school and a retreat house. The village in the early nineteenth century had no church, it was then a part of the adjoining parish 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...
but with a growing working class population due to the growth of the Wilmcote quarries the village was much in need of a church and a school. The modern church of St. Andrew, built in 1841, is a monument to the influence of the Oxford Movement in the parish. It was built by the Rev. Francis Fortescue-Knottesford and his son, who became the first curate, to meet the semi-industrial conditions created by the opening of the cement works in the 1830's. It is a very unusual small Anglo-Catholic church, dark, spiritual, and on Sundays filled with the smell of incense. It was designed by the renowned architect William Butterfield
William Butterfield
William Butterfield was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement . He is noted for his use of polychromy-Biography:...
, a leader in the Gothic revival.
Notable people
Mary ArdenMary Arden
Mary Shakespeare, née Mary Arden, was the mother of William Shakespeare. She was the daughter of Robert Arden and his first wife Mary Arden née Mary Webb . The Arden family had been prominent in Warwickshire since before the Norman Conquest...
was born in Wilmcote around 1540. A farmer's daughter, she married one John Shakespeare
John Shakespeare
John Shakespeare was the father of William Shakespeare. He was the son of Richard Shakespeare of Snitterfield, a farmer. He moved to Stratford-upon-Avon and married Mary Arden, with whom he had eight children, five of whom survived into adulthood...
, moved to Stratford-upon-Avon, and gave birth to William Shakespeare, recognised as the greatest English playwright to live. Mary Arden's House now owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is an independent registered educational charity based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, that came into existence in 1847 following the purchase of William Shakespeare's birthplace for preservation as a national memorial. It can also lay claim to be...
is open to the public and houses a museum of countryside life. William Shakespeare's life and times have been very extensively researched and documented and much is therefore known about Wilmcote from the time of Mary Arden onwards.
Cultural references
It is the consensus among scholars that the Induction of The Taming of The ShrewThe Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
is set in rural Warwickshire. One character mentioned, however, allows for a greater localization - to the village of Wilmcote. Sly, the drunken tinker, beseeches the Lord: "Ask Marian Hacket, the fat ale-wife of Wincot, if she know me not" [Ind.2.18-19]. The minutes of the Stratford Corporation, 11 November 1584 (approximately a decade before the play), mention "the tythes of Wyncote", the very spelling of the village that appears in the Folio
First Folio
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare's plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio....
text of The Shrew.