Whatcote

Whatcote is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Shipston on Stour in the Vale of the Red Horse.[2] The population at the 2011 census was 143.[3]

Whatcote
The Royal Oak, Whatcote
Whatcote Location within Warwickshire
Population	153 (2001 census)[1]
OS grid reference	SP2944
Civil parish	Whatcote
District	Stratford-on-Avon
Shire county	Warwickshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Shipston-on-Stour
Postcode district	CV36
Dialling code	01295
Police	Warwickshire
Fire	Warwickshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Stratford-on-Avon

Manor

The Domesday Book records that in 1086 Hugh de Grandmesnil, one of William the Conqueror's military commanders, owned the manor of Whatcote.[4] In the latter half of the 14th century Thomas Stafford, 3rd Earl of Stafford acquired the manor.[4] It remained with the Stafford family until 1520 when Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham conveyed the manor to Sir William Compton.[4] It remained with the Compton family, the Earls of Northampton until early in the 19th century, but by 1826 it had been acquired by Sir Adolphus Dalrymple, 2nd Baronet.[4] By 1865 Sir Adolphus had sold it to the Peach family, who in turn sold it to Thomas Parker, 6th Earl of Macclesfield.[4]

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of St. Peter was built in the first half of the 12th century.[4] The nave survives from this period, with a Norman doorway and two Norman windows in the north wall.[5] The tower and several windows in the south wall were added late in the 13th century and the chancel was rebuilt in about 1300.[5] One of the windows in the south wall of the chancel is a 14th-century addition.[4] The south porch, and the parapet and two of the bell-chamber windows of the tower, are 15th century additions.[4] In the 16th or 17th century a buttress was added to shore up part of the north wall.[4] A German bomb badly damaged the nave and porch in 1941 and the building was restored in 1947.[4]

The church tower has three bells. The tenor had been cast in 1652[6] but was recast by Henry Bond of Burford,[7] Oxfordshire in 1897.[8] John Clark of Evesham[7] cast the second bell in 1711.[8] The treble bell was cast in 1766[6] but was recast by William Blews & Sons of Birmingham[7] in 1878.[8]

In the churchyard are the base and shaft of a mediaeval cross, from which the top has been lost and replaced with a 17th or early 18th century sundial.[5] St. Peter's is now part of a single benefice with the neighbouring parishes of Oxhill and Tysoe.[9]

Amenities

Whatcote has a public house, the Royal Oak, Owned by Henry Jervis of Tysoe.[10]

References

1. "Area selected: Stratford-on-Avon (Non-Metropolitan District)". Neighbourhood Statistics: Full Dataset View. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
2. Edwards, 1950, p.51
3. "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 2 January 2016.
4. Salzman, 1949, pages 202-205
5. Pevsner & Wedgwood, 1966, page 470
6. Church Bells of Warwickshire: Whatcote St Peter
7. "Bell Founders". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
8. "Whatcote S Peter". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
9. A Church Near You: Whatcote - St. Peter, Whatcote
10. http://www.theroyaloakwhatcote.co.uk

Sources

• Edwards, Tudor (1950). Warwickshire. London: P. Elek. p. 50.
• Pevsner, Nikolaus; Alexandra, Wedgwood (1966). Warwickshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 470.
• Salzman, Louis F., ed. (1949). A History of the County of Warwick, Volume 5: Kington Hundred. Victoria County History. pp. 202–205.

External links

Media related to Whatcote at Wikimedia Commons