Brailes Timeline

Pre-Roman Brailes

Castle Hill from above, thought to be evidence of pre-Roman settlement and fort building marking the first fixed habitation of the village.

c. 200 – Roman Brailes

Romans based at Camp Dawn on the outskirts of Moreton in Marsh would use a track and road through Brailes, starting from the Fosseway, crossing the Stour at a ford at Willington, traversing what became Famington Farm, and crossed over Brailes Hill into the village/town. The track continued to Epwell Whitehouse and then a section of road to a village and fortifications on Mad Marston Hill. The Roman Villa of Chadsworth lay some 25 miles to the south west of Brailes. Brailes and the surrounding escarpment gave a strategic advantage for defending the Fosseway as an embankment and thoroughfare. Alfred Woodword presents evidence and hypothesis that Brailes itself had a Roman settlement, with Roman artefacts found in the village fields, some which remain in the village today.

Above, a Celtic silver unit of the Dobunni tribe found in Brailes, brought back to the village by Ken Durham in 1997. The coin is thought to be attributed to Corio . It features a ‘fantastic man in the moon’ type face, struck deeply on both sides, and a horse running left with a diving eagle above a flower on the reverse. Diameter 13mm and 0.77 gramms in weight. Below, one of perhaps a handful of completely intact Roman glass candlesticks in the world, also from Brailes and kept in the village. Many thanks to Ken for providing so much time, knowledge, and material for this timeline and the history of our village.

800 ~ 1086 – Brailes Between the Romans and the Normans

The church and living of Brailes prior to the Norman Conquest was in the hands of Earl Edwin. Seized by William the Conqueror, the advowson of the living was eventually conferred upon Roger, Earl of Warwick in the reign of Henry I, who in turn gave it to the Priory of Kenilworth

In the year 1086 SHELDON (known then as Machitone) was held by the Saxon overlord Turchill (Thorkill) and Alnoth was its tenant.

1086 – Norman Brailes

Brailes is listed in the Domesday book, as located in the Hundred of Fexhole, county of Warwickshire. A recorded population of 100 households puts Brailes Parish in the top 20% largest settlements recorded in the Book. In the Domesday Book the manor was known as Machitone, later Mackadown.

1086 – Watermill in Brailes

Also noted at this time is the existence of a watermill in Brailes.
A mill is also recorded later in 1529, 1547 and several times in the 17th century. It seems to have been working in the early 19th century for it is marked on the OS 1″ map of the late 1830s and in 1845 James Harris is recorded as miller. No later millers are known and the mill had been demolished by 1886. No traces of the buildings remain but there is evidence of a banked watercourse and a depression which may have been the pond. The location is a field upstream of the 99 Steps just past the fallen brick bridge whose foundations on both backs can still be seen, as illustrated in the images below (click to expand). The use of Sutton Brook to power watermill lasted for at least 800 years!

1124 – St George’s enters lore

Earliest known written reference to St. George’s Church. The Church is founded in 1120 and presented by Roger, ‘Earl’ of Warwick to the prior of Kenilworth. The first vicar had the name of Thomas.

1189 – The Vicarage Est.

The Vicarage to St. George’s Church is instituted.

1230 – William de Brailes

William de Brailes (active c. 1230 – c. 1260), an English Early Gothic manuscript illuminator, born in Brailes. He signed two manuscripts, and apparently worked in Oxford, where he is documented from 1238 to 1252, owning property in Catte Street near the University Church of St Mary the Virgin. William de Brailes illuminated Bibles, psalters, a Book of hours and secular texts, and may also have been a scribe. He is associated with a distinctive style which is characterised by energetic gesticulating figures, though with a limited range of facial expression, and a concern for narrative. The principal work attributed to Brailes and his workshop is The “De Brailes Hours” (in the British Library) – the earliest surviving separate English Book of hours, the type of book that was to become the leading vehicle for illumination in the late Middle Ages.

1242 – Winderton enters lore

Earliest known reference to Winderton (Saxon origin name) in the reign of ‘King’ Edward I, where the hamlet is listed as being held by Robert de’Eivill for half a knight’s fee from the ‘Earl’ of Warwick. In 1267 ownership passed to the de Cliffords. In 1575 ‘Queen’ Elizabeth gave some of Winderton to John Dudley and John Ascough as freeholders. The remaining de Clifford lands of Winderton were compulsory appropriated by the despised Despencer family on behalf of the ‘Earl’ of Warwick, and appropriated by the monarchy and aristocracy under Henry VII.

1248 – Weekly Markets

Brailes is granted a weekly market by Charter: “a Monday market and a three-day fair on the eve, day and morrow of St. George’s Day”.

1279 – St George’s Grows

Records call The Hundred Roll detail the landholding and working of ‘peasants’ and ‘Lords’. Construction of the South Aisle and arcade of St. George’s Church commences.

1300 – Thomas de Brayles

Thomas de Brayles (died after 1339), a native of Brailes where he held leasehold property, was a senior judge and Crown official in 14th century England. He spent part of his career in Ireland, where he became Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland and a Baron of the Irish Court of Exchequer.He sat on a commission of oyer and terminer in England from 1328 to 1331. He was in Ireland by 1333, when he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer and second Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). He had returned to England by 1339 when he was again serving on a commission of oyer and terminer in Norfolk. He was in holy orders, and became parish priest of Tamworth, Staffordshire and of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Berkshire.

1315 – Brailes becomes a borough

Brailes accesses to borough status, one name accorded to it being “Chipping Brailes”.

1322 – A chapel for Chelmscott

A chapel at Chelmscott, with a chantry for four priests, was founded by Thomas de Pakinton, of Brailes.

1340s – St. George’s Fills Out …

St. George’s Church is significantly amended and extended to its present dimensions.

1400s – … and The Tower Added

The 120ft tower is added to St. George’s Church.

1433 – Guild & Grammar School Established

A guild dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary was established by Richard Neville, ‘Earl’ of Warwick. In addition to the vicar, the guild maintained two priests in Brailes, one to be the precentor, and the other the schoolmaster for the “Fre Scole of Gramer for the Erudycyon and bring upp of dyvers and many pore Scolars”.

The Free School was founded in 1533. The school was being maintained by an annual payment of £8-1s-8d out of the yearly church revenue, following an audit under Chantries’ Act for Edward VI, which found that a “Grammer Scole hath been continuallye kept in Brailes”, and ordered its continuance with John Pittes as master. The rest of the old guild endowment was confiscated by the Crown at the dissolution of monastic orders during the Reformation.

The Guild Hall was used as the school house until 1819 when it was rebuilt on the same site near the churchyard. The school for boys was still flourishing, but now as an endowed elementary school, until 1916 when an amalgamation with girls and infants took place and new premises were required but the older building was still used occasionally as an annexe to the junior school, until 1960. Today the building is still in use for meetings of church members.

This marks the start of what would later become the Free School Foundation.

1547 – William Sheldon

William Sheldon (c.1500-1570) acquires the estates of Brailes.

1554 – William Bishop born

William Bishop DD is born at Rectory Farm, Lower Brailes. He later becomes the first Catholic Bishop consecrated for England after the Reformation. He died on April 13th 1624 at the age of 71. He is buried in the Chancel before the altar in St. George’s Church.

1554 – Winderton given to Throckmortons

Winderton was granted to the Throckmorton family, and was then eventually sold or acquired by the Compton family who had been bequeathed the titles of Earl and Marquess of Northampton.

1570 – Parish Registers Begin

See below links to available parish registries:

• Brailes, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812
• Brailes, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1812-1922
• Brailes, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1947
• Brailes, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1997

1581 – Church Free School Opens

In letters patent of October 27th 1581, Elizabeth I granted the Rectory of Brailes in fee-farm to Edmund Downing and Peter Ashton, who paid the annual rent of £11 18s 4d plus £8 1s 8d for the salary of the schoolmaster. The owners of Rectory Farm thus began their responsibility not only for the maintenance of the chancel of the Parish Church, but also for the support of the Free School.

1580s – Sheldon Tapestries Woven

Wealthy landowner Ralph Sheldon commissions a set of four tapestry maps to hang in his newly built house at Weston, near Long Compton. The maps depict the counties of Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire, and Gloucestershire. The other three maps are in the Bodleian Library The Warwickshire map is held at the Market Museum in Warwick and is the only complete surviving map from the series. The border was added in the 17th century and it measures 5.1m x 3.9m, woven mainly in wool, with silk used to highlight key areas. It is a very rare pictorial representation of Elizabethan Warwickshire at the time of Shakespeare. Brailes is included on the map as Over Brailes (Upper) and Nether Brailes (Lower) with Winderton and the hamlets of Chelmscote.

1585 – A landlord died, and left his will

Landlord of The George Inn dies, listing among his possessions hogs, pigs, poultry, platters and porridge bowls in pewter, and cauldrons and candlesticks in brass.

Compton Pike erected

Compton Pike, a beacon that was built during the Post Medieval period, assigned to the late 16 century. It is situated 200m south of Winderton Road Spinney. Probably erected as a beacon then subsequently used as a landmark. Made from coursed square ironstone rubble.

1603 – Plague kills 50 Parishioners

The Great Plague. ’50 died and 50 ravens flew about the steeple until all 50 were dead. A Great wonder to see it’.

1620 – Trust for the maintenance of St. George’s Est.

By indenture of feoffment dated October 20th 1620 between the following gentlemen: Barnabas Bishopp and Timothy Harris of Brailes, Richard and Edward Croft of Sutton under Brailes, together with Robert Davies, John Harris, William Poole and John Stock, all of Brailes; substantial lands and properties were assigned to a perpetual trust in order to “repair, amend and build (the Parish Church of St.George) in such manner as should be thought meet by the churchwardens and some of the chiefest inhabitants of the said town”  and also to provide for the “relief and maintenance of the free school and schoolmaster”.  Two of the feoffees or trustees were to be elected as reeves or rent-collectors and the accounts rendered yearly at the Church on St.Luke’s Day, October 18th.

1642 – Royalist Brailes

THE BATTLE OF EDGEHILL – Sunday, 23rd of October

“the town of Brailes in Warwickshire hath been a long time a constant den to habour the Cavaliers and to furnish them with supplies (most of that town being Papist)” – report to Cromwell

[read more]

1649 – Civil War damage repaired

St. George’s undergoes extensive repairs and restoration following the occupation of Brailes by Royalist troops. There are stories of atrocities in nearby towns but is unclear who they can be attributed to. [source]

1654 – Flamboyance Flouts Puritanism

The church vestry was added despite Cromwell’s decree that only a simple preaching gown should be worn.

1655ish – First smithy and forge opens in Brailes

The Old Smithy and Forge began service around this time and remained in almost daily use until around the year 2000. It has since reopened with smaller scale smithy services. Click the images below to view them.

Brailes had an important Horse Fair annually on the green where the Cenotaph now stands since the 1500s, and at one time there were four blacksmiths in the Brailes Parish and village, including in this building below in Upper Brailes across from the fountain.

1671 & 1688 – Heavy Bells for St George’s Hung

The fifth bell of St. George’s peal, ‘Merry George’, was recast in 1671, as the rhyme on its side indicates: ‘I’ll crack no more so ring your fill; Merry George I was and will be still’.

The fourth bell with its inscription ‘I’m not the bell I was but quite another – I’m now as rite and sweet as George, my brother’, was cast in 1688 by Richard Keen (recast in 1900).

1696 – The Old Sheep Street

Between 1410 and 1696 Cow Lane was the main road through Lower Brailes to The George Coach Inn, and the old Salt Road (Now Saltway Lane) was the main thoroughfare north and east, with Sutton Lane offering a route out of Brailes south and west. The footpath from the bottom of Cow Lane to the George was likely the main road until the 1840s when the B4035 was laid from Banbury to Shipston.

1726 – Catholic Chapel opens

In a malting barn attached to the 15th century Old Rectory Farmhouse the Catholic Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul was established in this year as one of the earliest post-reformation Catholic chapels in the country.

1765 – Hail storm destroys Brailes, £3000 worth of damage

The London Evening-Post
Numb.5872
From Thursday June 18, to Thursday June 20, 1765

Extract of a letter from Brailes in Warwickshire 

Dated June 15

“On Monday last, between two and three o’clock, we had a most dreadful storm of hail, attended with thunder and lightning, which has cut off great part of the corn in Upper Brailes, Lower Brailes, and Sutton fie1ds. In Lower Brailes all the fruit trees are stripped bare as if it was Christmas. The gardens are likewise cut off to that degree, that in the whole town there is not a plant big enough to wrap round your hand. The windows are broke in a most shocking manner, particularly those that lay north; in the three windows in the school 50 squares are broke; besides those broke above stairs, etc.”

“Many of the hail-stones measured six or seven inches round: rooks, pigeons, etc. were killed in great numbers, and it continued about an hour, the thunder not ceasing one instant; and the hail (which I measured in the open field after the storm was over) lay fourteen inches thick on the ground.”

“Nor was this all, for during the storm the flood rose in such a manner, that all the town, except about where I live, was under water, and by the time we could put our heads out of doors, the water was running over the great bridge top, and had drove down the whole range of walling from Co1egrave’s corner to David’s; so that every house in the Brook-row was five or six feet under water.
“It also carried away all the bridges, several sheep, gates, stiles, and every thing that was moveable, from the houses in Crook-row and Cuttle-Brook. In short, it was the most awful scene I ever beheld. The loss, ‘tis thought, will amount to near three thousand pounds.”

“We have likewise so bad a fever amongst us, that many are carried off by it, and those that have survived, have lain for several weeks in so shocking a condition, that you would think every minute to be their last.”

(Transcription note: Modern characters have been substituted where appropriate but spelling, punctuation and grammar are as in the original text.)

In 1765 the road between Upper and Lower Brailes appears to have crossed Sutton Brook further up-stream so the Bridge and Brook-Row referred to probably no longer exist.

1779 – Brailes listed in The Modern Universal British Traveller

A huge tome, published in 1779 purporting to be a complete guide to everywhere in Britain. On page 178 Brailes is mentioned!

1795 – Joseph Gillett born

Joseph Ashby Gillett (1795–1853) an English industrialist, textile manufacturer, and banker was born in Brailes.

1819 – School & Schoolhouse rebuilt

In 1819 the school and schoolhouse were rebuilt, with a loan of £70 raised by the trustees. In 1827 the Charity Commissioners wrote a full report on the affairs of the trust, and this revealed not only concerns about non-payment of rents, but also that much of the property was becoming dilapidated. The Commissioners seemed satisfied about the quality of education being provided, which included the 3Rs, Scripture, the Church Catechism, and Church attendance, though the latter were not compulsory for non-Anglicans.

1840 – Founding of a Primitive Methodist Church

Founding of the Primitive Methodist Movement in Brailes. The first baptism was in 1842, the daughter of Edward and Ann Simms. Edward was a plush weaver at the Gillett factory and became a Methodist Minister and died aged 66 in 1847. He was succeeded by Kenrick Kench.

1841 – First National Census

First national census comes to Brailes.

1845 – First Temperance Association Meeting

1st meeting of Brailes Temperance Association. A jolly time was had by all.

1850 – Lower Brailes At The Time

The wheelwright’s shop in Lower Brailes in 1850. According to Alfred Woodward at the time Mr J Davis was working the shop and was joined in 1874 by his two sons Richard and Thomas. The wheelwright’s continued to trade until 1902 when Ernest Godson was listed as the Wheelwright. The business closed in 1923, sold to a relative in Upper Brailes. The buildings were then torn down revealing the bucolic thatched cottage right behind it that we see today.

We can see the entrance to Lower Brailes was spectacular because of the ‘avenue’ of massive Elm trees, symbolic of the strength and vitality of the village. Sadly these elms were cut during the Dutch Elm Disease pandemic, and never replanted. Could it be possible to plant some again?

1851 – Report About Brailes for Parliament

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1851 – report on Brailes

“Brailes, a parish and village in the Brailes division of the hund. of Kington, union of Shipston-upon-Stour, Warwickshire; 4½ miles east by south of Shipston-upon-Stour.

Living, a vicarage in the archd. and dio. of Worcester; valued at £25; gross income £344. Patron, in 1835, S. Thornton, Esq. The great and small tithes, the property of the lay-impropriator and vicar, were commuted in 1784. The Roman Catholics have a chapel here.

Here is a school founded in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, with an annuity of £8 1s. 8d., and since augmented to £64 8s. 2d. It is free to all poor children resident in the parish. There are also 3 daily schools in this parish, besides a day and Sunday school, and two Sunday National schools.

The hills in this parish present fine prospects. A fair is held here on Easter Tuesday for horses, cows, and sheep. Pop., in 1801, 980; in 1831, 1,272. Houses 255. Acres 5,220. A. P. £11,196. Poor rates, in 1838, £631 17s.”

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851. [source]

1858 – Brailes Girls and Infants National School is built

Brailes Girls and Infants National School in School Lane was built in 1858. It was not the first school for girls in Brailes as there was an earlier school in a small house near the parish church, into which as many as 70 infants were packed into one room and 30 girls into an upper room in the house. The Girls and Infants School was built in 1858 with funds raised by the Vicar, Rev Thomas Smith, and cost nearly £1,100. The principal subscribers were:
Mr H J Sheldon – £50, Mrs Sheldon – £30, Mr Baker – £20, Mr I Baker – £20, Mr T Wincott – £20, Mr T Davis – £20. Miss Gillett – £10, The Marquess of Northampton – £50, Canon Woodruffe – £6 and Rev T Smith – £5.
There were a number of smaller donations and a grant from “The Education Department” of £912.

The foundation stone was laid by Mrs Sheldon on a plot of land donated to the church by her husband, Mr H J Sheldon. The school and the adjoining teacher’s house were formally opened on 2nd February 1859. The mistress was Miss Elizabeth Hobbs assisted by Miss Elizabeth Rand Pickering.

The 1861 census of Brailes, taken on April 7th, shows that Elizabeth Hobbs, aged 22, and born in London, Middlesex, was the teacher of the National School. Mrs Winifred R Pickering, a 68 year old widow born in Bristol, was the mistress of the Infants’ School and Emma Bloxham, 15, born in Brailes, was a pupil teacher at the National School.

The first entry in the school log book is for May 1st 1863 when the mistress was Mrs Rachel Rayfield. Mrs Rayfield was mistress until 1868, and was the wife of James Rayfield, joiner. During her time at Brailes she had four children – Minnie Maria baptised on January 18th 1862, Mary Charlotte baptised on March 1st 1863, Emma baptised on January 1st 1865 and Annie Elizabeth baptised on April 26th 1868. All four children were baptised at Brailes parish church.

1862 – Brailes Free School & Church Charity funds new schools and teachers

The Rev. Thomas Smith, the new resident and energetic Vicar, airs concerns about the Trust. Through Mr Wincott, one of the feoffees, he instigates an enquiry by the Charity Commissioners, who find that the school is in bad condition, the teaching inefficient, and that funds have been applied to unauthorised purposes. The existing feoffees are removed from office, and a new scheme of administration for the “Brailes Free School and Church Charity” is proposed, being sealed by the Commissioners on July 20th 1863. The income of the new charity that year was £97, and after expenses of management, £20 was to be given to St.George’s from the residue. There were to be 8 trustees, the Vicar and 7 co-optative “respectable residents” of the parish.

1863 – Chapel for the Primitive Methodists built in Upper Brailes

The new chapel for the Primitive Methodists (The Wesleyan Methodists a separate denomination) was built by William Pickering, a Trustee at the existing  chapel and a local stone mason and builder, at a cost of £319. This was at a time when the average farm labourer’s pay was about 8/- a week. The Trustees were very cautious about the size of the chapel and actually changed the original plans to keep costs down – a false saving as they found it necessary to add an extension a few years later.

There was no money left after the building was completed to install an organ or harmonium, so the singing of hymns was accompanied by a violin and clarinet.

A report in Banbury Advertiser of 24th September states: “The New Primitive Methodist Chapel was opened on Sunday last by Rev J Herridge of Leamington. On Monday a Tea Meeting was held in the New Chapel when about 350 partook of the good things provided, after which there was a Public Meeting presided over by Mr Richard Brazier and addresses were delivered by Messrs Herridge, Platt, Tuck and E Cox. The proceeds of the various services amounted to about £100”.

[source] [source]

1870 – Steam power comes to Brailes

A Barrow and Steward Portable Steam Engine, belonging at the time to John Hemmings of Brailes, constructed at this time in Banbury. Below the same engine still in full working order having been stored in Attwood’s Timber Yard on the corner of Sutton Lane (Nook Farm). It was also used to scratter the miller and press the apples for cider making. Both press and scratter date back to 1888 and are still in use today. Thanks to Mark Rogers for this update.

1870 – Report On Brailes For Imperial Gazetteer

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870 – report on Brailes

“BRAILES, two hamlets, a parish, and a division in Warwick. The hamlets are Upper and Lower Brailes; they lie 3 and 4 miles ESE of Shipston-on-Stour, and about 6 NE by E of Moreton r. station; they have a post office, of the name of Brailes, under Shipston-on-Stour; and one of them was formerly a market-town, and has still a fair on Easter Thursday. 

The parish includes also the hamlets of Chelmscott and Winderton; and is in the district of Shipston-on-Stour. Acres, 5,220. Real property, £10,548. Pop., 1,347. Houses, 305. The property is divided among a few.

The manor belonged, before the Conquest, to Edwin Earl of Mercia; was given, by the Conqueror, to Henry de Newburgh; and passed to the Beauchamps. Brailes House is now the seat of the Sheldons. Brailes Cover is a meet of the Warwick hounds. Some parts of the surface are hilly and have fine views.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester. Value, £344. Patron, J. Jordan. Esq. The church is partly early English, partly perpendicular, and is in good condition.

There are a Quakers chapel, a Roman Catholic chapel and school, an endowed school with £64 a year, a national school, a library and reading room, and charities £68. The division contains fifteen parishes; and is in Kington hundred. Acres, 35,242. Pop., 7,369. Houses, 1,575.”

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72]. [source]

1873~1879 – St. George’s Church is renovated

A huge undertaking involving fixing and recasting some of the bells and much needed repairs to the stonework and windows. The work was suggested and led by the then Vicar Thomas Smith. Below we can see a list of financial contributors to the work:

1876/7 – Diphtheria kills 37 children

Tragedy for the village as 37 children die from diphtheria.

1879 – Winderton Church built

In Winderton, a hamlet, is the property of the ‘Marquess’ of Northampton. The church of SS. Peter and Paul, on the south side of Winderton hill, was erected in 1878 at a cost of £7,000, by the Rev. Canon Thoyts, Vicar of Honington 1877-9 as a memorial to his parents, on a site given by the ‘Marquess’ of Northampton, and was consecrated by the Bishop of Worcester in June, 1879. Pictured below, Rev. Canon Thoyts.

[source]

1885 – Brailes men meet to campaign for suffrage

A Leamington Courier report detailing a celebration of the first stage of universal suffrage passed by Parliament (2/3rds of men, not women). The ‘Radicals’ held a demonstration in Brailes on the Bank Holiday that included a procession, accompanied by the Shutford Brass Band, which dragged a carriage through Upper and Lower Brailes and was joined by hundreds of villagers. Tea was provided in Mr. Simm’s field at the rear of The Gate Inn. ‘Lord’ William Compton, 5th ‘Marquess’ of Northampton (Liberal Party) made a speech welcoming the democratic advancement. The word freedom, he says, is to be used advisedly since 1/3 of men and all women are still not ‘free men’ (Brailes men: Hear! Hear!). The report says Compton told the men not to share how they intended to vote in November if they felt it dangerous, and that they must vote according to their own free will if they want to remain free men and not slaves as they were before. It clarifies that Compton explained why he used the word slaves – a concern the working-class had been historically fettered and could now free itself. Finally he states that the reforms they all want will come by degrees, not all at once, and it required being united and working hard. This was met with applause.

1886 – Village Institute Built

1887 – Brailes celebrates Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee

Brailes organised a celebration for the Golden Jubilee of the Monarch Victoria’s reign, with games and activities held all day on the 21st of June 1887. The Vicar of Brailes then recalled this in the 1888 Brailes Almanac.

1886 – Private land sold for public investment

Conveyance, Henry James Sheldon of Brailes, Esq., to the vicar and churchwardens of Brailes, of a piece of land adjoining the Shipston-Banbury highroad on the S. and Friar’s Lane on the E., as the site of a reading room, 14 June 1886.

1897 – Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee

Brailes organised a celebration for the Diamond Jubilee of the Monarch Victoria’s reign, with games and activities held all day on the 22nd of June 1897.

1902 – Coronation of Edward VII

Brailes organised a celebration for the coronation of the new Monarch Edward VII, including a torch-lit procession on the 28th of June 1902.

1903 – First steam bus services Brailes

11th of September. The STRAKER STEAM OMNIBUS makes it’s trial run to Lower Brailes from Shipston. On the 16th of September it started its service of Lower Brailes to Stratford Station

The ticket below, for that first run to Stratford, was bought for 4D by Mr Fred Gander.

Click the images below to view them.

1910 – Litch Gate Inaugurated

The fine Litch Gate was erected by the family of Thomas Smith, vicar of Brailes 156-1886) in his memory. This was the vicar under whom the restoration of 1879 was undertaken. Built and erected by Henry and Frank Attwood, the gate was dedicated by the Rev Henry Phillpott, Bishop of Worcester. It cost £220. Below we see the arrival of the Bishop of Worcester.

1914 – Brailes Treats Wounded Belgian Soldiers

The Village Institute was commandeered on the 28th October as a V.A. hospital of ten beds to treat wounded Belgian soldiers, the first cohort to arrive pictures above. The village doctor at the time was Dr. George Findlay (a photography enthusiast) and his wife, acting as Quarter master, Mrs Harriet Findlay, below:

1920 – Castle Hill with Trees

Four men posing in front of Castle Hill, three visible. Further left of the three visible men is Harold Mathews (of the Mathews Bus Company). One of the other men is thought to be a Sadler. Photo courtesy of the David Mathews Collection.

1922 – Belgium thanks Brailes

Four years after the end of World War 1, a military attache from theEmbassy of Belgium sent a certificate and medal to E.R Gander Esq, Sanitary Inspector for Brailes District in thanks for tending to and healing sick and injured Belgium soldiers at the village Institute (see above in timeline). Click the image below to zoom in. We are grateful to Stuart Cummings (pictured below) for allowing us to take images of this for posterity.

1922 – Brailes Women’s Institute founded

Set up in the UK in 1915, the Women’s Institute set out to give women a voice and to be a force for good in the community.  It started as a community-based organisation for women in Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being the first speaker in 1897. It was based on the British concept of Women’s Guilds, created by Rev. Archibald Charteris in 1887 and originally confined to the Church of Scotland. From Canada, the organisation spread back to Britain, throughout the British Empire and Commonwealth, and to other countries. The Warwickshire Federation of Women’s Institutes is a democratic, social and educational charity that provides opportunities for members to make new friends, learn a variety of new skills and to develop skills they already have.

1922 – War Memorial erected

The Cenotaph, in remembrance of Brailes lives lost in World War I was erected on the green in this year. Further names of fallen soldiers from the village were added after 1945. An annual outdoor service is held at the Cenotaph on November 11th at 10am and the Last Post is played as veterans and relatives of veterans pay their respect to those who lost their lives in service.

1926 – The Institute burns down

The Institute, built in 1886, burnt down in the early hours of November 4^th, 1926.  The cause of the fire remains a mystery.  Many helpers rescued billiard tables, piano, library books and the cupboard, but the tables, chairs and crockery were lost.  Fortunately the fire was confined to the building and adjacent houses escaped.  The Institute was soon rebuilt.

1927 – First council houses in Brailes

The first four Council houses were erected in the Park, Lower Brailes, allowing more local families to afford living in the village.

1920s ~ 1930s – A 2nd garage operates in Lower Brailes

We’re not sure of the name of this garage but suspect it might be called Biddles Garage.

1930s~1940s

Above, the Corpus Christi Procession coming down Stockstury Hill, with flower petals strewn along the route. And below a typical street scene in Lower Brailes at the time with Harold Mathews’s buses parked outside his home, preparing to set out for their Banbury runs. We also see a cart outside the Cummings’s Forge and a customer’s car parked outside Miss Hitchman’s stores. It later became Smith’s Groceries and General Store, owned by Mr and Mrs Smith and known affectionately in Lower Brailes as The Bottom Shop.

1934 – Cecil Righton’s garage reopens on a new site

A motor garage is built by Cecil Righton in front of the fields that would become Jeff’s Close. His first for-purpose garage was at the top of Cow Lane pictured above which opening in 1921, before moving to this site below in 1934. The first employees to work at this garage were Dennis Bryan, Wilfred Locke, and George Gibbs of Winderton, all of whom worked with and for Cecil until 1939. The garage was run until the 1990s when Stratford District Councillors, despite opposition from Brailes Parish Council, voted by a majority of two to approve the land for housing, despite three separate viable and credible bids to continue the garage on site.

1941 – Bomber crashes in Brailes

24th October. A Wellington Bomber Mk 1c “B” flight took off from Shennington with six crew members and one airman hitching a lift, as part of the final training of the crew before being assigned to an operational aerodrome and bombing raids on Germany. The crew was as following: Sergeant S King, Sergeant Thackwell, Sergeants C H Webb and C E Butt, and Sergeant R W Campbell and S T Baverstock.

On take off the rear gunner noticed a piece of fuselage was flapping loosely which then tore off as the plane gathered speed, tearing a hole in the port (left) wing, preventing the aircraft from gaining altitude. It was witnessed by Cecil Righton and his fiancee Miss Pricilla Truby, who herself was a Sgt in the Special Police Force and a Red Cross nurse, as it flew over the B4035 at tree level. It hit the ground seconds later and ploughed into a ditch between two fields named Lambscote and Gorse Hill.

A rescue team quickly attended and some of crew were removed from the wreckage. Cecil Righton and a member of the Home Guard dragged a deceased airman from under the fuselage just before the petrol tanks on the plane exploded. Two of the injured were taken to the Ellen Badger HOSPITAL and the dead airmen were taken to Minehill Home Farmhouse and covered with their parachutes. Only one member of the crew survived: the rear gunner Sgt S T Baverstock, who reported back for duty after 10 months and was then based in India for the rest of the war.

In 1999 Mr Baverstock returned to Brailes with his wife on holiday and visited the site of the crash. he met the Red Cross Nurse who accompanied him in the ambulance to the Ellen Badger HOSPITAL, relating the story above of the crash to Alfred Woodward. He died in February 2000.

The site of the crash meant that the entire village saw the fireball when the plane exploded. Cecil Righton’s son, Chris Righton, planted trees on the site of the crash as a memorial to the dead airmen.

1943 – An end to Brailes Brickworks

The kilns of the Brailes Brickworks were pulled down and the site closed by Mr Harold Neal who inherited down the line from the owner Florence Wilkes.

1943 – First Brailes Flower Show

The first ever Brailes Flower Show was held as a way to raise money for the war effort. The opening was drowned in rain but it did feature the flower show and sports followed by a dance in the marquee in Burnt Orchard, courtesy of Hubert Green. A much dwindled by war 15 members of Brailes Brass Band attended and played for visitors throughout the day. The band was dissolved the following Tuesday, to be revived some five years later.

1947 – Winderton has water

Winderton is connected to mains piped water supply.

1951 – Winderton has electricity

Winderton connected to the national electrical grid.

1951 – The Village Hall is opened

Image shows a ceremony in a later year, probably late 1970s or early 1980s. If anyone has images of the original village hall opening please send them to in**@***************co.uk, thanks!

1952 – Workhouse Row burns down

Workhouse Row (between Cow Lane and old grocery on Sheep Street) after a disastrous fire. It was a Sunday morning and while the Church bells were ringing villagers were helping tenants get their goods from the houses.

1952 – The Forge Garage opens

The Forge Garage began business. Previously a blacksmith at the Forge just along the road, Douglas Cummings opened the Forge Garage business on the current site in 1952, along with his wife Linda Cummings. Prior to that time it had been the local bus garage, and before that thatched cottages.

In its’ infancy the garage undertook mostly agricultural machinery work, which later developed into work on small trucks and lorries. As staff knowledge increased cars became the main focus and this is still the case today.

The fuel tanks were installed in the early 60’s and since then the garage has sold fuel under several banners including Texaco and Ultramar and currently Gulf. The MOT station was introduced in the early 70’s.

Doug and Linda’s daughter, Sue Cummings, married Ian Haycock in 1973, and Ian and Sue Haycock took the business over in 1979 when Doug retired. After almost 40 years Simon and Katie Haycock have almost taken over while Ian and Sue are not quite retired! Simon started working for the business in 1998 after having completed his Apprenticeship and found his mechanics feet at Grays’ Garage in Warwick. Today the business is thriving with a total of 14 employees including directors and office staff.

Click the images below to view them.

1956 – The Brownies club starts

1964 – Brailes in The Banbury Guardian

Thursday, November 12th, 1964. Click the image below to read it!

1978 – Brailes Mechanical and Crafts Society is founded

Established in September the annual membership fee was £1 per year for men and 50p per year for women.

1979 – Fred Hall unveils Matchstick model of St. George’s

A complete replica of St. George’s Church, made entirely from matchsticks, is completed by Mr Fred Hall and instituted in the Church (See History of St. George’s part 6)

1985 – Foundations laid for the new sports pavilion

1988 – Brailes remembers Nurse Neal

See below a eulogy written for our beloved village nurse who passed away in the January of this year.

1993 – Brailes’ 2nd garage closes, site sold for housing

1994 – Village Hall Extension opened

After fundraising and with the help of local builder Mick Edmunds the village hall was able to open an extension to the front of the hall which added toilets and a full kitchen for catering events, and wheelchair access. The opening ceremony was on October 15th Pictured below are many of the villagers who were involved in this project that significantly improved the hall both as a valuable building for the village but also commercially self-sustaining.

2011 – Brailes Cider Press restored

Brailes Cider Press restored, and village pressing announced. Previously components of the engine and scatterer were found thrown in a hedge on Mine Hill. Ken Durham, David Clemons, and Simon and Ian Haycock retrieved the components, which Ken then restored and reassembled. Then the Haycocks and other villagers organised a public pressing where villagers can come and bring their apples and create cider themselves. Click the images below to view them.

2012 – Brailes goes digital, the village gets a website

The Brailes Village Website (brailesvillage.co.uk) was set up and run by Lisa Bryan with the help of other villagers.

2021 – Brailes Women’s Institute closes

After 99 years of continuous service to Brailes, the Women’s Institute was disbanded.

2025 The village websites are renovated

The Brailes Village website undergoes a full spa treatment, bringing it up to date and in collaboration with the Feldon News for the first time. Ben Goren volunteers to design and administer the site. Lisa Bryan and the Village Hall Committee oversee the revamping of their website, a professional presentation of the Hall and Pavilion as valuable assets to the village. The three main websites are now Brailes Village, The Parish Council, and the Village Hall and Pavilion.