Women’s Institute Scrapbook 1955
Choose a tab on left to read the Scrapbook
THE BRAILES SCRAP-BOOK
COMPILED IN 1955 – 1956
BY MEMBERS OF THE WOMEN’S INSTITUTE
Scrapbook Committee 9/1954
Chair - Mrs Kemp
Mrs S. Miller
Mrs H. Green
Miss Mumford - Embroidered Cover
Mrs J. Crook
Mrs Lane
Mrs Horton
Mrs Spicer
Preface to Brailes WI Scrapbook 1955~56
I originally borrowed this document to read as I found that it contained a reference to my great-great-great grandfather, Jeremiah Henry Long, schoolmaster in Brailes in the 19th century.
However, once I was immersed in the history of Brailes I decided to make a copy for myself of the entire ‘Scrapbook’, the original of which is a large handwritten document contained in a specially made wooden box. It had been typed up on an old ribbon typewriter, using flimsy, foolscap size paper, making it more or less impossible to take a good photocopy and did not include any of the accompanying images.
The document contains old photographs, newspaper cuttings and postcards, most of which have deteriorated over the years, browned and are now of quite poor quality. However I have managed to reproduce most of these using both camera and I-pad to photograph, depending on which gave the better result. I have left most of the idiosyncrasies of punctuation and sprinklings of capital letters but have corrected a few errors made by the typist misreading from the original handwritten document. I have also included photographic captions and the ‘Postscript’ which do not appear in the typed version and a section on Brailes WI which does not appear in the handwritten version.
The cover on the bound original is in unbleached linen with applique and satin stitch, presumably worked by a member of the WI but not credited.
Carolyn Walker, December 2016
Introduction
NOTES ON THE COAT OF ARMS “GRANTED” TO THE PARISH OF BRAILES BY DR. G. FINDLAY. C 1920
Excutcheon:
vertish, quarterly
Dexter:
St. George victor draco moribund; Pons supertransitum
(St. George the victor, the dragon dying; The bridge overpass)
Sinister:
Anas mas peckaut, Castello supramonte, patibulum pendant
(A duck pecks, Castle above the mountain, the gallows hanging)
Brailes General Information 1955
Population: 816
Early closing: Various
Market Day: was Monday
London: 90 miles
Shipston-on-Stour: 4 miles
Banbury: 10 miles
Places of interest in neighbourhood:
Compton Wynyates, The Rollright Stones, Broughton Castle (Weds), Warwick, Stratford-on-Avon, Edgehill, Banbury, Chipping Camden
Inns:
The George 15th C, The Gate 17th C., The Cotswold Kitchen (unlicensed)
Places to visit:
St. Georges Church, Ss. Peter and Paul Chapel and Library, Castle Hill, Traitors Ford
Facilities for shopping: motoring and walking
Historical Outline
Before recorded history the name of our village was derived from “old English” ‘Braegels’, which may come from ‘Baergels’, a side-form of ‘Brygels’, meaning a ‘burial-place”.
(Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, Ekwall 1940)
This naming may have been founded on the existence of a long barrow by High Wall Spinney on the top of Brailes Hill, and the ‘Giants’ Graves’ (ploughed in World War II) which were situated near to Jenny Swift’s Coppice on the North West slope of Brailes Hill.
Brailes Hill was obviously a New Stone Age site, for from Long Barrow Field, 830 feet above sea level, a wonderful panorama of the surrounding countryside is seen. Lying to the West andNorth is the ‘Red Horse Vale’, Ilmington Hill and Meon Hill, Sough and West the Cotswolds from the Five Mile Drive above Broadway to the uplands of Stow-on-the-Wold. To the South on another upland spur lie the Rollrights, with their ancient stones, and, t the East, the high borders of Oxfordshire, with the old towns of Chipping Norton and Hook Norton. The ancient tracks of the Ridgeway and the Fosse Way could be commanded with ease from Brailes Hill.
(Notes on Highwall Spinney)
Crowning Brailes Hill, to the south West of the village, lies the landmark known as Highwall Spinney. From time to time this spot has been the centre of some conjecture, due, in part, to the barrow-like structure of the ground on which the Spinney stands, together with its relationship to the surrounding land which is known locally as Long Barrow Field. The dimensions of this ridge of land (495’ long; 51’ wide; and for the greater part of its length, 7’ to 9’ high – all approximate measurements) offer little encouragement to those who regard it as a long barrow. That it was man-made, having been raised, scarped or perhaps isolated by a long-standing process of cultivation, is almost certain. The solution, if any, of this mystery, could only be disclosed by archaeological excavation.
Pre-History
The discovery at Fell Mill, on the road to Shipston, in 1955, of the remains of an Ichthyosaurus bears out the theory that any humans in the district during the Old and New Stone Ages would naturally keep to the hill-tops; the lower ground would be swamps and thick wilderness. The Neolithic “Cruthni” or painted men were driven away to the North and West by the Goidels, the first wave of the invading Celts, who arrived in Britain about 1,000 BC. They, in turn, were driven North and West by Brythons, also of Celt origin from France, between 400 and 300 BC. The Brythons may have been the constructors of the British Camp on Castle Hill, which remains today much the same with its three springs as it was in the days before recorded history.
The Brythons are the first peoples to have recorded history. Living in a border area, those on Warwickshire soil were of the Carnabii tribe, those in Oxfordshire and the West, Dobunii. The Salt Way which runs through the Eastern edge of Brailes was an established trade-route. The Brythons grew barley, and kept cattle. Dogs were used for hunting. Men and women wore woven clothes. The religion was Druidic.
Romans to 1066
Whether the people of Brailes were actually Dobunii or Carnabii is a matter for speculation and nquiry; the Romans came to Britain; Brailes in the Feldon of Warwick persued [sic] its own way, remote and uninfluenced, as far as we can gather, until about the year 600 AD, when Hwickians (Saxons) infiltrated into Warwickshire, bringing with them the Norse religion; adding their own words to the local speech. South Warwickshire was then part of the Kingdom of Mercia. Christianity came into the Country after 655 AD.
There is evidence that the Romans were in Tadmarton, and the Danes came and settled in Hook Norton (both within six miles of Brailes) but we know nothing of such invasions in Brailes.
Remote from the sea, lying away from the major roads of the time, Brailes developed quietly under Mercian rule, until the time of the Norman Conquest, when the Lordship of the Manor was given to henry de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, “whose posterity retained it until the reign of Henry VIII”. While in possession of the Earls of Mercia the value of Brailes was £17.10.6d.
1066 to the Dissolution 1536-1539
In the Domesday Book Brailes belonged to the King, with a value of £55.0.0d and 20 semes (cartloads) of salt. In area, 46 Hides; arable 60, ploughs, 6 in demesne, meadow 100 acres, a wood 3 by 2 miles; one Mill, value 10s. The woodlands probably belonged to Tanworth, which formed part of this parish. The population was made up of 100 villeines, 30 labourers, 12 bondsmen, 3 bondswomen; 142 families; in all 657.
In the first quarter of the 12th century the Church of St. George was given to the Canons of Kenilworth by Roger, Earl of Warwick. We do not know when the original church was built, but progressive prosperity would be indicated by enrichment and addition. It has been said that the George Inn was built at first for the accommodation of the men who were engaged in building the Church.
In 1240, (Henry III) Brailes held a weekly market on Mondays, and a fair for three days beginning on the Eve of St. George, was granted.
During the reign of Edward I (1274-1307) there was a park of 30 acres. Adam Underwood held, then, 1 yard of land, at the rental of 7 bushels of oats and 1 hen. From St. Michael to Lammas he was to work every other day, except Saturday, for his lord. He was to have as much grass as he could carry with his scythe; after hay harvest to have with his fellows the very best sheep but one, or to receive sixteen pence, with the best cheese but one, or to receive six pence. From Lammas to Michaelmas he was to work two days a week, and come with his family to the lord’s reap, with all his household, except his wife and shepherd, and mow one load of corn. He should carry 2½ loads of corn, 7 cartloads of stones, for three days; should plough thrice a year, make 3 quarters of malt, gather nuts for 3 days, pay one penny for every hog a year old, halfpenny for each under a year, should give 12 marks to his lord at Michaelmas; not marry his daughter nor make a priest of his son without the lord’s consent.
Nicholas de Segrave held, at this time, 8 yards of land by service of a knight’s fee. Theobald de Neville and Robert de Hastang, 8 yards, by the gift of a pair of gilt spurs; Peter de Montfort 16 yards, by the quarter of a knight’s fee. The Master of Wroxall possessed 1 yard; the Canons of Kenilworth 4 yards of Church Glebe.
During the reign of Edward II (1307-1327) the Manor was rated at £93.5.4d. The Manor passed to the Crown in this reign, and it was let on lease to different persons until the reign of Henry VIII.
There was a packhorse road (now marked as a field-path) which was used by the wool-merchants between Shutford and Chipping Campden; passing through Brailes and over the shoulder of Brailes Hill, going down through the Milking-Hollow, and continuing over the field to Barcheston.
The weekly market was held on various sites – the sheep market was in what is now known as School Lane, and a Bull Ring was in Lower Brailes next to the present-day forge. (From the Lay Subsidy Roll of Edward II in 1332)
Brayles £9.0.4d., Chelmscot 17/-d., Winderton £1.11.2½d., (of which John ate Welle had to pay 1/7¾ d., and Wm. Le Rueusone 4/4d.
There is still a member of the Reason (le Reuesone) family in Brailes today.
At the time of the Norman Conquest, in 1066, Brailes was by far, the second most important parish in the whole of the County of Warwickshire. Warwick, the County town, stood first. The third and fourth parishes, in order of importance, were Tysoe and Long Compton, each being assessed at £30.0.0d. By comparison:- Stratford-upon-Avon stood at £25.0.0d, Coventry £6.0.0d., Etendone (now Ethington Park) £20.0.0d, Tredington (including Shipston, Darlingscote, Armscot, Newbold andTalton) £12.0.0d only. Honington £10.0.0d.
At the same time Leamington stood at £4.0.0d, Rugby £2.0.0d, and Birmingham £1.0.0d.
The population of Brailes was: in 1665, 764; in 1730, 1312; in 1881, 1131; in 1944, 825; in 1951, 816.
The Dissolution to 1900
During this period, while Queen Elizabeth I visited Compton Wynyates, plots were being hatched at Broughton Castle; tapestries were being woven at Barcheston, and the Battle of Edge Hill fought all within ten miles of Brailes. Brailes itself just went on farming, weaving, holding markets, being self-contained and getting on with the daily tasks, according to the seasons.
During the reign of Elizabeth I “much food came to Bristol and the Western towns from the granary of central England, the open fields of the ‘Feldon’”.m While increased demands for sheep and cattle caused enclosures, we have not bee able to unearth definite information in regard to Brailes.
In 1539, Henry VIII sold the Manor of Brailes to Thomas Wymbush, who sold it Circa 1547 to the Sheldon family in whose possession it remained until the estate was sold in 1920, nineteen years after the death of Henry James Sheldon, born 1823, the last of the Brailes line of the family. Brailes House was built circa 1830; before that a much older farmhouse stood on the site. In 1920, when Mr. Flick bought the house and grounds, he pulled down the ‘Nursery Wing’ of twelve bedrooms, possibly built by E.W.C. Sheldon and his wife, Marcella, whose three children were Amanda, b. 1827, Edward Ralph Charles, b. 1828 and Isabella, b. 1832.
It is said that during the plague a company of scholars came from Oxford University to sojourn in Brailes. College Green is the reminder of their visit.
We know of Winderton people being “presented” at Warwick Quarter Sessions in 1683 ‘for not coming to Church to hear Divine Service.’
Sebastian Wilkes of Winderton bought Grove End Farm from his cousin in 1810.
The Village Pound and the adjacent Toll House in Lower Brailes have been replaced by the neat brick house of Mr.Frank Miller, while the gates on the Salt Way to Winderton have gone, and half Lower Brailes Park has been fenced off in the last 20 years, but the grand old tree in which generations of Brailes children have played still flourishes.
1684 Warwick Quarter Sessions – Michaelmas 1684
‘The Constable of Brayles presents a Meeting House there, called the Quakers’ Meeting House’
Brailes is one of the few places in England where Mass has been said every Sunday since before the Reformation.
Chelmscote
This was spelt Chelmundescota in 1190, and is derived from Ceolmund’s cot, or the House of Ceolmund. Like Brailes, it belonged to the Earls of Warwick, and was held, under them, by Roger de Crafte, John Mace and Henry Huband, during the reign of henry III (1216-1273): John See in the reign of Henry IV (1399-1413): Baldwin Beteler in the reign of Henry VI (1422-1471) also Eustace de Greneril. In the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547) Henry Grenefield depopulated 3 messuages, 1 cottage, and enclosed 120 acres. The Guild of the Trinity and St. George at Warwick owned 60 acres, and the Chantry priest at Chelmscote 50 acres.
In 1332 a Chantry was founded by Thomas de Padmington of Brailes. By agreement between the said Thomas and the Vicar of Brailes and the Prior of Kenilworth, the inhabitants of Chelmscote were to receive the sacraments at the parish Church of Brailes, and attend the church at great festivals and on Good Friday, St. George’s Day, All Saints’ Day, and on the day of the dedication of the Parish Church. In 1349 the said Thomas gave 4 cottages, and 4 yards of land at Over Brailes, to provide two priests to perform daily service at the Chantry. Afterwards two more priests were added. Two of them were to live at Chelmscote, to celebrate the Holy Communion daily and say Matins and Evensong; two to live at Brailes and assist the Vicar.
1547
Covenant between Wiliam Sheldon, of Weston, Co. Warwick, Esq., of the one part and William Walter, of Wootton Underwood, Co. Bucks., and Isabella his wife, and Edward Greville, son and heir of Edward Greville, Esq., late of the same, whereby the said last-named parties, in consideration of £66.13.4d, agree to let on lease to the said W. Sheldon, the Manor Chelmscote, with the Chantry lands there and in Brailes, on determination of a lease to William Willington, of Barchestone, Esq., at a yearly rent of £20. For the Manor, and two peppercorns for the Chantry lands of demanded.
Dated 14 Nov. 1. Edw. VI (1547) Signed and Sealed.
1557
Deed of Sale by Thomas Dutton of Sherborne, Co. Glouc., and William Cole of Kemerton, to William Sheldon, of a messuage in Chemescote al. Chelmescote in Brailes, Co. War.
Dated 7 Sept. 4 5 Philip and Mary
During the reign of Charles I, it was sold to the Shuckburghs of Shuckborough. Passing through the Somerfords of Brill, Bucks. It was bought by Thomas Middleton of Tysoe about 1690.
While the Willingtons of Barcheston were in occupation they converted four farmsteads into cottages and laid down 200 acres to grass.
A pleasure fair was, at one time, held on Easter Tuesday. In 1838 the Liberty of Chelmscote was in occupation of a Thomas Wilkes with 117 acres.
In the house at Upper Chelmscote is still to be seen the 13th Century cellar and dairy. The front part of the house was added in brick in 1688. A branch of the Spencer family lived there from 1810 to 1934. The late Revd. Noel Bearder was of the opinion that the ancient Chantry formed part of the original building. Lower Chelmscote is built of stone in the form of an H, and is believed to have been built about the time of Henry IV or V, with a Stonesfield Stone Tile roof. Circa 1700 it was referred to as Lower Chelmscote Manor.
Agdon Farmhouse, on the opposite side of the road, and equidistant from the Chelmscotes, was built after 1834. A member of the Spencer family farmed the Agdon land before that date from Winderton, living in one of the old farmhouses there. The spencer family continues to live and farm at Agdon.
Traitors Ford & Gallows Hill
The stream which fed “Brails” Mill over the centuries rises just below Gallows Hill Farm, gathering from springs as it flows towards the site of the Mill which lies almost on the edge of the Parish boundary, a short distance to the West of Traitor’s Ford. There are still to be seen the remains of a house; the contour of the stream gives evidence of the old mill-race. As late as 1763 the road from Chipping Norton crossed the stream at the Mill.
Over Traitor’s Ford, on the left hand side, cottages stood, and the various trees and plants growing there give evidence of what were their gardens. On the opposite side of the road the remains of old lime-kilns are still seen; they were in use when Limestone was quarried there.
Why Traitor’s Ford? We do not know. Another version was Trader’s Ford.
The site of the Gallows at Gallow’s Hill is not known. One of the last hangings in England for sheep-stealing took place there; the gallows was used as late as August 15th 1834.
The gallows was also used, they say, when escaping soldiers from the Battle of Edgehill were caught at Traitor’s Ford.
A Comment on Passing Through Brailes a Second Time
“In recent years its twin villages have been described as an example of mediaeval ribbon development, though the great Church of St. George would suggest the contrary. It does not look like a church built to serve a struggling settlement on the verges of an ancient road. Rather does it seem the cathedral of a once thriving city, and something of that nature may well be the case. Brailes, like so many places on the Cotswold fringe, has declined in importance and perhaps gained in charm as a result.”
THE FORGE, LOWER BRAILES
THE OLD FORGE, UPPER BRAILES
Brailes Today
From Green End Farm at the foot of Gallows Hill to a row of old brick cottages at the top of Fant Hill, with its slight bends and curves, runs for a mile and a quarter through Brailes, the main road. The four focal points of the village are the Lower Green and the Park, the Vicarage Green with the War Memorial, College Green and the Fountain, which are linked intermittently, along the roadside by houses and cottages, from old stone and thatch to Victorian brick and slate with stretches of fields and gardens all about.
THE LOWER GREEN: HIGH STREET
The old houses on the Lower Green form an irregular arc, and contrast with two modern brick homes built on the site of old buildings; the newest Council houses in the Park are built in a curve; the old stone cottages nearby seem like Topsy “to have growed”.
At the lower end of the Vicarage Green, the Institute which is the present centre of Village activities, lies just below the Vicarage wall, opening onto Friar’s Lane, with its old row of brick cottages and leading to the Old Boys School, Carry Hay and the Catholic Chapel.
In front of the George Inn the road is wide, with the houses opposite set well back from the pavement, as are those on the same side of the road as the George. The road bends and narrows past the gates of Brailes House, sloping down to the Bridge. Round a slight curve the road rises with fields on either side until, on the left, the brick of the Garage and the row of Council houses in Sutton Lane make the continuation of the village. The road continues to rise, past a sprinkle of houses on the left. Grove End Lane branches off just before Mint Row, with its old stone and thatch lying obliquely from the road, and looking over to Springfield House and St. Ronan’s Lea, once known as the “Doctor’s Lodging”.
Above Mint Row another cluster of houses forms the background to College Green, which fronts on to the Old Forge, round Sal Crack’s Hill, with Widdows Row [sic] in Upper Brailes proper. The road runs straight and wide to the Fountain with the Gate Inn central to a stretch of houses on the right, allotments and fields breaking up the line of building. Farm houses, cottages and orchards are spaced on the left, broken by Leather Lane, (now Holly Walk) and Gillett’s Lane leading up to Brailes Hill. Houses cluster round the Fountain where Six Bells Lane turns off to the right with old houses and new Council houses blending, while the main road goes over the rise of Fant Hill with the last cottages of Over Brailes.
WINDERTON
Winderton is an ancient hamlet of twenty houses, lying on the South slope of high ground just over a mile to the North-East of Brailes. At
Least five of the houses are complete survivals from Tudor times, others have been altered or rebuilt. The present Winderton House was built about one hundred years ago; two brick bungalows have been added to the landscape in the last thirty years, on leasehold ground, and the entire hamlet is owned by the Marquis of Northampton save for five freeholds, which are owned by:-
William Maycock, Stone House and Orchard in the Close
John Walton, Qynton House. Old stone farmhouse modernised, and added to, with farm buildings and land
Mrs J. B. Lane, Old Stone and Thatched House with garden, standing in the centre of the hamlet, just off Salt Way Lane.
Small stone cottage, adjoining Qynton House, belonging to the estate of the late Miss F. A. Spencer
Two stone cottages, with brick additions, next to the Churchyard, also belonging to the estate of the late Miss F.A. Spencer.
One of the old thatched houses has a stone filled doorway of Norman character, an elm-panelled room, all mullioned windows. Another house, also thatched, has a beautiful Tudor fireplace. This was the farmhouse in which the Spencers who farmed Agdon lived, until Agdon Farmhouse was built, over one hundred years ago, and may have been the original Winderton Manor.
In the reign of Edward I Winderton was held by Roger de Clifford; part was afterwards given by the Cliffords to the Canons of Haugmond in Shropshire. The other part came to the Le Spencers, from them to Sir Ralf Boteler, passing to the Throgmortons, thence to the Sheldons, and from them to the Marquis of Northampton.
The Church of S.S. Peter and Paul was built at the East end of the Clift by the Reverend Canon Thoyt in 1879. From the porch most of the Parish of Brailes is visible, the sweep of the land down from the Ridgeway, across the wide valley where the houses and Church of Brailes are clustered, up to the mass of Brailes Hill. Beyond Brailes the valley continues to Sutton, rising slowly to Whichford Wood, to the east of which the Salt Way runs over Traitors Ford, and up steeply to rejoin the Ridgeway.
EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR OF S.S. PETER & PAUL’S CHURCH
Over the crest of the high ground, less than a mile away, to the North-east of Winderton, Compton Wyniates [sic] lies on the edge of the Red Horse Vale, with the Feldon of Warwickshire stretching for miles.
The contours of the upper slopes of Winderton facing South-west suggest some form of prehistoric settlement.
With no inn, no shop, just a wall pillar-box in position during the reign of Victoria Regina, a telephone kiosk which was put up two years ago, the fifty or so inhabitants manage in much the same way as the preceding generations. Until some three years ago most of the men worked on the land farmed for the Marquis of Northampton, with large allotments for growing their own supply of vegetables, as well as barley, etc., for the pig which was killed into the house each winter.
Three generations ago Mrs. Ann Reason made and sold sweets to the children here.
Of modern improvements, electricity was first switched on on December 1, 1950, and a private water supply was installed by the Marquis of Northampton in 1947. There is also a bus to Banbury and back passing through Winderton on Thursdays.
In the 1890s Winderton had one of the first Lawn Tennis Clubs in England, and members used to arrive in gigs and dog-carts. The site of the Club is still evident in Ewe House Court. The court was last in use in 1927-1929, when the late K.W. Lane had it relaid by A. Rymell of Brailes.
A Sunday school for the Winderton children was held in the room above Underhill House Kitchen by Miss F.A. Spencer from about 1890 to early 1900s.
Winderton had a series of very successful Flower Shows in the 1930s. These were instigated by Fred Hitchman (now of Cherington) when he started work on the land.
FLOWER SHOW
Underhill House was rebuilt after 1834 for John Spencer. The present kitchen wing stands where a roadway ran through into the farmyard.
The sites of four houses (two in living memory) have been noted. There is documentary evidence of “a little house in the Cherry Orchard, belonging to one Walter Perry” in 1734.
An old brick fish pond stood below ‘Happy Land’; the Henbrook flowed through it. ‘Happy Land’ was lived in by Thomas Clifton in the 1880s. It is now a pile of stones in a vegetable garden.
Up to and after 1834 the Salt Way continued over the cross road, straight up the lane where the present Blacksmith’s shop stands, straight through Old Bank and Agdon Big Meadows to join the old road to Shipston West of Compton Wynyates.
EXTRACTS FROM VARIOUS DOCUMENTS
1557
Inspeximus by Philip and Mary, King and Queen of England, of the counterpart of a lease by Thomas, Abbot, and the Convent of Haughmond to John West, of a messuage and two virgates of land in Wynterton (Winderton in Brailes) Co. Warwk., for a term of 61 years at a yearly rent of 16s8d.
Dated 12 Feb.3 and 4 Ph. And Mary (1557)
Fragment of great seal
1572
Lease for 30 years,by John Bysschop, sen., of Brailes, yeoman, to Sir Henry Compton, lord of Compton, of the tithes of corn and grain of Wynderton: rent £10.
Dated 20 Oct. 14 Eliz. (1572)
1573
Proceedings of Court Baron of Francis Alford, esq., as in right of Agnes his wife, of Winderton Manor held 8 Oct. 15 Eliz. (1573)
1587
Deed of Sale by Paul Tracey, of Stanway, Co. Glouc., esq., and Nathaniel Tracey, his brother, to Francis Throckmerton, of Ulnall, Co. Warw., and Judith, his wife, of the Manor of Wynterton, and other lands, viz., Bery Farm etc. in Wynterton.
Dated 27 Nov. 30 Eliz. (1587)
1590
Deed of Sale for £140, by Francis Throckmerton, of Wynterton, esq., to Francis Perte, of Standway, of a dwelling house, etc., with Monkes Close, and other pastures in Wynterton sometime belonging to Paul Tracey.
Dated 10 May 32 Eliz. (1590)
1610
Licence from the Crown to Francis Throckmorton, esq., to alienate to Jake Throckmorton, his son and heir apparent, the Manor of Wynderton, Le Little Lodge, with free warren, a messuage called Swarbeck Oldhouse, pasture called Le Moyers, etc.
Dated 1 April, 8 James I
Great Seal, Broken. (1610)
(Le Moyers may be ’Mirey Close’, where remains of a cottage were unearthed some fifty years ago.)
(Hall Meadow Farm was known before the 1800s as Bery Fields.)
1683
Warwick Quarter Sessions. Easter 1683
Eliz. Jakeman, Anne Wilkes, widow, and Anne, wife of Thos. Wilkes of Winderton, presented for not coming to Church to hear Divine Service for three Sundays, and Thos. Wilkes, of the same, for one Sunday. Fines made by all except Jakeman at Trinity 1683.
Thomas Cole of Winderton, yeoman, presented for making of a ditch in the King’s highway there, whereby the same is much straitened; also for a trespass with his cattle upon a land of beans of Mr. Richard Capell at Winderton aforesaid.
Richard Wilkes the younger of Winderton presented for ploughing up the land of Mr. Richard Capell in Quare furlong at Winderton aforesaid; also for making a cartway through the common pound at Winderton, by reason whereof the pound is become useless.
1684
Warwick Quarter Sessions. Michaelmas 1684
The tithing man of the same (Winderton) presented for not keeping watch and ward in the night nor making due presentments according to the Statute.
1685
Warwick Quarter Sessions. Estreats for Trinity Sessions 1685
Fines made –
Of Wm. Swarbrick of Winderton for a trespass, 2/6d.
Richard Kings, of the same, for a nuisance, 2/6d.
Thomas Wilkes, of the same, for contempt, 2/6d.
The same Thomas, for a trespass, 2/6d
The tithing man of Winderton, for contempt, 2/6d.
—-
Long established families in Winderton are Spencers, Hydes, Hitchmans and Durhams. Ushers, Reasons, Cliftons have gone.
Neals and Taylors are still in the Parish; Lanes and Waltons, both Warwickshire families, are still in their first fifty years of residence in the hamlet.
SALT WAY HOUSE
NB The Winderton churchyard wall was made with Stone brought from Mr. Bird’s Cottage in Bird’s Lane Epwell in 1870.
Field Names Of Brailes
KEY:
Brailes in 1763
(A section of a map on a scale of four chains to one inch). The property of William Sheldon, Esq. surveyed by Richard Overton in 1763.
This map gives a very good idea of Lower TOWN BRAILS s it was in 1763, a compact and pleasant small country town with its hedged fields and gardens bordered by the unenclosed open grounds. Our main road follows closely the line of that which existed then. Another, from the south side of the Green, passed behind the George Inn and came out by a free cottage on to what may have been a small common which extended from the George to the Stone Bridge. School Lane now stands on the path which ran parallel to the brook.
Two interesting finds on this map are “Tanhouse” Close, which may indicate a lost industry, and a field called Baccus Hay on the south side of the Green.
A Hall was immediately West of the Churchyard; Mirey Close, south-east of the Green, also had a Hall, but these were people, not houses.
Places of Worship
The Church of St. George
The Church of St. George is called “The Cathedral of the Feldon” (the South part of Warwickshire) and this title is worthily bestowed.
St George’s Church: Tower
The Church consists of chancel, nave, N. and S. aisles, tower with six bells and a clerestory. Norman foundations were uncovered during the restoration in 1879. The South aisle windows are 13th century; over the aisle windows is a very elaborately carved cornice and pierced parapet of 14th century work and rising behind this is seen the 14th century clerestory of the nave, a long range of twelve windows with a plain parapet over it.
The chancel is 14th century, and the tower, 100feet high….”tall and stately….stands an admired and familiar landmark in this remote part of Warwickshire, and its splendid peel of bells is herd miles away throughout the countryside. It is indeed a precious heritage.”
[The Restoration History 1879]
There is a fine 30ft. arch between the tower and the nave, and from this point can be seen, past the old octagonal stone font, with its massive wooden cover, the whole length of the Church (155ft) to the Altar, backed by the stone reredos which was given at the 1879 restoration.
The Font
The date of the font is fixed at C. 1330 by the trails of ball flowers. At Brailes…”the extraordinary course was adopted of filling the faces with specimens of the diversified window tracery of the day.”
[Fonts and Font-covers – by Francis Bond]
The windows contain only modern glass, but the windows are old. On the east gable of the nave is a very handsome sanctus bell cote. This is modern, but the bell is old.
Two items claim attention in the S.W. corner: one is a broken stone column, which is said to be part of the shaft of a Mediaeval Cross, most possibly from the churchyard, or perhaps from a market cross; the other is a tomb, with a recumbent figure, probably of a priest, 13th or 14th century, which has been brought into the Church within living memory. In the N.E. corner is a 15th century parish chest. The Church plate has a most unusual date – 1659. The registers begin at 1570. The oldest one, 1570 – 1653, contains Baptisms, Burials and Weddings, except for the Commonwealth period, when Births, not Baptisms were registered. Immediately after the Restoration Christenings were recorded again and Latin was used for this, instead of the English required during the Commonwealth. Three interesting extracts are shown below:
“The gret plag 1603. In it 50 did and 50 ravens flew about stepell until all the 50 was ded. A gret wonder to see it. A gret wonder indeed.”…..
1604. Finis pestilentiae….
“Memorandum that upon the 14th day of December Ao. Dei. 1634 there was a collection made and gathered in the Church, Parish and Constablerie of Brailes, for and towards the repayringe of St. Paul’s Church in London, the sum of £11.12s.5d.”
The Roman Catholic Chapel
S.s. Peter and Paul is the dedication of this interesting place of worship. The Old Rectory House situated to the east of the Church of St. George and the field known as Carryhey (derived from KYRIE) makes a complete unit with the Roman Catholic Chapel both historically and architecturally: the communicating doorways still exist.
The Rectory Farm was originally church property but at the Dissolution of the Monasteries it passed, in 1539, to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk, and after the attainder of Henry, Duke of Suffolk, it became the property of the old Brailes family of Bishop. The Bishops became extinct in the male line in 1840, but for 300 years they were the leading family in Brailes and closely connected with all the local activities. They were mainly responsible for keeping the Old Faith alive in this area. Apart from their tenacity they were highly thought of for their kindness and tact, and were on good terms with the local non-Catholics, as is evidenced by the fact that they were Patrons of the Church of St. George until 1716. This family’s fame stands high in the English Catholic history and its most illustrious son, William, born in the old house in 1554, became in 1624 the first Catholic Bishop after the Reformation – the ancient R.C. hierarchy came to an end in 1585. The members of this family who died in Brailes are buried in the chancel of St. George’s.
The building itself is Medieval in origin but unfortunately, owing to considerable alterations in the 18th century the earliest parts have been obscured.
RECTORY FARM AND EXTERIOR OF ST. PETER & ST. PAUL
Some of the features that remain are briefly:-
15th Century
A parlour with carved oak beams and a very large fireplace recess.
16th Century
The main structure and plan is of this century. Though much of this period has disappeared there remain, amongst other interior features, two partly panelled rooms, a Perpendicular style fireplace and a number of plainer fireplaces. The attics are in a ruinous state, but are very interesting, containing, as they do, two series of hiding places which were in use in the 16th and 17th centuries. As far as is known no priests or laymen were taken in this house. Mass was said in this house, in these attics, until the present ‘barn’ Chapel was opened in 1726, and the sites of the altars may still be seen. The east and west elevations are mainly of this period.
17th to 18th Century
During the late 17th and the 18th Century many alterations and “modernisations” took place. The south and north elevations were transformed with a series of sash windows, the former being refaced with brick and the latter with stone. Inside, five rooms received wooden panelling and an earlier staircase was replaced with a balustrade one about 1700. In 1726 the barn on the West side was partly rebuilt and a Chapel constructed in the upper part of simple Renaissance character with a panelled sanctuary. The large five panelled room, mentioned in the Victoria County History of Warwickshire, was stripped and the contents sold in the early 1920s. Unfortunately no photograph or detailed description has been found. The house is in a very bad state of repair, but it is hoped hat it will be possible to save and restore it.
The ancient volume in the book section of the Museum established by the Rev. Fr. W. Connick in 1948 at the Catholic Chapel, Brailes, originally belonged to the Chaplain’s Library. They had been given by members of the Bishop family of Rectory Farm, the Sheldon family of Weston Park and priests who had been Chaplains to the Bishop family in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Notable amongst the latter was Fr. John Ball, whose name appears on dozens of books. The collection includes not only a priceless first edition of the Douai Bible, but rare books, printed in Elizabethan days at the secret Catholic printing press, Stonor Park, Oxfordshire, a score of volumes on subjects sacred and profane, printed in the late sixteenth century and old eighteenth century text-books, used by the young Bishops at College.
The precious vestments belonged originally to the Sheldon, Bishop and Bedingfield families. They were sent to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Rev. Fr. Connick to be examined by the experts who confirmed their great age. There is a tradition that the oldest chasuble was embroidered by the tragic Queen, Catherine of Aragon when on a visit to the Sheldons at Weston Park. The Bishop’s crest is on another set, and the insignia of a Knight of the Garter are used on the superb cope of silver thread.
Lower Brailes Methodist Chapel
This Methodist Chapel was the Wesleyan Chapel, built on the site of the Old Mission Hall in 1885 by George Godson, and opened on October 27th, 1885, with the late Henry Godson as Trustee. The original building on this site was a Friends’ Meeting House, built in the time of George Fox, the Founder, and the enclosed land surrounding it is still the Friends’ Burial Ground.
Extracts from “Warwick Quarter Sessions, Michaelmas 1684”
The Constable of Brayles presents a Meeting House there called the Quakers’ Meeting House.
Thomas Wilkes of Winderton presented for a frequenter of conventicles and neglecting his duty several ways in his office of churchwarden.
Upper Brailes Methodist Chapel
“Brailes Society formerly conducted services in a room until 1863, when their beautiful Chapel was erected under the direction of the Rev. Henry Platt.” So reads the Hand Book of the Primitive Methodist Synod held at Swindon in 1932, the year of Methodist union. The Chapel referred to is the one situated in Upper Brailes, built by “William Pickering” at a cost of £319. The cost seems ridiculous compared with modern building expenses. The Sunday School, added later, was opened in July 1881. The first Trustees were Messrs. George Clifton, Edward Simms, Thomas Hughes, George Hudson, Joseph Bradley, John Aubrey and William Pickering. The one Minute Book which has served the Church for nearly 100 years, and still serves it, is in the possession of Mr. W.P. Manley, and is in excellent condition. The following is a resolution of the first meeting of the trustees:
“That we apply for the services of the Rev. P. Pugh for the first Sabbath services and tea meeting the following Monday and we apply for the services of Joseph Hunt, Esq., for the second Sabbath of the opening.”
Tea Meetings seem to have flourished in the early days too; and lest anyone should think such a meeting unfitting we quote Elsie Harrison, writing about the early Methodist practice of praying for each other at 5pm:
“It was a particularly Methodist communion of saints, for it was wedded to the tea-pot and the intimate circle of home. Wesley often wrote: ‘Tea, conversed, prayed.’ It was in keeping with primitive Christianity that a common meal should thus be raised to something sacramental.”
Brailes Church Bells
“These six fine bells have founded been
By men in ancient days.
No doubt when they this task performed,
They gave to God the praise.”
This is a verse from a long poem about Brailes Bells, written by Mr. Walker, who was 7 years ago, sexton. His adjective “fine” is justified, as the bells are a wonderful and ancient set.
THE TENOR : weighs more than 33cwt. And is inscribed with a stanza, attributed to St. Thomas of Canterbury: “Gaude quod pest ipsum scandisk et est honor tibi grandis in celi palacio” and two shields with an inscription dated 1877 (after the recasting).
THE FIFTH: “Ile crack no more so ring your fill, Merry George I was and will be still.”.
Re: 1671: K Rich Capell, John Okeley
THE FOURTH: “Ime not the bell I was but quite another, Ime now as right and sweet as George my brother”
1668: Rich Keene me fecit. Nathaniel Hill. William Poel: C.W.
THE THIRD: bears an English rendering of the inscription on the tenor, the Latin legend being exchanged for “Glory to God in the highest’” surmounted by a figure of the Greek St. George and the Dragon.
THE SECOND: is now the most ancient of the peal: “In multis annis resonet campana Johannis.” And bears two beautiful shields with an elegant cross, “Jesu merci, Ladi help’” encircling it.
THE TREBLE: bears on one side the Royal Arms and on the other those of Charles I when Price of Wales: “Richard Purdi made mee Anno Domini 1624”
The Tenor and the Treble were recast in 1877-79.
For many years until the war (1939 – 45) a bell was rung at noon and at eight. The origin of the curfew is said to be that a lady was lost around Whatcote and heard Brailes clock strike 8. This gave her great relief and she left money for a curfew to be rung.
THE CARILLON: each day tunes are played on the large revolving barrel of the carillon, at 4, 6, 9 and 12 both day and night. On weekdays the tunes are “Lux Benigna”, “St Agnes”, “Eventide” and “Wareham” and on Sunday “St David” is played all day.
The carillon needs winding once and a quarter every day and the clock once a day. There are 70 steps to the winding chamber. The carillon is one of the oldest and most powerful in this part of the country. In the stillness of the night it can be heard more than three miles distant. It is said that the rather unusual hour of 4 was chosen as an “alarum” for the farming community when work began at 5 o’clock in the morning.
Unusual Memorials
In common with many other old villages, Brailes has its share of unusual memorials, some of the most interesting of which are copied below:
“In ever loving memory of Fun Rose Baldwin…Also her beloved husband James Henry Baldwin….1951 in his 100th year”
An unusual name and a rare age on the same stone in Brailes churchyard.
“In loving memory of Mister Maycock….1938”
An uncommon Christian name in Winderton churchyard.
“Pray for the soul of the Revd. John Austin, many Years Pastor to the Catholics of BRAILES & Neighbourhood, he died 27th Aug. 1809, Aged 68. R.I.P.”
A plaque affixed to the outside of the East end of St. George’s Church.
“R.D. Epilaphium. Good Reader if thou hast a teare, Thou canst not choose but spend it heare, If for Religion, learning, love, Most like that of the Turtle Dove, If Patience beyond Compare, Wit modesty, what else is rare, Thous seeke, comprised all in One, Th’are underneath this Marble Stone.”
“Though dead hee bee yet lives his fame. Like Rose in June so smells his name. Rejoyce wee at his Change not faint. Death kild a man but made a saint”
Anno Dni 1639
“To the Glory of God and loving memory of thirty seven dear children who died in this Parish of Diptheria A.D. 1876-7. This window is dedicated by their teachers and friends”
Tablet beneath the “Children’s Window” in the S.W. corner of Brailes Church.
“In loving memory of Charles Mumford….Also of Harriet, Charlotte wife of the above….1945 Aged 100 years”
A very rare age in Brailes churchyard – marked in letters of gold
Brailes Charities
Brailes is rich in charities from the past. Among others are Willington’s Dole 1555, and Cooper’s 1678, from which the income from £100 is given once in 2 years for “coats for the poorest men in Brailes”, and the interest on £50 is for beef at Christmas. In 1684 this money bought Poor’s Close, now the Brailes allotments, and the rents are used as originally directed.
Prestidge’s Charity, 1732, was to the value of £500, invested in land, the income to be given to the poor.
Baldwin’s 1864, has £100 invested, the income to keep the Baldwin tomb in good repair, and to be given to poor widows.
The most substantial is Badger’s, from which the income from £2,500 stocks is applied, two-fifths to the Church, of which £5, is for Winderton, and three-fifths (approximately £53) to the poor.
In 1704 Mr. Francis Capell bequeathed to fifteen poor Protestant widows 12d. apiece yearly. He also gave to two widows two gowns of 10s. each.
Upon the enclosure of the common field lands of the parish in 1786, four acres of land was awarded to the Minister, churchwardens and overseers of the poor, for fuel, to the poor of Upper Brailes in lieu of their right to cut furze, and also four acres were awarded for the poor of Lower Brailes for the same purpose.
It is interesting to read that the coats mentioned in Cooper’s Charity were to be “of cloth, of about 8/-d. a yard, to contain two and a half yards.”
Brailes Schools
The following is an extract from a “report Concerning Charities”, 1828, the property of H. Green, Esq.,, Grove End, Brailes.
“There is an ancient free School at Brailes, the origin of which we have not been able to ascertain. The first endowment we have met with relating to it is contained in letters patent of Queen Elizabeth, dated 27 October, in the 23rd year of her reign, whereby, among other things, the Rectory of Brailes was granted in fee-farm to Edmund Downing and Peter Ashton, paying for the same as annual rent of £11.18s.4d, and a further annual sum of £8.1s8d., for the salary or stipend of the schoolmaster of Brailes. (This statement bears out the earlier undated one we have found which states that the Brailes School was maintained by money from the Ancient Guild.)
Various further endowments were made, until in 1821 the charity was worth £64.8s2d. In 1825…the schoolmaster’s salary, £20; for stationery, slates, etc., 10s7d.; receipt stamps 1s.6d.; some other small occasional charges about the school, amounting to a few shillings.”…”All the male children of the Parishioners of Brailes who choose to attend, are admitted into the school and are taught grates, but they provide their own Bibles, Testaments and Prayer Books.”
The school was administered from 1820-1862 by the Feoffee Trust, then it was taken over by the Church. Another school was built for girls and infants, and the old school (rebuilt in 1819) was kept for boys until about 1920.
From 1820-1952 the Roman Catholic children were educated in their own school, St. Margaret’s, in the village, but when their numbers were down to less than ten it was decided to close the school. At present with a child population of about 100, all three buildings are in use again. The Girls’ School, shown here (photograph in Scrap Book), is the main building, and the “heart” of the school, while the two junior classes occupy the old Boys’ School and St. Margaret’s.
During the years, various head teachers have left their mark upon the village. Miss Lawrence paid great attention to May Day. A May Queen was elected each year, and a Maypole erected in the school play-ground, and the girls were taught how to plait and unplait the ribbons.
Numerous scholarships have been won from Brailes School entitling boys and girls to enter a Grammar School, and in recent years many children have qualified to enter for the South Warwickshire Sports Association events.
The school has now Controlled status.
GIRLS SCHOOL STAFF AND PUPILS 1908
We have found that traditional games include:-
We have found that traditional games include:-
“Poor Sally is a-weeping”
“In and out the Windows”
“The Farmer is in his Den”
The Wind blows high.”
There have been many private schools during the years, and it is interesting to note that one was held by Mrs. Clay at the house called Between Towns, that is, between Upper and Lower Brailes, which is again a school run by Mr. and Mrs. Cross.
In the late 1920’s and early ‘30s, the Rev. Noel Bearder, having five children of his own, ran a small school at the Vicarage, with Miss Hilda Wakeham as governess.
Mr. H. Mathews owns the original of this prospectus. It is about 90 years old. On the reverse side of the card is written:
“Terms: 16 guineas per annum.”
EDUCATION
BRAILES GRAMMAR SCHOOL
WARWICKSHIRE.
At the above school, young gentlemen, are expeditiously advanced through the usual branches of scholastic study; comprehending Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Geometry, Geography, Land-surveying, English grammar, Poetry and History. And every attention paid to their Religious and intellectual improvement.
J. H. Long, Schoolmaster
Stationery, School books, etc., on reasonable terms.
M. B. Land – surveyor.
Then & Now: The Library
One of the great changes that older people notice is the present supply of books, as can be gathered from the Mother’s Meeting. Books were passed around from this gathering and went into many homes where the children who wanted to read were glad to get hold of them. Then a library was started in the Village Institute by Mrs Garrard, the Vicar’s wife, and Mrs Findlay, the Doctor’s wife. The subscription was 1d a year and the library was open from 6-6:30 on Monday Evenings. When the institute was burnt down in 1926 the books were saved.
The next stage was the County Library which was first managed by the teachers at the school and then by Mrs Horton. Boxes of books were sent from Warwick and were changed every three months. This arrangement served for children, who are still lent books at school in this way, and for adults until 1953. And now? The County Mobile Library visits Brailes every Monday evening and stops at Upper, Middle and Lower Brailes, and visits Winderton every other Wednesday and calls at the Chelmscote farms also. What great changes!
The next stage was the County Library which was first managed by the teachers at the school and then by Mrs Horton. Boxes of books were sent from Warwick and were changed every three months. This arrangement served for children, who are still lent books at school in this way, and for adults until 1953. And now? The County Mobile Library visits Brailes every Monday evening and stops at Upper, Middle and Lower Brailes, and visits Winderton every other Wednesday and calls at the Chelmscote farms also. What great changes!
Talking of Books
Here is the title – page of an old book belonging to Miss A. Matthews:-
William Rand. His Book Living at Upper Brailes, Warwickshire 1764
The Farrier’s Guide, By Doctor Dyer
and here are some of the recipes.
“For a Blow in the Eye”
Take Burned Alum and Honey, Mix’d together and culere With a little Boldalnack Put a little in the Eye With a Fether.
“For a Prick in the Foot”
Take Spirits of Turpentine one ounce, Spirits of Wine half an ounce Culer it with Alkin root, Then put on a plaster of fresh Tar.
“For the Cholick”
Take Spirits of Turpentine three or four ounces and culor it with Alkin root.
“For a Cold”
Take two ounces of Diapenla, one ounce of Liqurich powder, mix them together an give it in a quart of warm Ale.
Then & Now: Industries
Farming
As in all country areas farming has, and still does form an important part in the life of the community. Mixed farming is general in Brailes with a high percentage of the land arable.
Farm names: Fanthill, Manor Farm, (late Brickyard) Rectory, Glebe, Tushbrook, Aylesmore, Upper and Lower Chelmscote (villages at both originally), Home Farm, Drybank, Brailes Hill, Green End, Grove End, Coombe Slade, Hall Meadow, Hill Barn, Gallows Hill, Hasty Leys, Springfield, New Barn, New House, Aichell.
Blacksmiths
In 1888 E. Wiggins came to Brailes to manage the blacksmiths shop for Mrs. Pratt. This forge was in the cottage and barn opposite Century Cottage. He then started the forge near the Fountain in Upper Brailes. This is now in the hands of John Clemens, whose father, George, worked from his youth with Ted Wiggins. George Clemons carried on when Ted Wiggins retired while John was away with the Yeomanry during 1939-45.
Another forge stood on the site of the St. Ronan’s Lea Lodge. In the 1800’s it was run by a man called Morris.
Humphrey Webb was the blacksmith at the old forge. His father worked at Gillets’ Foundry, in Upper Brailes.
A. Cummings took over the Lower Brailes forge from Mr. Morley; his son Douglas has extended the family activities since the passing of the farm horse, and now caters for the tractor and other modern far machinery.
Carpenter / Undertaker
Raymond Locke is now the Brailes carpenter. He succeeded R. Hemmings.
Wheelwrights
Richard and Thomas Davis were the wheelwrights at Lower Brailes, their premises were what is now known as ‘The Glen”. Thomas is remembered for a fight which he had with Mr. Winchester, the schoolmaster, who was a tall man, while both Richard and Thomas were “very short men.”
Lollipops
Sal Crack made and sold Lollipops in Mint Row where she lived. Mint Row is sometimes called Lollipop Row and the road just about Mint Row is known as Sal Crack’s Hill.
Stone Hauling & Breaking
This was done by W. Burrows with Richard Hawtin; also a roadmender.
Weaver
Mrs Spencer’s grandfather, Mr. Clay, wove plush in Holly Walk, then Leather Lane. In the house where Mrs. Righton senior lives at the Lower Brailes Green, another weaver worked. William Austin was also a plush weaver. The plush was taken to Shutford for disposal. (The Shutford Plush Mill closed down about 1950 for lack of weavers.)
Mrs. Sia Hawtin’s mother wove linen in her house in Mint Row.
Tailors
Thomas Walker (Taylor Tom) made the coats which were paid for by Cooper’s Charity. His workroom was just by the Boys’ School, and sixty-five years ago the schoolboys used to stand and watch him sitting crosslegged on his table, stitching away. Another tailor was Mr.Charles Spicer. George Field, known as Wedgy, tailored in Brailes about 70 years ago. Hesse Durham, from Winderton, used to go to Wedgy when he needed a new suit of clothes.
Wedgy Field had an old grey pony which dragged one leg, but it managed to take Wedgy and his crony as far as Warwick on occasions. Wedgy and his crony Attin, who had a cork leg were killing a pig, which they intended to scald. The occasion was festive as pig killing used to be. There was some argument as to whether the water was hot enough to go on with the scalding. A bet of a gallon beer was made. Attin lifted his cork leg and put it into the bucket and declared the water not hot enough, and won the gallon of beer, with helpers still arguing “too hot” and “too cold.”
Shoemakers
In the last half of the 1800’s a shoemaker called Harris, nicknamed Jalopy, lived in the house now called Century Cottage. He wore a little round cap and a black apron, and children were taken by their mothers to be measured for their shoes which Jalopy made. (In those days children only had one pair of shoes.) Jalop was a fine workman but took drinking holidays when he would alternate between his house and “The George”. His song was “All round my hat, where I wear my liver and fat.”
Licensed Hawker
John Rymell made and sold Brailes Rock outside the field where the Tysoe Taypot Club held its feast on Whit-Tuesday. He would say to the children, “What is it for you, me little dears? That there penny will burn your hand if you hold it much longer.”
John Rymell’s daughter married Thomas Walker, and when she was widowed she used to go round the Parish with a grey horse and trap selling brooms and brushes, pots and pans.
Water Diviner
Jack Mumford of Lower Brailes with his Hazeer Rod, located an ancient stone conduit several feet below ground at Winderton.
Midwives
There were three village Midwives. Harriet Mumford, who was still in practice when over 80 years old, “Never lost a baby or a mother,” she lived to celebrate her 100th birthday.
Mrs Padbury who was in practice until 1914, and May Randall.
Hurdle Making
The present hurdle maker for Brailes is Edward Claydon. He learned the craft from his father, who in turn learned from Thomas Stowe, who carried on his business from the house next to the Wesleyan Chapel on College Green.
B Smith also makes hurdles. Below: Mr. Claydon, Hurdlemaker
Cider Making
There has been a cider press at the carpenter’s shop at Upper Brailes for a very long time. It comes into use annually in the autumn. Below: Cider Making at Upper Brailes
Brewing
In the early 1900s Frank and Percy Taylor of Winderton established a brewery in Upper Brailes which was working for several years. In Lower Brailes a small brewery operated at the house of Mrs. C. Mumford.
Feather Dressing
Up till the 1930’s Mrs. Dicky Bryan dressed and prepared feathers. She made and remade pillows, beds and quilts.
Saddler
Brailes has been without a Saddler since the death of Mr. J. Jarvis in 1953, in his 86th year. He worked for 65 years in the shop attached to his house now known as “Saddlers Thatch”, and passers by, looking in the window could see him at work at his bench.
[refer to Postscript for photograph]
Thatching
Until March, 1955, our resident thatcher was Harry Maynard of Upper Brailes, who is now living in Great Tew. His work is easily distinguishable by the Cotswold Ridge on the roof tree. His partner Harold Kaye lives at Hook Norton.
Earlier Harry Phillips and Jim Harris did much of the thatching. A number of old thatched roofs have been replaced by tiles.
Brick Yards
One was situated opposite Manor Farm, Upper Brailes and was owned by the Wilkes family. Old Tom Wilkes who is mentioned is possibly the same Thomas Wilkes of Lower Chelmscote, 1834.
Another brickyard was behind the cottages opposite the “Piggeries” Forge at Upper Brailes. It was last worked by a deaf and dumb man called Thomas Greenhill, who was also a potter. He was looked after by Mrs. Mary Clemons who died in August, 1954 aged 86.
When the brickyard of Greenhill’s was worked out, the brickyard beyond Mr. Manley’s (on his land) was in use. Bricks made there in 1927 for use in K. W. Lane’s house at Winderton were probably the last made there.
There was another brickyard beyond Gallows Hill but we have no information as to when it was last worked.
Farming – Changes Through The Years
During the last war Irish labour was employed in the district, mainly on draining, but there is no recollection in the Parish of it being used in earlier times for such tasks as haymaking or harvesting.
The first binder was used in the Parish about 1900. It was drawn by a leading horse and a pair. Previously harvesting had been done by teams of men using fagging hooks, or by teams of women with sickles, the long stubble being left until after the first frosts of winter, when it was scythed and used for the rethatching of houses. Reaping was paid for at the rate of 15/-d. an acre, and scything was straw 12/-d. an acre. Mr. J. Neal and his man, William Burrows mowed by scythe a 16 acre field by themselves in record time. In those days work started at 5 a.m.
Before 1900 when the menfolk were haymaking or harvesting, the women of the house took over the milking, and 20 cows to be hand-milked was just part of the day’s work, which continued in the dairy when the milk was put through the hand-turned separator.
There was not a great deal of arable in the Parish; sheep and Hereford cattle did well on the pastures.
A great change came in 1939. Pastures, where we had gathered cowslips for wine, and then crops of mushrooms, were ploughed up, and our white-faced Herefords gave place to crops. Rye was grown during one of the war years in various fields with its exceptionally long straw, some of which was used for thatching.
Today we have combines and balers, milking machines and grain dryers and the sight of a team of horses ploughing is already a memory.
The Harvest Supper always had a fine boiled ham and apple pie. The following is a sample menu:
A Boiled Ham, Roast Beef, Ox Tongue
Apple Pie, Fruit Jellies, Trifle, Pastries
Cheese and Biscuits
Beer, Cider, Tea.
The old custom of the Harvest Supper still survived, very much modified by rationing during the war, but it has been revived on various farms (in spite of mechanisation) to some of its past glory. The younger generation who are farming now have their Harvest Suppers at their Young Farmers Clubs, but the tradition is still alive. Now that very many people are directly or indirectly connected with farming, many Harvest Suppers are attended by a large section of the village.
Carrier
Brailes is ten miles from Banbury and fourteen from Stratford, so in the days before motor cars, getting to market was quite an adventure. Henry Godson was one of the carriers, and R. Matthews and B.Warmington worked for him. The present bus service is run by H. Matthews, son of the man mentioned above.
Getting to market was a day’s occupation. The cart left at 9 and reached Banbury about 12.30, having called at all the villages picking up people, parcels, crates of chickens, produce and orders.
Villagers would ask the carrier to bring shoes, hats, ribbons, and so forth “on appro”, and sometimes he had a hundred parcels on board by the time he was due to return. The conveyance took “as many as it would hold” depending upon size, and when full inside, the “cratch” was let down at the back and four people could sit on that.
The return journey began about 4 and it was between 7.30 and 8 before they reached home.
Carriers ran services to connect as follows:-
Banbury – Monday, Thursday & Saturday
Shipston – Tuesday & Saturday
Stratford – Saturday
Leamington & Warwick – Thursday
(due back about midnight)
Now Brailes has bus services run by H. Mathews and the Midland Red.
Right: [the reverse side of a bus ticket?]
GEORGE GODSON
CARRIER. BRAILES. WARWICKSHIRE.
Desires to return his best thanks for those friends who have supported him during the last fifteen years, and begs to assure them that he will continue o pay his best attention to their commands, which will always be highly esteemed.
G.G. has in addition to his other conveyances, commenced running a Light Cart, which leaves Brailes every Monday and Thursday morning at eight-o’clock, and arrives at the Queens Head in Banbury at half-past nine. Returns at four and arrives Brailes five-thirty.
Potts. Printer, Banbury. October 7 1839
Laundry
Mrs. Bryan 1864 – 1949 was a famous laundress, taught her skill by her grandmother and mother. About fifty years ago she lived with her family in three cottages in the Park. The top house was the ironing room, containing the big stove which heated eight irons at once, as well as the glazing irons. In one of the other cottages the washing was done. The water was drawn from the pump outside the cottages and heated in a big copper. But that was not the beginning of the procedure, for the clothes were soaked down in a large wooden tub the night before “wash day”, and on the day itself were washed, boiled, “firsted”, “seconded”, swilled, blued and starched, in red crock pans. Everything was wrung by hand, for the large wooden mangle was only used for table linen, sheets and pillowcases which were mangled before they were ironed.
Mrs. Bryan was expert with glazing and gauffering irons. Her damask table linen was polished with a large black glass “mushroom” after the ironing, to bring up the glaze. Her daughter remembers watching her box-pleat twelve inch flounces on nainsook nightdresses. Mrs. Bryan received clothes to be laundered from many people in the village and district (several gentlemen are known to have sent their collars to her up to a few years before her death), and her fame spread to Devonshire and to Park Lane in London.
As to her prices? Her daughter remembers that a dance shirt cost 3d., collars (twice starched) 1d. and sheets 1d or 2d according to size.
Inns & Houses
Inns
Six Bells
Extract from an affidavit sworn by Joseph Wilkes of Winderton before the Justices of the Peace at Warwick on 8th June, 1736, mentions:-
“….if he would go with him to the house of Thomas Wills in Upper Brailes, an Ale House called The Six Bells….”
It has disappeared.
The George
Extract from descriptive catalogue of ancient deeds in the Public Records Office. Volume V. 1906
“A. 13440
Indenture being a grant by Simon Ryelyard, William Gardyner, masters and wardens of the Gild of St. Mary, founded and maintained in the Parish Church of Brailes, and the brethren of the same to John Pittes, clerk and schoolmaster (Ludi magistro) of Brailes, for good services done them, of £8.20d. annuity, charged upon a Hostel called le George” in Thomas Wilkes” occupation, a messuage called “Bernardes ground” in the said William Gardyner’s occupation, cottages in the occupation of henry Rounton, Robert Prescote, Robert Macayn, and Thomas Mountforth, a close and virgate of land in “Dodfold” in Symon Ryley’s occupation and four cottagesin the occupation of William Warde, Richard Machyn, John Tomkyns, and Richard Heycocks, all in Brailes; and upon a message and virgate and a half of land with meadow belonging in Weston between land of William Sheldon, gentleman; upon the mill in Epwell, in the occupation of Welliam Welford, both in Co. Oxford.
6 October, 29 Henry VIII (1537)
(At foot) Examined by me Clement Throckmorton, Surveyor.
(Also) Allowed.
Signed. Ry. Sakevyle. Th. Moyle. Wa. Mildmay”
The brewer at the George over 100 years ago was one Josiah Hibberd whose descendants still live in Brailes. About the same time the George was owned by one John Baldwin. It was then an acknowledged coaching stop. During recent alterations a fifteenth century stone fireplace was discovered behind the Victorian one which had been in the visitors’ lounge for many years. The old masonry, inglenook seats and woodwork have been retained and a fresh structure from old stone built round it.
The George Inn Fireplace
At the same time traces of painting on the ceiling beams have been cleaned and preserved. The painting probably date back to the Middle Ages, but at present their history is not known.
The Gate Inn
No legendary history about this Inn has been found yet in our searches. It has evidence of 17th Century work. The sign reads:
“This gate hangs high
And hinders none,
Refresh and pay
And travel on.”
The Cotswold Kitchen
Houses
Most of the houses in Brailes are built of stone, and today many are tiled or slated though some thatch remains. The houses are situated at odd angles to each other and o the road. Some houses were built close to the road; pavements were added at much later dates. Many houses retain old features of parts which have gone out of use.
House in Upper Brailes:
Mrs Stansbury’s house on College Green is built of old stone and has a circular bread oven.
Rosaire Cottage at the end of Friar’s Lane was formerly the kitchen of the Priory.
Lower Brailes showing east end of church
Up to about thirty years ago there were two cottages in Lower Brailes with ladder staircases.
Widows Row is said to have been built by Attwood the builder from the residue of the Church restoration. The staircases and landings are panelled from old pews.
There is a Phoenix Insurance Company’s plaque affixed to Manor Farm. There was another on the Piggeries Forge but time and weather caused it to disintegrate. Left: A pheonix plaque.
Workers’ Row (a row of stone and thatched cottages of considerable age) by the Lower Green were burnt down one Sunday morning in 1952.
Lower Brailes from the Tower
Coombe Slade is an old stone house which had a row of beagle’s kennels built on.
Grove End House was the ancient centre of the small cluster of houses and farms at Grove End. Several of these have been restored and enlarged.
The first four Council houses were erected in the Park, Lower Brailes in 1927. Now there are sixteen while the very old row of stone built cottages in Old Park is going to be demolished in the near future.
First Council House
Council houses have been built in Sutton Lane and Upper Brailes on the site of Wilkes’ Brickyard and the Rural District Council plans to develop these sites further.
Brailes Women’s Institute
Brailes W.I.
The W.I. Presidents from 1922 to the present day are:
Mrs. G. Finday, Mrs. Slater-Gibbs, Mrs. A. Shepard, Mrs. V. Wilkes, Mrs. W. E. Gilkes, Mrs. Bengough, Mrs. Anson
Secretaries:
Mrs. Slater-Gibbs, Mrs. R. Bullock, Mrs. W. Flick, Mrs. K. Lane, Mrs V. Wilkes, Miss M. Green, Miss J. Crook, Mrs. H. Bengough
Our W.I. Beginning
The first meeting to decide upon starting a Women’s Institute in Brailes was held on October 11th, 1922, at the Institute room. There were present about seventy women. Mrs. Rotherham and Miss D. M. Love explained the objects of the W.I. Various questions were asked. The motion being put to the meeting it was decided by the majority to start a W.I.
A second meeting was called for October 24th finally to settle the matter. On that day Mrs. Rotherham and Miss Aglionby explained details of the working of a W.I. Fifty women gave their names as members and the officers and committee were appointed.
M. Kathleen Gibbs
October 31st, 1922
In November 1929 the W.I. did quite well at the Annual Exhibition of Handicrafts at Warwick. In 1929 we put in a cooperative sewing exhibit at Warwick and a produce exhibit at Stratford-on-Avon.
At a committee meeting on October 5th, 1937, it was decided to plant trees to commemorate the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, one tree on Upper Brailes Green and one on Lower Brailes Green. Owing to the difficulty in procuring oak trees, a Prunus for each Green was substituted. The planting was done by Mr. H. Green in November 1938, acting for the Elizabeths of the Institute (who were to have done the planting) in very bad weather conditions. But some of the members were present at the ceremony.
To commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II the institute planted a Copper Beech tree and an Ornamental Pink Cherry tree in the Village Recreation Ground, one on either side of the gate which will lead into the Village Hall.
One memorable occasion some twenty-nine years ago, was the visit of the celebrated Sam Bennett of Ilmington and his fiddle. He played local folk tunes while the members of the W.I. footed it in the playground of the Old Boys’ School. It was a fine early summer evening, the members were out in full force, and a good time was had by all.
The W.I .Members 1955
The design on the tablecloth is the traditional Warwickshire Shepherd’s Smock pattern, and it is embroidered in white and two shades of red.
Detail on left.
GOLDEN JUBILEE 24 October 1972 (added in Postscript)
To commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II the institute planted a Copper Beech tree and an Ornamental Pink Cherry tree in the Village Recreation Ground, one on either side of the gate which will lead into the Village Hall.
The Golden Jubilee of the Women’s Institute was celebrated with a supper attended by members, their husbands and friends. Mrs. H. Thorpe conveyed the congratulations of the Warwickshire Federation, of which she is Chairman.
Two founder-members were present. Mrs. H. Green and Mrs. N.J. Bearder are cutting the cake. Mrs. B. Taylor, President, and Mrs.Thorpe look on.
Our third found-member, Mrs. W. Miller, was, through illness, unable to attend.
Fun & Games
People in the village have made and still make their own fun and games. There are records of football, cricket and darts teams; in the late twenties and early thirties the Taylor and Spencer families had enough cousins and kin to put a good hockey side in the field; the matches used to be played on Ashen Meadow.
At the moment the football team is in abeyance. The Brailes Band is flourishing and once again has good and attractive uniforms.
There was once a Choral Society which won several competitions but it “died” when the conductor was ill.
The Feldon Players were a dramatic group started in 1938. They began with sketches and songs and worked up to full scale productions of “School for Scandal”, “Ladies in Waiting” and a Pantomime. The second war put an end to the activities of the Players, but there are faint stirrings of the drama again.
In 1955 a Square Dance Club was formed and gives great enjoyment to about forty or fifty keen young people.
The Girl Guides
At present there is a Company of Girl Guides, who lend a hand at many of the village functions.
A Social Club meets regularly during the winter months in the institute for billiards, table tennis and so on. The W.I. flourishes, the Church Groups meet and work for the causes dear to their hearts, and nearly every Group has one or more Whist Drive in the Winter; and in the Summer everyone joins in at the Flower Show on the Saturday following August Bank Holiday. This is a big affair drawing exhibitors from miles around, and with the Horse Show and Gymkhana provides a full afternoon’s entertainment for all. The proceeds go towards the Village Hall Funds. Below: fun and games at the Flower Show
The British Legion was founded in 1923 by Colonel Bullock, Canon Irwin and Mr. Slater-Gibbs. Their Standard was dedicated in 1935, Standard bearers being Albert Batchelor, Brailes, Fred Hunt, Winderton and Jack Harwood, Whichford. A re-union dinner is held each year.
Strange to relate the Tysoe “Taypot” Club was very close links with Brailes. It was founded by Frank Redding’s father many years ago when he put a shilling in a teapot. This was made into a weekly affair, and subscribers grew in numbers. At first it was a Thrift Club against accidents, with a benefit of 8/-d. a week. Some seventy years ago and later, all the members of the “Taypot” Club met in Brailes on Whit-Tuesday, where they paraded with their Banner which they took with them to a Church service. Members who did not parade were fined 2/6d. which Henry Hibberd, and George Durham disputed at the meetings, pointing out that 2.6d. was too much and they could not afford it. After the Service they all marched to Fred Miller’s field, where tea was served in a tent, and a programme of sports was held.
A band was there which played for dancing. Coconut shies were outside the field, as were other stall holders and a shooting gallery. John Rymell sold rock outside the field, because it is said he would not pay to go in. During the 1914-1918 war the Oddfellows took over the Taypot Club and they still have subscribers in spite of the National Health Scheme.
May Day Revels 1906
St. George’s Fair was held in Brailes up to about 100 years ago. Tom Durham’s grandmother used to tell him stories about this Fair. In 1841 several schoolboys ere punished for playing truant and going to the Fair. John Rymell sold Brailes Rock at this Fair.
A Link with the Past being An Entry from Brailes at Honnington Carnival
Do You Remember?
Some Items Of Interest From Recent Years
~ Remember ~ Up to the 1930s the grass verges of the lanes and roads in the Parish were let annually by auction for cutting and haymaking or for grazing. This annual event was called “Letting the Lanes” – some of which were more productive than others. The money thus obtained was used to pay a man for daily bell-ringing…mid-day and curfew (see Section 9).
About 1875 it is said there had been some sharp practice over the “Letting the Lanes” which resulted in a company of village folks making an effigy, taking it through the village and burning it in the field between the Old Forge and St. Ronan’s Lea. Humphrey Webb the blacksmith was one of the company.
The following list (c. 1900) shows a year’s lettings
Frank Bryan, Grove End
William Warmington, Castle Hill
Alf Locke, Tusbrook
Alfred Lyne, Salt Way
Henry Godson, Holloway
Fred Hall, Castle Hill Lane, Winderton
~ Remember ~ Joanna and Humphrey Webb ran the first village post office. “She was a tall thin woman, with long dangling earrings.”
~ Remember ~ Do you remember when the postman walked his 15mile round, and blew a horn to announce his approach to remote houses?
~ Remember ~ A Mrs. Stanning who lived at the Forge charmed warts. She wore a bugled cape on Sundays when she taught in Sunday School, and was “very careful”.
~ Remember ~ At Squire Sheldon’s funeral the rooks collected round the Church; and Mrs. W. Miller had 6d. for singing in the choir at the service.
~ Remember ~ It is said of the last Mrs. Sheldon that when her children cried she made them collect their tears in a saucer!
~ Remember ~ Less than 100 years ago Harry Clifton was shot on the footpath to High Lane by Squire Sheldon’s gamekeeper. Apparently Harry had been out after rabbits on Brailes Hill. Ditton met him and wanted to search him. Harry lifted his stick and struck Ditton who fell to his knees. He lifted his gun and shot Harry. This was witnessed by John Holton who was in his garden in Mint Row. Ditton was taken to the lock-up by the Bridge; men got up on the roof of the lock-up to try to get in to Ditton. Feelings ran very high. “The Church was full on Sunday after the shooting.”
Two gamekeeper’s truncheons – the property of Mr. O. Warmington
~ Remember ~ The Institute, built in 1886, was burnt in the early hours of November 4th, 1926. The cause of the fire always remained a mystery. Many willing helpers rescued the billiard tables, piano, library books and cupboard, but the tables, chairs and crockery were lost in the blaze. Fortunately the fire was confined to the building and adjacent houses escaped. The Institute was soon rebuilt.
~ Remember ~ Several families in the village still remember bereavement in 1876-7 when an epidemic of diphtheria attacked the children of the village and 37 died. There is a memorial window of Christ blessing the children in the West end of St. George’s Church.
~ Remember ~ Have you ever heard of Nance Austin who used to live in a cottage up Boyce’s Yard? Legend has it that she was a witch and could turn herself into a cat and that she used to hunt on Brailes Hill. One night the keeper shot and wounded this poaching cat. Children used to make straw crosses and put them outside her door, and then watch her try to get out as no witch will go over crossed straws. Nance was married and had a child who was defective – but it was said to be bewitched. Another story was that of a man in Upper Brailes who made a silver bullet and shot her in the leg when she was in the form of a hare, and that she was laid up just after the shooting with a very bad leg.
~ Remember ~ Whenever there has been an occasion of national rejoicing the inhabitants of Brailes have had their share in the festivities, and the lofty top of Brailes Hill has been aglow with many a bonfire. In 1897, at the Diamond Jubilee there was a tea, and sports at the Cricket Field. Mrs. Horton remembers drinking beer – she was then 3 years old!
Edward VII’s Coronation is thought to have been commemorated by a “do” at Brailes Hill and is remembered for the dancing and the bonfire; George V’s Coronation is thought to have been commemorated by a “do” at Brailes House, his Jubilee is known to have been kept by a lunch for adults, tea for the children, sports and the bonfire. The children received commemoration mugs. The same programme was followed at George VI’s Coronation. In 1953 the adults had their meal in the evening and the festivities took place in Mr. Manley’s barn at Upper Brailes.
Brailes Hill from Lower Green
~ Remember ~ In the village are three iron seats commemorating the Diamond Jubilee, and three wooden seats erected at the present Queen’’s Coronation. As the village is over 1½ miles long and rises steadily from the Lower Green, these are much appreciated.
~ Remember ~ Do you remember the sad times of the wars? In both wars the villagers took their share in doing what they could to help. Parcels for men overseas were sent through village organisations at both times. In World War I the Institute became a Red Cross Convalescent Hospital, under the leadership of Mrs. Dr. Finlay and Mrs. Slater-Gibbs. The first men to come were Belgians. When the hospital was established a resident matron and cook were appointed. Springfield House was used as a house for German prisoners-of-war during the latter part of the war. The Germans went out working on the farms. One prisoner died and is buried in Brailes. In 1939-45 Brailes received its quota of evacuees, mainly from London, but, in the main, they quickly returned. The fierce raids on Coventry were seen by people from the allotments in Winderton and Brailes Hill.
~ Remember ~
This photograph of Mrs. Harriet Mumford was taken on the occasion of her hundredth birthday
~ Remember ~ It is remarkable that, remote as any village in England is from the sea, a considerable proportion of men from Brailes served in the Royal Navy.
~ Remember ~ The field over the little wooden footbridge to the N.W. of the Church is listed as Trent Holme, but it is generally called Trent’im. It has everything which makes it fascinating to children of all ages – a winding brook, shaded by willows, some of which are hollow, and others lean so much that they form a bridge to the opposite bank. There is a steep bank, dotted with hawthorn and bramble bushes, idea for picnics and hide-and-seek in summer, and sledging in Winter. Up one side of this brook, in the shade of the rookery there is a flight of time-worn stone steps of obscure origin, known locally as the Roman steps or the ninety-nine steps. “Many are the picnics and rambles I have had in this field, which has been a favourite playground for us as long as I can remember. I have a distinct recollection of over-estimating my ability when trying to jump the brook, and landing with a splash in the middle. My two daughters have also fallen in at different times, so I have come to the conclusion that this is a thing that every Brailes child has to do once in a life-time.”
~ Remember ~ Do you remember the snows of February 1947 when Matthew’s Bus was lost for some days? It started of from Brailes in a blizzard at 9p.m. with the night shift workers for the aluminium works at Banbury, and got through, but on the way back, near the Pig and Whistle, progress was blocked by a broken-down car which could not be shifted. Snow drifted so fast that crew and passengers were forced to leave the bus and get home as best they could. And it kept on snowing. Some days later, when conditions improved and a snow plough had managed to clean a lane the bus was dug out, and the engine started – “When we got moving again, we looked back in the direction of Swalcliffe. The snow was as high as the roof of the bus from hedge to hedge as far as we could see.”
This same snow storm blocked the Salt Way for days and on the way to the White House and Compton from Winderton the drifts were eight and ten feet high. The upper road to Winderton was freed by an improvised snow plough as far as Winderton Church, so that traffic could come to the hamlet with food. “The beautiful shapes of the drifts were a cold compensation for their hindrance to our comings and goings.”
~ Remember ~ Do you remember the tams of shire horses that used to pull the wagons? Or a team of three horses at plough against a Spring skyline? Today the tractor has taken their place and some of the poetry has gone out of the countryside.
~ Remember ~ This book is being compiled in 1955-56. The burial registers of the Parish have been searched and the following names are still found in the village as are found in these old records :-
1655-6 Walker, Mumford, Rimell, Wilks
1755-6 Clifton, Spencer, Wiggin,Baldwin
1855-6 Pickering, Miller, Davis, Field
No attempt has been made to trace the earliest families, but there are many tombstones bearing these names in the churchyard.
We will remember them.
Hauntings
Brailes has its stories of ghosts. Sutton Lane is the site of two of three ghosts, so it is said – for most of the information comes from A, who heard it from B, who heard it from C! However, on a night in the Autumn of 1955 an eerie noise was heard at the White Hovel in Sutton Lane, which so terrified “X” that he ran his bicycle into the bank, the lights went out, and he rushed off to Sutton in panic. This account supports the generally accepted statement that “a lady walks at the White Hovel”.
At Tommy’s Turn, in Sutton Lane, a headless man, with his head on a plate walks at midnight on the day of his death. When is the day? No one knows as yet, but as the new Council Houses are being built on the opposite side of the road from Tommy’s Turn we may know before long!
A ghost known as Lady Dadfield, is said to drive her carriage and pair on Brickyard Hill on the Banbury Road.
A nun is said to walk near the Presbytery. She is supposed to have had a baby which was taken away from her, and she died, and walks, looking for the child.
A white shape is said to haunt Salt Way lane, at the Brailes end. It was seen when Godson’s horses were being taken out up Salt Way Lane. It was also seen by Mr. H. Matthew’s grandmother when she was taking some sewing to the Hall Meadow Farm, where she arrived “white and frightened”. She thought she had seen Mr. Keyte’s white dog on the road, but he was in the house, asleep by the fire!
And Suttons Lane again. A white pillar about 10feet high appears and seems to glide down a furrow.
There are no haunted houses, as far as can be ascertained. The most that can be said is that there are some which merit the remark: “I would not like to sleep along THERE”.
Brailes Treasures
Apart from the treasures of the Churches in the village there are many beautiful and valuable treasures in the houses of W.I. members.
~ We would like to mention a deed of Indenture in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, with the wavy cut edge which would fit the other half in the possession of the other partner of the indenture.
~ A Charles I, 1626, pardon of John Deighton, complete with the royal seal for “his refusal to aid in the muste of arms, to provide either man or beast or dog towards the necessary provision” in the time of “our worthy father”.
~ An early Broadwood piano, without pedals, and one of the first upright pianos, beautifully inlaid with brass.
~ An old Jacobean oak cradle.
~ A “Breeches” Bible
~ A Constable’s Disbursement Records Book of 1742 (unfortunately not of Brailes Parish)
~ A beautifully embroidered wedding waistcoat
~ A “Ladies’ Knitting Book”, printed before 1846.
WI members of today are keen “handicrafters” producing things of beauty like their Institute tablecloth. We hope that some of their work will be listed as “Brailes Treasurers” when the next volume of the Village Scrapbook is written.
The design on the tablecloth is the traditional Warwickshire shepherd’s smock pattern, and it is embroidered in white and two shades of red.
Postscript
May 31st 1958 is a date to be remembered in Brailes, for the, after many years of hard work by a Village Hall Committee, under the Chairmanship of W. P. Manley, Esq., the completed building was opened by Dr. Flack, Chairman of the Warwickshire Rural Community Council, on the site, in the middle of the village, which had been conveyed to the Parish Council in 1952. The Hall was built to the plans of Mr. G. Pemberton, by Messrs. J. H. Osbourne of Stow-on-the-Wold. The accepted estimate was £6,797. Grants were received from the Ministry of Education of £2,000, and from the Warwickshire Education Committee of £2,325.
For the Children’s Corner in the Playing Field £35.18.9 was received from the Warwickshire Education Committee and £30 from the Playing Fields Association. The remainder of the money comes from the Village, through the Annual Flower Show and Gymkhana, bazaars, dances and other efforts. In 1957 a House-to-House collection yielded £190. At the opening there was still money to be raised: but, after that date, the activities organised for the Village Hall take place in the Village Hall.
For many years the bells of St. George’s Church [refer to Section 9] have needed a new Bell Frame. In 1958, after many years of hard wok in collecting the necessary money (£2,000) from parishoners and friends this object was achieved. The bells were rehung on a new Bell-frame (some 8feet lower than previously) fitted with crank-shafts and ball-bearings. The work was carried out by the firm of John Taylor of Loughborough, with building work by Tom Pettifer Ltd. of Hook Norton. At Evensong on August 18th 1958 the Bells & belfry were dedicated by the Assistant Bishop, the Rt. Rev. N. W. Newnham Davis and Thanksgiving was offered for the completion of the work.
~~~
In February 1959 the Girls’ School was 100 years old. A service of Thanksgiving was held at the school.
[see photos of the school in School Lane in Section 12 SCHOOLS]
~~~
Village Hall – Memorial Gift
On June 21st 1959, an electric clock, presented by Mrs. Caroline Fowler, in memory of her son, Francis Henry Fowler and those who served with him in the RAF during the last war was unveiled by Mr. Maurice Warmington, who was with Mr. Fowler in the RAF.
Amendments & Addtions
The Institute:
In its early days it housed the Men’s Club; the WI held their Meetings there fro 1922 until 1958 when they transferred to the Village Hall. The Institute is now the home of Brailes Youth Club.
As the Red Cross Convalescent Hospital for Belgian Soldiers in the 1914-1918 war it was staffed by Miss Lilian Dickens of Cherington as Commandant, Mrs. K. Slater-Gibbs as Cook, Mrs. D. Findlay was Quarter Master.
In the possession of the Cummings family is a photograph of the “Helpers Committee”. They were tom Cullen, Harry Gregory (who played the trumpet), Bill (donkey) Harris, Sia Hawkin, Jack Phillips, Dick Hemmings, Jim Webb, Tom Ivens, Dr. Findlay, the Revd. Garrard, Ernest Gander, Ted Pickering, T. Jervis, A. H. Cummings, A. G. Boyce, G. Field.
Prominent among the Helpers were Mr. & Mrs. Gander. The womenfolk did the Day Nursing duties; the Men the night staffing.
During the 2nd World War the WI used the Institute as a Jam Making Centre during the fruit season. Relays of WI members worked in teams on portable electric and primus stoves with three County Representatives; Lady Burton, Mrs. Wenham and Mrs. Thornley. The Village was allowed to keep a certain amount of the Jam (against coupons) while the rest went to Government Canteens etc.
Nance Austin
The story of Nance Austin was first told to me by the dark bloused woman in the picture of the Cider Press in 1928 and was corroborated by other local people of her generation. Her first meeting with Nance was when, as a child, she was walking up “Sal Cracks” with her Mother, and she was “Dumbstruck”. She recovered. Now, Nance lived in Upper Brailes, and was blamed for the various mishaps to cattle. She incurred the dislike of two men, father and son, one of whom made a silver bullet which was used in the shooting and wounding of a hare in the field between the Old Forge and the Doctor’s Lodging. The next day Nance Austin was….cottage in Upper Brailes in bed with a “bad” leg. Until the collecting of date for the Scrapbook no one had ever mentioned Nance as living in Boyce’s Yard.
The home and shop of Thomas Jarvis, Saddler [refer to Section 15].
During alterations to the house a George III farthing dated 1700 was found under a wooden window ledge.
A coin known as “Abbey Jettons” was dug up in the garden in 1958.
This counter has been identified by Birmingham Art Gallery as c. 1400-1500AD.
Gillets Lane, around 1910
The first cottage was burned down many years ago.
One of the ladies is believed to be Alice Bloxham, daughter of Edwin Clay who was the last weaver of plush to live and work in the furthest cottage.
Acknowledgements
Our thanks are due to:
The Marquess of Northampton
Mayor H. V. Phelps
Canon P. G. Kemp
The Rev. K. Connick
The rev D. Clarkson
Mr. J. C. Pickering
Miss J. Morley
Miss A. Mathews
Mrs O'Rywell
Mr A. T. Davis
Mr & Mrs R. Johnson
Mr R. Shorter
Mr H. Hemstock
Mr H. Green
Mr D. Thompson
Mrs C. Mumford
Mr K. E. Riley
Mr S. Taylor
Mr R. Neal
Mrs H. Neal
Mr J. Clemons
Mr J. Durham
Mr H. Mathews
Mrs A. Wilkes
Mrs Suffolk
Mr C. Lester
Mrs Crook
Mr N. Blinkhorn
Mrs Hick
Mrs Duffrey
and thanks to
Mr Cross
Mr E. Ratcliffe
Mrs A. Bryan
Mr Bengough
Mr Beachus
In addition to references quoted in the book we have consulted:
[i] Dugdale’s Warwickshire
[ii] The Victoria County History of Warwickshire
[iii] The Parishes of the Diocese of Worcester 1889
[iv] White’s Warwickshire Directory 1874
[v] Trevelyan’s Society History of England
[vi] History of the English People by F. M. Greene
[vii] History of the English People by Professor Meiklejohn
(Click on the tabs below to navigate)
Cover
Preface
THE BRAILES SCRAP-BOOK
COMPILED IN 1955 – 1956
BY MEMBERS OF THE WOMEN’S INSTITUTE
Scrapbook Committee 9/1954
Chair - Mrs Kemp
Mrs S. Miller
Mrs H. Green
Miss Mumford - Embroidered Cover
Mrs J. Crook
Mrs Lane
Mrs Horton
Mrs Spicer
Preface to Brailes WI Scrapbook 1955~56
I originally borrowed this document to read as I found that it contained a reference to my great-great-great grandfather, Jeremiah Henry Long, schoolmaster in Brailes in the 19th century.
However, once I was immersed in the history of Brailes I decided to make a copy for myself of the entire ‘Scrapbook’, the original of which is a large handwritten document contained in a specially made wooden box. It had been typed up on an old ribbon typewriter, using flimsy, foolscap size paper, making it more or less impossible to take a good photocopy and did not include any of the accompanying images.
The document contains old photographs, newspaper cuttings and postcards, most of which have deteriorated over the years, browned and are now of quite poor quality. However I have managed to reproduce most of these using both camera and I-pad to photograph, depending on which gave the better result. I have left most of the idiosyncrasies of punctuation and sprinklings of capital letters but have corrected a few errors made by the typist misreading from the original handwritten document. I have also included photographic captions and the ‘Postscript’ which do not appear in the typed version and a section on Brailes WI which does not appear in the handwritten version.
The cover on the bound original is in unbleached linen with applique and satin stitch, presumably worked by a member of the WI but not credited.
Carolyn Walker, December 2016
Contents
The three narrow lancet windows at the front of this aisle are of the early English style. The glass itself is Victorian but the small medallions of beautiful stained glass date from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries – the earliest surviving glass in St.George’s. (There is one in each of the windows of the south aisle). Also to be noted are a further series of carved faces on the corbels supporting the roof trusses.
Introduction
Introduction
NOTES ON THE COAT OF ARMS “GRANTED” TO THE PARISH OF BRAILES BY DR. G. FINDLAY. C 1920
Excutcheon:
vertish, quarterly
Dexter:
St. George victor draco moribund; Pons supertransitum
(St. George the victor, the dragon dying; The bridge overpass)
Sinister:
Anas mas peckaut, Castello supramonte, patibulum pendant
(A duck pecks, Castle above the mountain, the gallows hanging)
Brailes General Information 1955
Population: 816
Early closing: Various
Market Day: was Monday
London: 90 miles
Shipston-on-Stour: 4 miles
Banbury: 10 miles
Places of interest in neighbourhood:
Compton Wynyates, The Rollright Stones, Broughton Castle (Weds), Warwick, Stratford-on-Avon, Edgehill, Banbury, Chipping Camden
Inns:
The George 15th C, The Gate 17th C., The Cotswold Kitchen (unlicensed)
Places to visit:
St. Georges Church, Ss. Peter and Paul Chapel and Library, Castle Hill, Traitors Ford
Facilities for shopping: motoring and walking
Historical Outline
Historical Outline
Before recorded history the name of our village was derived from “old English” ‘Braegels’, which may come from ‘Baergels’, a side-form of ‘Brygels’, meaning a ‘burial-place”.
(Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, Ekwall 1940)
This naming may have been founded on the existence of a long barrow by High Wall Spinney on the top of Brailes Hill, and the ‘Giants’ Graves’ (ploughed in World War II) which were situated near to Jenny Swift’s Coppice on the North West slope of Brailes Hill.
Brailes Hill was obviously a New Stone Age site, for from Long Barrow Field, 830 feet above sea level, a wonderful panorama of the surrounding countryside is seen. Lying to the West andNorth is the ‘Red Horse Vale’, Ilmington Hill and Meon Hill, Sough and West the Cotswolds from the Five Mile Drive above Broadway to the uplands of Stow-on-the-Wold. To the South on another upland spur lie the Rollrights, with their ancient stones, and, t the East, the high borders of Oxfordshire, with the old towns of Chipping Norton and Hook Norton. The ancient tracks of the Ridgeway and the Fosse Way could be commanded with ease from Brailes Hill.
(Notes on Highwall Spinney)
Crowning Brailes Hill, to the south West of the village, lies the landmark known as Highwall Spinney. From time to time this spot has been the centre of some conjecture, due, in part, to the barrow-like structure of the ground on which the Spinney stands, together with its relationship to the surrounding land which is known locally as Long Barrow Field. The dimensions of this ridge of land (495’ long; 51’ wide; and for the greater part of its length, 7’ to 9’ high – all approximate measurements) offer little encouragement to those who regard it as a long barrow. That it was man-made, having been raised, scarped or perhaps isolated by a long-standing process of cultivation, is almost certain. The solution, if any, of this mystery, could only be disclosed by archaeological excavation.
Pre-History
The discovery at Fell Mill, on the road to Shipston, in 1955, of the remains of an Ichthyosaurus bears out the theory that any humans in the district during the Old and New Stone Ages would naturally keep to the hill-tops; the lower ground would be swamps and thick wilderness. The Neolithic “Cruthni” or painted men were driven away to the North and West by the Goidels, the first wave of the invading Celts, who arrived in Britain about 1,000 BC. They, in turn, were driven North and West by Brythons, also of Celt origin from France, between 400 and 300 BC. The Brythons may have been the constructors of the British Camp on Castle Hill, which remains today much the same with its three springs as it was in the days before recorded history.
The Brythons are the first peoples to have recorded history. Living in a border area, those on Warwickshire soil were of the Carnabii tribe, those in Oxfordshire and the West, Dobunii. The Salt Way which runs through the Eastern edge of Brailes was an established trade-route. The Brythons grew barley, and kept cattle. Dogs were used for hunting. Men and women wore woven clothes. The religion was Druidic.
Romans to 1066
Whether the people of Brailes were actually Dobunii or Carnabii is a matter for speculation and nquiry; the Romans came to Britain; Brailes in the Feldon of Warwick persued [sic] its own way, remote and uninfluenced, as far as we can gather, until about the year 600 AD, when Hwickians (Saxons) infiltrated into Warwickshire, bringing with them the Norse religion; adding their own words to the local speech. South Warwickshire was then part of the Kingdom of Mercia. Christianity came into the Country after 655 AD.
There is evidence that the Romans were in Tadmarton, and the Danes came and settled in Hook Norton (both within six miles of Brailes) but we know nothing of such invasions in Brailes.
Remote from the sea, lying away from the major roads of the time, Brailes developed quietly under Mercian rule, until the time of the Norman Conquest, when the Lordship of the Manor was given to henry de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, “whose posterity retained it until the reign of Henry VIII”. While in possession of the Earls of Mercia the value of Brailes was £17.10.6d.
1066 to the Dissolution 1536-1539
In the Domesday Book Brailes belonged to the King, with a value of £55.0.0d and 20 semes (cartloads) of salt. In area, 46 Hides; arable 60, ploughs, 6 in demesne, meadow 100 acres, a wood 3 by 2 miles; one Mill, value 10s. The woodlands probably belonged to Tanworth, which formed part of this parish. The population was made up of 100 villeines, 30 labourers, 12 bondsmen, 3 bondswomen; 142 families; in all 657.
In the first quarter of the 12th century the Church of St. George was given to the Canons of Kenilworth by Roger, Earl of Warwick. We do not know when the original church was built, but progressive prosperity would be indicated by enrichment and addition. It has been said that the George Inn was built at first for the accommodation of the men who were engaged in building the Church.
In 1240, (Henry III) Brailes held a weekly market on Mondays, and a fair for three days beginning on the Eve of St. George, was granted.
During the reign of Edward I (1274-1307) there was a park of 30 acres. Adam Underwood held, then, 1 yard of land, at the rental of 7 bushels of oats and 1 hen. From St. Michael to Lammas he was to work every other day, except Saturday, for his lord. He was to have as much grass as he could carry with his scythe; after hay harvest to have with his fellows the very best sheep but one, or to receive sixteen pence, with the best cheese but one, or to receive six pence. From Lammas to Michaelmas he was to work two days a week, and come with his family to the lord’s reap, with all his household, except his wife and shepherd, and mow one load of corn. He should carry 2½ loads of corn, 7 cartloads of stones, for three days; should plough thrice a year, make 3 quarters of malt, gather nuts for 3 days, pay one penny for every hog a year old, halfpenny for each under a year, should give 12 marks to his lord at Michaelmas; not marry his daughter nor make a priest of his son without the lord’s consent.
Nicholas de Segrave held, at this time, 8 yards of land by service of a knight’s fee. Theobald de Neville and Robert de Hastang, 8 yards, by the gift of a pair of gilt spurs; Peter de Montfort 16 yards, by the quarter of a knight’s fee. The Master of Wroxall possessed 1 yard; the Canons of Kenilworth 4 yards of Church Glebe.
During the reign of Edward II (1307-1327) the Manor was rated at £93.5.4d. The Manor passed to the Crown in this reign, and it was let on lease to different persons until the reign of Henry VIII.
There was a packhorse road (now marked as a field-path) which was used by the wool-merchants between Shutford and Chipping Campden; passing through Brailes and over the shoulder of Brailes Hill, going down through the Milking-Hollow, and continuing over the field to Barcheston.
The weekly market was held on various sites – the sheep market was in what is now known as School Lane, and a Bull Ring was in Lower Brailes next to the present-day forge. (From the Lay Subsidy Roll of Edward II in 1332)
Brayles £9.0.4d., Chelmscot 17/-d., Winderton £1.11.2½d., (of which John ate Welle had to pay 1/7¾ d., and Wm. Le Rueusone 4/4d.
There is still a member of the Reason (le Reuesone) family in Brailes today.
At the time of the Norman Conquest, in 1066, Brailes was by far, the second most important parish in the whole of the County of Warwickshire. Warwick, the County town, stood first. The third and fourth parishes, in order of importance, were Tysoe and Long Compton, each being assessed at £30.0.0d. By comparison:- Stratford-upon-Avon stood at £25.0.0d, Coventry £6.0.0d., Etendone (now Ethington Park) £20.0.0d, Tredington (including Shipston, Darlingscote, Armscot, Newbold andTalton) £12.0.0d only. Honington £10.0.0d.
At the same time Leamington stood at £4.0.0d, Rugby £2.0.0d, and Birmingham £1.0.0d.
The population of Brailes was: in 1665, 764; in 1730, 1312; in 1881, 1131; in 1944, 825; in 1951, 816.
The Dissolution to 1900
During this period, while Queen Elizabeth I visited Compton Wynyates, plots were being hatched at Broughton Castle; tapestries were being woven at Barcheston, and the Battle of Edge Hill fought all within ten miles of Brailes. Brailes itself just went on farming, weaving, holding markets, being self-contained and getting on with the daily tasks, according to the seasons.
During the reign of Elizabeth I “much food came to Bristol and the Western towns from the granary of central England, the open fields of the ‘Feldon’”.m While increased demands for sheep and cattle caused enclosures, we have not bee able to unearth definite information in regard to Brailes.
In 1539, Henry VIII sold the Manor of Brailes to Thomas Wymbush, who sold it Circa 1547 to the Sheldon family in whose possession it remained until the estate was sold in 1920, nineteen years after the death of Henry James Sheldon, born 1823, the last of the Brailes line of the family. Brailes House was built circa 1830; before that a much older farmhouse stood on the site. In 1920, when Mr. Flick bought the house and grounds, he pulled down the ‘Nursery Wing’ of twelve bedrooms, possibly built by E.W.C. Sheldon and his wife, Marcella, whose three children were Amanda, b. 1827, Edward Ralph Charles, b. 1828 and Isabella, b. 1832.
It is said that during the plague a company of scholars came from Oxford University to sojourn in Brailes. College Green is the reminder of their visit.
We know of Winderton people being “presented” at Warwick Quarter Sessions in 1683 ‘for not coming to Church to hear Divine Service.’
Sebastian Wilkes of Winderton bought Grove End Farm from his cousin in 1810.
The Village Pound and the adjacent Toll House in Lower Brailes have been replaced by the neat brick house of Mr.Frank Miller, while the gates on the Salt Way to Winderton have gone, and half Lower Brailes Park has been fenced off in the last 20 years, but the grand old tree in which generations of Brailes children have played still flourishes.
1684 Warwick Quarter Sessions – Michaelmas 1684
‘The Constable of Brayles presents a Meeting House there, called the Quakers’ Meeting House’
Brailes is one of the few places in England where Mass has been said every Sunday since before the Reformation.
Chelmscote, Traitor’s Ford, Gallows Hill, Brailes & Winderton Today
Chelmscote
This was spelt Chelmundescota in 1190, and is derived from Ceolmund’s cot, or the House of Ceolmund. Like Brailes, it belonged to the Earls of Warwick, and was held, under them, by Roger de Crafte, John Mace and Henry Huband, during the reign of henry III (1216-1273): John See in the reign of Henry IV (1399-1413): Baldwin Beteler in the reign of Henry VI (1422-1471) also Eustace de Greneril. In the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547) Henry Grenefield depopulated 3 messuages, 1 cottage, and enclosed 120 acres. The Guild of the Trinity and St. George at Warwick owned 60 acres, and the Chantry priest at Chelmscote 50 acres.
In 1332 a Chantry was founded by Thomas de Padmington of Brailes. By agreement between the said Thomas and the Vicar of Brailes and the Prior of Kenilworth, the inhabitants of Chelmscote were to receive the sacraments at the parish Church of Brailes, and attend the church at great festivals and on Good Friday, St. George’s Day, All Saints’ Day, and on the day of the dedication of the Parish Church. In 1349 the said Thomas gave 4 cottages, and 4 yards of land at Over Brailes, to provide two priests to perform daily service at the Chantry. Afterwards two more priests were added. Two of them were to live at Chelmscote, to celebrate the Holy Communion daily and say Matins and Evensong; two to live at Brailes and assist the Vicar.
1547
Covenant between Wiliam Sheldon, of Weston, Co. Warwick, Esq., of the one part and William Walter, of Wootton Underwood, Co. Bucks., and Isabella his wife, and Edward Greville, son and heir of Edward Greville, Esq., late of the same, whereby the said last-named parties, in consideration of £66.13.4d, agree to let on lease to the said W. Sheldon, the Manor Chelmscote, with the Chantry lands there and in Brailes, on determination of a lease to William Willington, of Barchestone, Esq., at a yearly rent of £20. For the Manor, and two peppercorns for the Chantry lands of demanded.
Dated 14 Nov. 1. Edw. VI (1547) Signed and Sealed.
1557
Deed of Sale by Thomas Dutton of Sherborne, Co. Glouc., and William Cole of Kemerton, to William Sheldon, of a messuage in Chemescote al. Chelmescote in Brailes, Co. War.
Dated 7 Sept. 4 5 Philip and Mary
During the reign of Charles I, it was sold to the Shuckburghs of Shuckborough. Passing through the Somerfords of Brill, Bucks. It was bought by Thomas Middleton of Tysoe about 1690.
While the Willingtons of Barcheston were in occupation they converted four farmsteads into cottages and laid down 200 acres to grass.
A pleasure fair was, at one time, held on Easter Tuesday. In 1838 the Liberty of Chelmscote was in occupation of a Thomas Wilkes with 117 acres.
In the house at Upper Chelmscote is still to be seen the 13th Century cellar and dairy. The front part of the house was added in brick in 1688. A branch of the Spencer family lived there from 1810 to 1934. The late Revd. Noel Bearder was of the opinion that the ancient Chantry formed part of the original building. Lower Chelmscote is built of stone in the form of an H, and is believed to have been built about the time of Henry IV or V, with a Stonesfield Stone Tile roof. Circa 1700 it was referred to as Lower Chelmscote Manor.
Agdon Farmhouse, on the opposite side of the road, and equidistant from the Chelmscotes, was built after 1834. A member of the Spencer family farmed the Agdon land before that date from Winderton, living in one of the old farmhouses there. The spencer family continues to live and farm at Agdon.
Traitors Ford & Gallows Hill
The stream which fed “Brails” Mill over the centuries rises just below Gallows Hill Farm, gathering from springs as it flows towards the site of the Mill which lies almost on the edge of the Parish boundary, a short distance to the West of Traitor’s Ford. There are still to be seen the remains of a house; the contour of the stream gives evidence of the old mill-race. As late as 1763 the road from Chipping Norton crossed the stream at the Mill.
Over Traitor’s Ford, on the left hand side, cottages stood, and the various trees and plants growing there give evidence of what were their gardens. On the opposite side of the road the remains of old lime-kilns are still seen; they were in use when Limestone was quarried there.
Why Traitor’s Ford? We do not know. Another version was Trader’s Ford.
The site of the Gallows at Gallow’s Hill is not known. One of the last hangings in England for sheep-stealing took place there; the gallows was used as late as August 15th 1834.
The gallows was also used, they say, when escaping soldiers from the Battle of Edgehill were caught at Traitor’s Ford.
A Comment on Passing Through Brailes a Second Time
“In recent years its twin villages have been described as an example of mediaeval ribbon development, though the great Church of St. George would suggest the contrary. It does not look like a church built to serve a struggling settlement on the verges of an ancient road. Rather does it seem the cathedral of a once thriving city, and something of that nature may well be the case. Brailes, like so many places on the Cotswold fringe, has declined in importance and perhaps gained in charm as a result.”
THE FORGE, LOWER BRAILES
THE OLD FORGE, UPPER BRAILES
Brailes Today
From Green End Farm at the foot of Gallows Hill to a row of old brick cottages at the top of Fant Hill, with its slight bends and curves, runs for a mile and a quarter through Brailes, the main road. The four focal points of the village are the Lower Green and the Park, the Vicarage Green with the War Memorial, College Green and the Fountain, which are linked intermittently, along the roadside by houses and cottages, from old stone and thatch to Victorian brick and slate with stretches of fields and gardens all about.
THE LOWER GREEN: HIGH STREET
The old houses on the Lower Green form an irregular arc, and contrast with two modern brick homes built on the site of old buildings; the newest Council houses in the Park are built in a curve; the old stone cottages nearby seem like Topsy “to have growed”.
At the lower end of the Vicarage Green, the Institute which is the present centre of Village activities, lies just below the Vicarage wall, opening onto Friar’s Lane, with its old row of brick cottages and leading to the Old Boys School, Carry Hay and the Catholic Chapel.
In front of the George Inn the road is wide, with the houses opposite set well back from the pavement, as are those on the same side of the road as the George. The road bends and narrows past the gates of Brailes House, sloping down to the Bridge. Round a slight curve the road rises with fields on either side until, on the left, the brick of the Garage and the row of Council houses in Sutton Lane make the continuation of the village. The road continues to rise, past a sprinkle of houses on the left. Grove End Lane branches off just before Mint Row, with its old stone and thatch lying obliquely from the road, and looking over to Springfield House and St. Ronan’s Lea, once known as the “Doctor’s Lodging”.
Above Mint Row another cluster of houses forms the background to College Green, which fronts on to the Old Forge, round Sal Crack’s Hill, with Widdows Row [sic] in Upper Brailes proper. The road runs straight and wide to the Fountain with the Gate Inn central to a stretch of houses on the right, allotments and fields breaking up the line of building. Farm houses, cottages and orchards are spaced on the left, broken by Leather Lane, (now Holly Walk) and Gillett’s Lane leading up to Brailes Hill. Houses cluster round the Fountain where Six Bells Lane turns off to the right with old houses and new Council houses blending, while the main road goes over the rise of Fant Hill with the last cottages of Over Brailes.
WINDERTON
Winderton is an ancient hamlet of twenty houses, lying on the South slope of high ground just over a mile to the North-East of Brailes. At
Least five of the houses are complete survivals from Tudor times, others have been altered or rebuilt. The present Winderton House was built about one hundred years ago; two brick bungalows have been added to the landscape in the last thirty years, on leasehold ground, and the entire hamlet is owned by the Marquis of Northampton save for five freeholds, which are owned by:-
William Maycock, Stone House and Orchard in the Close
John Walton, Qynton House. Old stone farmhouse modernised, and added to, with farm buildings and land
Mrs J. B. Lane, Old Stone and Thatched House with garden, standing in the centre of the hamlet, just off Salt Way Lane.
Small stone cottage, adjoining Qynton House, belonging to the estate of the late Miss F. A. Spencer
Two stone cottages, with brick additions, next to the Churchyard, also belonging to the estate of the late Miss F.A. Spencer.
One of the old thatched houses has a stone filled doorway of Norman character, an elm-panelled room, all mullioned windows. Another house, also thatched, has a beautiful Tudor fireplace. This was the farmhouse in which the Spencers who farmed Agdon lived, until Agdon Farmhouse was built, over one hundred years ago, and may have been the original Winderton Manor.
In the reign of Edward I Winderton was held by Roger de Clifford; part was afterwards given by the Cliffords to the Canons of Haugmond in Shropshire. The other part came to the Le Spencers, from them to Sir Ralf Boteler, passing to the Throgmortons, thence to the Sheldons, and from them to the Marquis of Northampton.
The Church of S.S. Peter and Paul was built at the East end of the Clift by the Reverend Canon Thoyt in 1879. From the porch most of the Parish of Brailes is visible, the sweep of the land down from the Ridgeway, across the wide valley where the houses and Church of Brailes are clustered, up to the mass of Brailes Hill. Beyond Brailes the valley continues to Sutton, rising slowly to Whichford Wood, to the east of which the Salt Way runs over Traitors Ford, and up steeply to rejoin the Ridgeway.
EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR OF S.S. PETER & PAUL’S CHURCH
Over the crest of the high ground, less than a mile away, to the North-east of Winderton, Compton Wyniates [sic] lies on the edge of the Red Horse Vale, with the Feldon of Warwickshire stretching for miles.
The contours of the upper slopes of Winderton facing South-west suggest some form of prehistoric settlement.
With no inn, no shop, just a wall pillar-box in position during the reign of Victoria Regina, a telephone kiosk which was put up two years ago, the fifty or so inhabitants manage in much the same way as the preceding generations. Until some three years ago most of the men worked on the land farmed for the Marquis of Northampton, with large allotments for growing their own supply of vegetables, as well as barley, etc., for the pig which was killed into the house each winter.
Three generations ago Mrs. Ann Reason made and sold sweets to the children here.
Of modern improvements, electricity was first switched on on December 1, 1950, and a private water supply was installed by the Marquis of Northampton in 1947. There is also a bus to Banbury and back passing through Winderton on Thursdays.
In the 1890s Winderton had one of the first Lawn Tennis Clubs in England, and members used to arrive in gigs and dog-carts. The site of the Club is still evident in Ewe House Court. The court was last in use in 1927-1929, when the late K.W. Lane had it relaid by A. Rymell of Brailes.
A Sunday school for the Winderton children was held in the room above Underhill House Kitchen by Miss F.A. Spencer from about 1890 to early 1900s.
Winderton had a series of very successful Flower Shows in the 1930s. These were instigated by Fred Hitchman (now of Cherington) when he started work on the land.
FLOWER SHOW
Underhill House was rebuilt after 1834 for John Spencer. The present kitchen wing stands where a roadway ran through into the farmyard.
The sites of four houses (two in living memory) have been noted. There is documentary evidence of “a little house in the Cherry Orchard, belonging to one Walter Perry” in 1734.
An old brick fish pond stood below ‘Happy Land’; the Henbrook flowed through it. ‘Happy Land’ was lived in by Thomas Clifton in the 1880s. It is now a pile of stones in a vegetable garden.
Up to and after 1834 the Salt Way continued over the cross road, straight up the lane where the present Blacksmith’s shop stands, straight through Old Bank and Agdon Big Meadows to join the old road to Shipston West of Compton Wynyates.
EXTRACTS FROM VARIOUS DOCUMENTS
1557
Inspeximus by Philip and Mary, King and Queen of England, of the counterpart of a lease by Thomas, Abbot, and the Convent of Haughmond to John West, of a messuage and two virgates of land in Wynterton (Winderton in Brailes) Co. Warwk., for a term of 61 years at a yearly rent of 16s8d.
Dated 12 Feb.3 and 4 Ph. And Mary (1557)
Fragment of great seal
1572
Lease for 30 years,by John Bysschop, sen., of Brailes, yeoman, to Sir Henry Compton, lord of Compton, of the tithes of corn and grain of Wynderton: rent £10.
Dated 20 Oct. 14 Eliz. (1572)
1573
Proceedings of Court Baron of Francis Alford, esq., as in right of Agnes his wife, of Winderton Manor held 8 Oct. 15 Eliz. (1573)
1587
Deed of Sale by Paul Tracey, of Stanway, Co. Glouc., esq., and Nathaniel Tracey, his brother, to Francis Throckmerton, of Ulnall, Co. Warw., and Judith, his wife, of the Manor of Wynterton, and other lands, viz., Bery Farm etc. in Wynterton.
Dated 27 Nov. 30 Eliz. (1587)
1590
Deed of Sale for £140, by Francis Throckmerton, of Wynterton, esq., to Francis Perte, of Standway, of a dwelling house, etc., with Monkes Close, and other pastures in Wynterton sometime belonging to Paul Tracey.
Dated 10 May 32 Eliz. (1590)
1610
Licence from the Crown to Francis Throckmorton, esq., to alienate to Jake Throckmorton, his son and heir apparent, the Manor of Wynderton, Le Little Lodge, with free warren, a messuage called Swarbeck Oldhouse, pasture called Le Moyers, etc.
Dated 1 April, 8 James I
Great Seal, Broken. (1610)
(Le Moyers may be ’Mirey Close’, where remains of a cottage were unearthed some fifty years ago.)
(Hall Meadow Farm was known before the 1800s as Bery Fields.)
1683
Warwick Quarter Sessions. Easter 1683
Eliz. Jakeman, Anne Wilkes, widow, and Anne, wife of Thos. Wilkes of Winderton, presented for not coming to Church to hear Divine Service for three Sundays, and Thos. Wilkes, of the same, for one Sunday. Fines made by all except Jakeman at Trinity 1683.
Thomas Cole of Winderton, yeoman, presented for making of a ditch in the King’s highway there, whereby the same is much straitened; also for a trespass with his cattle upon a land of beans of Mr. Richard Capell at Winderton aforesaid.
Richard Wilkes the younger of Winderton presented for ploughing up the land of Mr. Richard Capell in Quare furlong at Winderton aforesaid; also for making a cartway through the common pound at Winderton, by reason whereof the pound is become useless.
1684
Warwick Quarter Sessions. Michaelmas 1684
The tithing man of the same (Winderton) presented for not keeping watch and ward in the night nor making due presentments according to the Statute.
1685
Warwick Quarter Sessions. Estreats for Trinity Sessions 1685
Fines made –
Of Wm. Swarbrick of Winderton for a trespass, 2/6d.
Richard Kings, of the same, for a nuisance, 2/6d.
Thomas Wilkes, of the same, for contempt, 2/6d.
The same Thomas, for a trespass, 2/6d
The tithing man of Winderton, for contempt, 2/6d.
—-
Long established families in Winderton are Spencers, Hydes, Hitchmans and Durhams. Ushers, Reasons, Cliftons have gone.
Neals and Taylors are still in the Parish; Lanes and Waltons, both Warwickshire families, are still in their first fifty years of residence in the hamlet.
SALT WAY HOUSE
NB The Winderton churchyard wall was made with Stone brought from Mr. Bird’s Cottage in Bird’s Lane Epwell in 1870.
Field Names
Field Names Of Brailes
KEY:
Brailes in 1763
Brailes in 1763
(A section of a map on a scale of four chains to one inch). The property of William Sheldon, Esq. surveyed by Richard Overton in 1763.
This map gives a very good idea of Lower TOWN BRAILS s it was in 1763, a compact and pleasant small country town with its hedged fields and gardens bordered by the unenclosed open grounds. Our main road follows closely the line of that which existed then. Another, from the south side of the Green, passed behind the George Inn and came out by a free cottage on to what may have been a small common which extended from the George to the Stone Bridge. School Lane now stands on the path which ran parallel to the brook.
Two interesting finds on this map are “Tanhouse” Close, which may indicate a lost industry, and a field called Baccus Hay on the south side of the Green.
A Hall was immediately West of the Churchyard; Mirey Close, south-east of the Green, also had a Hall, but these were people, not houses.
Places of Worship / Church Bells
Places of Worship
The Church of St. George
The Church of St. George is called “The Cathedral of the Feldon” (the South part of Warwickshire) and this title is worthily bestowed.
St George’s Church: Tower
The Church consists of chancel, nave, N. and S. aisles, tower with six bells and a clerestory. Norman foundations were uncovered during the restoration in 1879. The South aisle windows are 13th century; over the aisle windows is a very elaborately carved cornice and pierced parapet of 14th century work and rising behind this is seen the 14th century clerestory of the nave, a long range of twelve windows with a plain parapet over it.
The chancel is 14th century, and the tower, 100feet high….”tall and stately….stands an admired and familiar landmark in this remote part of Warwickshire, and its splendid peel of bells is herd miles away throughout the countryside. It is indeed a precious heritage.”
[The Restoration History 1879]
There is a fine 30ft. arch between the tower and the nave, and from this point can be seen, past the old octagonal stone font, with its massive wooden cover, the whole length of the Church (155ft) to the Altar, backed by the stone reredos which was given at the 1879 restoration.
The Font
The date of the font is fixed at C. 1330 by the trails of ball flowers. At Brailes…”the extraordinary course was adopted of filling the faces with specimens of the diversified window tracery of the day.”
[Fonts and Font-covers – by Francis Bond]
The windows contain only modern glass, but the windows are old. On the east gable of the nave is a very handsome sanctus bell cote. This is modern, but the bell is old.
Two items claim attention in the S.W. corner: one is a broken stone column, which is said to be part of the shaft of a Mediaeval Cross, most possibly from the churchyard, or perhaps from a market cross; the other is a tomb, with a recumbent figure, probably of a priest, 13th or 14th century, which has been brought into the Church within living memory. In the N.E. corner is a 15th century parish chest. The Church plate has a most unusual date – 1659. The registers begin at 1570. The oldest one, 1570 – 1653, contains Baptisms, Burials and Weddings, except for the Commonwealth period, when Births, not Baptisms were registered. Immediately after the Restoration Christenings were recorded again and Latin was used for this, instead of the English required during the Commonwealth. Three interesting extracts are shown below:
“The gret plag 1603. In it 50 did and 50 ravens flew about stepell until all the 50 was ded. A gret wonder to see it. A gret wonder indeed.”…..
1604. Finis pestilentiae….
“Memorandum that upon the 14th day of December Ao. Dei. 1634 there was a collection made and gathered in the Church, Parish and Constablerie of Brailes, for and towards the repayringe of St. Paul’s Church in London, the sum of £11.12s.5d.”
The Roman Catholic Chapel
S.s. Peter and Paul is the dedication of this interesting place of worship. The Old Rectory House situated to the east of the Church of St. George and the field known as Carryhey (derived from KYRIE) makes a complete unit with the Roman Catholic Chapel both historically and architecturally: the communicating doorways still exist.
The Rectory Farm was originally church property but at the Dissolution of the Monasteries it passed, in 1539, to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk, and after the attainder of Henry, Duke of Suffolk, it became the property of the old Brailes family of Bishop. The Bishops became extinct in the male line in 1840, but for 300 years they were the leading family in Brailes and closely connected with all the local activities. They were mainly responsible for keeping the Old Faith alive in this area. Apart from their tenacity they were highly thought of for their kindness and tact, and were on good terms with the local non-Catholics, as is evidenced by the fact that they were Patrons of the Church of St. George until 1716. This family’s fame stands high in the English Catholic history and its most illustrious son, William, born in the old house in 1554, became in 1624 the first Catholic Bishop after the Reformation – the ancient R.C. hierarchy came to an end in 1585. The members of this family who died in Brailes are buried in the chancel of St. George’s.
The building itself is Medieval in origin but unfortunately, owing to considerable alterations in the 18th century the earliest parts have been obscured.
RECTORY FARM AND EXTERIOR OF ST. PETER & ST. PAUL
Some of the features that remain are briefly:-
15th Century
A parlour with carved oak beams and a very large fireplace recess.
16th Century
The main structure and plan is of this century. Though much of this period has disappeared there remain, amongst other interior features, two partly panelled rooms, a Perpendicular style fireplace and a number of plainer fireplaces. The attics are in a ruinous state, but are very interesting, containing, as they do, two series of hiding places which were in use in the 16th and 17th centuries. As far as is known no priests or laymen were taken in this house. Mass was said in this house, in these attics, until the present ‘barn’ Chapel was opened in 1726, and the sites of the altars may still be seen. The east and west elevations are mainly of this period.
17th to 18th Century
During the late 17th and the 18th Century many alterations and “modernisations” took place. The south and north elevations were transformed with a series of sash windows, the former being refaced with brick and the latter with stone. Inside, five rooms received wooden panelling and an earlier staircase was replaced with a balustrade one about 1700. In 1726 the barn on the West side was partly rebuilt and a Chapel constructed in the upper part of simple Renaissance character with a panelled sanctuary. The large five panelled room, mentioned in the Victoria County History of Warwickshire, was stripped and the contents sold in the early 1920s. Unfortunately no photograph or detailed description has been found. The house is in a very bad state of repair, but it is hoped hat it will be possible to save and restore it.
The ancient volume in the book section of the Museum established by the Rev. Fr. W. Connick in 1948 at the Catholic Chapel, Brailes, originally belonged to the Chaplain’s Library. They had been given by members of the Bishop family of Rectory Farm, the Sheldon family of Weston Park and priests who had been Chaplains to the Bishop family in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Notable amongst the latter was Fr. John Ball, whose name appears on dozens of books. The collection includes not only a priceless first edition of the Douai Bible, but rare books, printed in Elizabethan days at the secret Catholic printing press, Stonor Park, Oxfordshire, a score of volumes on subjects sacred and profane, printed in the late sixteenth century and old eighteenth century text-books, used by the young Bishops at College.
The precious vestments belonged originally to the Sheldon, Bishop and Bedingfield families. They were sent to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Rev. Fr. Connick to be examined by the experts who confirmed their great age. There is a tradition that the oldest chasuble was embroidered by the tragic Queen, Catherine of Aragon when on a visit to the Sheldons at Weston Park. The Bishop’s crest is on another set, and the insignia of a Knight of the Garter are used on the superb cope of silver thread.
Lower Brailes Methodist Chapel
This Methodist Chapel was the Wesleyan Chapel, built on the site of the Old Mission Hall in 1885 by George Godson, and opened on October 27th, 1885, with the late Henry Godson as Trustee. The original building on this site was a Friends’ Meeting House, built in the time of George Fox, the Founder, and the enclosed land surrounding it is still the Friends’ Burial Ground.
Extracts from “Warwick Quarter Sessions, Michaelmas 1684”
The Constable of Brayles presents a Meeting House there called the Quakers’ Meeting House.
Thomas Wilkes of Winderton presented for a frequenter of conventicles and neglecting his duty several ways in his office of churchwarden.
Upper Brailes Methodist Chapel
“Brailes Society formerly conducted services in a room until 1863, when their beautiful Chapel was erected under the direction of the Rev. Henry Platt.” So reads the Hand Book of the Primitive Methodist Synod held at Swindon in 1932, the year of Methodist union. The Chapel referred to is the one situated in Upper Brailes, built by “William Pickering” at a cost of £319. The cost seems ridiculous compared with modern building expenses. The Sunday School, added later, was opened in July 1881. The first Trustees were Messrs. George Clifton, Edward Simms, Thomas Hughes, George Hudson, Joseph Bradley, John Aubrey and William Pickering. The one Minute Book which has served the Church for nearly 100 years, and still serves it, is in the possession of Mr. W.P. Manley, and is in excellent condition. The following is a resolution of the first meeting of the trustees:
“That we apply for the services of the Rev. P. Pugh for the first Sabbath services and tea meeting the following Monday and we apply for the services of Joseph Hunt, Esq., for the second Sabbath of the opening.”
Tea Meetings seem to have flourished in the early days too; and lest anyone should think such a meeting unfitting we quote Elsie Harrison, writing about the early Methodist practice of praying for each other at 5pm:
“It was a particularly Methodist communion of saints, for it was wedded to the tea-pot and the intimate circle of home. Wesley often wrote: ‘Tea, conversed, prayed.’ It was in keeping with primitive Christianity that a common meal should thus be raised to something sacramental.”
Brailes Church Bells
“These six fine bells have founded been
By men in ancient days.
No doubt when they this task performed,
They gave to God the praise.”
This is a verse from a long poem about Brailes Bells, written by Mr. Walker, who was 7 years ago, sexton. His adjective “fine” is justified, as the bells are a wonderful and ancient set.
THE TENOR : weighs more than 33cwt. And is inscribed with a stanza, attributed to St. Thomas of Canterbury: “Gaude quod pest ipsum scandisk et est honor tibi grandis in celi palacio” and two shields with an inscription dated 1877 (after the recasting).
THE FIFTH: “Ile crack no more so ring your fill, Merry George I was and will be still.”.
Re: 1671: K Rich Capell, John Okeley
THE FOURTH: “Ime not the bell I was but quite another, Ime now as right and sweet as George my brother”
1668: Rich Keene me fecit. Nathaniel Hill. William Poel: C.W.
THE THIRD: bears an English rendering of the inscription on the tenor, the Latin legend being exchanged for “Glory to God in the highest’” surmounted by a figure of the Greek St. George and the Dragon.
THE SECOND: is now the most ancient of the peal: “In multis annis resonet campana Johannis.” And bears two beautiful shields with an elegant cross, “Jesu merci, Ladi help’” encircling it.
THE TREBLE: bears on one side the Royal Arms and on the other those of Charles I when Price of Wales: “Richard Purdi made mee Anno Domini 1624”
The Tenor and the Treble were recast in 1877-79.
For many years until the war (1939 – 45) a bell was rung at noon and at eight. The origin of the curfew is said to be that a lady was lost around Whatcote and heard Brailes clock strike 8. This gave her great relief and she left money for a curfew to be rung.
THE CARILLON: each day tunes are played on the large revolving barrel of the carillon, at 4, 6, 9 and 12 both day and night. On weekdays the tunes are “Lux Benigna”, “St Agnes”, “Eventide” and “Wareham” and on Sunday “St David” is played all day.
The carillon needs winding once and a quarter every day and the clock once a day. There are 70 steps to the winding chamber. The carillon is one of the oldest and most powerful in this part of the country. In the stillness of the night it can be heard more than three miles distant. It is said that the rather unusual hour of 4 was chosen as an “alarum” for the farming community when work began at 5 o’clock in the morning.
Unusual Memorials
Unusual Memorials
In common with many other old villages, Brailes has its share of unusual memorials, some of the most interesting of which are copied below:
“In ever loving memory of Fun Rose Baldwin…Also her beloved husband James Henry Baldwin….1951 in his 100th year”
An unusual name and a rare age on the same stone in Brailes churchyard.
“In loving memory of Mister Maycock….1938”
An uncommon Christian name in Winderton churchyard.
“Pray for the soul of the Revd. John Austin, many Years Pastor to the Catholics of BRAILES & Neighbourhood, he died 27th Aug. 1809, Aged 68. R.I.P.”
A plaque affixed to the outside of the East end of St. George’s Church.
“R.D. Epilaphium. Good Reader if thou hast a teare, Thou canst not choose but spend it heare, If for Religion, learning, love, Most like that of the Turtle Dove, If Patience beyond Compare, Wit modesty, what else is rare, Thous seeke, comprised all in One, Th’are underneath this Marble Stone.”
“Though dead hee bee yet lives his fame. Like Rose in June so smells his name. Rejoyce wee at his Change not faint. Death kild a man but made a saint”
Anno Dni 1639
“To the Glory of God and loving memory of thirty seven dear children who died in this Parish of Diptheria A.D. 1876-7. This window is dedicated by their teachers and friends”
Tablet beneath the “Children’s Window” in the S.W. corner of Brailes Church.
“In loving memory of Charles Mumford….Also of Harriet, Charlotte wife of the above….1945 Aged 100 years”
A very rare age in Brailes churchyard – marked in letters of gold
Brailes Charities & Schools
Brailes Charities
Brailes is rich in charities from the past. Among others are Willington’s Dole 1555, and Cooper’s 1678, from which the income from £100 is given once in 2 years for “coats for the poorest men in Brailes”, and the interest on £50 is for beef at Christmas. In 1684 this money bought Poor’s Close, now the Brailes allotments, and the rents are used as originally directed.
Prestidge’s Charity, 1732, was to the value of £500, invested in land, the income to be given to the poor.
Baldwin’s 1864, has £100 invested, the income to keep the Baldwin tomb in good repair, and to be given to poor widows.
The most substantial is Badger’s, from which the income from £2,500 stocks is applied, two-fifths to the Church, of which £5, is for Winderton, and three-fifths (approximately £53) to the poor.
In 1704 Mr. Francis Capell bequeathed to fifteen poor Protestant widows 12d. apiece yearly. He also gave to two widows two gowns of 10s. each.
Upon the enclosure of the common field lands of the parish in 1786, four acres of land was awarded to the Minister, churchwardens and overseers of the poor, for fuel, to the poor of Upper Brailes in lieu of their right to cut furze, and also four acres were awarded for the poor of Lower Brailes for the same purpose.
It is interesting to read that the coats mentioned in Cooper’s Charity were to be “of cloth, of about 8/-d. a yard, to contain two and a half yards.”
Brailes Schools
The following is an extract from a “report Concerning Charities”, 1828, the property of H. Green, Esq.,, Grove End, Brailes.
“There is an ancient free School at Brailes, the origin of which we have not been able to ascertain. The first endowment we have met with relating to it is contained in letters patent of Queen Elizabeth, dated 27 October, in the 23rd year of her reign, whereby, among other things, the Rectory of Brailes was granted in fee-farm to Edmund Downing and Peter Ashton, paying for the same as annual rent of £11.18s.4d, and a further annual sum of £8.1s8d., for the salary or stipend of the schoolmaster of Brailes. (This statement bears out the earlier undated one we have found which states that the Brailes School was maintained by money from the Ancient Guild.)
Various further endowments were made, until in 1821 the charity was worth £64.8s2d. In 1825…the schoolmaster’s salary, £20; for stationery, slates, etc., 10s7d.; receipt stamps 1s.6d.; some other small occasional charges about the school, amounting to a few shillings.”…”All the male children of the Parishioners of Brailes who choose to attend, are admitted into the school and are taught grates, but they provide their own Bibles, Testaments and Prayer Books.”
The school was administered from 1820-1862 by the Feoffee Trust, then it was taken over by the Church. Another school was built for girls and infants, and the old school (rebuilt in 1819) was kept for boys until about 1920.
From 1820-1952 the Roman Catholic children were educated in their own school, St. Margaret’s, in the village, but when their numbers were down to less than ten it was decided to close the school. At present with a child population of about 100, all three buildings are in use again. The Girls’ School, shown here (photograph in Scrap Book), is the main building, and the “heart” of the school, while the two junior classes occupy the old Boys’ School and St. Margaret’s.
During the years, various head teachers have left their mark upon the village. Miss Lawrence paid great attention to May Day. A May Queen was elected each year, and a Maypole erected in the school play-ground, and the girls were taught how to plait and unplait the ribbons.
Numerous scholarships have been won from Brailes School entitling boys and girls to enter a Grammar School, and in recent years many children have qualified to enter for the South Warwickshire Sports Association events.
The school has now Controlled status.
GIRLS SCHOOL STAFF AND PUPILS 1908
We have found that traditional games include:-
We have found that traditional games include:-
“Poor Sally is a-weeping”
“In and out the Windows”
“The Farmer is in his Den”
The Wind blows high.”
There have been many private schools during the years, and it is interesting to note that one was held by Mrs. Clay at the house called Between Towns, that is, between Upper and Lower Brailes, which is again a school run by Mr. and Mrs. Cross.
In the late 1920’s and early ‘30s, the Rev. Noel Bearder, having five children of his own, ran a small school at the Vicarage, with Miss Hilda Wakeham as governess.
Mr. H. Mathews owns the original of this prospectus. It is about 90 years old. On the reverse side of the card is written:
“Terms: 16 guineas per annum.”
EDUCATION
BRAILES GRAMMAR SCHOOL
WARWICKSHIRE.
At the above school, young gentlemen, are expeditiously advanced through the usual branches of scholastic study; comprehending Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Geometry, Geography, Land-surveying, English grammar, Poetry and History. And every attention paid to their Religious and intellectual improvement.
J. H. Long, Schoolmaster
Stationery, School books, etc., on reasonable terms.
M. B. Land – surveyor.
Then & Now: The Library
Then & Now: The Library
One of the great changes that older people notice is the present supply of books, as can be gathered from the Mother’s Meeting. Books were passed around from this gathering and went into many homes where the children who wanted to read were glad to get hold of them. Then a library was started in the Village Institute by Mrs Garrard, the Vicar’s wife, and Mrs Findlay, the Doctor’s wife. The subscription was 1d a year and the library was open from 6-6:30 on Monday Evenings. When the institute was burnt down in 1926 the books were saved.
The next stage was the County Library which was first managed by the teachers at the school and then by Mrs Horton. Boxes of books were sent from Warwick and were changed every three months. This arrangement served for children, who are still lent books at school in this way, and for adults until 1953. And now? The County Mobile Library visits Brailes every Monday evening and stops at Upper, Middle and Lower Brailes, and visits Winderton every other Wednesday and calls at the Chelmscote farms also. What great changes!
The next stage was the County Library which was first managed by the teachers at the school and then by Mrs Horton. Boxes of books were sent from Warwick and were changed every three months. This arrangement served for children, who are still lent books at school in this way, and for adults until 1953. And now? The County Mobile Library visits Brailes every Monday evening and stops at Upper, Middle and Lower Brailes, and visits Winderton every other Wednesday and calls at the Chelmscote farms also. What great changes!
Talking of Books
Here is the title – page of an old book belonging to Miss A. Matthews:-
William Rand. His Book Living at Upper Brailes, Warwickshire 1764
The Farrier’s Guide, By Doctor Dyer
and here are some of the recipes.
“For a Blow in the Eye”
Take Burned Alum and Honey, Mix’d together and culere With a little Boldalnack Put a little in the Eye With a Fether.
“For a Prick in the Foot”
Take Spirits of Turpentine one ounce, Spirits of Wine half an ounce Culer it with Alkin root, Then put on a plaster of fresh Tar.
“For the Cholick”
Take Spirits of Turpentine three or four ounces and culor it with Alkin root.
“For a Cold”
Take two ounces of Diapenla, one ounce of Liqurich powder, mix them together an give it in a quart of warm Ale.
Then & Now: Industries
Then & Now: Industries
Farming
As in all country areas farming has, and still does form an important part in the life of the community. Mixed farming is general in Brailes with a high percentage of the land arable.
Farm names: Fanthill, Manor Farm, (late Brickyard) Rectory, Glebe, Tushbrook, Aylesmore, Upper and Lower Chelmscote (villages at both originally), Home Farm, Drybank, Brailes Hill, Green End, Grove End, Coombe Slade, Hall Meadow, Hill Barn, Gallows Hill, Hasty Leys, Springfield, New Barn, New House, Aichell.
Blacksmiths
In 1888 E. Wiggins came to Brailes to manage the blacksmiths shop for Mrs. Pratt. This forge was in the cottage and barn opposite Century Cottage. He then started the forge near the Fountain in Upper Brailes. This is now in the hands of John Clemens, whose father, George, worked from his youth with Ted Wiggins. George Clemons carried on when Ted Wiggins retired while John was away with the Yeomanry during 1939-45.
Another forge stood on the site of the St. Ronan’s Lea Lodge. In the 1800’s it was run by a man called Morris.
Humphrey Webb was the blacksmith at the old forge. His father worked at Gillets’ Foundry, in Upper Brailes.
A. Cummings took over the Lower Brailes forge from Mr. Morley; his son Douglas has extended the family activities since the passing of the farm horse, and now caters for the tractor and other modern far machinery.
Carpenter / Undertaker
Raymond Locke is now the Brailes carpenter. He succeeded R. Hemmings.
Wheelwrights
Richard and Thomas Davis were the wheelwrights at Lower Brailes, their premises were what is now known as ‘The Glen”. Thomas is remembered for a fight which he had with Mr. Winchester, the schoolmaster, who was a tall man, while both Richard and Thomas were “very short men.”
Lollipops
Sal Crack made and sold Lollipops in Mint Row where she lived. Mint Row is sometimes called Lollipop Row and the road just about Mint Row is known as Sal Crack’s Hill.
Stone Hauling & Breaking
This was done by W. Burrows with Richard Hawtin; also a roadmender.
Weaver
Mrs Spencer’s grandfather, Mr. Clay, wove plush in Holly Walk, then Leather Lane. In the house where Mrs. Righton senior lives at the Lower Brailes Green, another weaver worked. William Austin was also a plush weaver. The plush was taken to Shutford for disposal. (The Shutford Plush Mill closed down about 1950 for lack of weavers.)
Mrs. Sia Hawtin’s mother wove linen in her house in Mint Row.
Tailors
Thomas Walker (Taylor Tom) made the coats which were paid for by Cooper’s Charity. His workroom was just by the Boys’ School, and sixty-five years ago the schoolboys used to stand and watch him sitting crosslegged on his table, stitching away. Another tailor was Mr.Charles Spicer. George Field, known as Wedgy, tailored in Brailes about 70 years ago. Hesse Durham, from Winderton, used to go to Wedgy when he needed a new suit of clothes.
Wedgy Field had an old grey pony which dragged one leg, but it managed to take Wedgy and his crony as far as Warwick on occasions. Wedgy and his crony Attin, who had a cork leg were killing a pig, which they intended to scald. The occasion was festive as pig killing used to be. There was some argument as to whether the water was hot enough to go on with the scalding. A bet of a gallon beer was made. Attin lifted his cork leg and put it into the bucket and declared the water not hot enough, and won the gallon of beer, with helpers still arguing “too hot” and “too cold.”
Shoemakers
In the last half of the 1800’s a shoemaker called Harris, nicknamed Jalopy, lived in the house now called Century Cottage. He wore a little round cap and a black apron, and children were taken by their mothers to be measured for their shoes which Jalopy made. (In those days children only had one pair of shoes.) Jalop was a fine workman but took drinking holidays when he would alternate between his house and “The George”. His song was “All round my hat, where I wear my liver and fat.”
Licensed Hawker
John Rymell made and sold Brailes Rock outside the field where the Tysoe Taypot Club held its feast on Whit-Tuesday. He would say to the children, “What is it for you, me little dears? That there penny will burn your hand if you hold it much longer.”
John Rymell’s daughter married Thomas Walker, and when she was widowed she used to go round the Parish with a grey horse and trap selling brooms and brushes, pots and pans.
Water Diviner
Jack Mumford of Lower Brailes with his Hazeer Rod, located an ancient stone conduit several feet below ground at Winderton.
Midwives
There were three village Midwives. Harriet Mumford, who was still in practice when over 80 years old, “Never lost a baby or a mother,” she lived to celebrate her 100th birthday.
Mrs Padbury who was in practice until 1914, and May Randall.
Hurdle Making
The present hurdle maker for Brailes is Edward Claydon. He learned the craft from his father, who in turn learned from Thomas Stowe, who carried on his business from the house next to the Wesleyan Chapel on College Green.
B Smith also makes hurdles. Below: Mr. Claydon, Hurdlemaker
Cider Making
There has been a cider press at the carpenter’s shop at Upper Brailes for a very long time. It comes into use annually in the autumn. Below: Cider Making at Upper Brailes
Brewing
In the early 1900s Frank and Percy Taylor of Winderton established a brewery in Upper Brailes which was working for several years. In Lower Brailes a small brewery operated at the house of Mrs. C. Mumford.
Feather Dressing
Up till the 1930’s Mrs. Dicky Bryan dressed and prepared feathers. She made and remade pillows, beds and quilts.
Saddler
Brailes has been without a Saddler since the death of Mr. J. Jarvis in 1953, in his 86th year. He worked for 65 years in the shop attached to his house now known as “Saddlers Thatch”, and passers by, looking in the window could see him at work at his bench.
[refer to Postscript for photograph]
Thatching
Until March, 1955, our resident thatcher was Harry Maynard of Upper Brailes, who is now living in Great Tew. His work is easily distinguishable by the Cotswold Ridge on the roof tree. His partner Harold Kaye lives at Hook Norton.
Earlier Harry Phillips and Jim Harris did much of the thatching. A number of old thatched roofs have been replaced by tiles.
Brick Yards
One was situated opposite Manor Farm, Upper Brailes and was owned by the Wilkes family. Old Tom Wilkes who is mentioned is possibly the same Thomas Wilkes of Lower Chelmscote, 1834.
Another brickyard was behind the cottages opposite the “Piggeries” Forge at Upper Brailes. It was last worked by a deaf and dumb man called Thomas Greenhill, who was also a potter. He was looked after by Mrs. Mary Clemons who died in August, 1954 aged 86.
When the brickyard of Greenhill’s was worked out, the brickyard beyond Mr. Manley’s (on his land) was in use. Bricks made there in 1927 for use in K. W. Lane’s house at Winderton were probably the last made there.
There was another brickyard beyond Gallows Hill but we have no information as to when it was last worked.
Farming – Changes Through The Years
During the last war Irish labour was employed in the district, mainly on draining, but there is no recollection in the Parish of it being used in earlier times for such tasks as haymaking or harvesting.
The first binder was used in the Parish about 1900. It was drawn by a leading horse and a pair. Previously harvesting had been done by teams of men using fagging hooks, or by teams of women with sickles, the long stubble being left until after the first frosts of winter, when it was scythed and used for the rethatching of houses. Reaping was paid for at the rate of 15/-d. an acre, and scything was straw 12/-d. an acre. Mr. J. Neal and his man, William Burrows mowed by scythe a 16 acre field by themselves in record time. In those days work started at 5 a.m.
Before 1900 when the menfolk were haymaking or harvesting, the women of the house took over the milking, and 20 cows to be hand-milked was just part of the day’s work, which continued in the dairy when the milk was put through the hand-turned separator.
There was not a great deal of arable in the Parish; sheep and Hereford cattle did well on the pastures.
A great change came in 1939. Pastures, where we had gathered cowslips for wine, and then crops of mushrooms, were ploughed up, and our white-faced Herefords gave place to crops. Rye was grown during one of the war years in various fields with its exceptionally long straw, some of which was used for thatching.
Today we have combines and balers, milking machines and grain dryers and the sight of a team of horses ploughing is already a memory.
The Harvest Supper always had a fine boiled ham and apple pie. The following is a sample menu:
A Boiled Ham, Roast Beef, Ox Tongue
Apple Pie, Fruit Jellies, Trifle, Pastries
Cheese and Biscuits
Beer, Cider, Tea.
The old custom of the Harvest Supper still survived, very much modified by rationing during the war, but it has been revived on various farms (in spite of mechanisation) to some of its past glory. The younger generation who are farming now have their Harvest Suppers at their Young Farmers Clubs, but the tradition is still alive. Now that very many people are directly or indirectly connected with farming, many Harvest Suppers are attended by a large section of the village.
Carrier
Brailes is ten miles from Banbury and fourteen from Stratford, so in the days before motor cars, getting to market was quite an adventure. Henry Godson was one of the carriers, and R. Matthews and B.Warmington worked for him. The present bus service is run by H. Matthews, son of the man mentioned above.
Getting to market was a day’s occupation. The cart left at 9 and reached Banbury about 12.30, having called at all the villages picking up people, parcels, crates of chickens, produce and orders.
Villagers would ask the carrier to bring shoes, hats, ribbons, and so forth “on appro”, and sometimes he had a hundred parcels on board by the time he was due to return. The conveyance took “as many as it would hold” depending upon size, and when full inside, the “cratch” was let down at the back and four people could sit on that.
The return journey began about 4 and it was between 7.30 and 8 before they reached home.
Carriers ran services to connect as follows:-
Banbury – Monday, Thursday & Saturday
Shipston – Tuesday & Saturday
Stratford – Saturday
Leamington & Warwick – Thursday
(due back about midnight)
Now Brailes has bus services run by H. Mathews and the Midland Red.
Right: [the reverse side of a bus ticket?]
GEORGE GODSON
CARRIER. BRAILES. WARWICKSHIRE.
Desires to return his best thanks for those friends who have supported him during the last fifteen years, and begs to assure them that he will continue o pay his best attention to their commands, which will always be highly esteemed.
G.G. has in addition to his other conveyances, commenced running a Light Cart, which leaves Brailes every Monday and Thursday morning at eight-o’clock, and arrives at the Queens Head in Banbury at half-past nine. Returns at four and arrives Brailes five-thirty.
Potts. Printer, Banbury. October 7 1839
Laundry
Mrs. Bryan 1864 – 1949 was a famous laundress, taught her skill by her grandmother and mother. About fifty years ago she lived with her family in three cottages in the Park. The top house was the ironing room, containing the big stove which heated eight irons at once, as well as the glazing irons. In one of the other cottages the washing was done. The water was drawn from the pump outside the cottages and heated in a big copper. But that was not the beginning of the procedure, for the clothes were soaked down in a large wooden tub the night before “wash day”, and on the day itself were washed, boiled, “firsted”, “seconded”, swilled, blued and starched, in red crock pans. Everything was wrung by hand, for the large wooden mangle was only used for table linen, sheets and pillowcases which were mangled before they were ironed.
Mrs. Bryan was expert with glazing and gauffering irons. Her damask table linen was polished with a large black glass “mushroom” after the ironing, to bring up the glaze. Her daughter remembers watching her box-pleat twelve inch flounces on nainsook nightdresses. Mrs. Bryan received clothes to be laundered from many people in the village and district (several gentlemen are known to have sent their collars to her up to a few years before her death), and her fame spread to Devonshire and to Park Lane in London.
As to her prices? Her daughter remembers that a dance shirt cost 3d., collars (twice starched) 1d. and sheets 1d or 2d according to size.
Inns & Houses
Inns & Houses
Inns
Six Bells
Extract from an affidavit sworn by Joseph Wilkes of Winderton before the Justices of the Peace at Warwick on 8th June, 1736, mentions:-
“….if he would go with him to the house of Thomas Wills in Upper Brailes, an Ale House called The Six Bells….”
It has disappeared.
The George
Extract from descriptive catalogue of ancient deeds in the Public Records Office. Volume V. 1906
“A. 13440
Indenture being a grant by Simon Ryelyard, William Gardyner, masters and wardens of the Gild of St. Mary, founded and maintained in the Parish Church of Brailes, and the brethren of the same to John Pittes, clerk and schoolmaster (Ludi magistro) of Brailes, for good services done them, of £8.20d. annuity, charged upon a Hostel called le George” in Thomas Wilkes” occupation, a messuage called “Bernardes ground” in the said William Gardyner’s occupation, cottages in the occupation of henry Rounton, Robert Prescote, Robert Macayn, and Thomas Mountforth, a close and virgate of land in “Dodfold” in Symon Ryley’s occupation and four cottagesin the occupation of William Warde, Richard Machyn, John Tomkyns, and Richard Heycocks, all in Brailes; and upon a message and virgate and a half of land with meadow belonging in Weston between land of William Sheldon, gentleman; upon the mill in Epwell, in the occupation of Welliam Welford, both in Co. Oxford.
6 October, 29 Henry VIII (1537)
(At foot) Examined by me Clement Throckmorton, Surveyor.
(Also) Allowed.
Signed. Ry. Sakevyle. Th. Moyle. Wa. Mildmay”
The brewer at the George over 100 years ago was one Josiah Hibberd whose descendants still live in Brailes. About the same time the George was owned by one John Baldwin. It was then an acknowledged coaching stop. During recent alterations a fifteenth century stone fireplace was discovered behind the Victorian one which had been in the visitors’ lounge for many years. The old masonry, inglenook seats and woodwork have been retained and a fresh structure from old stone built round it.
The George Inn Fireplace
At the same time traces of painting on the ceiling beams have been cleaned and preserved. The painting probably date back to the Middle Ages, but at present their history is not known.
The Gate Inn
No legendary history about this Inn has been found yet in our searches. It has evidence of 17th Century work. The sign reads:
“This gate hangs high
And hinders none,
Refresh and pay
And travel on.”
The Cotswold Kitchen
Houses
Most of the houses in Brailes are built of stone, and today many are tiled or slated though some thatch remains. The houses are situated at odd angles to each other and o the road. Some houses were built close to the road; pavements were added at much later dates. Many houses retain old features of parts which have gone out of use.
House in Upper Brailes:
Mrs Stansbury’s house on College Green is built of old stone and has a circular bread oven.
Rosaire Cottage at the end of Friar’s Lane was formerly the kitchen of the Priory.
Lower Brailes showing east end of church
Up to about thirty years ago there were two cottages in Lower Brailes with ladder staircases.
Widows Row is said to have been built by Attwood the builder from the residue of the Church restoration. The staircases and landings are panelled from old pews.
There is a Phoenix Insurance Company’s plaque affixed to Manor Farm. There was another on the Piggeries Forge but time and weather caused it to disintegrate. Left: A pheonix plaque.
Workers’ Row (a row of stone and thatched cottages of considerable age) by the Lower Green were burnt down one Sunday morning in 1952.
Lower Brailes from the Tower
Coombe Slade is an old stone house which had a row of beagle’s kennels built on.
Grove End House was the ancient centre of the small cluster of houses and farms at Grove End. Several of these have been restored and enlarged.
The first four Council houses were erected in the Park, Lower Brailes in 1927. Now there are sixteen while the very old row of stone built cottages in Old Park is going to be demolished in the near future.
First Council House
Council houses have been built in Sutton Lane and Upper Brailes on the site of Wilkes’ Brickyard and the Rural District Council plans to develop these sites further.
Brailes Women’s Institute
Brailes Women’s Institute
Brailes W.I.
The W.I. Presidents from 1922 to the present day are:
Mrs. G. Finday, Mrs. Slater-Gibbs, Mrs. A. Shepard, Mrs. V. Wilkes, Mrs. W. E. Gilkes, Mrs. Bengough, Mrs. Anson
Secretaries:
Mrs. Slater-Gibbs, Mrs. R. Bullock, Mrs. W. Flick, Mrs. K. Lane, Mrs V. Wilkes, Miss M. Green, Miss J. Crook, Mrs. H. Bengough
Our W.I. Beginning
The first meeting to decide upon starting a Women’s Institute in Brailes was held on October 11th, 1922, at the Institute room. There were present about seventy women. Mrs. Rotherham and Miss D. M. Love explained the objects of the W.I. Various questions were asked. The motion being put to the meeting it was decided by the majority to start a W.I.
A second meeting was called for October 24th finally to settle the matter. On that day Mrs. Rotherham and Miss Aglionby explained details of the working of a W.I. Fifty women gave their names as members and the officers and committee were appointed.
M. Kathleen Gibbs
October 31st, 1922
In November 1929 the W.I. did quite well at the Annual Exhibition of Handicrafts at Warwick. In 1929 we put in a cooperative sewing exhibit at Warwick and a produce exhibit at Stratford-on-Avon.
At a committee meeting on October 5th, 1937, it was decided to plant trees to commemorate the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, one tree on Upper Brailes Green and one on Lower Brailes Green. Owing to the difficulty in procuring oak trees, a Prunus for each Green was substituted. The planting was done by Mr. H. Green in November 1938, acting for the Elizabeths of the Institute (who were to have done the planting) in very bad weather conditions. But some of the members were present at the ceremony.
To commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II the institute planted a Copper Beech tree and an Ornamental Pink Cherry tree in the Village Recreation Ground, one on either side of the gate which will lead into the Village Hall.
One memorable occasion some twenty-nine years ago, was the visit of the celebrated Sam Bennett of Ilmington and his fiddle. He played local folk tunes while the members of the W.I. footed it in the playground of the Old Boys’ School. It was a fine early summer evening, the members were out in full force, and a good time was had by all.
The W.I .Members 1955
The design on the tablecloth is the traditional Warwickshire Shepherd’s Smock pattern, and it is embroidered in white and two shades of red.
Detail on left.
GOLDEN JUBILEE 24 October 1972 (added in Postscript)
To commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II the institute planted a Copper Beech tree and an Ornamental Pink Cherry tree in the Village Recreation Ground, one on either side of the gate which will lead into the Village Hall.
The Golden Jubilee of the Women’s Institute was celebrated with a supper attended by members, their husbands and friends. Mrs. H. Thorpe conveyed the congratulations of the Warwickshire Federation, of which she is Chairman.
Two founder-members were present. Mrs. H. Green and Mrs. N.J. Bearder are cutting the cake. Mrs. B. Taylor, President, and Mrs.Thorpe look on.
Our third found-member, Mrs. W. Miller, was, through illness, unable to attend.
Fun & Games
Fun & Games
People in the village have made and still make their own fun and games. There are records of football, cricket and darts teams; in the late twenties and early thirties the Taylor and Spencer families had enough cousins and kin to put a good hockey side in the field; the matches used to be played on Ashen Meadow.
At the moment the football team is in abeyance. The Brailes Band is flourishing and once again has good and attractive uniforms.
There was once a Choral Society which won several competitions but it “died” when the conductor was ill.
The Feldon Players were a dramatic group started in 1938. They began with sketches and songs and worked up to full scale productions of “School for Scandal”, “Ladies in Waiting” and a Pantomime. The second war put an end to the activities of the Players, but there are faint stirrings of the drama again.
In 1955 a Square Dance Club was formed and gives great enjoyment to about forty or fifty keen young people.
The Girl Guides
At present there is a Company of Girl Guides, who lend a hand at many of the village functions.
A Social Club meets regularly during the winter months in the institute for billiards, table tennis and so on. The W.I. flourishes, the Church Groups meet and work for the causes dear to their hearts, and nearly every Group has one or more Whist Drive in the Winter; and in the Summer everyone joins in at the Flower Show on the Saturday following August Bank Holiday. This is a big affair drawing exhibitors from miles around, and with the Horse Show and Gymkhana provides a full afternoon’s entertainment for all. The proceeds go towards the Village Hall Funds. Below: fun and games at the Flower Show
The British Legion was founded in 1923 by Colonel Bullock, Canon Irwin and Mr. Slater-Gibbs. Their Standard was dedicated in 1935, Standard bearers being Albert Batchelor, Brailes, Fred Hunt, Winderton and Jack Harwood, Whichford. A re-union dinner is held each year.
Strange to relate the Tysoe “Taypot” Club was very close links with Brailes. It was founded by Frank Redding’s father many years ago when he put a shilling in a teapot. This was made into a weekly affair, and subscribers grew in numbers. At first it was a Thrift Club against accidents, with a benefit of 8/-d. a week. Some seventy years ago and later, all the members of the “Taypot” Club met in Brailes on Whit-Tuesday, where they paraded with their Banner which they took with them to a Church service. Members who did not parade were fined 2/6d. which Henry Hibberd, and George Durham disputed at the meetings, pointing out that 2.6d. was too much and they could not afford it. After the Service they all marched to Fred Miller’s field, where tea was served in a tent, and a programme of sports was held.
A band was there which played for dancing. Coconut shies were outside the field, as were other stall holders and a shooting gallery. John Rymell sold rock outside the field, because it is said he would not pay to go in. During the 1914-1918 war the Oddfellows took over the Taypot Club and they still have subscribers in spite of the National Health Scheme.
May Day Revels 1906
St. George’s Fair was held in Brailes up to about 100 years ago. Tom Durham’s grandmother used to tell him stories about this Fair. In 1841 several schoolboys ere punished for playing truant and going to the Fair. John Rymell sold Brailes Rock at this Fair.
A Link with the Past being An Entry from Brailes at Honnington Carnival
Do You Remember?
Do You Remember?
Some Items Of Interest From Recent Years
~ Remember ~ Up to the 1930s the grass verges of the lanes and roads in the Parish were let annually by auction for cutting and haymaking or for grazing. This annual event was called “Letting the Lanes” – some of which were more productive than others. The money thus obtained was used to pay a man for daily bell-ringing…mid-day and curfew (see Section 9).
About 1875 it is said there had been some sharp practice over the “Letting the Lanes” which resulted in a company of village folks making an effigy, taking it through the village and burning it in the field between the Old Forge and St. Ronan’s Lea. Humphrey Webb the blacksmith was one of the company.
The following list (c. 1900) shows a year’s lettings
Frank Bryan, Grove End
William Warmington, Castle Hill
Alf Locke, Tusbrook
Alfred Lyne, Salt Way
Henry Godson, Holloway
Fred Hall, Castle Hill Lane, Winderton
~ Remember ~ Joanna and Humphrey Webb ran the first village post office. “She was a tall thin woman, with long dangling earrings.”
~ Remember ~ Do you remember when the postman walked his 15mile round, and blew a horn to announce his approach to remote houses?
~ Remember ~ A Mrs. Stanning who lived at the Forge charmed warts. She wore a bugled cape on Sundays when she taught in Sunday School, and was “very careful”.
~ Remember ~ At Squire Sheldon’s funeral the rooks collected round the Church; and Mrs. W. Miller had 6d. for singing in the choir at the service.
~ Remember ~ It is said of the last Mrs. Sheldon that when her children cried she made them collect their tears in a saucer!
~ Remember ~ Less than 100 years ago Harry Clifton was shot on the footpath to High Lane by Squire Sheldon’s gamekeeper. Apparently Harry had been out after rabbits on Brailes Hill. Ditton met him and wanted to search him. Harry lifted his stick and struck Ditton who fell to his knees. He lifted his gun and shot Harry. This was witnessed by John Holton who was in his garden in Mint Row. Ditton was taken to the lock-up by the Bridge; men got up on the roof of the lock-up to try to get in to Ditton. Feelings ran very high. “The Church was full on Sunday after the shooting.”
Two gamekeeper’s truncheons – the property of Mr. O. Warmington
~ Remember ~ The Institute, built in 1886, was burnt in the early hours of November 4th, 1926. The cause of the fire always remained a mystery. Many willing helpers rescued the billiard tables, piano, library books and cupboard, but the tables, chairs and crockery were lost in the blaze. Fortunately the fire was confined to the building and adjacent houses escaped. The Institute was soon rebuilt.
~ Remember ~ Several families in the village still remember bereavement in 1876-7 when an epidemic of diphtheria attacked the children of the village and 37 died. There is a memorial window of Christ blessing the children in the West end of St. George’s Church.
~ Remember ~ Have you ever heard of Nance Austin who used to live in a cottage up Boyce’s Yard? Legend has it that she was a witch and could turn herself into a cat and that she used to hunt on Brailes Hill. One night the keeper shot and wounded this poaching cat. Children used to make straw crosses and put them outside her door, and then watch her try to get out as no witch will go over crossed straws. Nance was married and had a child who was defective – but it was said to be bewitched. Another story was that of a man in Upper Brailes who made a silver bullet and shot her in the leg when she was in the form of a hare, and that she was laid up just after the shooting with a very bad leg.
~ Remember ~ Whenever there has been an occasion of national rejoicing the inhabitants of Brailes have had their share in the festivities, and the lofty top of Brailes Hill has been aglow with many a bonfire. In 1897, at the Diamond Jubilee there was a tea, and sports at the Cricket Field. Mrs. Horton remembers drinking beer – she was then 3 years old!
Edward VII’s Coronation is thought to have been commemorated by a “do” at Brailes Hill and is remembered for the dancing and the bonfire; George V’s Coronation is thought to have been commemorated by a “do” at Brailes House, his Jubilee is known to have been kept by a lunch for adults, tea for the children, sports and the bonfire. The children received commemoration mugs. The same programme was followed at George VI’s Coronation. In 1953 the adults had their meal in the evening and the festivities took place in Mr. Manley’s barn at Upper Brailes.
Brailes Hill from Lower Green
~ Remember ~ In the village are three iron seats commemorating the Diamond Jubilee, and three wooden seats erected at the present Queen’’s Coronation. As the village is over 1½ miles long and rises steadily from the Lower Green, these are much appreciated.
~ Remember ~ Do you remember the sad times of the wars? In both wars the villagers took their share in doing what they could to help. Parcels for men overseas were sent through village organisations at both times. In World War I the Institute became a Red Cross Convalescent Hospital, under the leadership of Mrs. Dr. Finlay and Mrs. Slater-Gibbs. The first men to come were Belgians. When the hospital was established a resident matron and cook were appointed. Springfield House was used as a house for German prisoners-of-war during the latter part of the war. The Germans went out working on the farms. One prisoner died and is buried in Brailes. In 1939-45 Brailes received its quota of evacuees, mainly from London, but, in the main, they quickly returned. The fierce raids on Coventry were seen by people from the allotments in Winderton and Brailes Hill.
~ Remember ~
This photograph of Mrs. Harriet Mumford was taken on the occasion of her hundredth birthday
~ Remember ~ It is remarkable that, remote as any village in England is from the sea, a considerable proportion of men from Brailes served in the Royal Navy.
~ Remember ~ The field over the little wooden footbridge to the N.W. of the Church is listed as Trent Holme, but it is generally called Trent’im. It has everything which makes it fascinating to children of all ages – a winding brook, shaded by willows, some of which are hollow, and others lean so much that they form a bridge to the opposite bank. There is a steep bank, dotted with hawthorn and bramble bushes, idea for picnics and hide-and-seek in summer, and sledging in Winter. Up one side of this brook, in the shade of the rookery there is a flight of time-worn stone steps of obscure origin, known locally as the Roman steps or the ninety-nine steps. “Many are the picnics and rambles I have had in this field, which has been a favourite playground for us as long as I can remember. I have a distinct recollection of over-estimating my ability when trying to jump the brook, and landing with a splash in the middle. My two daughters have also fallen in at different times, so I have come to the conclusion that this is a thing that every Brailes child has to do once in a life-time.”
~ Remember ~ Do you remember the snows of February 1947 when Matthew’s Bus was lost for some days? It started of from Brailes in a blizzard at 9p.m. with the night shift workers for the aluminium works at Banbury, and got through, but on the way back, near the Pig and Whistle, progress was blocked by a broken-down car which could not be shifted. Snow drifted so fast that crew and passengers were forced to leave the bus and get home as best they could. And it kept on snowing. Some days later, when conditions improved and a snow plough had managed to clean a lane the bus was dug out, and the engine started – “When we got moving again, we looked back in the direction of Swalcliffe. The snow was as high as the roof of the bus from hedge to hedge as far as we could see.”
This same snow storm blocked the Salt Way for days and on the way to the White House and Compton from Winderton the drifts were eight and ten feet high. The upper road to Winderton was freed by an improvised snow plough as far as Winderton Church, so that traffic could come to the hamlet with food. “The beautiful shapes of the drifts were a cold compensation for their hindrance to our comings and goings.”
~ Remember ~ Do you remember the tams of shire horses that used to pull the wagons? Or a team of three horses at plough against a Spring skyline? Today the tractor has taken their place and some of the poetry has gone out of the countryside.
~ Remember ~ This book is being compiled in 1955-56. The burial registers of the Parish have been searched and the following names are still found in the village as are found in these old records :-
1655-6 Walker, Mumford, Rimell, Wilks
1755-6 Clifton, Spencer, Wiggin,Baldwin
1855-6 Pickering, Miller, Davis, Field
No attempt has been made to trace the earliest families, but there are many tombstones bearing these names in the churchyard.
We will remember them.
Hauntings
Hauntings
Brailes has its stories of ghosts. Sutton Lane is the site of two of three ghosts, so it is said – for most of the information comes from A, who heard it from B, who heard it from C! However, on a night in the Autumn of 1955 an eerie noise was heard at the White Hovel in Sutton Lane, which so terrified “X” that he ran his bicycle into the bank, the lights went out, and he rushed off to Sutton in panic. This account supports the generally accepted statement that “a lady walks at the White Hovel”.
At Tommy’s Turn, in Sutton Lane, a headless man, with his head on a plate walks at midnight on the day of his death. When is the day? No one knows as yet, but as the new Council Houses are being built on the opposite side of the road from Tommy’s Turn we may know before long!
A ghost known as Lady Dadfield, is said to drive her carriage and pair on Brickyard Hill on the Banbury Road.
A nun is said to walk near the Presbytery. She is supposed to have had a baby which was taken away from her, and she died, and walks, looking for the child.
A white shape is said to haunt Salt Way lane, at the Brailes end. It was seen when Godson’s horses were being taken out up Salt Way Lane. It was also seen by Mr. H. Matthew’s grandmother when she was taking some sewing to the Hall Meadow Farm, where she arrived “white and frightened”. She thought she had seen Mr. Keyte’s white dog on the road, but he was in the house, asleep by the fire!
And Suttons Lane again. A white pillar about 10feet high appears and seems to glide down a furrow.
There are no haunted houses, as far as can be ascertained. The most that can be said is that there are some which merit the remark: “I would not like to sleep along THERE”.
Brailes Treasures
Brailes Treasures
Apart from the treasures of the Churches in the village there are many beautiful and valuable treasures in the houses of W.I. members.
~ We would like to mention a deed of Indenture in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, with the wavy cut edge which would fit the other half in the possession of the other partner of the indenture.
~ A Charles I, 1626, pardon of John Deighton, complete with the royal seal for “his refusal to aid in the muste of arms, to provide either man or beast or dog towards the necessary provision” in the time of “our worthy father”.
~ An early Broadwood piano, without pedals, and one of the first upright pianos, beautifully inlaid with brass.
~ An old Jacobean oak cradle.
~ A “Breeches” Bible
~ A Constable’s Disbursement Records Book of 1742 (unfortunately not of Brailes Parish)
~ A beautifully embroidered wedding waistcoat
~ A “Ladies’ Knitting Book”, printed before 1846.
WI members of today are keen “handicrafters” producing things of beauty like their Institute tablecloth. We hope that some of their work will be listed as “Brailes Treasurers” when the next volume of the Village Scrapbook is written.
The design on the tablecloth is the traditional Warwickshire shepherd’s smock pattern, and it is embroidered in white and two shades of red.
Postscript
Postscript
May 31st 1958 is a date to be remembered in Brailes, for the, after many years of hard work by a Village Hall Committee, under the Chairmanship of W. P. Manley, Esq., the completed building was opened by Dr. Flack, Chairman of the Warwickshire Rural Community Council, on the site, in the middle of the village, which had been conveyed to the Parish Council in 1952. The Hall was built to the plans of Mr. G. Pemberton, by Messrs. J. H. Osbourne of Stow-on-the-Wold. The accepted estimate was £6,797. Grants were received from the Ministry of Education of £2,000, and from the Warwickshire Education Committee of £2,325.
For the Children’s Corner in the Playing Field £35.18.9 was received from the Warwickshire Education Committee and £30 from the Playing Fields Association. The remainder of the money comes from the Village, through the Annual Flower Show and Gymkhana, bazaars, dances and other efforts. In 1957 a House-to-House collection yielded £190. At the opening there was still money to be raised: but, after that date, the activities organised for the Village Hall take place in the Village Hall.
For many years the bells of St. George’s Church [refer to Section 9] have needed a new Bell Frame. In 1958, after many years of hard wok in collecting the necessary money (£2,000) from parishoners and friends this object was achieved. The bells were rehung on a new Bell-frame (some 8feet lower than previously) fitted with crank-shafts and ball-bearings. The work was carried out by the firm of John Taylor of Loughborough, with building work by Tom Pettifer Ltd. of Hook Norton. At Evensong on August 18th 1958 the Bells & belfry were dedicated by the Assistant Bishop, the Rt. Rev. N. W. Newnham Davis and Thanksgiving was offered for the completion of the work.
~~~
In February 1959 the Girls’ School was 100 years old. A service of Thanksgiving was held at the school.
[see photos of the school in School Lane in Section 12 SCHOOLS]
~~~
Village Hall – Memorial Gift
On June 21st 1959, an electric clock, presented by Mrs. Caroline Fowler, in memory of her son, Francis Henry Fowler and those who served with him in the RAF during the last war was unveiled by Mr. Maurice Warmington, who was with Mr. Fowler in the RAF.
Amendments & Addtions
The Institute:
In its early days it housed the Men’s Club; the WI held their Meetings there fro 1922 until 1958 when they transferred to the Village Hall. The Institute is now the home of Brailes Youth Club.
As the Red Cross Convalescent Hospital for Belgian Soldiers in the 1914-1918 war it was staffed by Miss Lilian Dickens of Cherington as Commandant, Mrs. K. Slater-Gibbs as Cook, Mrs. D. Findlay was Quarter Master.
In the possession of the Cummings family is a photograph of the “Helpers Committee”. They were tom Cullen, Harry Gregory (who played the trumpet), Bill (donkey) Harris, Sia Hawkin, Jack Phillips, Dick Hemmings, Jim Webb, Tom Ivens, Dr. Findlay, the Revd. Garrard, Ernest Gander, Ted Pickering, T. Jervis, A. H. Cummings, A. G. Boyce, G. Field.
Prominent among the Helpers were Mr. & Mrs. Gander. The womenfolk did the Day Nursing duties; the Men the night staffing.
During the 2nd World War the WI used the Institute as a Jam Making Centre during the fruit season. Relays of WI members worked in teams on portable electric and primus stoves with three County Representatives; Lady Burton, Mrs. Wenham and Mrs. Thornley. The Village was allowed to keep a certain amount of the Jam (against coupons) while the rest went to Government Canteens etc.
Nance Austin
The story of Nance Austin was first told to me by the dark bloused woman in the picture of the Cider Press in 1928 and was corroborated by other local people of her generation. Her first meeting with Nance was when, as a child, she was walking up “Sal Cracks” with her Mother, and she was “Dumbstruck”. She recovered. Now, Nance lived in Upper Brailes, and was blamed for the various mishaps to cattle. She incurred the dislike of two men, father and son, one of whom made a silver bullet which was used in the shooting and wounding of a hare in the field between the Old Forge and the Doctor’s Lodging. The next day Nance Austin was….cottage in Upper Brailes in bed with a “bad” leg. Until the collecting of date for the Scrapbook no one had ever mentioned Nance as living in Boyce’s Yard.
The home and shop of Thomas Jarvis, Saddler [refer to Section 15].
During alterations to the house a George III farthing dated 1700 was found under a wooden window ledge.
A coin known as “Abbey Jettons” was dug up in the garden in 1958.
This counter has been identified by Birmingham Art Gallery as c. 1400-1500AD.
Gillets Lane, around 1910
The first cottage was burned down many years ago.
One of the ladies is believed to be Alice Bloxham, daughter of Edwin Clay who was the last weaver of plush to live and work in the furthest cottage.