Polesworth, Warwickshire Family History Guide
Polesworth is an Ancient Parish in the county of Warwickshire.
Other places in the parish include: the hamlets of Warton, Dordon, and Hallend-with-Freazley, and the manors of Pooley and Bramcote
Parish church: St. Edith
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1631
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1669
Nonconformists include: General Baptist, Independent/Congregational, Society of Friends/Quaker, and Wesleyan Methodist.
Fairs: September 24
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Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
POLESWORTH, a village and a parish in Atherstone district, Warwick. The village stands on the river Anker, near the Coventry canal and the Trent Valley railway, 1½ mile N of Watling-street, and 4 ESE of Tamworth.
It is an ancient place; was once a market-town; and has a station on the railway, a post-office under Tamworth, and a fair on the Monday after 19 Sept.
The parish contains also the hamlets of Warton, Dordon, and Hallend-with-Freazley, and the manors of Pooley and Bramcote. Acres, 6,310. Real property, £8,914. Pop.in 1851, 2,104; in 1861, 2,451. Houses, 500. The manor and much of the land belong to Sir George Chetwynd, Bart. Pooley Hall belonged anciently to the Marmions; passed, in 1399, to the Cokains; was rebuilt, in 1509, by Sir T. Cokain; and belongs now to W. G. Wynne Finch, Esq.
A nunnery was founded at Polesworth by King Egbert, or his son; was refounded, after the Norman conquest, by Robert Marmion; and has left some remains. There are collieries, quarries, and clay-works.
The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester. Value, £502. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church belonged to the ancient nunnery; and consists of nave and aisle, with a very fine tower.
The p. curacy of Warton is a separate benefice. There are an Independent chapel, two Baptist chapels, and Church of England endowed schools with £401 a year.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Polesworth, 4 miles S.E. Tamworth. P. 1844.
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850.
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
POLESWORTH (St. Edith), a parish, in the union of Atherstone, Tamworth division of the hundred of Hemlingford, N. division of the county of Warwick, 4¼ miles (S. S. E.) from Tamworth; containing 1844 inhabitants.
A Benedictine nunnery in honour of Our Lady, was founded here about the beginning of the ninth century, by King Egbert, whose daughter Editha was abbess; and on the canonization of this princess, the establishment was dedicated to her. Soon after the Conquest, the nuns were dispossessed, and retired to their cell at Oldbury: but in the time of Stephen, they returned to this place, and from Henry III. had the grant of a weekly market, long discontinued, and an annual fair, still held in September. At the Dissolution the house possessed a revenue of £109. 6. 6.: there are considerable remains of the buildings.
The parish comprises 6300 acres of productive land, and is intersected by the Coventry canal, the river Anker, and the road between Tamworth and Ashby. Here are several coalmines, in the occupation of Mr. Hanbury. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king’s books at £10; net income, £502; patron, the Crown. Francis Nethersole, in the year 1656, founded and liberally endowed a free school.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Polesworth A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland 1833
Polesworth, co. Warwick.
P. T. Tamworth (114) 4 m. ESE. Pop. 1834.
A parish in Tamworth division of the hundred of Hemlingford, through which the Coventry Canal passes; living, a dis. vicarage in the archdeaconry of Coventry and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry; valued in K.B. 10l.; church ded. to St. Edith; patron, the Lord Chancellor; but if the trustees of Sir F. Nethersole present, an additional income of 80l. is received by the vicar. Here was a Benedictine priory, founded by St. Edith
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland by John Gorton. The Irish and Welsh articles by G. N. Wright; Vol. III; London; Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand; 1833.
Parish Records
FamilySearch
FamilySearch Historical Records
Maps
Administration
- County: Warwickshire
- Civil Registration District: Atherstone
- Probate Court: Pre-1837 – Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory), Post-1836 – Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)
- Diocese: Worcester
- Rural Deanery: Arden
- Poor Law Union: Atherstone
- Hundred: Hemlingford
- Province: Canterbury