Middleton

WARWICKSHIRE
ENGLAND


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St John the Baptist, the parish church

Middleton lies a little to the west of the road from Coleshill to Tamworth. It was mentioned in the Domesday Survey when Hugh de Gretemaisnil and his wife Adeliz shared ownership with four hides each.

The first reference to the manor of Middleton is in May 1259 when Philip Marmion leased it to the prior and convent of Studley for two years. Philip died in 1285 and his property, including two watermills, was assigned in dower to his wife Mary.

In the mid 16th century a fishery stretched from Kingsbury, through Middleton, to Drayton Bassett along the River Tame, and by the end of the century ironworks were established in the parish.

There has been a church in Middleton since Anglo Saxon times, but the present building only dates from the mid 12th century. The chancel and nave, now much rebuilt, formed the early church and the north aisle was added at the end of the 13th century. The tower and clerestories above the chancel and nave were built in the latter part of the 15th century. The south porch in 18th century red-brick shelters the 12th century doorway, a good example of Decorated Norman architecture with its dogtooth design.

The church is rich in memorials. The oldest, dated 1407, are small brasses on the north wall of the chancel to Dorothy, daughter of Henry Willoughby and the wife of Anthony Fitzherbert. A brass in the chancel floor is to Sir Richard Bingham, the judge, who died in 1476, and his wife Margaret.

A colourful memorial depicting a knight at prayer commemorates Edward Ridgeway, second son of Thomas, Earl of Londonderry, who died in 1638; another ornate structure recounts the fame of Francis Willoughby, the naturalist, son of Sir Francis and Cassandra (nee Ridgeway) who died in 1665.

The sanctuary is paved with gravestones of the Willoughby family, and others commemorated within the church include Heriolte de Hemel, Benjamin White (d. 1685 aged 11), Samuel White (d. 1688 aged 20), Ann Budd (d. 1778), John Young (d. 1865), Esther Peel (d. 1887, widow of John), and Henry and Robert Vere Hodge, a father and son, who were vicars of the parish from 1835 to 1936.


Please check back soon for photos of St John the Baptist, Middleton.