Arlescote is a village in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, England. Arlescote forms part of the district of Stratford-on-Avon and the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Warmington. This small hamlet sits approximately away from Warmington at the bottom of Edgehill, with roughly 10 houses and 30 villagers today. Without any shops or other local conveniences situated in the hamlet, the main feature is Arlescote House, a Grade II* James I house of architectural and historic interest.

Location

Arlescote is in the county of

, England, despite the hamlet's postcode (OX17 1DQ). Arlescote is part of the parish of Warmington and is on the north-facing side of Edgehill. Nearby towns include Banbury, and Leamington Spa. Arlescote is fairly remote, with the nearest village being 2 miles away. Arlescote is at one of the northernmost points of the

Cotswolds AONB The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

. A public footpath runs through the village.

History

As part of the parish of Warmington, Arlescote shares much of its history with the nearby villages of Warmington and Ratley. Originally Arlescote began as little more than the manor house and surrounding farmland. During the late 10th century, the land was held by the Norman Abbey of Préaux. Arelscote was given to the abbey by the

Count of Meulan The county of Meulan, in Normandy, France, appeared as an entity within the region of the Vexin when the otherwise unknown Count Waleran established an independent power base on a fortified island in the River Seine, around the year 1020. Waleran' ...

's father, Roger de Beaumont, and confirmed by

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

c. 1080. When the count's brother, Earl of Warwick, succeeded his sibling, he also gave the village of Warmington to the abbey. During the 14th century, the "priory" seems to have disbanded and the parish passed into the control of the prior of Toft monks. During the war with France, the parish was passed in and out of the possession of the king. In 1542, Arlescote was granted to Richard Andrews and Leonard Chamberlain, who quickly passed the land on to the Lecke family. The house fell into the possession of John Croker of

Hook Norton Hook Norton is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It lies northeast of Chipping Norton, close to the Cotswold Hills. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,117. The village is formed of four neighbourhoods: Ea ...

who subsequently passed the land on to his son Gerard following his death. In 1572, Warmington and Arlescote's manor houses were sold to Richard and Thomas Cupper. Following Richard's death around 1605, his son Henry Cupper (or Cooper, as the name had now become) gave Warmington manor to his second son Thomas. Both Alrescote House and Warmington Manor were then passed down through the Cooper family. In 1642 the

Battle of Edgehill The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642. All attempts at constitutional compromise between K ...

took place as the first battle of the first English Civil War. The battle itself took place very near to Arlescote, with battle reenactments still taking place today in nearby countryside. The next known owner of Warmington manor was William Bumpstead in 1743. By 1764 the house was owned by Robert Child, a wealthy banker. Child's daughter Sarah and her husband John then took ownership of the manor in 1787. Their daughter Sarah Sophia and her husband, Earl of Jersey, then became lord of the manor around 1806. Following the earl's death in 1859, Mr and Mrs Bennet became lord and lady of Warmington manor until 1924. Since this time the manorial rights appear to have fallen through.(History sourced fro
British History Online
Arlescote Manor has been redeveloped by its current owners who bought the house in the mid-2000s. The village community also rebuilt a dry-stone wall on the east side of the village in 2000 as a millennium community project.

References

External links

* *
Arlecote's History: Warmington Parishes
{{authority control Villages in Warwickshire Stratford-on-Avon District