Chesterton is a small 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. The population of 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 ...

taken at the 2011 census was 123. It is about five miles south of

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

, near the villages of

Harbury Harbury is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. It is about west-southwest of Southam and about southeast of Royal Leamington Spa. The parish includes the hamlet of Deppers Bridge. The 2011 C ...

and

Lighthorne Lighthorne is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. It is about south of Leamington Spa. The population taken at the 2011 census was 361. Lighthorne is a small village in a valley and is near Moreton Morrell, Kineton and Welles ...

Parish

The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Chesterton and Kingston includes the agricultural area of Kingston east of the village. The parish forms a roughly rectangular block, nearly four miles in length from north-west to south-east and two miles broad. It is home to the notable

Chesterton Windmill Chesterton Windmill is a 17th-century cylindric stone tower windmill with an arched base, located outside the village of Chesterton, Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building and a striking landmark in south-east Warwickshire. History The ...

, built in 1632 from a design attributed to

Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...

, just off the

Fosse Way The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis (Ilchester), Aquae Sulis ( Bath), Corini ...

and a

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed building. The altitude of the parish ranges from 64 metres in the west to 122 metres in the east being mainly rolling low hills but slightly flatter where the Fosse Way dissects it.

History

There was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

town on the

less than a mile from the present village of Chesterton and this was mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086. The village changed names many times being Cestreyon (1043), Cestedone (1086), Cestertona (1170), Templer Cestreton (1185), Chastreton (1198), Casterton (1292) and Chesterton by 1350. Humble Bee cottages, on the hill where the manor ruins are, are now abandoned, but are thought to have been owned by the ancestors of Lord Willoughby de Broke (John Verney), who was descended from the owners of the manor. Originally, three terraced cottages existed, being rented by farm workers, but the cottage on the far right has been demolished. Actress

Sophie Turner Sophie Belinda Jonas (née Turner; born 21 February 1996) is an English actress. Turner made her acting debut as Sansa Stark on the HBO epic fantasy television series '' Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she received a Primetime Emmy A ...

spent her childhood in the village. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

dedicated to

St. Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

, is thought to date back to the 12th century, the most recent update being in 1862.

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

records held at

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

Records Office date back to 1538. At one time the church served the settlement of Chesterton. This settlement disappeared as a result of the inhabitants moving away to Chesterton Green, after receiving a visit from that most unwelcome of itinerants, the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

. Local rumour has it that tunnels connect the church to nearby Humble Bee cottages. In 1642 the Parish was merged with the neighbouring one of Kingston, to be renamed Chesterton and Kingston.Noden, Dorothy A: ''The History of Chesterton and Kingston'', page 66. Avon Litho Ltd, 1978 Since the 1350s much of the village had been in the possession of the Peyto family who lived at Chesterton House. Chesterton House was demolished in 1802The house's entry on the Our Warwickshire website
/ref> after Margaret Peyto, last of the family, died in 1772 and left her estates to her cousin John Verney of nearby

Compton Verney Compton Verney is a parish and historic manor in the county of Warwickshire, England. The population taken at the 2011 census was 119. The surviving manor house is the Georgian mansion Compton Verney House. Descent of the manor The first r ...

. The remains of the walls and gateway still stand. As well as being involved in the building of the

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...

Sir Edward Peyto probably built the nearby

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

which started off as a

court house A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-sp ...

but was converted to a mill in 1634. The stream supplying the

mill pond A mill pond (or millpond) is a body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill. Description Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam or weir (and mill stream) across a waterway. In many places, the com ...

created flooding problems so now no longer tops it up. In the 1960s an attempt to clear the pool failed, killing all the fish and making it stagnant. It was many years before the pool recovered and now has maximum dimensions of 315 by 105 metres.Noden, Dorothy A: ''The History of Chesterton and Kingston'', page 38. Avon Litho Ltd, 1978

Population

The population at various stages in time were: 1293: 29 Free Tenants
1299: 20 households
1509: 8 households
1901: 142
1921: 182
1931: 287
2001: 123
2011: 123

Gallery

Chesterton Windmill, Chesterton - 2016.jpg, Chesterton Windmill

References

External links

Photos of Chesterton and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
{{authority control Villages in Warwickshire Roman towns and cities in England Stratford-on-Avon District