Quinton is a
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 authorit ...
in the
Stratford-on-Avon district of
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-Av ...
, England, about six miles south of
Stratford-upon-Avon. According to the
2001 Census it had a population of 1,503, increasing to 1,968 at the
2011 Census. 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 o ...
contains Upper Quinton and Lower Quinton. It lies on the
Heart of England Way
The Heart of England Way is a long-distance walk of around through the Midlands of England. The walk starts from Milford Common on Cannock Chase and ends at Bourton on the Water in the Cotswolds linking south Staffordshire through Warwick ...
.
History
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 manus ...
recorded that these were two of about seven
manors given to
Hugh de Grandmesnil
Hugh de Grandmesnil (1032 – 22 February 1098), (known in French as ''Hugues'' and Latinised as ''Hugo de Grentmesnil'', aliter ''Grentemesnil'', etc.), is one of the proven companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle ...
following the
Norman conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...
(he had larger rewards in other counties). Lower Quinton was the site of the notorious murder in 1945 of
Charles Walton, in what was believed by some to have been a
witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...
-related ritual killing.
BBC page covering the 1945 murder
/ref> Upper and Lower Quinton were listed under Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
:
The same Hugh holds Upper Quinton. There are two hides. One thegn
In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there ...
held it. In demesne two ploughs and five villans and one bordars with three ploughs. There are four slaves and one female slave. It was worth £7, now £4.
The same Hugh holds Lower Quinton and Roger holds of him. There are twelve hides. Baldwin held it TRE. In demesne three ploughs and seventeen villans and two bordars with nine ploughs. There are six slaves. It was worth £7, now £6.[''Domesday Book: A Complete Translation''. London: Penguin, 2003. p.464]
References
{{authority control
Villages in Warwickshire
Civil parishes in Warwickshire
Stratford-on-Avon District