MONKS KIRBY

The village lies about seven miles north west of Rugby. A Benedictine Priory was built there in 1077 and gave the parish its name. It is the largest parish in the north eastern portion of the county, and the church is correspondingly large, having been rebuilt in the fourteenth century and extended in the fifteenth. The stately home of Newnham Paddox is nearby, the seat of the Earls of Denbigh from the fifteenth century to 1952. The fourth Earl was the uncle of Henry Fielding, whose novel, Tom Jones, is often said to be the first great English novel. He altered the spelling of his name from Feilding. The Feildings were distinguished in military service.

There is an interesting plan of the seating in the church dated 1702 which shows the pews of the members of the family of the Earls and of Sir Francis Skipworth. Names of the pew holders of lesser social status are also shown. Withybrook was closely linked to Monks Kirby.

At Stretton-under-Fosse (a hamlet within the parish) is the entrance to Newbold Revel, the home of the Skipworths. Prior to their rebuilding of the house in 1716 it was owned by Sir Thomas Malory, a Knight in the Wars of the Roses, who translated the mediaeval legend of Morte d 'Arthur into English. The building was later used by St.Paul's Training College for Teachers. Hamlets, see below.

DIOCESE: Lichfield HUNDRED: Knightlow UNION: Lutterworth

ADJOINING PARISHES: Withybrook with Monks Kirby, Wolvey, Copston Magna, Willey, Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, Churchover, Harborough Magna, Kings Newnham, Brinklow, Comberfields.

HAMLETS: Cesters Over, Cloudsley Bush, Copston Magna, Brockhurst, Easenhall, Little Walton, Newbold Revel, Street Aston, Stretton-under-Fosse, Pailton, Goresland in Ullesthorpe.

Parish Registers: Christenings: 1653-1968 Marriages: 1653-1994 Burials: 1653-1958 Banns 1824-1842, 1847-1948.

Bishop's Transcripts : (includes Copston Magna) 1677-1835 (with gaps) LIC Begin c1833 WOR

IGI: Christenings: 1757-1875, Marriages: 1754-1876 also Copston Magna Christenings: 1757-1875.
Dissenting Chapel Baptist: Z 1805-1837.
Stretton under Foss Independent Christenings: 1787-1837. Widely available; BMSGH(PS)

REGISTER COPIES:CM Burials: 1649-1877 SoG

NONCONFORMIST: Roman Catholic: see Source Material and C, M & R Vol.2
Baptist Chapel: Z 1805-1837 PRO , WAR , COV
Congregational/Independent: Stretton-under-Fosse Z 1787-1836 Burials: 1788-1790 WAR , Z 1787-1794,1797-1837 Burials: 1787-1794 PRO , COV

MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS: Yard WAR
Monks Kirby. St.Editha's R.C.Cemetery BMSGH m/fiche , WAR , SoG , BIR
Stretton under Fosse Chapel BMSGH m/fiche , WAR , SoG , BIR

PROBATE RECORDS: LIC

CENSUS RETURNS: 1841 51 81 & 91 WAR
1851 BIR
1881 BCP , BMSGH(PS)

INDEXES
Burial 1813-1837
Marriage 1754-1837 and Stretton under Fosse 1754-1836
Poor Law c1690-1860

MANORIAL RECORDS: One document 1655.

OTHER SOURCES: Lease of lands, 1816, to the inhabitants of Pailton by the Masters and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Farm accounts of Edward Colban, farmer and schoolmaster 1870-1875.
Feilding papers from 1628 (permission to view may be required).
Plans and surveys of Streetsfield Farm 1717-1892.
Skipwith of Newbold Hall, deeds, diary 1628-1667, Journal 1767-1830 etc.
A Brief Account of the Skipwiths, F Skipwith 1867.
Newbold Revel, S.M.Stanislaus, 1949.
Easenhall, W.I.Domesday Book 1976.
See also Gregory of Stivichal collection STR


[Last updated: 18th March 2013 ]