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| In the 1945 edition of the Victoria County History for Warwickshire, Kinwarton parish takes up less room than most. The 1931 census showed only a population of 39. But it is an ancient place In /\.D.708 Evesham Abbey possessed land there and continued to do so until 1540, when the Skinner family became lord of the Manor: they sold it to the Grevilles in 1624 (who about this time had left Beauchamp Court, Alcester, for Warwick Castle). The manor house, in which the absentee lords placed tenants as their representatives, was the site now marked by a partial moat near the dovecote. Evesham Abbey held the presentation to the church of St. Mary the Virgin from the 12th century. The church was particularly well-known in the early 18th century as a sort of Warwickshire Gretna Green: in this period there were many weddings here - people came from a wide area, apparently with no questions asked. The rectors would have found this a useful increment to their salaries. When the church authorities finally tightened up the roles, Kinwarton church went back to only one or two marriages a year. |
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By the 19th century the village of Kinwarton, in the field adjoining the church and the moat, gradually disappeared, leaving only the church, the Rectory, Glebe Farm and the dove-cote to mark the settlement. The rise of new houses nearer to Alcester has kept the parish as a going concern. Ecclesiastically, the Rector has always had control of the church at Great Alne and in recent times of Haselor, too
Additional Information
Archaeological sites of the Area 8. Kinwarton
© G.E. Saville 1992
