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| A thumb-nail sketch of Salford Priors is
very difficult, for it is a large parish with several settlements and a complicated
history. It occupies the south-west corner of Warwickshire, being bounded by the rivers
Avon and Arrow; this accounted for a very marshy area and it is that a turret on the
church held a beacon for the guidance of travellers. The manor of Salford Priors belonged, first to Evesham Abbey, then to Kenilworth Priory (hence its name) until the Dissolution. Its descent is traceable back to A.D. 708. Sir Simon Clarke I obtained the manor, as well as Bidford and Broom. He was an antiquary and helper of Dugdale ('Antiquities of Warwickshire' ) . |
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His pride in his ancestry may be judged from the
marvellous heraldic monument in the church. Salford parish also contained other manors: Abbots Salford, Pophills, the Bevingtons and Dunnington. The monasteries of Evesham and Kenilworth and Ragley Hall all had interests in these places. Salford church dates from circa 1150 and is worthy of a visit; as well as the varying styles of architecture from the 12th to 17th centuries, the monuments deserve a close look. Both Salford Priors and Abbots Salford contain mansions of interest: between Salford and Irons Cross is Park Hall, built in 1879 after fire destroyed the original house. It is a most dignified building, though no longer a family home. Salford Hall at Abbots Salford is very different, dating from the late 15th century. The owners, the Stanfords, converted part of the house in the 18th century into a Roman Catholic chapel and eventually the house was occupied by Benedictine nuns; hence it has been known locally as 'The Nunnery' |
