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CALDECOTE - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"CALDECOTE, a parish in the Atherstone division of the hundred of Hemlingford, in the county of Warwick, 2 miles to the N. of Nuneaton, its post town. It is situated on the border of Leicestershire, near the Trent Valley line of the London and North-Western railway, on which Nuneaton is a station. The parish is crossed by the Coventry canal. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Worcester, value £155, in the patronage of Kirkby Fenton, Esq., who is lord of the manor.

The church, dedicated to SS. Theobald and Chad, was completely restored about five years ago; it contains several monuments of the Purefoy family, and one of Nathan Wright, Lord Keeper. The charitable bequest, amounting to about £9 a year, was left by George Abbot, for the support of a school for poor children and for providing books.

Caldecote House, a fine old mansion, formerly the seat of the Purefoys, was attacked during the Civil War by Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice, but was bravely and successfully defended by George Abbot (a son of Archbishop Abbot, who had married the heiress of the house of Purefoy), with only eight retainers and the ladies of his family, against the royalist forces. A tablet to his memory is still preserved in the chancel of the church, enumerating "his eminent parts, graces, and virtues", and recording the valorous defence of Caldecote House."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]