OFFCHURCH - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"OFFCHURCH, a parish in the Kenilworth division of the hundred of Knightlow, county Warwick, 3 miles E. of Leamington, its post town, and 5 N.E. of Warwick. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the river Leam, and near the line of the North-Western railway. The Warwick and Napton canal and the Roman Fosse Way intersect on the southern boundary of the parish. It formerly belonged to the Mercian kings, and subsequently to the priory of Coventry. The Warwickshire hounds meet in the neighbourhood.

The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The soil is of various qualities, but generally fertile. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Worcester, value £140. The church, dedicated to St. Gregory, is an ancient structure with a square tower containing four bells. The interior of the church contains several monuments and tablets. There is a parochial school for children of both sexes. Offchurch Bury is a mansion situated on the banks of the Leam, in a well-wooded park. The Earl of Aylesford is lord of the manor and sole landowner."

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