STONELEIGH - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"STONELEIGH, a parish in the Kenilworth division of Knightlow hundred, county Warwick, 2 miles E. of Kenilworth, its post town, and 5 N.E. of Warwick. It is situated on the river Avon where the Sow joins, near the Roman Fosseway. The parish, which is extensive, includes Cryfield, Westwood, and six other hamlets The manor was held in demesne by Edward the Confessor, and afterwards by William I. The village, which is now inconsiderable, was formerly a market town, and has a gate, crypt, &c., of the Cistercian Abbey, brought from Radmore, in 1154, by Henry II.

At the Dissolution, the revenues were valued at £151, and the site given by Henry VIII. to C. Brandon, Duke of Suffolk; from him it passed to the Cavendyshes, and was finally bought by Sir Thomas Leigh, Lord Mayor of London in 1562. King Charles I. was entertained by Thomas, first Lord Leigh, August, 1642, when the citizens of Coventry refused to open their gates to him. The modern mansion was built by Edward, third Lord Leigh, 1720. It contains a collection of paintings and portraits, by Dutch masters.

The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Worcester, value £510. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient structure. The interior contains an old font, and effigies of Alice, Duchess Dudley, and her daughter Alicia, on altar tombs of marble. There is also a district church at Westwood, the living of which is a perpetual curacy, value £120. The parochial charities are very considerable. There is a National school for both sexes. Stoneleigh gives name to a deanery in the archdeaconry of Coventry and diocese of Worcester."

"CANLEY, a hamlet in the parish of Stoneleigh, hundred of Knightlow, in the county of Warwick, 2 miles from Coventry."

"CRYFIELD, a hamlet in the parish of Stoneleigh, in the county of Warwick, 2½ miles S.W. of Coventry."

"FLETCHAMSTEAD, a hamlet in the parish of Stoneleigh, hundred of Knightlow, county Warwick, 2 miles S.W. of Coventry. The North-Western railway passes through here. The village is large, and there was formerly a chapel."

"FYNHAM, a village in the parish of Stoneleigh, county Warwick, 3 miles S. of Coventry."

"HILL, a village in the parish of Stoneleigh, county Warwick, 3 miles S: of Coventry."

"HURST, a village in the parish of Stoneleigh, county Warwick, 4 miles S.W. of Coventry."

"STARTON, a village in the parish of Stoneleigh, county Warwick, 4 miles S. of Coventry."

"WESTWOOD, a hamlet and chapelry in the parish of Stoneleigh, county Warwick, 4 miles S. of Coventry."

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