Bilton, Warwickshire
Historical Description
Bilton, a village and a parish in Warwickshire. The village stands 2 miles SW of Rugby, under which it has a post office, and at which is the money order and telegraph office. The parish comprises 2306 acres; population of the civil parish, 1894; of the ecclesiastical, 803. Bilton Hall, built in 1623, was purchased by Addison in 1711 prior to his marriage with the Countess of Warwick, and contains portraits by Vandyke, Kneller, and other painters. The manor house contains a fine Madonna by Perngino. Bilton Grange, formerly the seat of the Hume family, is now a private school.
The living is a rectory in the diocese of Worcester; net value, £321. The church is a good Decorated structure, with graceful octagonal spire. It was restored and enlarged in 1872; contains some good stained windows, sedilia, and a piscina; the finely carved oaken organ-case formerly belonged to St John's College, Cambridge. The vicarage of New Bilton is a separate charge, constituted in 1867. There are a Wesleyan chapel, and a reading and news room., See BILTON, NEW.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Warwickshire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Bilton St. Mark | |
| Hundred | Knightlow | |
| Poor Law union | Rugby |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Warwickshire County Record Office hold the following registers for Bilton:
| Baptisms | Marriages | Burials |
|---|---|---|
| 1643-1977 | 1663-1987 | 1658-1973 |
Most of the records prior to 1911 have been digitised and are available on Ancestry.co.uk
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Bilton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bilton (St. Mark))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Warwickshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Bilton are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Warwickshire papers online:
Schools
The Bilton Grange Register, 1873-1931 is available to browse.
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Warwickshire 1619 is available on the Heraldry page.