Chesterton, Warwickshire

Historical Description

Chesterton, a parish in Warwickshire, on the Fosse Way, and on an affluent of the river Avon, 2 miles SW of Har-bury station on the G.W.R., and 4½ SW by S of Southam, and 5 NE of Kineton. It includes Kingston hamlet, and its post town is Harbury under Leamington. Acreage, 3585; population, 184. The manor belonged formerly to the family of Peto, and belongs now to Lord Willoughby de Broke. The manor-house was built by one of the Peto family, and was enlarged in 1630, after designs by Inigo Jones, and demolished in 1802. A large windmill of circular form, on six arches, designed by Inigo Jones, surmounts an eminence near the church. A Roman camp, supposed by some to have been the Roman station Medio-lanum, is within the parish on the Fosse Way, and has yielded Roman coins. The living is a vicarage, annexed to the rectory of Lighthorne, in the diocese of Worcester; gross value, £258 with residence. Patron, Lord Willoughby de Broke. The church is ancient, and contains three fine monuments of the Peto family. Lord Cobham, the famous Wickliffite, found shelter with the incumbent in Henry V.'s time, and Cardinal Peto, the Pope's legate in the reign of Mary, was a native.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The Warwickshire County Record Office hold the following registers for Chesterton:

Most of the records prior to 1911 have been digitised and are available on Ancestry.co.uk

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Chesterton from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Chesterton (St. Giles))

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Warwickshire is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Chesterton 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:

• Leamington Spa Courier

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Warwickshire 1619 is available on the Heraldry page.