Maxstoke, Warwickshire
Historical Description
Maxstoke, a village and a parish in Warwickshire, on the river Biythe, 3 miles SE of Coleshill. Post town, Coles-hill, under Birmingham. Acreage, 2852; population, 224. Maxstoke Castle was built in the time of Edward III., has a quadrangular form with a hexagonal embattled tower at each angle, is surrounded by a moat; the present dwelling-house, rebuilt in the 17th century, occupies one side of the quadrangle; belonged to successively the Staffords, the Comptons, and the Egertons; and since the time of Elizabeth has been in the possession of the Dilke family. An Augustinian priory was founded near the churchyard about the same time as the castle; by William, Earl of Huntingdon. Considerable rains still remain, and what was probably the prior's lodging has, since the dissolution, been turned into a farmhouse. Lord Leigh is the lord of the priory manor. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester; gross value, £199 with residence. Patron, Lord Leigh. The church is ancient.
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 | Maxstoke St. Michael | |
| Hundred | Hemlingford | |
| Poor Law union | Meriden |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Warwickshire County Record Office hold the following registers for Maxstoke:
| Baptisms | Marriages | Burials |
|---|---|---|
| 1653-1914 | 1654-1983 | 1653-2000 |
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 Maxstoke from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Maxstoke (St. Michael))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Warwickshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Maxstoke 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:
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Warwickshire 1619 is available on the Heraldry page.