Merevale, Warwickshire
Historical Description
Merevale, a parish in Warwickshire and Leicestershire, on Watling Street, the Coventry Canal, and the river Anker, and 1 mile W by S of Atherstone. Post town, Atherstone. Acreage of the Warwickshire portion, 890; population, 103; of the whole parish, 193. Merevale Hall stands on an eminence about 400 feet above sea-level, commanding a fine view, and is surrounded by a beautiful park. A Cistercian abbey was founded in 1148 by Robert, Earl of Ferrers, and is now represented by some interesting fragments and foundations of its buildings. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Worcester; gross value, £26. The church, it is supposed from the style of the architecture, must have been built after the Reformation; contains three stone coffins, several ancient brasses, a fine alabaster tomb of Lord Ferrers, and monuments of the Stratfords and the Dngdales.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Leicestershire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Merevale St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Sparkenhoe | |
| Poor Law union | Atherstone |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Warwickshire County Record Office hold the following registers for Merevale:
| Baptisms | Marriages | Burials |
|---|---|---|
| 1727-1899 | 1728-1983 | 1727-1984 |
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 Merevale from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Merevale (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Warwickshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Merevale 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.