Temple Grafton, Warwickshire
Historical Description
Grafton, Temple, a parish in Warwickshire, near Icknield Street, 3 miles SE by E of Alcester, and 2 E of Wixford station on the M.R. It contains the hamlet of Hillborough and part of that of Ardens Grafton, and its post town is Alcester, under Redditch. Acreage, 2050; population, 388. The name Temple Grafton was given under the idea that the manor anciently belonged to the Knights Templars. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester; net value, £110 with residence. The church is ancient, and was rebuilt in 1875. Grafton Court is the chief residence. In the episcopal registers at Worcester there is a record of a marriage licence between "William Shaxpere and Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton." The date and all the names, with the exception of " Whateley " for Hattway or Hattaway (not a very unlikely error in those days), point to the probability that Shakespeare was married here.
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 | Temple Grafton St. Andrew | |
| Hundred | Barlichway | |
| Poor Law union | Stratford-upon-Avon |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Warwickshire County Record Office hold the following registers for Templegrafton:
| Baptisms | Marriages | Burials |
|---|---|---|
| 1757-1979 | 1612-1976 | 1757-1939 |
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 Temple Grafton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Grafton, Temple (St. Andrew))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Warwickshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Temple Grafton 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.