Packington, Great (St. James)

PACKINGTON, GREAT (St. James), a parish, in the union of Meriden, Solihull division of the hundred of Hemlingford, N. division of the county of Warwick, 8 miles (N. W. by W.) from Coventry; containing 340 inhabitants. This was the property, at the time of the Norman survey, of Turchil de Warwick, by whom, or by whose son, it was given to Geoffrey de Clinton, founder of the castle and priory of Kenilworth: the son of Geoffrey gave it to that monastery. Coming to the crown at the Dissolution, it passed by letters-patent to the Fisher family, and was carried by their heiress to the Hon. Heneage Finch, ancestor of the Earl of Aylesford, the present noble proprietor. The parish comprises 2257 acres, and is on the road between Birmingham and Coventry. The neighbourhood contains some of the highest ground in England, and many parts command the most beautiful, as well as extensive, views. There is a quarry of red-sandstone, chiefly used for the roads. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 10. 2½.; patron and impropriator, the Earl of Aylesford: the great tithes have been commuted for £180, and the vicarial for £240; the glebe contains 46 acres. His lordship's handsome mansion here is beautifully situated in an extensive park, abounding in rich scenery, diversified with wood and water, and embellished with gardens, statues, and other ornaments: the house was greatly improved by the two last earls. The church, which stands in the park, was built in 1789, after the model of the temple at Pæstum.