Shuckburgh, Upper (St. John the Baptist)

SHUCKBURGH, UPPER (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Southam, Southam division of the hundred of Knightlow, S. division of the county of Warwick, 5 miles (S.) from Rugby; containing 46 inhabitants. The parish comprises 1167 acres, and is bounded on the east and south by the river Leam, which separates it from Northamptonshire. The surface is generally elevated, and on the western boundary is Beacon Hill, commanding fine views of the surrounding country, and in clear weather of the Wrekin mountain and the Malvern Hills. Here is Shuckburgh Park, the seat of the ancient family of Shuckburgh. Dugdale supposes that William de Shuckburgh, in the time of King John, was the first who assumed the name; in subsequent reigns several of the family held offices of great trust and authority in the county, and in 1660 the title of baronet was bestowed upon John de Shuckburgh by Charles II. The mansion is a spacious and elegant structure, in an extensive park, abounding in deer, but whose woodland recesses do not possess their former beauty, much of the timber having been felled. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £30; patron, Sir F. Shuckburgh, Bart. The church contains some finely-executed monuments to the Shuckburgh family; the chancel window is embellished with a figure of St. John, painted by Mr. Eginton, of Birmingham.