Curdworth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Curdworth is a village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire in England. In 1995 and 2000 Curdworth gained the title of Best Kept Village in Warwickshire, in the large village class [1].
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[edit] Location
Curdworth is situated in the county of Warwickshire and lies 11 miles east of the centre of Birmingham. North Warwickshire borders the Warwickshire borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth to the east, the county of Leicestershire to the north-east, Staffordshire to the north-west, Sutton Coldfield to the west and Birmingham in the West Midlands to the south.
The village is close to Junction T1 of the M6 Toll and Junction 9 of the M42 motorways, Hams Hall road freight terminal (on the site of the old Hams Hall power stations) and The Belfry Golf Course and Hotel.
[edit] History
Curdworth and Minworth both originated in the 6th or 7th Centuries, being established by Angles settlers, and are historically associated with the Arden family (William Shakespeare's maternal relations). Curdworth is probably corrupted from Crida's Worth. Worth means property of and the Angle called Crida owned land here. Curdworth is mentioned in the Domesday Survey (1086).
Adjacent to the Churchyard is the King George V Playing Fields, which was originally a raised clay and pebble base for a Medieval Saxon Manor Complex, which was attached to the church. This site and the moated Curdworth Hall, also a Saxon structure that was located at the top of Farthing lane, were of great importance in the area.
The remains of a moat, associated with the Arden's, are now buried under the M42. This site is thought to have been their home before they moved to Park Hall in Castle Bromwich.
At the edge of the playing fields is ‘The Bomb Hole', as known by locals, which is actually a Mild Pit, where a Saxon fertiliser consisting of clay and calcium carbonate were extracted.
[edit] Civil War
In August 1642 the first skirmish between the Roundheads and Cavaliers of the Civil War (1642-1649) took place in the fields to the south of Curdworth, the Battle of Curdworth Bridge. One of the musket balls fired left a mark in a nave window. Some of the casualties are supposed to be buried in the graveyard.
[edit] The Parish Church
In 1895 a carved stone Saxon font was recovered during refurbishments to the church by Lord Norton. The font had been buried under the nave floor, possibly during the Reformation and indicates that a church has been present on the site since Saxon times. The present Parish Church of St Nicholas and St Peter ad Vincula is of Norman origin (1170-1190), established in 1165 when the Augustinian Canons of the Abbey of St Mary de Pratis were granted the right to present a priest to the parish. The church was lengthened in the 14th Century and the Perpendicular style tower was added in 1460 by the Earl of Warwick, but it was never finished with its intended spire. There are three bells in the tower; the first tenor, The Mary Bell dating from the 15th century, said to have been given in gratitude by a traveller lost in the Forest of Arden, guided to safety to Curdworth by the sound of a bell. The second bell is dated 1756 and inscribed “Thos. Eayre de Kettering” and the third treble bell is inscribed “Edward Astley 1663. Thomas Wilcox”. Amongst many pieces of sculpture is an angel (now headless) that used to be on the road bridge over the River Tame at Water Orton to safeguard the safe passage of travellers. There is a dedication to St Peter ad Vincula for this church, one of only twelve churches.
