Astley is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

within the

North Warwickshire North Warwickshire is a local government district with borough status in Warwickshire, England. The borough includes the two towns of Atherstone (where the council is based) and Coleshill, and the large villages of Hartshill, Kingsbury, Ma ...

district of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : In the 2001 census it had a population of 219, reducing slightly to 218 at the 2011 census. Astley is ''Knebly'' in

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

's ''Mr Gilfil's Love Story'', published in 1857. Eliot's parents were married in the church.BBC - Exploring important George Eliot locations
/ref>

St Mary the Virgin

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

was rebuilt by Sir Thomas Astley in 1343. An

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

carving of a

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

from an earlier church was preserved in the

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

. Thomas Grey was entombed in the church in 1530. The present church dates from another rebuild in 1617 by the Chamberlayne family. It is mainly the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

of the 1343 building and the original east window incorporated into the tower. Preserved in the church are

effigies An effigy is a sculptural representation, often life-size, of a specific person or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certain ...

of the Grey family, eighteen

choir stalls A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tab ...

painted with images of the prophets and apostles and, on the ceiling, 21 heraldic shields of

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

families.

Astley Castle

Astley Castle Astley Castle is a ruinous moated fortified 16th century manor house in North Warwickshire, England. It has been a Grade II* listed building since 1952 and a Scheduled Ancient Monument since 1994. It was derelict and neglected since it was sev ...

, a

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

listed building, is the last of three

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

s built on the same site and using the same

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

. The castle was held by the

Newdigate family The Newdigate baronetcy, of Arbury, Warwickshire, was created on 24 July 1677 in the Baronetage of England for Richard Newdigate of Arbury Hall. It became extinct on the death of the 5th Baronet on 2 December 1806. Baronets of Arbury (1677) * ...

in the 19th century, latterly being the home of

Lieut-Gen. Edward Newdigate Newdegate Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Newdigate Newdegate, (15 June 1825 – 1 August 1902) was a British Army officer. Until 1887 he was Edward Newdigate. Background and early life Newdegate was born at Astley Cas ...

. It was later a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

, and was a ruin following a fire in 1978. The

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British architectural conservation, building conservation charitable organization, charity, founded in 1965 by John Smith (Conservative politician), Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or ...

has transformed the castle into a

holiday home A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are oft ...

by constructing a new building within the ruin.

References

External links

*
In the news at the Guardian website
* Villages in Warwickshire {{Warwickshire-geo-stub