Baxterley Church is situated at the western side of the parish of

Baxterley Baxterley is a small village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire in England. According to the 2001 Census, it had a population of 335, reducing to 328 at the 2011 Census. The village is about two miles west of ...

, Warwickshire, towards Wood End, and dates from the 12th century.

History

This small grade II listed

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

church is of square plan. The windows in the c. 12th–century

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 ...

are small. The church has been extended in the 13th, 14th and 19th–centuries. The font is 15th–century. The church dates from

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

times and was built around 1200 AD with additions built throughout its life. The foundations of the nave Date from the 14th century. The base of the small tower was built around 1540 but the top section is early 17th century. The church was extensively rebuilt c. 1875 by Paull and Bickerdike.

Hugh Latimer Hugh Latimer ( – 16 October 1555) was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and Bishop of Worcester during the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555 under the Catholic Queen Mary I he was burned at the ...

Bishop of Oxford The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft (bishop), Steven Croft, following the Confirm ...

, preached a sermon at Baxterley Church on Christmas Day 1552. His niece, Mary Glover, lived nearby in

Mancetter Mancetter is a village and civil parish in North Warwickshire, England, where Watling Street crosses the River Anker. The population was 2,339 at the 2011 census. It is contiguous with the town of Atherstone, on the B4111 road towards Hartshil ...

.John Foxe's book of martyrs
A 13th century wooden

crozier A crozier or crosier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...

head was found embedded in the wall in 1958; it is the ''oldest piece of church equipment in Warwickshire''.VisitorUK.com
/ref>

Profile

It is a small stone-built country church with a nave chancel and small tower. It is surrounded by a graveyard which contains a

war grave A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...

of an

airman An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred to as a soldier in other definitions. As a military rank designat ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.
CWGC Casualty Record. The Church, surrounded by small farms, is situated around from the village; when the church was built Baxterley was the nearest settlement but since the construction of Wood End, Atherstone, Wood End in 1890, which is away, this has become the nearest settlement. It is part of the Kingsbury and Baxterley group of churches along with

Kingsbury Kingsbury may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Kingsbury, London, a district of northwest London in the borough of Brent ** Kingsbury tube station, London Underground station * Kingsbury, Warwickshire, a village and civil parish in Warwickshi ...

Merevale Merevale is a small village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire in England. Located about one and a half miles west of Atherstone, it is the site of a medieval Cistercian Abbey (founded in 1148) and ...

, Hurley and Wood End. All five share the same Priest In Charge, who is currently Revd. Dr John White. It is part of the Deanery of Polesworth, which is part of the Archdeaconry of Aston.

Gallery

Baxterley Church - 51958759784.jpg , West end of the church Baxterley Church, Warwickshire (52757709965).jpg , East window The lych-gate, Baxterley Church - geograph.org.uk - 112159.jpg ,

Lych gate A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the ...

References

Footnotes

Notes

Bibliography

External links

*{{NHLE , num=1034739
A church Near youInformation From Baxterley.com
Church of England church buildings in Warwickshire Wood End, Atherstone