Aston Hall, the stately home near Villa Park, is a fine example of a Jacobean prodigy house

Aston Hall, a Grade I listed Jacobean house in Aston, is one of the finest examples of a Jacobean prodigy house (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024; click on images for full-screen views)

Patrick Comerford

Aston Hall, a Grade I listed Jacobean house in Aston, Birmingham, is one of the finest examples of a Jacobean prodigy house. It sits in a large park, part of which became Villa Park, the home ground of Aston Villa since 1897. From the lofty hill-top position of Aston Hall, there are clear views of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, the parish church of Aston, and of Villa Park, which is less than 200 metres away and stands on part of the former grounds of Aston Hall.

Aston Hall was designed for Sir Thomas Holte by the architect John Thorpe (ca 1565-1655) and was built between 1618 and 1635. Thorpe designed many important houses in his time, including Charlton House, London, Longford Castle, Wiltshire, Condover Hall, Holland House, Kensington, Rushton Hall, Northamptonshire, and Audley End, Essex.

Sir Thomas Holte moved into Aston Hall in 1631, and the house was completed in April 1635. The Holte family was highly influential as one of the great families in Warwickshire who were involved in the county’s political and economic life throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.

I visited Aston Hall last week when I was visiting Villa Park. I was particularly interested in the Comberford family links with the Holte family of Aston Hall, and also wanted to see Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church in Aston, and Saint Mary’s Church in nearby Handsworth, which also has Comberford family links.

Aston Hall was built between 1618 and 1635 … the Holte family was living at Aston since the 14th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The Holte family lived at Aston Hall for almost 200 years and owned vast swathes of property dating back to the 14th century. The family name may be traced back to John de Holte (ca 1255-1317) and his grandson, Simon de Holte, who bought the Manor of Nechells in 1331 through a fortune he made in the wool trade.

Simon was the great-grandfather of John Holte (ca 1400-ca 1470), who inherited Aston Manor from his uncle William Holte and married Margaret Delabere of Kynardsley, Herefordshire.

John Holte’s son, William Holte (ca 1430-post 1498) of Aston, a merchant of the staple whose name occurs twice in the Rolls of Parliament. William Holt married Margaret Comberford, daughter of William Comberford (ca 1403/1410-1472) of Comberford Hall, Staffordshire. William Holte’s father-in-law, William Comberford, was MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme (1442-1447) and MP for Staffordshire (1449-1450). Margaret (Comberford) Holt was still living in 1477, and her husband was still alive in 1498.

When William Holte died, his estates were inherited by his eldest son, also William Holte (ca 1460-1514), who married Joanna Knight of Shrewsbury. When this William Holte died in 1514, he was buried in the north aisle of Saint Peter and Paul Church, Aston. The altar tomb with his life-size effigy is the oldest remaining monument of the family. He is clad in a suit of mail armour, a surcoat covering the upper part of his body; his hands are joined prayer, his head rests on a helmet, and at his feet is a resting lion.

His tomb displays one of the early examples of an image of the Comberford coat-of-arms. The front of the tomb is divided by buttresses into four compartments, each with a cinquefoil panel. In each panel, crowned and robed winged angels hold heraldic shields charged with these arms: 1, Holte impaling Knight, for William’s wife Joan; 2, singly Delabere, for William’s grandmother, Margaret Delabere; 3, Holte impaling Comberford, for William’s parents; and 4, de Wolvey.

William Holte’s son, Thomas Holte (ca 1490-1546), who was MP for Warwick, added several hundred acres from adjoining manors to his estates, and was steward of the manor of Birmingham. He died at Duddeston on 23 March 1546 and he too was buried at the parish church in Aston.

Thomas Holte’s son, Edward Holte (ca 1542-1593) married Dorothy Ferrers (ca1540-1594), a daughter of John Ferrers of Tamworth Castle, drawing the Holte family further into the nexus of important families in north Warwickshire and south Staffordshire.

Sir Thomas Holte (1571-1654), who built Aston Hall … a portrait in the Great Hall in Aston Hall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Dorothy and Edward Holte were the parents of Sir Thomas Holte (1571-1654), who built Aston Hall. He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, went on to buy the manors of Lapworth and Bushwood in Warwickshire, and bought the lay rectory of Aston in 1599.

With an annual income of almost £2,000 a year, Thomas Holte was one of the leading landowners in Warwickshire and was the High Sheriff in 1599-1600. He was knighted by James I in 1603 and was given the tile of baronet on 25 November 1611.

Holte began building Aston Hall in April 1618. He chose a hill-top site that was visible for miles around, looking down on Aston and the parish church. The hall took 17 years to build and is one of the finest examples of Jacobean architecture in England. The Long Gallery in Aston Hall is 136 ft long … compare this with the Long Gallery in the Moat House, the Comberford townhouse on Lichfield Street in Tamworth, which is about 53 ft long.

During this time, Holte married Grace Bradbourne of Hough, Derbyshire. They were the parents of 15 children but Grace died before Aston Hall was completed in 1635, and never lived in the house.

Thomas Holte later married Anne Littleton, who was almost 40 years his junior. She was a daughter of Sir Edward Littleton of Pillaton Hall, and a sister of Walter Littleton of Eccleshall, who married Alice Comberford, a daughter of John Comberford of Wednesbury and a niece of Humphrey Comberford of Comberford Hall, Canon Henry Comberford, Precentor of Lichfield, and Richard Comberford, sometimes (confusingly) identified as the ancestor of the Comerford family of Co Kilkenny and Co Wexford.

The Long Gallery in Aston Hall is 136 ft long (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Sir Thomas Holte was reputedly a mean and vindictive man. His quarrel with his oldest son, Edward, lasted almost 20 years and involved King Charles I himself.

Edward Holte had gone to London in 1619, and in time he became a senior and influential courtier as a groom of the King’s Bedchamber. Against his father’s wishes, Edward married Elizabeth King, daughter of John King, Bishop of London, but a woman without prospects or money. When Edward was disinherited by his father, King Charles I intervened and wrote to Sir Thomas in August 1627, ordering him to restore Edward. Thomas grudgingly made a marriage settlement but made it clear that Edward could expect no more.

The king summoned Sir Thomas before him in 1631 to explain matters. The father convinced the king that he had other financial pressures that included building Aston Hall, and these family matters would be settled later. Instead, however, he made his younger son George his heir. Edward, who was heavily in debt, agreed to this and in return Sir Thomas paid off Edward’s debts of £5,000.

King Charles accused Sir Thomas of going back on his word and summoned him before a Privy Council where he was ordered not to leave London.

The King Charles Chamber where the king stayed when he visited Aston Hall before the Battle of Edgehill in 1642 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

King Charles visited Aston Hall in 1642, at the start of the English Civil War, and stayed there for two nights before the Battle of Edgehill, a visit that ensured he had Sir Thomas’s support. After many more years of feuding and petitioning, and the untimely death of George Holte, Edward was still not reinstated as heir. In the end, Edward died before Sir Thomas and so would never have become the second baronet.

Sir Thomas Holte wrote to Colonel Leveson, the royalist governor of Dudley Castle, asking him to garrison Aston Hall. A detachment of 40 musketeers fortified the house, sending a clear message that Sir Thomas Holte was supporting the King.

Sir Thomas defended his house when the Parliamentarians paced cannons and artillery in the parkland to the south of Aston Hall. The house was severely damaged in the Roundhead attack and some of the damage is still visible, including a hole in the staircase where a cannonball went through a window and an open door, and into the banister.

Aston Hall fell to the Parliamentarian forces on the third day of the siege, and Sir Thomas Holte was taken into custody, ‘without a shirt to shift him’. Although he was not kept a prisoner for long, his estates were confiscated on two occasions while his royalist activities were investigated before he finally paid a fine of £4,491 2s 4d.

The damage to the Great Stairs was left as a badge of honour, a reminder to later generations of the role the house and family played in the Civil War.

The hole in the staircase at Aston Hall where a Parliamentarian cannonball went through a window and an open door, and into the banister (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Sir Thomas outlived all but one of his children, his daughter Grace, and he died in 1654 atthe age of 83. His widow Anne Littleton, who was 40 years younger than him, later married Charles Leigh, and died on 2 November 1697.

Thomas Holte’s children did not succeed him, and the estate was inherited by his grandson, Edward Holte’s son, Sir Robert Holte (1625-1679), as the second baronet.

He transformed the south front of Aston Hall in the 1650s. The projecting porch and bays were demolished leaving a more symmetrical and fashionable façade and disguising the damage suffered during the bombardment. After the Caroline restoration, he was elected an MP for Warwickshire in 1661.

The third baronet, Sir Charles Holte (1649-1729), was also an MP for Warwickshire. He eventually cleared the Holte family’s debts through careful management and the estates flourished once again.

The coat of arms of the Holte baronets in the Long Gallery at Aston Hall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Sir Lister Holte (1720-1770), fifth baronet, was only nine when he inherited Aston Hall and the family title. At 18 he married Lady Anne Legge (1705-1740), the daughter of his guardian, the Earl of Dartmouth. But she died tragically of smallpox in Aston Hall eight months later. At 21, he was elected an MP for Lichfield (1741-1777), where he had bought the market tolls for £400 for the benefit of the city and contributed £100 towards building a new market house, beside Saint Mary’s Church.

Although Lister and his brother Charles once sat in parliament together, they had been driven apart by quarrels over money, marriage and inheritance and were never reconciled. Sir Charles Aston (1721-1782), had been an MP for Warwickshire (1774-1780) and succeeded to Aston Hall and the title as the sixth baronet.

The family title died out in the male line with the death of Sir Charles Holte in 1782. Mary Elizabeth Holte, who married Abraham Bracebridge, was the last direct family member. Heneage Legge (1788-1844), a son of George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth, inherited the estate in 1794 under the terms of Sir Lister Holte’s will. But the estate was broken up under an Act of Parliament in 1817 to satisfy the competing interests of various claimants, including Abraham Bracebridge’s creditors and Sir Lister Holte’s legatees, including the Legge family, the Earls of Dartmouth, and the Digbys of Meriden.

Sir Lister Holte and Sir Charles Holte as young boys … a painting in Aston Hall of the baronet brothers (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Greenway, Greaves, and Whitehead, a Warwick banking firm, bought Aston Hall and Park and leased the Hall to James Watt jr, a son of James Watt, inventor of the steam engine and a member of the Lunar Society. Watt lived at Aston Hall until he died in 1848.

The American writer and diplomat Washington Irving (1783-1859), visited Aston Hall and later wrote about it as Bracebridge Hall, taking the name of Abraham Bracebridge, husband of the last member of the Holte family to live in the house.

The house was bought by the Aston Hall and Park Company in 1857 as a public park and museum, and the grounds were opened by Queen Victoria in 1858.

Selina Powell, known as ‘Madame Genevieve’ and ‘the female Blondin’, died accidentally during a high-wire act at a fête in 1863. Queen Victoria was not amused. She wrote to the Mayor of Birmingham, Charles Sturge, to express her dismay ‘that one of her subjects – a female – should have been sacrificed to the gratification of the demoralising taste … for exhibitions attended with the greatest danger to the performers.’

The company ran into financial difficulties, and the tragedy and poor management led to the closure of the pleasure grounds in 1864. Birmingham Corporation then bought Aston Hall and the grounds for £35,000. It was the first time a major historic building was acquired by a local authority in order to ensure its survival.

For a few years from 1879, Birmingham’s collections of art and the Museum of Arms were moved to Aston Hall after a fire damaged the municipal public library and Birmingham and Midland Institute.

The Great Dining Room in Aston Hall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Birmingham Corporation was having financial troubles in the 1920s, and had to choose between saving Aston Hall and nearby Perry Hall. Aston Hall was saved, and in 1927-1934, the Birmingham Civic Society laid out formal gardens that included fountains, terracing and stone urns and a statue of Pan by William Bloye.

The Pageant of Birmingham, with 10,000 performers, was staged in the grounds in 1938 to celebrate the centenary of Birmingham becoming a borough.

Aston Hall was renovated extensively in 2006-2009. The house and park were managed by Birmingham City Council until 2012. Aston Hall is now a community museum managed by Birmingham Museums Trust and is open to the public during spring, summer and autumn months. The park is listed Grade II.

In the gardens at Aston Hall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Saint John the Baptist Church in Coventry is ‘one of the most beautiful churches in England’

The Church of Saint John the Baptist at the entrance to Spon Street, an enclave of mediaeval architecture in Coventry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

The Collegiate and Parish Church of Saint John the Baptist is in the Spon Street area in the centre of Coventry. The church is at the entrance to Spon Street, an enclave of mediaeval architecture in Coventry’s mostly post-war city centre.

Because Saint John’s is on the fringe of city’s heart, it seems to get less attention than it deserves. Yet, Sir George Gilbert Scott, who restored the church in 1875-1877, considered it ‘one of the most beautiful churches in England.’

The church is a Grade I listed building and stands on a relatively small site. But what it lacks in length and width it gains in height. Its tapering and unusually narrow clerestory windows and central tower give the impression of a cathedral in miniature. The tower has oddly corbelled-out turrets at its corners, an over-exaggeration of the original design by Scott.

The church consists of a nave, aisles, central tower, chancel, and north and south chapels. There is a clerestory to nave and chancel. Scott added flying buttresses and battlemented parapets, a new pulpit and a reredos.

Inside, the church is a delight, filled with stained glass, carvings, altarpieces, green men and grotesques, and it has been described as the ‘jewel in Coventry’s mediaeval crown.’

The Church of Saint John the Baptist was founded in 1344 by Edward II’s widow, Queen Isabella (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The church was founded in 1344 following the death of Edward II by his widow, Queen Isabella. She had been exiled from public life by her son, Edward III, and when she settled at Cheylesmore Manor in Coventry she began to involve herself in local affairs. She granted the Guild of Saint John a piece of land called Babbelak (Bablake) for building a chapel in honour of God and Saint John the Baptist.

The chapel was used for the guild’s own services, and included a chantry of two priests to sing daily Mass for the royal family. The east part of the church was ready for consecration on 2 May 1350 and it was dedicated on 6 May 1350.

Edward, the Black Prince, Isabella’s grandson, continued the royal patronage of Saint John’s, and the church was enlarged as Coventry flourished in the late mediaeval period. In 1393 the college of priests was increased to nine members, and in the early 16th century this was raised to 12.

With various enlargements and endowments, the chapel became a collegiate church. It remained a guild chapel until the religious guilds were dissolved during the Tudor Reformation. The college was dissolved in 1548 and the priests were pensioned with sums varying from £5 6s. 8d. to £2 13s. 4d. Five of these pensioners were still living in 1555.

Saint John’s was restored and became a parish church in 1734 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The church ceased to be used for worship around 1590, but was restored in 1608. However, during the English Civil War, the church was desecrated in 1648 and used as a prison for royalist Scots soldiers captured at the Battle of Preston. The people of Coventry were Parliamentarians and treated the soldiers coldly, giving rise to the saying ‘sent to Coventry’.

Later, the church was used as stables, then as a dyer’s stretch yard and a market place.

The church was finally restored as a place of worship in 1734 and was created a parish church on 24 July 1734.

The carved rood screen is in the late mediaeval style (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The second, Victorian restoration by Scott was instigated by the Irish-born Revd George Cuffe, Rector of Saint John’s in 1874-1896, who worked closely with Scott during the restoration.

The foundation of a wall running north and south through the middle of the chancel was discovered in 1875. Scott thought this was the east wall of the first guild chapel, and that the bases of two piers near the east tower belonged to that earlier chapel.

Almost all the furnishings are Victorian or early 20th century, although most are in the mediaeval style, heavily influence by the Anglo-Catholic Movement. They include a carved rood screen in late mediaeval style.

The reredos above the High Altar has a central figure of Christ in Gethsemane flanked by apostles and angels (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The reredos above the High Altar was given after the restoration in 1875-1877 by the children of the Revd Thomas Sheepshanks (1796-1875), who had been the rector for 50 years. His children included John Sheepshanks (1834-1912), Bishop of Norwich in 1893-1910.

This late Victorian reredos is an alabaster bas relief with an unusual central figure of Christ in Gethsemane flanked by panels of apostles and angels. It was originally plain and copied from a fresco in Florence under the direction of Scott’s son, John Oldred Scott.

The introduction of rich colourings and gilding in 1908 came with a bequest from Miss EM Powles. Each figure is individually crafted, with many of the apostles identified by their traditional motifs on their garments.

In 2011 the then rector, Father Paul Such, challenged the origin of the work, claiming that the reredos was based on the Ascension fresco by Giotto in the Arena Chapel in Padua.

The north chapel or Lady Chapel and its triptych (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The north chapel or Lady Chapel has a triptych with panels copied from works by Raphael, including the Madonna and Christ Child with Saint John the Baptist, known as the ‘Madonna of the Goldfinch,’ now in the Uffizi in Florence.

The south chapel has a characteristic reredos by Sir Ninian Comper (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The south chapel has a fine and very characteristic reredos by Sir Ninian Comper with a central Crucifixion group. He also gave the chapel a reliquary for a relic of Saint Valentine, which gained the admiration of Sir John Betjeman. The reliquary with the saint’s finger has been displayed on the altar during Mass on Saint Valentine’s Day, 14 February.

The carved oak lectern designed by Sir Gilbert Scott was given in 1887 in memory of the Revd Algernon Courie Child, a former curate, who died in 1886 at the age of 23. The brass inscription is by a prominent Coventry based brass metalworker, Francis Alfred Skidmore, who worked closely with Scott on many projects.

A profusion of 14th-century carved figures decorates the nave and aisle pillars and the arcade arches (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

A profusion of 14th-century carved figures decorates the nave and aisle pillars and the arcade arches. Some are grotesque, grinning beasts, others are human figures.

A piece of alabaster carving set on a north aisle pillar shows the Three Wise Men. It was carved at Nottingham in the first half of the 15th century, and originally formed part of a screen, or reredos.

A brass plate under the west window recalls the depth to which the church was flooded on 31 December 1900. Rapidly thawing snow and heavy rain caused the River Sherbourne and the Swanswell Pool to overflow their banks. Hales Street took the brunt of the floods.

The rector, the Revd Augustus Gossage Robinson, started work immediately as the floods subsided, but the fittings and furnishings and the organ were damaged beyond repair. The church was closed for seven weeks and services were held in double shifts at the new Mission Church of Saint Saviour’s.

It is an irony that PCC pressed for the church to be raised 4 ft during the 1870s restoration, but Scott advised them to save their money as the chances of a flood, in his view, were minimal.

The east window is one of the last works by Margaret Aldrich Rope (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Saint John’s has an interesting mixture of stained glass, from Victorian and Edwardian pieces that survived the Blitz, to more prominent and colourful windows installed in the 1950s.

The post-war glass predates the windows in nearby Coventry Cathedral by only a few years, but is highly figurative and traditional in approach, and a far cry from the revolutionary new works for which Coventry Cathedral became famous within a decade.

The east window, with its vibrant hues, is the one of the last works of Margaret Aldrich Rope, the younger member of a celebrated pair of artists who were cousins, both named Margaret Rope. It depicts the Annunciation above, flanked by Saint John and Saint Luke, balanced by the Expulsion of Adam and Eve below, flanked by Isaiah and Saint John the Baptist.

The War Memorial window with Saint George, Saint Patrick, Saint David and Saint Andrew (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The War Memorial window on the south wall is by Burlison and Grylls (1922) and lists 98 men of the parish who died in World War I. The window depicts the four nation patron saints, Saint George of England, Saint Patrick of Ireland, Saint David of Wales and Saint Andrew of Scotland.

At the top of the window is a depiction of the Crucifixion; the four figures beneath represent Faith, Hope, Justice and Fortitude. The positioning of the saints is explained by the fact that Lord Montgomery of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment was Irish-born.

The window survived the Coventry Blitz, but was damaged in a fire in 1945; it was restored after World War II.

The window in the north aisle commemorating Queen Isabella and the Black Prince (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

A window by Burlison and Grylls (1910) in the north aisle commemorates Queen Isabella, the Black Prince, and of the founders of the church, with her coats of arms flanked by banners representing the Guild of the Assumption and the Guild of Saint Catherine.

The window in the north aisle commemorating the Black Prince (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

A paired window by Burlison and Grylls (1910) commemorates Edward the Black Prince, with his coat of arms flanked by banners representing the Guild of Saint John and the Guild of the Holy Trinity.

The Cuffe Window by Charles Eamer Kempe depicts Saint John the Baptist at the River Jordan (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Cuffe Window by Charles Eamer Kempe depicts Saint John the Baptist pointing to the arrival of Christ at the River Jordan. It was given in 1897 as a parish memorial to the Revd George Cuffe (1843-1896), who was Rector for 22 years from 1874 to 1895. It survived the Blitz, but had to be repaired in 1988 having been vandalised.

The Robinson Window depicts the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Robinson Window by George Cooper Abbs of Exeter in the North Chapel was installed in 1959 in memory of the Revd Augustus Gossage Robinson, Rector in 1896-1918, who died in 1956 aged 92.

The window depicts the five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary: the Annunciation and the Visitation (left), the Nativity (centre), and the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, and Finding Christ in the Temple (right).

The Madelaine Rollinson Window by the Harry Clarke Studios depicts Christ the High Priest and the Seven Sacraments (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Madelaine Rollinson Window is dated 1961 and is by the Harry Clarke Studios of Dublin, over 20 years after the death of Harry Clarke.

The window depicts Christ the High Priest superimposed on the Tree of Life whose branches are the Seven Sacraments: Baptism, Penance, Confirmation, Ordination, Holy Matrimony, Holy Unction and Holy Communion. The Hand of God is seen above pointing to the Risen Christ, while an image based on a photograph of Madelaine Rollinson is placed discreetly in the bottom left-hand corner.

The east window in the south chapel depicts Saint John the Baptist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The east window in the south chapel depicting Saint John the Baptist is by Arthur E Buss of Goddard & Gibbs (1951). It is in memory of Barbara Ann Weaver, a parishioner.

Saint John the Baptist Church is in the Anglo-Catholic tradition (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Saint John the Baptist Church escaped major damage in the November 1940 Blitz that destroyed much of Coventry, beyond the loss of much – but not all – of its Victorian stained glass.

Saint John’s is in the Anglo-Catholic tradition and has passed a resolution to receive alternative episcopal oversight, which it receives from Bishop Paul Thomas of Oswestry. The Rector of Saint John’s, Father Dexter Bracey, who is also the Bishop’s representative of The Society in the Diocese of Coventry.

Saint John the Baptist Church is open from 10 am to 12 noon every Saturday, and on occasion during exhibitions. The Eucharist is celebrated on Sundays at 11 am and 6 pm.

A statue of Saint John the Baptist at the south-west corner of the church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Coventry Jewish Reform Community celebrates its 30th anniversary this year

Coventry Jewish Reform Community holds regular Friday night Shabbat services in the Friends’ Meeting House (Quakers) on Hill Street, Coventry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

Coventry Jewish Reform Community was formed in October 1993, and celebrates its 30th anniversary later this year (2023). It was interesting during my visit to Coventry last week to learn about this community and how it is thriving, in contrast to the sad story of Barras Lane Synagogue, which I recounted last Friday (30 June 2023).

For several years, the community shared the facilities of Barras Lane Synagogue with the Coventry Hebrew Congregation. But this arrangement came to an end when the synagogue building fell into a state of disrepair, and the community now holds its services at the Friends’ Meeting House (Quakers) in Coventry and in members’ homes.

Coventry Jewish Reform Community was formed in October 1993, primarily through the efforts of Dr Martin Been, who became the congregation’s President.

But the history of the community goes back to 1960, when a local area group of the Birmingham Progressive Synagogue was founded in Coventry in 1960. Its then minister, Rabbi Bernard Hooker, addressed the first meeting, in the Bimbo restaurant in Coventry, by courtesy of its owner, Alan Blank.

However, most of the interested people came from the Warwick and Leamington Spa area, and the group transferred its centre to Leamington Spa where it became the Leamington and District Progressive Jewish group.

After some years meeting in members’ homes, it received an invitation from the Warwick Quakers to use their hall at the Friends’ Meeting House in High Street, Warwick. Interestingly, this was an extension of Jury Street and backing on to Castle Lane, where the mediaeval Jews of Warwick had lived in the 13th century.

The members of the Progressive Group in Leamington and Warwick were gradually dying or moving away. The group became unsustainable and was formally wound up. Some of those who remained were made welcome in the Coventry Reform Community and helped swell its numbers.

The Coventry Jewish Reform Community was established in 1993 by Dr Martin Been. The idea of creating a Reform Community in Coventry dated back to 1989 when Martin, who was then living in Newcastle on Tyne, applied for a position at Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry, at a time when there were few consultant cardiology posts with cardiac catheter labs.

He was already an active member of the Reform Community in Newcastle. When he asked about Jewish life, he was told, ‘do not come here, no one else is, people only leave!’

Somewhat taken aback, Martin spoke to his community leader, Rabbi Willie Wolf, who told him there would be Jews in Coventry, and all it needed was someone to go there and start a community.

The Been family joined the Birmingham Progressive Synagogue and Martin Been also joined the Coventry Hebrew Congregation at Barras Lane Synagogue

After some time he discovered that Rabbi Willie Wolf was right – there were indeed Jews living in the area, many of whom had no affiliation with any organisation.

A new congregation was formed with the advice and support of the late Mick Berger.

One of the biggest challenges over the years has been a lack of a permanent home, although the community shared the facilities of Barras Lane Synagogue with the Coventry Hebrew Congregation for several years. However, this arrangement came to an end when the synagogue fell into a state of disrepair.

Coventry Jewish Reform Community has thrived and flourished despite the setbacks, and celebrates its 30th anniversary later this year (2023).

The Movement for Reform Judaism has given much support and continues to provide advice and guidance. Regular Friday night Shabbat services take place at the Friends’ Meeting House (Quakers) on Hill Street, Coventry, and in members’ homes. High Holy Days Services and other celebrations have also been held at the Helen Ley Centre in Leamington, Baginton Village Hall and in members’ homes.

Shabbas Shalom

For several years, Coventry Jewish Reform Community shared the facilities of Barras Lane Synagogue with the Coventry Hebrew Congregation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby: William Butterfield’s most highly refined work in ‘Butterfieldtown’

Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby, is a fine example of the work of the Victorian architect William Butterfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

Saint Andrew’s Church, the parish church in the centre of Rugby, is one finest examples of the work of the Victorian architect William Butterfield (1814-1900). It is an impressive, large church and was designed by Butterfield in the high Tractarian style.

The church has two towers and claims to be the only parish church in the world with two sets of ringable bells, hung in separate towers.

The first record of a church at the site is in 1140. The first mention of a parish church was in 1140. The church was named Saint Andrew ‘Castle,’ and may have been built near Regent Place by Sir Henry de Rokeby. The castle was demolished in 1157 on the orders of Henry II.

Inside Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby, looking east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The early church was a chapel of the parish church in Clifton-upon-Dunsmore, and Rugby only became a parish in 1221, when there is the first record of a priest, Simon the Deacon. The church was re-dedicated to Pope Nicholas IV in 1298, possibly when the town became an independent parish.

Nothing remains of the original church, which was rebuilt in the 13th or 14th century.

The oldest surviving part of the church is the west tower, which rises to a height of 22 metre (72 ft). This tower is unusual in appearance and looks more like a castle tower. This may indicate it was built to serve a defensive as well as religious role. But local legend says the tower was built with stones from the castle at Rugby that was demolished on the orders of Henry II. The west tower is usually dated to the 14th century, but if it was built during the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) it is Rugby’s oldest building.

The church has other mediaeval artefacts, including the 13th-century parish chest, and a mediaeval font.

Inside Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby, looking west (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Saint Andrew’s had become badly neglected by 1652, and following complaints about its dangerous condition it was renovated and enlarged. With the rapid growth of the population of Rugby in the 19th century, it again became necessary to enlarge and improve the church.

When the Revd John Murray was the Rector of Rugby, the decision was taken to entirely rebuild it. It was extensively rebuilt on a much larger footprint in the 19th century, to the designs of the Gothic Revival architect William Butterfield between 1877 and 1879.

Butterfield is particularly associated with the Oxford Movement or Tractarian Movement. He was strongly influenced by both AWN Pugin and John Ruskin, and is noted for his use of polychromy, which is brash in his buildings at Rugby School in 1868-1872. Other significant buildings by Butterfield include All Saints’ Church, Margaret Street, London; Keble College, Oxford; Saint Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne; Saint Mark’s Church, Dundela, Belfast, which is associated with CS Lewis’s childhood; and the renovation of Saint Mary and Saint Michael Church in Trumpington, near Cambridge.

Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby, claims to be the only parish church with two sets of ringable bells, hung in separate towers (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described Rugby as ‘Butterfieldtown’ because of the number of buildings in the town designed by William Butterfield in the 19th century, including much of Rugby School and the rebuilding of Saint Andrew’s Church.

Some architectural critics consider the interior of Saint Andrew’s to be the pinnacle of Butterfield’s most highly refined work. It has been described as representing ‘a competent Victorian design with distinctive elements and style strongly influenced by early mediaeval English architecture.’

The foundation stone for Butterfield’s rebuilt church was laid on 16 June 1877 by Dr Frederick Temple, Bishop of Exeter, former headmaster of Rugby School and later Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Chancel and High Altar in Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Over the next three years, the architect William Butterfield and builders Parnell and Son were commissioned to complete the work costing over £20,000. The only parts of the mediaeval church retained by Butterfield were the West Tower and nave arcade.

The church is built of Bath stone with some detailing in red Alton stone, and is set under a grey slate roof.

The Reredos behind the High Altar is a painting by Alec Millar (1909), based on Fra Angelico’s painting of the Transfiguration (1441). The original of this is in Saint Mark’s Monastery in Florence.

The East window by Clayton and Bell in Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Above the reredos and High Altar, the East Window is by Clayton and Bell and is probably the richest window in the church in terms of colour. It depicts Christ in Glory and a picture of heaven as described in Revelation 4.

Christ is seated on a throne as a king surrounded by elders. The sea contains eight crowns. Christ holds an orb that represents the world and his rule over it. The five lamps of the sanctuary represent God’s Temple in Heaven, the four creatures the four evangelists and the Lamb of God is carrying a flag with a red cross, representing the cross of Christ and his defeat of death in the Resurrection.

The West Window by Clayton and Bell in Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The equally impressive West Window is also by Clayton and Bell and depicts the account of the Crucifixion in John 19. The focus is on Christ and the subdued colours contrast with the beauty of the window. The two criminals are on crosses on either side of Christ, with Saint John, the Virgin Mary, Saint Mary Magdalene and Mary Cleophas at the foot of the cross. A jar on the ground contained the vinegar offered to Christ when he was thirsty. The soldiers are shown casting lots for his clothing.

The lower series of illustrations represent major events in Christ’s life. The sequence follows a mediaeval pattern reading from the bottom up and left to right. In sequence are shown the Annunciation, Christ’s birth, his Baptism, his teaching in the Temple, the Last Supper with the disciples – Judas is shown leaving with his 30 pieces of silver – his trial by Pilate, Christ being placed in the tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, Christ risen with the two angels who were present at the tomb, Christ appearing to Saint Mary Magdalene, and Christ with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

The internal features designed by William Butterfield for Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby, include the font (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The internal features designed by Butterfield for Saint Andrew’s include the font, pulpit, pews, choir stalls, organ case, the large embossed lion-based brass candlesticks, the altar rails and the reredos candlesticks.

A mosaic near the organ is the work of the famous Italian company of Antonio Salviati of Murano, Venice.

Ewan Christian made further additions to Butterfield’s original designs in 1895-1896, including a new east tower, added in 1895, with a spire that is 55 metres (182 ft) high. The design of the east tower and spire are said to resemble other works by Butterfield, including Adelaide Cathedral.

The mediaeval font, in which Lawrence Sheriff, the founder of Rugby School, was baptised, was replaced in 1743 and moved to the courtyard of the Eagle Hotel. There it served as a trough for the pump until it was rescued by the Rugby historian Matthew Bloxam. It was taken to the Percival Guildhouse garden until the 1950s, when it was finally restored to Saint Andrew’s.

The mediaeval artefacts in Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby, include a 13th-century parish chest (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Very unusually, both church towers at Saint Andrew’s have ringable bells. The main peal of bells, cast in 1896 by Mears and Stainbank of Whitechapel Foundry, London, are in the east tower. The old peal, all cast in 1711 by Joseph Smith of Edgbaston, are in the west tower.

The Revd John Moultrie, Rector of Rugby in 1825-1875, was the father of the hymnwriter the Revd Gerard Moultrie (1829-1895), who was born in Rugby Rectory and who translated the Greek hymn ‘Let all mortal flesh keep silence.’

Other clergy of note in Saint Andrew’s include the Revd Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy (1883-1926), known as ‘Woodbine Willie,’ who was a curate there in 1908-1912, and the theologian Professor Robin Gill, known for his work in the field of ethics, who was a curate there in 1968-1971.

‘Woodbine Willie’ became a national hero during World War I when he served as an army chaplain, and earned his nickname from his habit of distributing cigarettes to soldiers. When he came back to Rugby to preach in the church on 30 May 1926, so many people came to listen that many were unable to get in.

The Lady Chapel in Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Saint Andrew’s is in the Diocese of Coventry and stands in the Liberal Catholic tradition of the Church of England. It is part of the Major Churches Network, which includes non-cathedral churches such as Bath Abbey, Saint Mary the Great, Cambridge, Saint Martin-in-the-Fields, London, Saint Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham, and Saint Mary the Virgin, Saffron Walden.

The Rector of Saint Andrew’s, the Revd Canon Dr Edmund Newey, is a former Sub Dean of Christ Church, Oxford.

Saint Andrew’s Church is open every day. The community café, the ‘Thirteen Bells Café’, is open Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm.

The Sunday services are at 8 am (said Holy Communion, 10:30 am (the Parish Eucharist) and 6 pm. There is a Reflective Eucharist on Tuesdays at 9:30 am and Wednesdays at midday. There is a free classical music concert (sometimes jazz) every Tuesday lunchtime at 1 pm, and a series of community events on Saturday mornings.

Looking out into the world from the north porch in Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Rugby, the home of the game, is celebrating 200 years since Webb Ellis broke the rules

Graham Ibbeson’s statue of William Webb Ellis outside Rugby School (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

It is frequently said that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton. The saying has long been attributed to the victor at Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington, who was born in Dublin and spent three years at Eton after his early schooldays in Trim, Dublin and Chelsea.

However, this oral tradition is probably apocryphal. The earliest version of it said to date from 1856, when Wellington revisited Eton and is said to have declared: ‘It is here that the battle of Waterloo was won!’

There are other versions of the aphorism. Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), in his essay ‘An Eton Boy’ in the Fortnightly Review in 1881, wrote of ‘how the battle of Waterloo was won in the playing-fields of Eton. Alas! disasters have been prepared in those playing-fields as well as victories; disasters due to inadequate mental training – to want of application, knowledge, intelligence, lucidity.’

George Orwell said more pungent in The Lion and the Unicorn (1941): ‘Probably the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing-fields of Eton, but the opening battles of all subsequent wars have been lost there.’

The playing fields of Rugby … more important than the ‘playing fields of Eton’? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

But there are other public schools with different memories associated with their playing fields. Thanks to events on the playing fields of Rugby 200 years ago, it could be said with pride that this year Ireland has won the Triple Crown, the Grand Slam and the Championship title.

This year marks the bicentenary of the game of Rugby. It is 200 years since William Webb Ellis took the ball in his arms and ran with it on the Close at Rugby School. Before 1823, football was played much like Australian rules football is played today. It was ‘with a fine disregard for the rules of football as played in his time’ that William Webb Ellis ‘first took the ball in his arms and ran with it.’

Throughout 2023, Rugby School and the rugby world are celebrating this anniversary. We will be welcoming teams from a range of backgrounds and abilities to play on The Close, as well as hosting dinners, evenings and the annual ‘Festival On The Close,’ which this year will be named ‘With a Fine Disregard’ in honour of Webb Ellis.

Regent Place … the site of ancient settlements and a long-lost castle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

As I was growing up, any mention of the town of Rugby brought to mind not only the game of Rugby, the school, and William Webb Ellis, but also the cement works, the railway junction, Tom Brown’s schooldays, Matthew Arnold and Archbishop Frederick Temple.

These days, I pass through Rugby frequently on the train. But I decided to visit the town yesterday, thinking any Irish rugby fan still in a celebratory mood from the result two weeks ago should visit the home of rugby this year.

Rugby is a market town in east Warwickshire, with a population of almost 80,000, and the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is 134 km (83 miles) north of London, 48 km (30 miles) south-east of Birmingham, and close to Coventry, Northampton and Leicester.

There were Early Iron Age settlements in the Rugby area. They were followed by the Dobunni and the Corieltauvi, Celtic tribes. During the Roman period, Tripontium was established on Watling Street, about 5.5 km away, and the small settlement was taken over by the Anglo-Saxons ca 560.

Rugby is named in the Domesday Book in 1086 as Rocheberie. In the 12th century, Rugby had a castle on the site of Regent Place today, although this may have been little more than a fortified manor house. By the 13th century the name was commonly spelt as Rokeby or Rookby. Rugby became a parish in its own right in 1221 and a market town with a charter in 1255.

Rugby School had moved to its present location by 1750 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Rugby School was founded in 1567 with a bequest from Lawrence Sheriff, who made his fortune in London as the grocer to Queen Elizabeth I. Sheriff intended Rugby School to be a free grammar school for local boys, but it gradually became a mostly fee-paying private school, and most of its pupils came from outside Rugby.

Rugby School moved from its original site north of Saint Andrew’s Church, to its present location south of the town centre by 1750. But Rugby remained a small town until the mid-19th century. A major railway junction was established in 1840 and spurred the development of industry and the rapid growth of population.

Rugby was transformed into a railway town, large-scale cement production began in the town in 1862, heavy engineering industries began to set up in Rugby in 1890s and 1900s, attracted by its central location and good transport links.

The invention of Rugby is credited to William Webb Ellis and his legendary rule breaking in 1823, when he picked up the ball and ran with it during a match. Of course, there is little evidence to support this story, but the school is credited with codifying and popularising the sport and in 1845 three Rugby School pupils produced the first written rules of the ‘Rugby style of game.’

Rugby School is also the setting of Thomas Hughes’s semi-autobiographical Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857), and the town is the setting for Charles Dickens’s story Mugby Junction.

Rugby School is said to have been one of the inspirations behind the modern revival of the Olympic Games. Pierre de Coubertin, visited Rugby School several times in the late 19th century, and named the school as one of his major inspirations behind his decision to revive the Olympic Games.

Rugby also claims to be the birthplace of the jet engine. Frank Whittle built and tested the world's first prototype jet engine at the British Thomson-Houston (BTH) works in Rugby in 1937. Holography was invented in Rugby in 1947 by the Hungarian-born inventor Dennis Gabor, who later received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971.

The Clock Tower in Market Place stands on the site of an ancient cross and traditionally marks the centre of Rugby (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The town centre in Rugby is mostly Victorian and early 20th century, although some older buildings survive. The main shopping area has traditionally been in the streets around the Clock Tower, including High Street and Sheep Street, which were pedestrianised in the 1980s.

The Clock Tower was built in Market Place in 1887 on the site of an ancient cross and traditionally marks the centre of Rugby.

The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described Rugby as ‘Butterfieldtown’ because of the number of buildings in the town designed by William Butterfield in the 19th century, including much of Rugby School and the rebuilding of Saint Andrew’s Church.

The buildings of Rugby School mostly date from the 18th and 19th centuries (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The buildings of Rugby School mostly date from the 18th and 19th centuries, with some early 20th century additions.

The oldest school buildings are the Old Quad Buildings and the School House, the oldest parts of which date from 1748, but were mostly built between 1809 and 1813 by Henry Hakewill. Most of the present landmark buildings date from the Victorian era and were designed by William Butterfield, a disciple of AWN Pugin. They include Butterfield’s New Quad buildings, dating from 1867 to 1885, and the chapel, dating from 1872.

Graham Ibbeson’s statue of William Webb Ellis outside Rugby School, at the junction of Lawrence Sheriff Street, Dunchurch Road and Warwick Street, is one of the most visited sites in the town. The statue was funded by world-wide subscription and unveiled in 1997.

The school buildings behind the statue were designed by Butterfield, and have patterns of Staffordshire blue-black bricks on a background of yellow and red brick. The main School Chapel, also designed by Butterfield, has the grave of Thomas Arnold and memorials to many Old Rugbeians, including Rupert Brooke, Lewis Carroll and Matthew Arnold. The grey stone Memorial Chapel designed by Sir Charles Nicholson is a later addition from 1922 and honours Old Rugbeians who died in two World Wars and in Korea, Cyprus and Egypt.

The Temple Speech Room commemorates Archbishop Frederick Temple (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

But what ever happened to the boy when is said to have invented the game of Rugby?

When he left Rugby in 1826, the Revd William Webb Ellis (1806-1872), went to Brasenose College, Oxford. He played cricket for his college, and for Oxford against Cambridge in 1827. He graduated BA in 1829 and MA in 1831, and after ordination became chaplain of Saint George’s Chapel, Albemarle Street, London, and then the Rector of Saint Clement Danes in the Strand. He became the Rector of Magdalen Laver in Essex in 1855. When he died in the south of France in 1872, he was buried at Menton.

The plaza in front of the school chapels and surrounding the Webb Ellis statue is still bedecked with the flags of the Six Nations following this year’s championship. The Webb Ellis Cup is presented to the winners of the Rugby World Cup every four years. France is hosting the Rugby World Cup later this year. Here’s hoping for a memorable Irish performance.

The game goes on (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)