Offchurch

Coordinates: 52°17′24″N 1°28′30″W / 52.290°N 1.475°W / 52.290; -1.475

Offchurch
Parish church of St. Gregory
Offchurch  Offchurch shown within Warwickshire
Population	262 (2001 census)
OS grid reference	SP3565
Parish	Offchurch
District	Warwick
Shire county	Warwickshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Leamington Spa
Postcode district	CV33
Dialling code	01926
Police	Warwickshire
Fire	Warwickshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Warwick and Leamington
Website	Warwickshire Communities: Offchurch
List of places: UK • England • Warwickshire

Offchurch is a village and civil parish on the River Leam, 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Leamington Spa in Warwickshire.

History

There is a possibility that it was home to Offa, who was King of Mercia from 757 to 796. King Offa had a church built in the village (hence the name Offchurch, which comes from "Offa's Church"). That church has since gone, but a church has been rebuilt on the supposed site of Offa's church. King Offa's son was killed in an ambush nearby and it is suggested that the church was built by Offa to commemorate his son's death. A stone coffin is on display in the current church, but there is no direct evidence that this dates from that time. It is said if you go to the top of the church and jump off, King Offa will rise from the ground and catch you.

Offchurch lies just off the Fosse Way, a Roman Road, and the Welsh Road, an important mediaeval drovers' road also passes through the village.

The area around Offchurch was associated with a monastery, which was dissolved by Henry VIII. The estate was purchased and remained in the Knightley family until the First World War. The estate was then purchased together with other estates by Joseph Watson(d.1922), a soap manufacturer from Leeds, created in 1922 1st Baron Manton. At this time some development took place in the building of a series of cottages for estate workers during the 1920s (New Cottages, Bridge Cottages, Ford Cottages, Ham Barn Cottages, etc.) to similar designs. After the death of Baron Manton in 1922 on the hunting field, his widow resided at Offchurch Bury manor house, 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of the village, until her death in 1936. The manor was then purchased by Harry Johnson, a textile manufacturer from Coventry and Macclesfield, whose descendants today retain much of the estate in 2011 and reside at Offchurch Bury.

Amenities

The local amenities include the Church of England parish church of St. Gregory, a redeveloped village hall (part of the former village school) and the Stag's Head public house, now renamed "The Stag at Offchurch".^[1]

The trackbed of the former railway between Leamington and Rugby, the Grand Union Canal and a network of footpaths make Offchurch a focus for walks in this part of rural Warwickshire.

Sources and further reading

• Pevsner, Nikolaus; Wedgwood, Alexandra (1966). The Buildings of England: Warwickshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 367–368. 
• Salzman, L.F. (ed.) (1951). Victoria County History: A History of the County of Warwick, Volume 6: Knightlow Hundred. pp. 194–198. 

External links

• Photos of Offchurch and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk

References

1. ^ The Stag at Offchurch