Fenny Drayton

Fenny Drayton
Fenny Drayton
	Church Lane, Fenny Drayton
	Fenny Drayton Location within Leicestershire
Civil parish	Witherley;
District	Hinckley and Bosworth;
Shire county	Leicestershire;
Region	East Midlands;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NUNEATON
Postcode district	CV13
Police	Leicestershire
Fire	Leicestershire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Hinckley and Bosworth;
	List of places UK England Leicestershire 52°34′01″N 1°29′06″W / 52.567°N 1.485°W

Fenny Drayton (once Drayton-in-the-Clay) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Witherley, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England.^[1] It lies near the Warwickshire boundary, three miles south-east of Atherstone in the Coventry postcode area, just off the A444, the Roman Watling Street. Another Roman road crosses at the end of the scenic Fenn Lanes. The village is four miles from Stoke Golding, where Henry VII of England was crowned after the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The reinterment of Richard III of England on 21 March 2015 started along Fenn Lanes, near the village. In 1931 the parish had a population of 125.^[2] On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Witherley, parts also went to Hartshill, Mancetter and Caldecote.^[3] The name means "farm/settlement for portage" or "farm/settlement used as a dragging place". "Fenny" reflects the fen-like ground along the Roman road.^[4]

Education

School children mostly attend St Margaret's Church of England Primary School in Stoke Golding or Higham on the hill Church of England Primary School and St Martin's Catholic Academy in Stoke Golding or the independent Dixie Grammar School in Market Bosworth.

Church

The Grade II listed Anglican Church of St Michael and All Angels in the Diocese of Leicester is in Gothic style with 12th-century Norman features and a 13th-century bell tower. It is surrounded by one of the oldest circles of giant yew trees in the United Kingdom. There are two monuments of the Purefoy family dating back to 1543 in the church grounds. One has an incised slab, which is rare. The church is open free of charge by appointment.^[5]

George Fox

George Fox, founder of the Religious Society of Friends, or children of light, was born in Drayton-on-the-Clay in July 1624. His father, Christopher Fox, was a weaver and churchwarden.^[6] Fox is reputed to have been baptised in the older of the two fonts in the church. There is a large monument to him where two roads, George Fox Lane and Old Forge Road, meet. Quakers from all over the world sign the church visitors' book. Fox referred to his town as "Drayton-of-the-Clay".^[7]

Centre of England

The Ordnance Survey in 2002 defined Lindley Hall Farm on the village outskirts as the geographical centre of England.^[8] (SP362964) Coordinates are 52°33′42.942″N 1°27′53.474″W Grid Reference SP36373.66 96143.05. It was previously thought to be Meriden in Solihull.^[9]

References

^ OS Explorer Map 232: Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000): ISBN 0 319 46404 0
^ "Population statistics Fenny Drayton AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
^ "Relationships and changes Fenny Drayton AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
^ "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ "Listing text. Retrieved 24 October 2020". Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
^ Nigel Smith: Introduction. In: (George Fox: The Journal, p. 3, London: Penguin Books, 1998), p. x. "My father's name was Christopher Fox; he was by profession a weaver, an honest man; and there was a seed of God in him. The neighbours called him Righteous Christer."
^ "Chapter VIII". George Fox's Journal. p. 183.
^ Haran, Brady (22 October 2002). "A tale of two centres". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
^ "Meriden: Centre of England" (PDF). meridenparishcouncil.org.u. Retrieved 13 December 2021.

External links

Media related to Fenny Drayton at Wikimedia Commons

[EX240-1] OS Explorer Map 232: Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000): ISBN 0 319 46404 0

[2] "Population statistics Fenny Drayton AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 26 December 2022.

[3] "Relationships and changes Fenny Drayton AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 26 December 2022.

[4] "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

[5] "Listing text. Retrieved 24 October 2020". Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.

[6] Nigel Smith: Introduction. In: (George Fox: The Journal, p. 3, London: Penguin Books, 1998), p. x. "My father's name was Christopher Fox; he was by profession a weaver, an honest man; and there was a seed of God in him. The neighbours called him Righteous Christer."

[7] "Chapter VIII". George Fox's Journal. p. 183.

[BBC_2-8] Haran, Brady (22 October 2002). "A tale of two centres". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2009.

[9] "Meriden: Centre of England" (PDF). meridenparishcouncil.org.u. Retrieved 13 December 2021.

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