CROOME D'ABITOT

Descriptive Notes:
On gaining Pirton Ancient Parish in 1771 the parish was usually called 'Croome d'Abitot with Pirton' but by the 20th century called simply 'Croome d'Abitot'.[25]

Status:
Ancient Parish [25]
Abolished ecclesiastically in 1973 to help create Severn Stoke with Croome d'Abitot Ecclesiastical Parish [25]

Location:
O.S. Ref: SO886450
Croome D'Abitot is 3 miles to the east of Severn Stoke and east of the A38 and M5.

Parish Church:
St.Mary Magdalene, Croome Landscape Park.
The original church at Croome was demolished by the 6th Earl of Coventry when he decided to replace his adjacent Jacobean house in the 1750s. His new house and park were designed and laid out by Capability Brown as was the church, set on a low hill nearby in Croome Park as an ‘eye catcher’. The interiors of both house and church are attributed to Robert Adam and were completed in 1763. The new church is a perfect fantasy of the period, with elegant Gothick windows and plasterwork, pulpit, communion rails, commandments and creed boards. But the chancel is really a mausoleum to the Coventry family. The very splendid monuments to earlier members of the family were brought from the old church. [40]

The church was declared redundant on 30 October 1973 and is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. [80]

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction:
Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester [1] [25]

Hundred:
Lower Oswaldslow [11] [25] [28]

Poor Law Union:
Upton-upon-Severn [3] [25]

Adjoining Parishes:
Pirton; Besford; Defford; Severn Stoke [1]

Parish Registers:

		Coverage	Source
Microform at WLHC	Christenings	1560-1966	[5]
	Marriages	1560-1965	[5]
	Burials	1560-1994	[5]
	Banns	1754-90	[5]

Bishops' Transcripts:
Begin 1608 Worcestershire Library and History Centre [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI):
[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1813-1875
	Marriages	1754-1873
Bishops' Transcripts	Births / Christenings	1608-1700 (52%)

Census Records:
Access to all the censuses between 1841 and 1901 is now widely available on the library edition of Ancestry.co.uk at most record offices. You are strongly advised to book time on their computers before making a visit.
The findmypast.co.uk website offers access to the 1911 census. This is a Subscription or PayAsYouGo site. 
Many commercial organisations have issued CDs and DVDs covering all the censuses from 1841 to 1901.

Some repositories offer census details on microfiche as listed below:
1841-1901 at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [14]

Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent:
Burial 1560-1851 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Directories:
CROOM-D'ABITOT, a parish in the lower division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, 4 miles (W. by S.) from Pershore, containing 129 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, with that of Pirton, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £7, and in the patronage of the Earl of Coventry. The church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, was rebuilt in 1763: it is a neat edifice in the later style of English architecture. [Topographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis]

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© Arthur Lewis and contributors 2008
Comments, additions, corrections etc to Arthur Lewis
Last updated on 5th February 2010

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