SPETCHLEY

Descriptive Notes:
Beside the road from Worcester to Stratford, All Saints’ Church adjoins Spetchley Park and its gardens. The church is a simple early14th century building, with a tower added within the west end of the nave in the 17th. Its glory is the south chapel, added in 1614, containing an outstanding series of monuments to the Berkeley family who owned the Park (and still do), some with good effigies and all with a fine display of heraldry. Particularly splendid is the central monument to Sir Rowland Berkeley (d. 1611) and his wife, lying under an arched canopy with obelisks at the four corners.[40]

In 1940, during World War II, top secret plans were drawn up but not implemented, for the evacuation of Winston Churchill and his key staff to Spetchley Park. [The National Archives]

Status:
Ancient Parish [25]
Originally a chapel in Worcester St Mary Ancient Parish. A separate parish by 1291 [25]

Location:
O.S. Ref: SO895539
4 miles east of Worcester on the A422

Parish Church:
All Saints
The church was declared redundant on 18 March 1987 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:
Pershore [3] [25]

Adjoining Parishes:
Warndon; Tibberton; Bredicot; Churchill; Whiteladies Aston; Whittington; Worcester St Martin [1]

Parish Registers:

		Coverage	Source
Microform at WLHC	Christenings	1539-1962	[5]
	Marriages	1539-1963	[5]
	Burials	1539-1966	[5]
	Banns	1831-1964	[5]
Originals at WRO	Christenings	1539-1984	[12]
	Marriages	1539-1963 & 1972-1986	[12]
	Burials	1539-1976	[12]
	Banns	1764-1807, 1831 - 1972	[12]

Bishops' Transcripts:
Begin 1610 Worcestershire Library and History Centre [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI):
[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1813-1874
	Marriages	1764-1870

Register Copies:
At Society of Genealogists [68]
SPETCHLEY : Christenings 1539-43, 1568-1840, Marriages 1539-42, 1567-1640, 1659-1730, 1748-53, 1764-1838, Burials 1539-42, 1565-1840: Worcestershire registers, vol. 2 [Typescript.]   IN: Worcestershire registers, vol. 2   Published , 1995   Author Mulholland, J H (transcription.)      

SPETCHLEY : Christenings 1539-1962, Marriages 1539-1963, banns 1764-1964, Burials 1539-1966; parish accounts & minutes 1801-1944 [Microfilm.]   Published Salt Lake City : Genealogical Society of Utah, Nd.    

SPETCHLEY : Christenings & Burials 1813-40, Marriages 1719-42, 1764-1813, 1820-38: Worcestershire registers, vol. 1 [Typescript.]   IN: Worcestershire registers, vol. 1   Published , 1993   Author Mulholland, J H (transcription.)

Nonconformist:
Spetchley Park Roman Catholic: Christenings 1750-1856 Marriages 1750-1841 Burials 1850-1965 (gaps); Confirmations 1856-1927.
This chapel is now closed. Worcestershire Library and History Centre [30]

Monumental Inscriptions and Associated Documents:
At BMSGH Shop
All Saints Church & Burial Ground 

At BMSGH Reference Library [7]
All Saints Church & Burial Ground

At Worcestershire Library and History Centre [51]
All Saints

At Society of Genealogists [59] :-
SPETCHLEY : Monumental Inscriptions: in Bloom's Worcestershire Monumental Inscriptions, part 1 [Manuscript.]   IN: Bloom's Worcestershire Monumental Inscriptions, part 1   Published , Nd.   Author Bloom, J Harvey (transcription.)      

SPETCHLEY (All Saints) : Monumental Inscriptions in the church, churchyard & burial ground: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 11 [Typescript.]   IN: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 11   Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1991   Author Farmer, G R   Author Bushell, L G Source D: BMSGH

Census Records:
All the censuses between 1841 and 1901 are now available on a number of fee-paying (Subscription or PayAsYouGo) sites including Ancestry.co.uk, FindMyPast.co.uk, thegenealogist.co.uk and genesreunited.co.uk. The 1911 census is available in full or in part on some of these sites. We are unable to advise on the choice of site since researchers' personal preferences will be influenced by the content and search facilities offered by each site. Some sites offer a free trial.

Access to the library edition of Ancestry.co.uk is widely available at most record offices, including Worcestershire Library and History Centre, and some libraries. You are advised to book time on their computers before making a visit. 

A free-to-view site is being developed at freecen.org.uk for the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1891 censuses.  Coverage of Worcestershire parishes is rather sparse at this time.

Census returns can usually be viewed at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' Family History Centres.

Some repositories offer census details on microform, disc or printed copy. These include:
1841-1901 at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [14]

Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent:
Burial 1660-1840 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Parish Records on microform at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [13]
Will of Moses Hyett 1767
Parish book 1801-1944

Schools Records:
The following school records are original documents. Note reference number and contact staff at Worcestershire Record Office:
St Ann's R C School
Attendance register - 1949 - 50 - Ref: BA 12349/2 (viii)
Attendance register - 1954 - 55 - Ref: BA 12349/2 (ix)
Attendance register - 1959 - 60 - Ref: BA 12349/2 (xi)
Attendance register - Note: This includes letter and certificate from Education Committee, certifying low attendance from 8 - 12 January 1945 due to measles - 1944 - 45 - Ref: BA 12349/2 (vii)

A handlist of other records of schools and of other educational establishments held by Worcestershire Record Office for this parish can be found here.

Directories:
SPETCHLEY, a parish in the lower division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, 3¾ miles (E. by S.) from Worcester, containing 121 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £6. 11. 3. The Rev. George Dineley was patron in 1811. The church, dedicated to All Saints, contains several monuments worthy of notice, particularly two very handsome ones to the Berkeley family. [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 16th December 2011

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