Coton House
Churchover
Rugby

Coton House is situated near Rugby in the eastern part of Warwickshire. A Manor House has stood on the site since Saxon times and nearby burial mounds suggests that there was an Iron Age settlement in the area. Being within a mile of the camp of Tripontium, and the Watling Street Roman road must have made this an uncomfortable place for the natives to live during the Roman occupation.

The area is on a rise of ground between the rivers Swift and Avon, the Saxon translation of which is Cotes Super Le Waines. In mediaeval times the area was also known as Cottenleywolde and Coton on the Wolds. A small village held by Alvic was believed to have existed here in Saxon times but became depopulated in the 11th century.

It is recorded in Domesday that due to a magnanimous gift by Robert de Warre in the reign of King Henry II a Cistercian Order monastery was founded here in the year 1050. The land passed into the possession of Ralph de Duneme in the reign of King Stephen (1135-1154) who sold it to Hugh Bagot. The latter disposed of half the estate to the monks of Combe Abbey and later sold the other half to Robert de Cotes who exchanged his half with the Abbey and covenant of Combe for land owned by them in Newton.

Thus the whole of the land at Coton came into the possession of the monks of Combe Abbey near Coventry who in 1285 proved their right to hold a Court Leet and in 1291 built a moated monastic grange. At this time there were six ploughlands worth twenty shillings each. By the time of the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536 the Abbot had also been given a charter of free warren, and Coton must have been a wealthy and powerful manor.

In 1551 the manor was given to Mary, Duchess of Richmond, (who was married to King Henry VIII nephew and would have been Queen if he had not died at nineteen) for life by King Henry VIII. She granted it to Lord Edward Clinton (whose ancestors had Kenilworth Castle built during the reign of Henry I) and to Edward Fynes who a few days later obtained a licence to alienate to Thomas Marrow.

On 24 November 1551 the latter granted it to William and Elizabeth Dixwell. He demolished what was left of the old monastic grange and erected a fine new moated Tudor House in the reign of Elizabeth I. Part of the moat still exists today by the entrance road to Coton House.

Possession of the manor continued for several generations in the Dixwell family (who incidentally appeared to have some history of mental disorder - it is recorded that in 1640 the manor passed to a William Dixwell "who for the past five years had been out of his mind").

The Post Office/Shop (This was the dairy)

In 1716 William, son of Brent, Dixwell was created a Baronet - from 1736 onwards he is described as "lunatic" (Gamekeeper's Deputations). He died in 1757 leaving no heir to the title, which became extinct.

Abraham Grimes

Possession then passed to his nephew, William Dixwell Grimes, who made a settlement of the manor in 1774.
In 1787 he was succeeded as Lord of the Manor and patron of Churchover by his eldest son Abraham Grimes, who had the Tudor house demolished and a new mansion erected to the design of Samuel Wyatt, a popular architect of the day.

On his death in 1832 his eldest son Henry Grimes who in 1874 sold the house, manorial rights and advowson to Francis Arkwright, an ancestor of the inventor of the spinning jenny, succeeded him. (The estate consisted of 10,559 acres with an annual value of £14,972).

Although remaining the last Lord of the Manor he let the 500-acre estate to Mr Arthur James in 1888. Mrs Arthur James was a daughter of the Right Honourable George Cavendish-Bentinck and very prominent in social circles. Many notable guests stayed or dined at Coton House during their tenancy and, later ownership of the property.

These included Princess Henry of Battenburg who spent the weekend of 25-27 October 1907 at the house, and opened a new children's wing at the Hospital of St Cross, Rugby on 26 October 1907.

An extension to Coton House, consisting of a conservatory and suite was erected in honour of her visit. Another notable visitor, completely upsetting the normal running of the town of Rugby and surrounding district, was King Edward VII who came to Coton House on 3 July 1909.

King Edward VII and party at Coton House

Mrs Arthur James eventually purchased the house and estate in 1936 and remained until her death in 1948 when the house, and by then, 123 acre estate, was sold to the British Thomson-Houston Company Ltd for use as a hostel for apprentices.

The Kings Seat

In 1958 a new building consisting of a dining room, kitchen and large residential block were erected. The house and estate remained in the possession of this company and its successors until 1967 when its use was discontinued. The site remained unoccupied and for sale until 1970 when the Post Office bought it for a national management training college. The Post Office erected a single storey tutorial building, which was opened in 1971, and in 1977 the renovated original mansion was returned to use after nine years without occupants.

Coton House

Entrance road to Coton House in the spring

THE LAST PRIVATE OWNERS OF COTON HOUSE
ARTHUR AND VENETIA JAMES*

Born in May 1861 she was a daughter of the Rt Hon George Cavendish-Bentinck and great granddaughter of the third Duke of Portland, who was viceroy of Ireland and was Godmother to Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) and married Mr Arthur James. He was born in 1853, the last of three sons of Daniel James, a wealthy Manchester merchant who left £1,500,000 to be divided between the three sons.

He had some American ancestry, his mother being the daughter of Mr G Hitchcock of New York. One brother was killed by an elephant while on a hunting expedition in South Africa in 1900. The other Willie James died in 1903.
Mr Arthur James endowed the North Middlesex hospital with £20,000 in memory of his brother, Willie.

*Their first names were John and Mary but both used their second names

Lodge at the Entrance to Coton House

They occupied Coton House in 1881 when the estate amounted to over 500 acres. Within a couple of years they established the Coton House Stud, laying out some 200 acres as paddocks with running water in each. Both she and her husband were interested in horse racing and hunting. They were members of the Atherstone, Pytchley and other hunts and she continued hunting until over 70 years of age.

Mr Arthur James was a steward of the Jockey Club and a successful racing man. It is recorded that in one year his horses won over £16,500 and that he won four Goodwood Cups over a 5-year period. He was a considerable benefactor to the district - among recorded gifts being £1,000 towards the establishment of a Children's Ward at St Cross Hospital, Rugby and numerous other minor gifts, including an X-ray centre.

He became President of the St Cross Hospital Board. At the far end of Churchover beyond the church are five cottages. Mr Arthur James lent £400 towards the cost of building these, but after repayment of £50 he called the debt settled Apart from local social duties such as President of the Rugby Conservative Club and of the County Agricultural Society he was at various times a Deputy-Lieutenant, Magistrate, County Councillor and High Sherriff.

The Stables

After the visit of King Edward VII in 1909 he was awarded the MVO. The James' London town house was described as "a palace of Italian marble, onyx and alabaster, famous for its red marble staircase and beautiful Angelica Kauffman frescoes and ceilings". Mrs James was reputed to own some of the finest rubies in England On his death of pleurisy and pneumonia on 30 April 1917 at the age of 64, his estate was estimated at about £500,000 His memorial service was attended by some 50 to 60 of the most notable Lords and Ladies in the land, and a special service was also held in the Royal Chapel at Windsor.

The Stable Yard

After Mr James' death Mrs James continued to breed horses and hunt. She was a distinguished amateur actress holding entertainments both at Coton House and in the town. She always attended the Churchover village church, as did her guests, and regularly played the organ at ordinary and special services. She was elected President of the Rugby and District Boy Scouts Association in 1917 and made a Justice of the Peace in 1921.

Her beneficence towards the Rugby hospital continued throughout her life - she endowed the new out-patients department in memory of her husband in the 1920's. She died shortly before her 87th birthday on 2 May 1948.

Coton House 1970