Description

Astley, a parish in Warwickshire, on the Sow brook, 3 miles SW of Stockingford station on the M.R., and 4 1/2 SW by W of Nuneaton, under which it has a post office; money order office, Stockingford; telegraph office, Stockingford railway station. Acreage, 2629 ; population, 275. The manor belonged to the family of Astley, one of whom fell on the field of Evesham fighting against Henry III., two were taken prisoners on the field of Bannockburn, and one was distinguished for military services in the time of Henry VIII.; it passed by marriage to the Greys of Ruthin, of whom were the Duke of Suffolk and his daughter, Lady Jane Grey, who suffered on the block for their claim to the crown; and it now belongs to the Newdegate family of the neighbouring seat of Arbury Hall. Astley Castle, the ancient residence of the Greys, rebuilt in the time of Queen Mary, was allowed to fall into neglect, and was used as a farmhouse ; but is now a renovated. and handsome residence, and contains the writing table and chair used by the Duke of Suffolk when in hiding after the failure of Sir Thomas Wyatt's insurrection. The old parts of it are picturesquely clothed with ivy, and a moat around it has remains of massive masonry along the inner edge, and is overshadowed with fine trees. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester; value, £138. The church is part of an edifice built in the time of Edward III. by Sir Thomas de Astley, and was formerly cruciform, and adorned with a tall spire, which served as a landmark in the broad surrounding woodlands, and was popularly called " the Lanthorn of Arden." It now consists of chancel, nave, S porch, and an embattled tower with pinnacles; it was restored in 1876. It contains a monument to the Duke of Suffolk, mentioned above, and his wife, and a brass of the fifteenth century. There is a third monument, supposed to be that of Lady Jane Grey.