THE BIRD MEMORIAL

BARTON ON THE HEATH

Introduction

There are some tax records concerning Barton–on–the-Heath, often known at the time as Barton in Henmarsh, dating back to 1086. Most of the history of the village can be traced through land and church records.

The advowson[1] of the parish and Barton House are inextricably linked. The first Barton House and the Church of St Lawrence were built around 1200 AD. In 1224 Robert le Mareschal and Richard ‘le Eyr were holding the advowson on behalf of Thomas de Arden, through a demesne lordship[2] in the gift of the Earl of Warwick. In 1471, after several changes of ownership, William Marshall (alias Bury), who claimed to be related to the earlier Mareschals, claimed the advowson and “manor” house.

The advowson then remained with the Marshall (Bury) family and in 1550 the present house was built on the site of the original house for John Marshall. Only the five vaulted cellars were retained.

In 1625 the “manor” and advowson were conveyed to Walter Overbury, whose family had rented the property previously and whose most famous member was Sir Thomas Overbury who was poisoned in the Tower of London in 1613. In about 1632 Walter called in the famous architect Inigo Jones, who remodelled the Great Hall of the house to Palladian proportions and according to the “Victoria County History”, created the panelling in the Oak Room described as the finest in Warwickshire. Walter Overbury died in 1637 and the house was inherited by his son Nicholas who died in 1681 leaving it to a son, Thomas, who died without issue in 1739.

In 1741 the estate was bought by the Bird family who were prosperous silk merchants from Coventry. The first recorded member of the Bird family was Robert Bird who died in 1792 and the house was inherited by his widow Mary. Robert’s son (?), Henry Bird, is recorded as “Lord of the Manor” in 1813 to be succeeded by Robert Merttins Bird in 1822, who was on record as being the “chief landowner” in the parish in 1850. But he spent much of his time abroad in the Indian army and civil service. The estate was let with one tenant, C.F.Colvile, in occupation for some fifty years up to 1870. Robert died in 1880, presumably without issue, so that the “manor” was inherited by his grand nephew Major Robert Wilberforce Bird.

Major Robert Wilberforce Bird (1815 -1888)[3] was married to Elizabeth Maria (died 1893)[4] and they had two sons, Robert Wilberforce Merttins (1845 -1874)[5] and Francis Albert Wilberforce (1873 – 1890)[6]. It was in memory of Robert who died at the age of 29 that the memorial was commissioned. After the death of the widow Elizabeth in 1893 the house was held by the remaining members of the family who in 1897 sold it and emigrated to North America.

The Bird Memorial

As a public sculpture, the memorial is listed as a well house.

It is described in various records as follows:

Location. On the village green. A well-house: Monument to R.W.M. Bird.

Sculptor: unknown. There is speculation that it is modelled on, or is a re-erection of, a late seventeenth or early eighteenth century well-house.

Executed: 1870s.

Construction: Limestone 3m high x lm diameter approx. Trough: lined with lead.

Inscriptions.

On drum supporting an urn: (/ indicates new line of text)

THIS FOUNTAIN /IS PRESENTED TO THE PARISH OF / BARTON ON THE HEATH / BY MAJOR AND MRS R.W.BIRD / IN MEMORY OF THEIR ELDEST SON / R.W.M. BIRD WHO DIED AT BARTON HOUSE ON 12 JULY 1874. / LOVED IN LIFE / HE LIVES IN LOVING MEMORY WHEN DEAD.

Around the lions head spout to the drinking trough:

WHOSOEVER WILL LET HIM TAKE THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY / REV. C22. V.17.

Status: Grade II Listed. Reference Number 10/20.

Commissioned by: Major and Mrs R.W. Bird.

Description: This limestone well-house has a polygonal plinth and three columns supporting a hemispherical dome with moulded surround and ball finial. Inside the structure is an urn with carved grapes, drapery and foliage standing on an inscribed drum plinth. The well is fed by rain-water from Barton House, across the green[7]. The water, gravity-fed into a reservoir below the structure, exits from a lion's head[8]. There is a drain hole below the lip of the drinking trough.

References

Pevsner, N., Buildings of England: Warwickshire, Harmondsworth, 1966, p.87.

George T. Nosalopy, Public Sculpture of Warwickshire, Coventry & Solihull (2003) p.34-5

General Obsrvations.

The memorial is sited 5 meters from the base of large oak tree which is the survivor of several oaks planted shortly after the memorial was erected in about 1875.

The monument is tilting slightly to the south-south east. The exact tilt cannot be measured because the polygonal plinth has moved with some joints becoming misaligned so that the tilt is not uniform.

The circular base on which the plinth sits has spread, possibly due to the typical instability of soil beneath a large tree. In order the limit the spread of the base, it was girded by a steel band just below the level of the surrounding soil in 1963/4 and this may have prevented any further spread.

The memorial is well weathered. The hemispherical dome has an accretion of grime with random clumps of lichen. The pillars have normal weathering; clean on the south facing aspect, light accretion to the aspect facing north.

The polygonal plinth and circular base are moderately encrusted with grime and in places there are heavy growths of moss. The moss is loosening the mortar in those joints which have opened up.

Due to the weathering the two inscriptions are no longer visible. Two matching stone plaques, fitted to the vertical faces of the plinth either side of the drinking trough, replicating the inscriptions, were fitted in 2007.

The ball finial was dislodged by a branch of the tree in 2006 and was replaced.

[1] Advowson. The right of nomination or presentation to an ecclesiastical benefice. An advowson is held by a patron, who may be an individual or institution, clerical or secular. The patron presents the candidate to the appropriate Bishop for institution and induction, though the nomination may be refused. An advowson is a form of property which may he bought, sold or given away and is subject to civil law.

[2] Demesne lordship. A lordship granted to allow a person to hold land which is not occupied by the grantor.

[7] This connection, a lead pipe from the fountain in front of Barton House, is no longer functioning.

[8] This method of functioning cannot be verified. Without a pump, water from a reservoir beneath the structure could not flow from the hole below the lions head, which is well above the base of the memorial. It is more likely that the water, under gravity, flowed directly to the feed hole and thence to the drinking trough which has an overflow to waste.