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ST LEONARD'S CHURCH, BIRDINGBURY
St Leonard's exists to provide a point of Christian focus for worship and learning for the whole community.
St Leonard's looks to encourage its members to use their God given skills to reach out to all, creating a truly Christian community, which will make a difference to people's lives.
Birdingbury is a parish of a little over 1000 acres. It is a long thin parish, nearly three miles from north to south and just over a mile east to west at its widest point. The village itself is at the north end of the parish, in a loop of the River Leam. It lies about six miles south-west of Rugby, nine miles south-east of Coventry, seven miles east of Leamington Spa and four miles north of Southam. Its parish neighbours include Bourton and Draycote, Leamington Hastings, Marton and Frankton. Birdingbury is a small village which has led a quiet life to date. Some forty generations have lived here whilst great events largely passed them by. The villagers, over many years, have just got on with their lives. For a thousand years, until about 1800, conditions changed only very slowly. The coming of the canals and railways, in the 19th century, brought new challenges and as the 20th century progressed traditional village life developed into a modern community living in the wider world.
As far as early history is concerned, by the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086 (in which the village is named and recorded as Derbingerie), the village was already well cultivated with 400 acres under the plough and it may have had a population of as many as a hundred. Some of the land was owned by the Benedictine Monastery in Coventry founded by Leofric (husband of Lady Godiva). In 1400 ownership of the village was united under a John Olney. It continued to be sold and resold, until in 1687 it was sold to the Biddulph family. In 1894, in line with new local government organisation, the village held its first ‘Parish Meeting’ during which a Chair and Secretary were elected and one Thomas Bayes was elected to represent the village at the new Rugby Rural District Council. To this day the village continues to hold two parish meetings every year.
Who was St Leonard?
Click here for more information on St. Leonard and Hisory of the Church
Birdingbury Present
Today there are around 280 adults and 60 children living in Birdingbury. About half the village is aged between thirty and sixty, and around a quarter of villagers have lived here for more than thirty years. The old school is now the village club, and children can attend the local infant school at Leamington Hastings.
Birdingbury can be described as an unusual village. Neither the Church, nor the Hall, the Rectory nor many of the oldest buildings can easily be seen by a passer-by. There is no village green or shop nor any particular feature, although we have a prominent war memorial. Most of the houses facing the through road are modern in design but set well back so the impression is one of space with wide green verges and trees.
Who’s who at St. Leonards?
Priest-in-charge - Reverend Barbara Clutton
Lay Reader – Elizabeth Kirk
Church Wardens – Dick Withington and Karen Armbrister
PCC Members 2009/2010
Reverend Barbara Clutton
Dick Withington (Lay Chairman)
Karen Armbrister
Daphne Chippendale – Treasurer
Brian Lloyd
Eira Owen
Jenny Hawes
Angela Hanson
Raymond Truslove
Peter Law
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