Appleby Magna - History

History

Pre-Historic Times

There is evidence of settlement in Appleby from the early Neolithic period, 6000 years ago. There was no one settlement, but a scattering of round houses, whose inhabitants farmed the land south of the River Mease. In the same area the oval ditch of a 6 acre enclosure was revealed by crop marks. An archaeological dig in 1966 on this site found prehistoric pottery.

A short distance to the east, near White House Farm, crop marks revealed a rectangular enclosure, reported to be an Iron Age site. To the east of the parish, on Birdshill Gorse, a further ring ditch was discovered, which it is suggested is Bronze Age in date.

Roman Era

There is limited evidence of activity during the Roman Period. Appleby is situated near to three known Roman roads: Watling Street, which passes 10 miles south of the village, Bath Lane, which passes 5 miles north of the village, and Salt Street, which forms the parish's south boundary, as well as part of the county boundary between Leicestershire and Warwickshire. It is suggested a Roman road ran through the parish, indicated by the name of the neighbouring village, Stretton en le Field, but this has not been confirmed.

During construction of a hotel in Appleby Fields, next to Junction 11 of the M42, evidence was found of a British-Romano farm dating from the 4th century. Roman coins from the reigns of Constantine I(307-337) and Magnentius (350-353) along with pottery fragments dating from the late 4th century. Evidence was found of corn drying ovens and three farm buildings. Other finds included: roof tiles, a corroded knife blade, copper pins, an iron hobnail and fragments of quern stones. Animal bones were found, showing that cattle, sheep, pigs, cats and dogs were kept on the farm. Roman coins were also found in the grounds of Appleby Hall.

It has also been suggested that the site of Saint Michael's and All Angels church was the site of a Roman temple.

The Saxon Era

The village was situated in the Saxon Kingdom of Mercia, and is only 8 miles from its capital, Tamworth. The settlement of Appleby Magna grew around the Meadow Brook in the Saxon period. It was during this time that the first Christian church was built on the site of Saint Michael's and All Angels church. It was a wooden chapel, constructed on the site of the present Saint Helen's Chapel within the church. The village is centred on the narrowest part of the shallow valley surrounding the Meadow Brook. The Manor House (the Moat House) and church were built on opposite sides of the brook and the village grew up around them.

After the Norman Invasion

Appleby Magna was mentioned as Apleby in the Domesday book, when it was part of both Derbyshire and Leicestershire. It belonged to the Abbey of Burton, Henry de Ferrers and Lady Godiva, of Coventry. The village was worth Ninety shillings.

There are records of a rector at Appleby from at least 1207. The site of this early church is on the site of Saint Helen's Chapel in the current church and has been described as: ‘a small building capable of holding only two or three dozen people. There were no side aisles, only a small box-like nave with a small chancel to the east ... There were no seats for the public, who would have had to stand throughout the services, though there may have been benches against the wall for the infirm.... The altar was at the east end of the nave or just inside the chancel. In the case of the nave altar, the priest probably stood under the chancel arch and celebrated the mass facing the people. If the altar was just east of the chancel arch, the priest may still have celebrated westward from a position in the middle of the chancel’

Late Middle Ages

Saint Helen's Chapel is the earliest surviving building in the village. It dates from the early 14th century, but its exact date of construction is unknown. It was used as a private chapel for the de Appleby Family, Lords of the Manor of Appleby who resided in the adjacent Manor House (the Moat House). The de Appleby Family were Lords of the Manor from the early 12th century until the 16th century.

The chapel was built on the site of the earlier religious buildings and the site was already used as a burial site.

The church was enlarged to its present size in the early 14th century and was named Saint Michael's and All Angels church. Saint Helen's Chapel was incorporated into the north east section of the church and served as both a private chapel and burial site for the de Appleby family. Most of the tombs have been removed but the Alabaster effigies of Sir Edmund de Appleby and his wife Joan, dating from 1375, still survives. The chapel would eventually become known as the de Appleby Chapel although it is currently used as the church vestry.

The earliest currently surviving fragments of the Manor House (the Moat House), date from Sir Edmund's time when the Manor was enlarged into a large, moated, fortified, courtyard house. A rectory which stood opposite the church (on the site of the current Almshouses), a tithe barn which stood on the eastern wall of the churchyard and two water mills, one by the Moat House and one at Mease-Meadow were all constructed in the same era, although none survive.

Tudor and Jacobean Period

It was during the Tudor Era that the downfall of the de Appleby family occurred. Sir George de Appleby, was killed following the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh. His wife, Joyce, was burned as a Protestant Martyr in Lichfield. Their eldest son, George, sold the Manor in 1549 and later drowned. His nephew, Francis(son of his brother Richard), died childless, ending the male line of the de Appleby family.

It was at the end of the Tudor Period that the next influential family, the Moores, entered the village. Charles Moore is recorded as "Lord of the manor of Appleby Parva" in 1599, although the exact date of his arrival to the village is unknown.

Charles' second son, Sir John Moore (born 1620) is responsible for the village's most famous building, the Sir John Moore Church of England Primary School. As his elder brother, Charles, was expected to inherit the family estates, as the second son, Sir John, was expected to make his own way in the world. Sir John, and all subsequent generations of younger sons, went to London to make a living as merchants. Sir John was unquestionably the most successful, becoming friends with Charles II, Lord Mayor and subsequently Alderman of London. Sir John Moore died childless, but before his death, chose to use his money for the benefit of the children of his home parish, Appleby. Sir John commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to design a school building to be built in Appleby Magna. The work was carried out by a Member of Wren's company, Sir William Wilson, and was completed in 1697; Sir John did not live to see its completion.

The Moore family held considerable influence in the village until the 20th century with members of the family being both Lord and Squire of the Manor, and Rector of Saint Michael's and all Angels church.

Georgian and Victorian Times

The parish was enclosed in 1771 by Parliamentary Agreement after a series of piecemeal exchanges

The Moore family ushered in a period of building in the village, the school being the first of the family's constructions. In 1770, the family demolished the old Manor at Appleby Parva and by 1790 had built Appleby House, a large Georgian style house. This was remodelled between 1832 and 1838 into a Classical styled mansion known as Appleby Hall. Appleby House was retained as part of the new Hall, and large stables, outbuildings and lodges were built.

During the Moores' time as Rectors in Appleby Magna, the old rectory (opposite the church) was demolished and a new Georgian rectory was built on the northern fringe of the village.

The "Misses Moores" (husbandless sisters to the Squire) built the Almshouses in 1839, to save their elderly servants from having to go into the workhouse.

The village grew considerably during the Georgian and Victorian times. As well as many houses and several farms, a new primary school (now the church hall) was built in 1845, and two Baptist chapels were built in 1820 and 1826.

Before re-alignment of the county boundaries in 1897, the parish was divided between two counties, the antiquarian William Burton observing in 1622 that it was “upon the verie edge of the countie of Derby, with which it is so intermingled that the houses... cannot be distinguished which be of eyther shire”.

The 1801 national census records a total population of 935, evenly divided between the two counties. Appleby's 19th-century inhabitants were engaged in framework knitting and stocking manufacture. The village has 14 farms, with many more in the surrounding villages. Agricultural labouring was popular work in the 19th century. The village sits on the edge of the South Derbyshire Coalfields, and coal mining became an increasingly area of employment up to the mid 20th century.