Visit Little Wolford Places

Welcome to Visit Little Wolford Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Little Wolford

  

Little Wolford Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Little Wolford

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Little Wolford history

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According to A Dictionary of British Place Names, Wolford derives from the Old English ‘wulf’ with ‘weard’, meaning a “place protected against wolves”. The Concise Oxfordshire Dictionary of English Place-names adds that ‘weard’ might mean “guard”, and as such might here be unique usage, as an “arrangement for protection, [or] fence”, the whole name perhaps “enclosure to protect flocks from wolves”. In the Domesday Book, the settlement is variously listed as ‘Ulware’, ‘Ulwarda’ and ‘Wolwarde’, and in 1242 as ‘Parva Wulleward’. In 1086, after the Norman Conquest, Little Wolford was in the Hundred of Barcheston and county of Warwickshire. There were three Tenants-in-chief to king William I: Bishop Odo of Bayeux, Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester (Count of Meulan), and Robert de Stafford. Bishop Odo retained Gerald as his lord, who had acquired the title from the 1066 lord Aelfric (uncle of Thorkil) – the manor contained three villagers, one ploughland with 0.5 men’s plough team, and 6 acres (2.4 ha) of meadow. The land of the Count of Meluan had Ralf as lord, again acquiring the title from the 1066 lord Aelfric – the manor contained three villagers, five smallholders, two slaves, and four ploughlands with one lord’s plough team and one men’s plough team. De Stafford had three manorial lands. Firstly, one where he was also Lord, this acquired from the 1066 lord Vagn (of Wootton), which contained eight villagers, eight smallholders, four slaves and a priest, with ten ploughlands, six men’s plough teams and a mill. Secondly, one with Ordwy as lord, acquired from the 1066 lord Alwy, which contained four villagers, four smallholders, six ploughlands, and two lord’s and one men’s plough teams. Thirdly, where Alwin was the lord in 1066 and 1086, which contained four villagers, three smallholders, a slave, and two ploughlands with one lord’s and one men’s plough teams. By the 13th century there were four fields, each two cultivated under a two-field system of crop rotation, and as virgates. A corn mill and fulling mill existed. There were further smaller virgates, one at Pepperwell (then Yperwelle), signified by Pepperwell Lane today at the south-east of the parish. By the beginning of the 17th century there were two watermills, one perhaps on Nethercote Brook which divides today’s parishes of Little and Great Wolford. The fields were evident as late as 1940 through aerial photography which indicated a ridge and furrow system of ploughing. This medieval or post-medieval system of cultivation was shown by earthworks which continued beyond the parish. After Robert de Stafford died (c.1100), his manor at Wolford passed through his sister Milicent de Stafford (who married Hervey Bagot), to her son Hervey de Stafford, who had adopted his mother’s name. The manor was divided in 1242 at the time of the later Robert de Stafford, becoming Great and Little Wolford. Ownership stayed with the Stafford family, including the 15th-century Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham. In 1521 Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham was executed by Henry VIII for treason. The year before he had, through trustees, sold the manors to Henry’s courtier, Sir William Compton. The manors of Great and Little Wolford stayed in the Compton family until 1819, however, at about 1600 they were bought by Robert Catesby, the leader of the group of English Catholics who planned the failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot. They were then, in 1605, transferred to a Thomas Spencer and an Edward Sheldon, by Catesby, Sir Thomas Leigh, and Lord Ellesmere whose wife was sister to the second wife of Henry, Lord Compton. Because of transaction inconsistency, the manors reverted to the Compton family. In 1819 they were sold, by Charles Compton, Marquess of Northampton, to Lord Redesdale, they subsequently passing to his son John Freeman-Mitford, 1st Earl of Redesdale. The unmarried earl then left the manors to Algernon Bertram Mitford, created Baron Redesdale in 1902. After his death in 1916, the manors passed to David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, the father of the Mitford sisters. Sir Nathaniel Brent (c.1573 – 1652) was the son of Anchor Brent of Little Wolford. He was in 1616 the ambassador at the Hague, in 1622 the warden of Merton College, Oxford, and afterwards commissary of the diocese of Canterbury. During the 19th century Little Wolford was part of the Brailes division of the Kington Hundred, and described as a hamlet of Great wolford. In 1801 parish population was 229. By 1841 Little Wolford contained 274 inhabitants in 53 houses, in a parish area of 1,324 acres (536 ha), in which were 339 acres (137 ha) of common land or waste. The industrialist, politician and lord of the manor Sir George Philips in 1844 purchased Little Wolford Manor House, formerly in the possession of the Ingram family. Directory listed trades and occupations in 1850 included five farmers, two in the same family, a brickmaker, shoemaker, blacksmith, a corn miller, and two carpenters. By 1896 Little Wolford Manor House was the property of Juliana, Countess of Camperdown, née Juliana Cavendish Philips (1812-1898), the sole landowner and wife to Adam Haldane-Duncan, 2nd Earl of Camperdown. Land area was 1,312 acres (531 ha) in which lived, in 1891, 178 people. There was a post box but no post office. The nearest money order office was at Long Compton, the nearest telegraph offices at Moreton-in-Marsh and Shipston-on-Stour. A National School for 70 children was erected in 1874 by Lord Redesdale; its average 1896 attendance was 61. Trades and occupations listed in 1896 included six farmers, a shoemaker, two graziers and a blacksmith & farrier. Population in 1901 was 181. In 1912 Little Wolford Manor House was the property of the Earl of Camperdown, who was the parish sole landowner. The National School was now a Public Elementary School (Education Act 1902), with an average attendance of 57. Trades and occupations listed were eight farmers, two graziers and a shoemaker. Although described as a hamlet of Great Wolford (under ‘Wolford’) in 19th and 20th-century trade directories, Little Wolford and Great Wolford had attained separate parish status under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1866, which established new civil parishes for the purposes of the New Poor Law of 1834, and collection of poor rate.

Little Wolford landmarks

Little Wolford is one Grade II* and nine Grade II listed buildings and structures. The hamlet is one of the largest in the area in Warwickshire, with nine Grade I* listed buildings. The Manor House dates to the late 15th or early 16th-century but with later additions and changes.

You can visit Little Wolford places with Walkfo Little Wolford to hear history at Little Wolford’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Little Wolford has 11 places to visit in our interactive Little Wolford map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Little Wolford, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Little Wolford places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Little Wolford & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 11 audio facts unique to Little Wolford places in an interactive Little Wolford map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Little Wolford Places Map
11 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Little Wolford historic spots	Little Wolford tourist destinations	Little Wolford plaques	Little Wolford geographic features
Walkfo Little Wolford tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Little Wolford

  

Best Little Wolford places to visit

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Little Wolford has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Little Wolford’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Little Wolford’s information audio spots:

Visit Little Wolford plaques