Fenny Drayton
| Fenny Drayton | |
| Leicestershire | |
|---|---|
 Church Lane, Fenny Drayton | |
| Location | |
| Location: | 52°34’1"N, 1°29’6"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Nuneaton |
| Postcode: | CV13 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Hinckley and Bosworth |
Fenny Drayton (formerly Drayton-in-the-Clay) is a village in Leicestershire. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Witherley. It is near to the county border with Warwickshire. The village is just off the A444 road, an old Roman road, north of Nuneaton close to its crossroads with the A5 (the Roman Watling Street). The hamlet is also crossed by another Roman road, and is found at the end of the scenic country lane of the Fenn Lanes. It is four miles from the village of Stoke Golding, where King Henry VII was crowned immediately after the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The reinterment of King Richard III's mortal remains on 21 March 2015 started along the Fenn Lanes near to the village of Fenny Drayton.
Church
The church of St Michael and All Angels', Church of England, in the Diocese of Leicester is of a Gothic design, having 12th-century Norman features with a 13th-century fully operational bell tower. It is surrounded by one of the oldest circles of giant [yew] trees in the United Kingdom. George Fox, the founder of the worldwide Quaker (Religious Society of Friends) movement, was born in Fenny Drayton and is reputed to have been baptized in the older of the two fonts in the church. There is a large monument to him in the hamlet where two roads, George Fox Lane and Old Forge Road meet. Quakers from all over the world visit the hamlet and church, and sign the church visitors' book. There are two important monuments of the Purefoy family dating back to 1543 in the church grounds. One has an incised slab which is very rare. The church is open to the public free of charge by appointment.
Centre of England
In 2002, the Ordnance Survey defined Lindley Hall Farm on the outskirts of the village as the geographical centre of England.[1]
Notable residents
- George Fox, a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, was born in Drayton-on-the-Clay in July 1624. His father, Christopher, was a weaver and churchwarden.[2]
See also
- Coton in the Elms, Derbyshire, 15 miles to the north, 'furthest point from the sea' in Great Britain.
References
- ↑ Haran, Brady (22 October 2002). "A tale of two centres". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2271925.stm.
- ↑ Nigel Smith: Introduction. In: (George Fox: The Journal, p. 3) (London: Penguin Books, 1998), p. x. "My father's name was Christopher Fox; he was by profession a weaver, an honest man; and there was a seed of God in him. The neighbours called him Righteous Christer".
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