The reference to the Church Wardens’ Accounts, Great Packington is Warwickshire County Record Office, DR 158/19. The years covered are 1551; then 1556-1631. There are later accounts too. They have been kept in excellent condition because Gt Packington is an estate village. I did a considerable amount of research for the late Earl of Aylesford and have copies of all the Gt Packington wills for this period. There are some interesting facts in these such as details about an estate employee/ husbandman who accompanied Mr John Fisher the owner of the estate on Henry VI1I’s Bologne campaign, 1546. Ronald Hutton in The Rise and Fall of Merry England mentions these accounts. The villagers had to dismantle the Rood Screen under compunction early in Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Later we learn that St James’ church bells rang when she passed through the parish after her 1575 visit to Kenilworth Castle. She had previously stopped at Meriden Hall where she met Sir Edward Aglionby’s step son and family before travelling on into Staffordshire.

Doreeen Agutter (2016)