Site of Nuthurst Chapel, Tanworth in Arden.

Description of this historic site

The site of a chapel dating to the Medieval period, but replaced by a mortuary chapel in the Imperial period. It is located 300m south of Little Spring Coppice.

Notes about this historic site

1 The site of the Medieval chapel of Nuthurst is marked by the present mortuary chapel (PRN 5132). In about 1170 Bishop Richard of Coventry confirmed to the Priory of Kenilworth the church of Hampton with its chapels, of which one is definitely said in 1216 to be at Nuthurst. As late as 1567 Edmund Fulwood of Tanworth granted certain lands to trustees for the support of a resident priest and the repair of the chapel, but by 1591 the chapel was ‘decayed’ and as such was among properties granted to the notorious land speculators Tipper and Dawe.
2 Document records a Chaplain of Nuthurst (1216-72) and priests are recorded in 1300 and 1329 and a chaplain in 1435. A letter of 1634 written by Sir Simon Archer records divine service at the chapel 45-50 years before and possibly more recently. A Mr Grover had attempted to ruin the chapel. In 1730 the chapel was in ruins. A painting of 1820 shows that the chapel had obviously been in ruins for a long time.
3 The mortuary chapel is 19th century. There are no remains of an earlier building.