POLESWORTH MANOR - A Very Brief History

​Polesworth is not named in Domesday Book, but, in the time of King Stephen, Robert Marmion and his wife Millicent gave all their land there to the abbess and convent of Polesworth. In 1242 the nuns were granted a weekly market on Thursdays and a yearly fair from 19 to 21 July.

Following the suppression of the nunnery 1536. the site of the house, with the lordship or manor or town of POLESWORTH, was sold by the Crown to Francis Goodere in 1545.  He died in December 1546, followed by his wife Ursula the following month, leaving a son Henry, then aged 13.

In 1574 Henry Goodere and his wife Frances settled the manor on themselves and their heirs. Sir Henry started the Polesworth Circle, the largest literary gathering outside of London at the time. The circle included poets and writers, John Donne, Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton and architect Inigo Jones.

Sir Henry died in March 1595 with the manor passing to his nephew Sir Henry Jnr who continued to support the Polesworth circle.

Further reading: Polesworth Parish - British History Online

Sir Henry Goodere Snr (1534 - 1595) & Sir Henry Goodere Jnr (1571 - 1627)

Goodere Coat of Arms

As noted above, Sir Henry Goodere founded The Polesworth Circle which was a private organisation whose literary members were all very significant and considerably notable.

After his death, The Circle was continued by his nephew Sir Henry Goodere Jnr.

Further reading: Sir Henry Goodere (1534-95) - The History of Parliament & Sir Henry Goodyer (1571 - 1627) - The History of Parliament

MICHAEL DRAYTON (1563 - 1631)

Michael Drayton

Michael Drayton was born in Hartshill, North Warwickshire. He found service with the Goodere family in Polesworth from whom he received an education in the school room above the former nunnery gateway at Polesworth Abbey.

Drayton became a member of The Polesworth Circle and mixed with  the literary greats at the time, including William Shakespeare, whom he knew from their associations in London.

It has been suggested that Shakespeare may have also been part of the Polesworth Circle and although no documentary evidence exists to corroborate this, it was explored in the book A Chapter in the Early Life of Shakespeare, written by Arthur Gray in 1926.

Drayton’s works includes his Sonnet sequence, Ideas Mirror and Poly-Olbion, a chorographical description of all the tracts, rivers, mountains, forests of the Isle of Great Britain.

Further reading: Michael Drayton - Poetry Foundation

John Donne (1572 - 1631)

John Donne

John Donne was a poet and Church of England cleric who was one of the pre-eminent Metaphysical poets. His poems, sonnets, songs, epitaphs and sermons explore the themes of love and religion using a vibrant language and inventive metaphor.

Donne's poem Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward was written at Polesworth and was commemorated in John Donne day in 2013, when the poets Gregory Leadbetter, Jane Commane, Jacqui Rowe and Mal Dewhirst were commissioned to write a response to Donne’s poem.

Further reading: John Donne - Poetry Foundation

Ben Johnson (1572 - 1637)

Ben Johnson

Ben Jonson was a classically educated playwright, poet, actor and literary critic whose work has left a lasting impact on English poetry and stage comedy. He is recognised as the second most influential playwright (after Shakespeare) in his day.

His key works include: Everyman and his Humour (1598), Volpone or The Fox (1606), The Alchemist (1610) and Bartholomew Fair (1614).

​Further reading: Ben Johnson - Wikipedia

Inigo Jones (1573 - 1652)

Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones was an English architect who was the first person to introduce the classical architecture of Rome and the renaissance into Britain.

Further reading: Inigo Jones - Wikipedia

Other Notable Writers And Links To North Warwickshire

Raphael Holinshed (1529 – 1580) was a chronicler of English history whose work was used by William Shakespeare as the major source of his history plays. Holinshed was a steward at the home of Thomas Burdet of Bramcote Hall, two miles from Polesworth.

Philemon Holland (1552 – 1637) was a school master, physician and translator who lived and worked on Coventry. His translation of William Camden’s Britannia from the original Latin in to English was used to provide the structure of Michael Drayton’s Poly-Olbion. Jonathan Morley refers to this in his poetry trail poem Song 13 (Drayton Dub).

Sir Aston Cockayne (1608 – 1684) was a Poet and Writer whose home was Pooley Hall in Polesworth.

Further reading: (Wikipedia) Raphael Holinshed, Philemon Holland, Sir Aston Cockayne