Church of All Saints, Chilvers Coton

Image: © A J Paxton Taken: 25 Aug 2019

The parish church of Chilvers Coton has stood here since the middle ages; the tower dates from the 15th century. Mary Ann Evans, the future George Eliot, was baptised here and she would have attended worship here with her family during her childhood at Griff House in the parish. She depicts the building in 'Scenes of Clerical Life', under the fictional name of Shepperton Church. See the BBC website here https://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/features/george-eliot/george-eliot-locations.shtml for information on Warwickshire locations associated with Eliot. Most of the building, apart from the tower, was destroyed in an air raid in 1941; a police photo of the destruction can be seen in this Nuneaton Museum article about the air raids on the town here https://nuneatonmuseum.wordpress.com/2020/08/19/voices-from-the-blitz/ . By 1947 the church had been rebuilt, in a simpler style. Much of the work was done by German prisoners of war who were interned in a camp in the grounds of Arbury Hall; their carving can still be seen on woodwork inside the church. A description of the architecture can be found on the Historic England site here https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1034977?section=official-list-entry .

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