Thomas Coton (1640-1688) was a philanthropist who endowed in his will one of the first poor schools in the village of Kingsbury, Warwickshire.[1] Thomas Coton was appointed the High Sheriff of Warwickshire in November 1676.[2]
In 1686, a school was founded in his name. In his will, Thomas Coton had set aside land as an income for rent in a trust, to pay for the upkeep of the building, teachers and school equipment, including bibles.[1] This act ensured that education in the village continued as a trust well into the 1800s and was documented in the Parliamentary review of trusts in 1835.[3]
The original school is now a Grade II listed building and education in the village takes place at Kingsbury School, Warwickshire.[4][1]
In August 2017, Thomas Coton was recognised through the unveiling of a plaque by Craig Tracey, MP for North Warwickshire and Lisa Pinney MBE, Head of the Environment Agency for the West Midlands.[5] The plaque is located at the footings of Coton Hall, Cotonbridge, the original residence of Thomas Coton.[5] The footings of the Hall had been discovered in 2016 by Bradley Stevens, a student at Kingsbury School, Warwickshire, following his research into old maps of the Cotonbridge area from the 1850s.[6] The history of the school, Thomas Coton and Coton Hall was documented in a video in 2018.[6] In 2023, a blue plaque to Coton was unveiled by Tracey on behalf of the Tamworth Heritage Trust at the original school building, now known as Teachers House.[7]
References edit
- ^ a b c Stevens, Craig. "Thomas Coton's Hall and School". Our Warwickshire. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ "Appointments". The London Gazette. 23 November 1676.
- ^ Parliamentary Papers. H.M. Stationery Office. 1835.
- ^ "Teachers House, Kingsbury, Warwickshire". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Unveiling". Tamworth Herald. 24 August 2017. p. 28.
- ^ a b Tame Valley Wetlands, Lost and Founded - Thomas Coton's Hall and School, retrieved 9 February 2019
- ^ Newbould, Dan (6 April 2023). "Village celebrates its first ever blue plaque". Tamworth Herald. p. 8.