By the second half of the 13th century, as the Land Charters in the Archer Collection show,
the Earls of Warwick were anxious to bring as much waste land in Tanworth-in-Arden into full economic use. In the period from 1268 to 1298 the following 13 tenants acquired land:

Roger Gerin, became a tenant of the Earl, William de Bello Campo, in 1282. The land he was granted was situated in the north-east of the parish, bisected by the present-day Tanworth Lane. Here Roger established his house, Gerren`s Hall. That same year Roger bought more land to add to his estate, Iand that he had previously been renting:
"Margery daughter of John de la Moneke of Schirebourne virgin auit claiming Roger Gerin of Thaneworth 9d rent payable on the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle for which Roger gives 7s. sterling."

Some eight years later, bv now firmly established as a man of some importance, he was called upon to act as a witness alongside John Archer, to a transference of land, situated between
"the wood (Earlswood) of the said Geoffrey on the one part and the King' s High Way which is called the Saltway (Salter Street) on the other."

In a conveyance of c.1310, one John Gerin, possibly Roger's son, acted as a witness to the sale of some land in "Cheswich". In 1327 the Lay Subsidy Roll for Tanworth-in-Arden, lists both "Thom Geryn" and "Ade Geryn." As the two names are separated by seven other names it would appear that by this time the family had split into two households. How Iong the family continued here at Geryns, or Gerren' s Hall Farm is unknown, certainly they had either moved out, or died out by 1580, as they are not included amongst the Tanworth names in the List of Warwickshire Freeholders for that year.

Gerren' s, or Jerren' s Hall, as it was evolving into, came into the possession of The Bentford family. They may well have been descendants of the Adam de Beneford mentioned above.
They held the farm for several generations before it was purchased by Poole Field, the first of many Field children to bear that strange Christian name. It is suggested that the name was probably the maiden name of his mother. Field died in 1674, leaving the properiy to his son John.
The house, while in the family' s possession, is frequently referred to as Blackford, taking its name from a ford in the nearby stream that flows into the Blythe.

The last of the family's connection with Jerring's HaII ended with the death of Henry, or Harry Field as he was more popularly known, in the mid 1890s. His widow Louisa sold the estate on 30th June 1910. The directories show that Jerrens Hall Farm was being worked by Septimus Dudley in 1912, William Butler in 1916 and George Rowney in the 1920s. A comparison between the sales catalogue of 1910 and a later one of 28th September I992, reveals that much of the farmland had been sold off, leaving the house sitting only in its immediate grounds.

Jerrings Hall Farm - 1992

Jerrings Hall Farm & Barns
The present Jerring's Hall is a 17th century house, with timber beams from an earlier construction. A wing was added at the northern end of the main house, about 1730, thus creating the L-shaped house we see today. The roof is tiled. Most of the walls are faced with brick or rough-cast, but the southernmost bay of the west side is of old timber-framing. The central chimney shaft is square, with two fire-places, back to back. Two rooms have open-timbered ceilings, one of them with l 5th or 16th century widely chamfered timber, joined to the chimney breast.

The early 18th' century wing is of brick. Its windows in the ground and frst floor are wide openings of three lights. The windows in the gable. facing east are again three lights, with the middle Iights having, round heads. The house is Grade II listed.

The farm buildings consist of a brick constructed granary with a tiled roof, An old driftway barn with double opening timber doors, with tiled roof, a cow byre and milking parlour, a general purpose building, measuring 57 feet by 28 feet and a pigsty with run. A brick field barn at the entrance, down on Tanworth Lane, was demolished in the early 1990s.

NOTES

1. Archer Collection, Stratford-upon-Avon Record Office

2. Burman, John, The Story of Tanworth-in-Arden ( 1930), p.62.
   This deed was still at Jerring' s Hall in 1930.

3. Warwick County Record Office, Series of 20 deeds . . . relating to
   property in Monkspath and Cheswick Green. CR 1095/ 13

4. Ibid. 1095/2

Thanks to Joseph McKenna a Local Historian living in Cheswick Green
for permission to use this article.

See also Field Family History