Warwickshire | Food Festival Finder Search Warwickshire The English county of Warwickshire is divided into five districts: North Warwickshire , Nuneaton & Bedworth , Rugby , Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon . In the north and centre of the county, where the majority of the population live, you’ll find towns like Atherstone , Bedworth, Nuneaton (Warwickshire’s largest town) and (the birthplace of rugby football Rugby ), while prosperous towns like Royal Leamington Spa , Stratford-upon-Avon , Kenilworth , Alcester and Warwick (the county town) lie in the centre and west of the region. Warwickshire is famed for being the birthplace of George Eliot and, of course, William Shakespeare . Shakespeare’s houses and garden s are among the county’s most loved attractions, along with Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden . Warwickshire plays host to many a great restaurant, such as the Michelin starred Dining Room at Mallory Court Hotel , the Grand Union and The Orchard Restaurant . There’s always plenty going on in Warwickshire’s gastronomic world, including food and drink festivals at Leamington Spa and Rugby . Please note, only festivals from today's date are shown below.

Warwickshire - Main Page Warwickshire - Main Page ... includes Birmingham and West Midlands If you have Warwickshire connections please join the project. Getting Involved Feel free to follow, request to collaborate To join the project use the request link under "actions" at the top right of the page. Visit How to Participate •If you have any queries please start a discussion linked to this project. (See the menu top right). •Please add related projects to the menu on the right. •If you have links to related web pages that would be of interest to others please add them in the relevant section at the bottom of the page. In order to do this use the drop down menu at the top left of the screen and Join the Project. If this option is not available to you then contact a collaborator and ask to be added to the project. As a collaborator you will be able to edit this page. •Add any documents of interest using the menu at the top right of the page, and then add a link to the document in the text under the heading below. If you do not know how to do this please contact one of the other collaborators to assist you.

Warwickshire (Listeni/ˈwɒrɨkʃə/ or /ˈwɒrɨkʃɪər/) is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare, George Eliot, & Aleister Crowley. Commonly used abbreviations for the county are Warks or Warwicks. The county is divided into five districts of North Warwickshire, Nuneaton & Bedworth, Rugby, Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon. The current county boundaries were set in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. The historic county boundaries also included Coventry and Solihull, as well as much of Birmingham. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region (code UKG13) and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region.

Geography The county is bordered by Leicestershire to the northeast, Staffordshire to the northwest, Worcestershire and the West Midlands to the west, Northamptonshire to the east and southeast, Gloucestershire to the southwest and Oxfordshire to the south. The northern tip of the county is only 3 miles (5 km) from the Derbyshire border. An average-sized English county covering an area of almost 2,000 km2, it runs some 60 miles (97 km) north to south. Equivalently it extends as far north as Shrewsbury in Shropshire and as far south as Banbury in north Oxfordshire. The majority of Warwickshire's population live in the north and centre of the county. The market towns of northern and eastern Warwickshire were industrialised in the 19th century, and include Atherstone, Bedworth, Nuneaton, and Rugby. Of these, Atherstone has retained most of its original character. Major industries included coal mining, textiles, engineering and cement production, but heavy industry is in decline, being replaced by distribution centres, light to medium industry and services.

Of the northern and eastern towns, only Nuneaton and Rugby (as the birthplace of rugby football) are well-known outside of Warwickshire. The prosperous towns of central and western Warwickshire including Royal Leamington Spa, Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon, Kenilworth, Alcester and Wellesbourne harbour light to medium industries, services and tourism as major employment sectors. The north of the county, bordering Staffordshire and Leicestershire, is mildly undulating countryside and the northernmost village, No Man's Heath, is only 34 miles (55 km) south of the Peak District National Park's southernmost point. The south of the county is largely rural and sparsely populated, and includes a small area of the Cotswolds, at the border with northwest Gloucestershire. The only town in the south of Warwickshire is Shipston-on-Stour. The highest point in the county, at 261 m (856 ft), is Ebrington Hill, again on the border with Gloucestershire, grid reference SP187426 at the county's southwest extremity.

There are no cities in Warwickshire since both Coventry and Birmingham were incorporated into the West Midlands county in 1974 and are now metropolitan authorities in themselves. The largest towns in Warwickshire in 2011 were: Nuneaton (pop. 81,900), Rugby (70,600), Leamington Spa (49,500), Bedworth (32,500), Warwick (30,100), Stratford (25,500) and Kenilworth (22,400). The smaller towns of Atherstone, Alcester, Coleshill, Southam, Bulkington, Polesworth, Kingsbury, Henley-in-Arden, Studley, Shipston, Wellesbourne and Whitnash have populations between 5,000 and 12,000. Arden and Felden Much of western Warwickshire, including that area now forming part of Coventry, Solihull and Birmingham, was covered by the ancient Forest of Arden (most of which was cut down to provide fuel for industrialisation).

Thus the names of a number of places in the central-western part of Warwickshire end with the phrase "-in-Arden", such as Henley-in-Arden, Hampton-in-Arden and Tanworth-in-Arden. The remaining area, not part of the forest, was called the Felden - from fielden. Historic boundaries Areas historically part of Warwickshire include Coventry, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, and some of Birmingham including Aston and Edgbaston. These became part of the metropolitan county of West Midlands (and Sutton Coldfield became part of Birmingham) following local government re-organisation in 1974. In 1986 the West Midlands County Council was abolished and Birmingham, Coventry, and Solihull became effective unitary authorities, however the West Midlands county name has not been altogether abolished, and still exists for ceremonial purposes, and so the town and two cities remain outside Warwickshire. Some organisations, such as Warwickshire County Cricket Club, which is based in Edgbaston, in Birmingham, still observe the historic county boundaries. Coventry is effectively in the centre of the Warwickshire area, and still has strong ties with the county.

Coventry and Warwickshire are sometimes treated as a single area and share a single Chamber of Commerce and BBC Local Radio Station (BBC Coventry & Warwickshire). Coventry has been a part of Warwickshire for only some of its history. In 1451 Coventry was separated from Warwickshire and made a county corporate in its own right, called the County of the City of Coventry. In 1842 the county of Coventry was abolished and Coventry was remerged with Warwickshire. In recent times, there have been calls to formally re-introduce Coventry into Warwickshire, although nothing has yet come of this. The county's population would increase by almost a third-of-a-million overnight should this occur, Coventry being the UK's 11th largest city. The town of Tamworth was historically divided between Warwickshire and Staffordshire, but since 1888 has been fully in Staffordshire. In 1931, Warwickshire gained the town of Shipston-on-Stour from Worcestershire and several villages, including Long Marston and Welford-on-Avon, from Gloucestershire.

Settlements The following towns and villages in Warwickshire have populations of over 5,000. Alcester Whitnash History Warwickshire came into being as a division of the kingdom of Mercia in the early 11th century. The first reference to Warwickshire was in 1001, as Wæringscīr named after Warwick (meaning "dwellings by the weir"). During the Middle Ages Warwickshire was dominated by Coventry, which was at the time one of the most important cities in England due to its textiles trade in the heart of England. Warwickshire played a key part in the English Civil War, with the Battle of Edgehill and other skirmishes taking place in the county. During the Industrial Revolution Warwickshire became one of Britain's foremost industrial counties, with the large industrial cities of Birmingham and Coventry within its boundaries. Boundary changes The English Administrative County of Warwickshire The English Administrative County of Warwickshire Warwickshire Arms The Armorial Bearings (Arms) of the County of Warwickshire Adjust the Warwickshire map using controls or drag with mouse Map Centre Position: Lat , Long .

Map Zoom Level: - Icon Help (The external website above will open in a new window) Population and area summary of the County of Warwickshire The County of Warwickshire is located in The Midland Counties of England, it covers an administrative area of 1,975Km² and in 2001 was home to a population of 505,860 persons, that represents 1.03% of that of England and 0.01% of the population of the entire United Kingdom. More detailed information including visitor attractions and event venues in Warwickshire is available on this site by following the links below to the Boroughs and/or Districts or follow this link to select a different County . Boroughs/Districts of the County of Warwickshire Unitary Authorities and Metropolitan Areas may be displayed here as they are locations are historically associated with this county/region. Unitary Authorities and Metropolitan Areas are however self-governing and are no longer responsible to the County/Regional Administration.

Metropolitan Areas Historical notes about The English Administrative County of Warwickshire WARWICKSHIRE "Warwick, near Stratford-on-Avon." That was the legend I saw in a popular magazine recently beneath a picture of Warwickshire's county town, and I can think of nothing that more neatly summarizes the woefully mistaken attitude of most people towards one of England's most beautiful counties. The reason is that most people think of Warwickshire as first and foremost the land of Shakespeare: his memory has, as it were, stolen the limelight from most of the other attractions the county has to offer, and there are many. Stratford-on-Avon and Shakespeare's county closely surrounding it are but a small part of the county's total area, yet it is to this part that tourists come from all corners of the world to do homage to the "Bard of Avon." Up to the outbreak of war in 1939 a hundred thousand of them came every year, yet despite this annual invasion from without, the great bulk of Warwickshire remains comparatively unexplored. Yet nowhere in England is finer woodland scenery to be found, and few counties are more steeped in history and romance of England's turbulent past.

The geographical centre of England certainly lies within the county, but the exact spot seems to be in dispute, for at the village or Meriden, five miles from Coventry on the road to Birmingham, there are the remains of a cross which was erected to mark the supposed centre, whilst at Leamington Spa the "Midland Oak," claims the same distinction! Warwickshire is a medium-sized county, neither too large to be intimate nor small enough to be cramped. It covers an area of almost nine hundred square miles spread over which live rather more than million and a half people. The industrial north-west, as one would expect, absorbs most of the population. Birmingham, second only to London amongst English cities, alone houses just over a million people, whilst the other industrial towns - the chief of which are Coventry, Rugby, Nuneaton, Solihull and Sutton Coldfield - absorb approximately a further four hundred thousand. There are, therefore, only about a hundred thousand people spread throughout the county areas, yet at the time of writing some five-sixths of the county are devoted to farming, about two-thirds of this for permanent pasture.

Fortunately, the county's large and highly organized industries are extremely centralized and, as a result, encroach less than most industries do upon the large areas of unspoiled country that Warwickshire has to offer. Geological Make-up The county is blessed with rich soil and mild climate, and these two factors together have encouraged extensive dairy farming and market gardening. The main grain crops are wheat and oats, and there are excellent orchards. Nor, as we shall see, is Warwickshire lacking mineral resources. It is, in fact, a county admirably balanced from a social and an economic point of view. Geologists tell us that the physical structure of Warwickshire is simple, but the language they use to describe it makes it sound most complicated. However, we should briefly consider the lie and composition of the land, for from it we can learn quite a lot about the grouping of industry, of its natural resources, and even about such matters as changes in scenery and in the architectural styles of building throughout the county. The Avon, which flows through Warwickshire from north-east to south-west, divides the county into two unequal parts, that area on the north-west of the river being the larger.

Most of this latter is composed of Triassic marls and sandstones, the main sandstone belt running from Kenilworth, through Coventry, to Atherstone, near the north-eastern border. Along this border, too, runs a narrow strip of the coal measures. It extends from Nuneaton, through Atherstone, to Tamworth, and although comparatively small, is extremely productive of high-quality coal. This is Warwickshire's share of the Black Country, a land of collieries, forges, ironfields and canals, where belching chimneys darken the land and begrime what few trees and hedgerows remain. Tacked on to the eastern end of the coal belt is a valuable vein of Hartshill quartzite which is extensively quarried. The southern and the smaller of the two divisions into which the Avon divides the county consists mainly of lias limestone. Evidence of this foundation is reflected in the architecture of this area; the villages possess many of the Cotswold characteristics and provide welcome relief from the brighter-hued buildings found on the other side of the river.

Here, too, where the northern spurs of the Cotswolds fringe the county's southern border, the land is highest, rising to eight hundred and twenty-six feet in Edgehill, with Brailes and Kineton on either side. These hills command magnificent views over the central plain where the silver ribbon of the Avon flows in leisurely way past Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon through some of the finest sylvan scenery in Britain. Camden called the country south of the river the Feldon or open country, as opposed to the north, or Woodland, where the remnants of the great forest of Arden, which at one time covered most of the district, still justify the county's title of Leafy Warwick. Warwickshire is not particularly rich in prehistoric remains, doubtless because Arden covered so much of its area for so long. There are, however, remnants of ancient earthworks at Beausale camp, Nedbury camp and Oldbury camp. Saxon remains, too, are sparse, but fragments are found along the old Roman Fosse Way which enters the county at Halford, on the Worcestershire border, and runs across it in a straight line from south-west to north-east.

A Saxon cemetery of the fifth or sixth century was discovered in 1924 at Bidford, near Stratford-on-Avon. The famous Watling Street forms the county's north-eastern boundary from a point near Rugby to Atherstone. Historic Associations of Warwick Warwick, the county town, stands roughly in the centre of the county on the Avon, amidst glorious typically English scenery. It still retains much evidence of life in the Middle Ages despite the fact that it was ravaged by fire in 1694. Its old east and west gates, dating from the twelfth century, still stand, although very little of the ancient wall remains. Its many half-timbered Tudor houses are without equal in England. Here there is an air of quiet, unhurried life. Here the townsfolk go about their business as they have done for hundreds of years past, and it is difficult to imagine, as one watches the barges gliding silently down the Grand Union Canal, which skirts the town to the north, that Birmingham is only twenty miles away. Warwick Castle Warwick is a very ancient town.

It arose around the great mounds which Ethelflaeda, Lady of the Mercians and eldest daughter of Alfred the Great, fortified in the year 914. Its crowning glory is its magnificent castle (dominating the site of great natural beauty) whose walls rise sheer from the rock that forms the north bank of the Avon. If you go in by the gatehouse to the central courtyard, you will see Ethelflaeda's mount, with Eaesar's and Guy's towers opposite. What history these wall must have witnessed! Here came John Giffard when he captured the castle for Simon de Montfort during his struggle with Henry III: here Warwick the Kingmaker kept Edward IV his prisoner in 1469. The castle contains many beautifully panelled rooms and a fine collection of furniture and pictures. The armour is regarded as one of the finest collections in existence. Outside, in the town, is St Mary's Church, distinguished by its lofty tower through the base of which the roadway runs. But perhaps the most interesting building is Lord Leycester's Hospital. It was originally a guildhouse, but was turned into an almshouse in 1571 for persons maimed in the wars of those times.

Today it still serves a similar purpose. Memorial to the Past The countryside around Warwick is rich in associations with the past. Only two miles away is Guy's Cliffe, in the grounds of which is the cave where lived that legendary hermit Guy of Warwick after his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The chapel of St Mary Magdalene, founded to his memory by Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who died in 1491, contains a mutilated statue of the hermit. About midway between Warwick and Coventry lies the pleasant little town of Kenilworth with its castle, immortalized in St Walter Scott's novel. Few castles in England can boast of such extensive remains; none can claim a finer or more picturesque setting. John of Gaunt built the Strong Tower, the Banqueting Hall and the White Hall, and later additions were made by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, upon whom, in 1562, the castle was conferred by Queen Elizabeth. ON the road from Warwick to Kenilworth is Black Low Hill, on which a cross marks the spot where Piers Gaveston, favourite of Edward II, was executed after his trial in the great hall of Warwick Castle.

Two miles to the east of Warwick, where the Leam joins the Avon, is Leamington Spa. It belonged in early times to the priory of Kenilworth, and although its mineral springs were known in the Middle Ages, it was not until 1786, when the baths were erected, that any extensive use was made of them. Today Leamington is a dignified, sometimes pompous residential town catering for the usual colony of well-off and not-so-well-off retired hypochondriacs and invalids that are always found in such spas. Birthplace of Shakespeare Foremost of Warwickshire's show places is, of course, Stratford-on-Avon, only nine miles from Leamington. Had it not been for Shakespeare, it would probably be just a fine old market town nestling in the leafy beauty of Avon valley, unspoiled by a constant influx of tourists and sightseers. Stratford arose around a monastery as far back as the year 691, but it was not until 1553 that it was incorporated as a town. Eleven years later, on April 23, 1564, William Shakespeare was born.

It was through the agency of David Garrick, towards the end of the eighteenth century, that the poets memory was first honoured in his native town, but another hundred years were to pass before Charles Flower founded the Memorial Theatre and the Stratford Festivals which each year commemorate the poet's birth. The present theatre, the architectural merits of which are much in dispute, was opened to the public in 1932, and replaced the original building which was destroyed by fire in 1926. Whatever the merits or demerits of the new building, few people would suggest that it is not a great improvement upon the original - a frightful eyesore. The buildings occupy a magnificent and commanding site on the banks of the Avon close to the famous Clopton Bridge. They contain, besides the theatre, a library, picture gallery and conference hall. As one would expect, most of Stratford's notable buildings have associations with the poet. His supposed birth-place in Henley Street was purchased for the nation in 1874; New Place, where he died in 1616 - strangely enough on the anniversary of his birth - was destroyed by fire, but the site was purchased by public subscription in 1861.

He is buried in the cruciform parish church of Holy Trinity beside Anne Hathaway, his wife. In addition to its Shakespearean relics and memorials, Stratford possesses the fine old guildhall and the beautiful Elizabethan Harvard House once owned by the parents of John Harvard, founder of the famous American university which bears his name. The countryside around Stratford, like the town itself, is rich in Shakespearean associations. At Shottery, just a mile away, is the exquisite thatched cottage in which Anne Hathaway was born. It was purchased for the nation in 1892. Charlecote Park, where Shakespeare was said to have shot a deer, an act which brought him before Sir Thomas Lucy, High Sheriff of the county, is near-by. It is now the property of the National Trust. In later years Shakespeare commemorated this event by caricaturing Sir Thomas as Mr Justice Shallow in Henry IV and The Merry Wives of Windsor, but he was tactful enough to place Mr Justice Shallow's house in Gloucestershire lest Sir Thomas be affronted.

The traditional eight villages around Stratford, where Shakespeare used to make merry with his friends, are mentioned in an old rhyme, attributed to the poet, although the first two mentioned are actually just over the county boundary in Worcestershire. Piping Petworth, dancing Marston Dodging Exhall, papist Wixford Beggarly Broom and drunken Bidford. It would be a hopeless task to try to catalogue all the lovely little villages in this area. There are far too many of them, and each one seems to have some special charm of its own that distinguishes it from its neighbour. The walker will discover these villages for himself, and what country this is for walking! Dunchurch, near Rugby on the main London - Coventry road, is famous for its beautiful avenue of trees, planted in 1921 as a memorial to the 29th Division, which was billeted in the neighbourhood before embarking for Gallipoli in 1915. Would that there were more memorials of this kind. The Lion Inn is a reputed meeting-place of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators. Meriden, between Coventry and Birmingham, claims to be the centre of England, as already mentioned.

Besides its old cross it has an obelisk which commemorates cyclists who fell in the First World War. Here, in the park of Packington Hall, the Woodmen of Arden, an ancient society of archers, keep alive their curious old customs each year. Between Rugby and Coventry is Knightlow Cross, noted for its hundred moot. This is still held every year on St Martin's Day (November 11), and at dawn the representatives of the eighteen parishes in the hundred meet the steward of the Lord of the Manor, the Duke of Buccleuch, round the hollow stone at the top of Knightlow Hill into which the dues are cast. These dues range from one penny to two shillings, and defaulters are liable to a fine of twenty shillings for every penny and "a white bull with read ears and a red nose." The duke provides the hot rum and milk and his health is drunk at the conclusion of this ceremony. There are one or two excellent examples of domestic and monastic architecture in or close to the Avon valley. Foremost of these are Wroxall Abbey and Baddesley Clinton Hall, both to the west of Kenilworth.

They date from the twelfth and fifteenth centuries respectively. On the Avon, about two miles east of Kenilworth is the great mansion of Stoneleigh Abbey, the seat of Lord Leigh. It dates from the early part of the eighteenth century and is built in the Classic style, but portions of the twelfth century Cistercian monastery, founded by Henry II, survive. In the Feldon country on the other side of the river the countryside takes on quite a different appearance. The land here is more hilly and, as I have said already, the architecture has much in common with that of Worcestershire, owing to the use of the local limestone. The showplace of the Feldon is Compton Wynates, the seat of the Marquess of Northampton. In Elizabethan maps it is marked as Compton-in-ye-Hole, and the old name has a peculiar aptness lacking in the new, for it lies in a hollow between Edgehill and Long Compton, literally in a hole. The great house is picturesque beyond description - a beautiful mixture of stone and half-timber.

Built by William Compton, who was knighted in the Battle of the Spurs, it was originally moated and is perhaps the finest example of Tudor domestic architecture in existence. The house was taken by the Parliamentarians in 1646, and the adjacent church, destroyed by them, was restored in 1663. Forgotten Towns Here in the Feldon we are very close to the past, and one cannot help feeling a little sad when one recalls that some of the places, now little more than hamlets, were once foremost amongst the towns of England. Take Briales, for example, one of the forgotten towns of England. Valued in the "Domesday Book" at more than a score of Birminghams, it was in those distant days second only to Warwick. It was a great centre of the wool grade, and even today, although there are few sheep to be seen on the surrounding hills, it retains something of the grandeur of the sheep-farming days. The church and the George Inn face one another in the main street. The inn is the older by fifty years, and here were housed the workmen who built the church in the great heyday of wool.

The church is now far beyond the needs of the parish, but it is a notable example of the Decorated style, comparable with anything to be found in the county. In Brailes today you might be living in an England of five hundred years ago, and were it not for the intruding motorcars, or perhaps an airplane overhead, Elizabethan broadcloth would look more appropriate than modern clothes. Not far away the leaning tower of Barcheston Church marks all that is left of what was once the most famous tapestry town in England. There is only a farm, a cottage and a rectory there now, but Sheldon tapestries are still the most sought after English fabrics. The old village of Kineton is chiefly interesting because of its associations with the battle of Edgehill, the first clash of arms in Civil War, which was fought on a near-by ridge on October 23, 1642. It is strange to note that just as the Feldon country has declined in importance with the passage of time, so has the Woodland developed and progressed. Today all Warwickshire's large modern towns and cities are north of the Avon where, of course, the great bulk of her mineral wealth lies.

Foremost in size of all these is, of course, Birmingham. Like tentacles, the arms of this straggling city stretch out and threaten the surrounding countryside. They reach out beyond Redditch, in Worcestershire, threaten Henley-in-Arden, and roughly follow the course of the river Alne towards Beausale and Wroxall Abbey. Along all the main roads there is the usual unsightly ribbon development; modern villas, petrol-filling stations and roadhouses now stand where quick hedges once grew, and the sound of motor-car engines has replaced the more leisurely plod of horses' hooves. Concrete highways and back gardens cover much of what was once the good cattle land of Arden. Yet even here, in the fields between the main roads, the old holders of the land still wage a relentless but losing fight with the ruthless advance of bricks and mortar. Cobbett contemptuously called Birmingham the "Wen" to summarize all that he found distasteful, yet for all its unpopularity with the true countryman it has brought wealth and prosperity to the county, and within an incredibly short space of time has risen from an obscure Puritan settlement to proud place of second amongst English cities.

As the chief centre of the hardware trade of the world it has more than fifteen hundred distinct trades within its boundaries, ranging from the manufacture of small arms and explosives to railway wagons, machine tools, rubber goods and chemicals; to mention only a few. The Great City The city is built on a red sandstone site between the valleys of the Rea and Tame, with its suburbs extending over the borders into Staffordshire and Worcester. It looks down upon the central plain from heights varying from two to six hundred feet, and its position nearly at the centre of England makes it a railway junction of the first importance. Most of the old buildings in the centre of the city disappeared in the great clearance of slum and unsanitary property, begun in 1875, and nearly all the buildings are, in consequence, of comparatively recent construction. Nevertheless, even today, and despite aerial bombardment, Birmingham is still cursed with some of the most fear-some slums in Britain. The Town Hall, Art Gallery, Theatre Royal, Exchange and most of the finest buildings, are to be found in the central thoroughfares of New Street, Corporation Street and Colmore.

The university grew out of Queen's College, founded as a school of medicine in 1828, and later moved to Edgbaston, where its buildings now stand. Birmingham, like Coventry, is the seat of a bishop, and its chief magistrate has been a lord mayor since 1896. Its fine cathedral, originally St Philip's Church, is built in the Palladian style and its stained-glass windows by Burne-Jones are admired by Burne-Jones are admired by many. The city's mother church, St Martin's, was the only parish church until 1715. The city has acquired some valuable breathing spaces on the nearby Lickey Hills, of which about a square mile has been presented to the public by members of the Cadbury family. Sutton Park is a fine stretch of wild heath close to Birmingham, but it actually belongs to the adjoining borough of Sutton Coldfield. The well-known chocolate factory of Bournville, built by George Cadbury, although actually in Worcestershire, is included in Greater Birmingham. It was built on garden city lines in 1895. Coventry, second of Warwickshire's cities, is of very old foundation.

It grew up around the Benedictine monastery founded by Leofric, Earl of Mercia, in 1043, and in the fourteenth century ranked fourth in commercial importance in England. Originally it was surrounded by a wall were razed by Charles II, and only two of the gates remain. Coventry had experienced the ravages of war long before the German bombers introduced the word "Coventrated" into the English vocabulary. In the Wars of the Roses it declared for the Lancastrians, whilst Warwick supported the Yorkists, and during the Civil War it was besieged after the fateful battle of Edgehill. Coventry has grown since Peeping Tom bored a hole in his shutter to watch Lady Godiva ride by. Up until the close of the seventeenth century, it was a centre of the cloth industry, and later it became noted for ribbons, watched and sewing-machines. Today it is a great industrial city populated by some of the most skilled artisans and workers in the country, whose productions range from aeroplanes and motor-cars to artificial silk and all kinds of electrical apparatus.

Even before the heavy air raids of November, 1940, wiped out of most of it, the central area with its narrow medieval streets had become quite unable to cope with the heavy volume of modern traffic, and the city's architect had already prepared a plan for rebuilding this area. The plan envisaged a wide ring road round the central area on to which all through traffic could be diverted. The area enclosed within this road was to have been rebuilt without disturbing the numerous fine historical monuments that fell within it. However, the devastation wrought by the raids has facilitated the carrying out of this plan, and the Mayor's first remark on seeing the damage was "we have always wanted a site for a new civic centre, and now we have it." But the destruction of so much that was lovely and irreplaceable, so many cherished links with history, particularly the fine cathedral church of St Michael, is a fearful price to pay for the chance to erect a new and more spacious city centre. Standing on the Avon to the east of Coventry is Rugby. From the train as you approach the town you will see the tall wireless masts of Hillmorton which connect Britain by beam radio with the farthest ends of the earth.

Rugby is a substantial market town and hunting centre, and besides being one of the chief railway junctions of England, it houses an enormous electrical works. The famous school, immortalized in Tom Brown's Schooldays, is also the home of Rugby Football, for it was here, in 1823, that William Webb Ellis astonished his schoolfellows by grabbing the ball and running with it towards his opponents' goal. These, then, are some of the towns and villages within the borders of this lovely English county. The picture is incomplete, for it would take a whole book to sing all its praises and give the reader anything like a comprehensive view of Warwickshire's many-sided activities. But no sketch, however short, would be complete without at least some attempt to describe the Warwickshire man. What is really meant by the Warwickshire man? Is it the million and a half men and women who live and work in the great cities or the hundred thousand minority spread over the country areas? To me it is in the countryside that the soul of Warwickshire is to be found, for these years of evolution amid the Woodland and the Feldon.

Warwickshire countrymen are solid, unemotional folk, man of a dozen skills, whose mixed farming allows little development of that specialization that prevents a man from turning a hand to any other job than his own. You will often find a couple of hundred acres farmed by a farmer, his wife, two sons and, perhaps, a hired man. Yet, despite the endless work this entails, they will take a pride in their hedging and ditching, and their ricks will always be well and neatly thatched with a skill that has been handed down from father to son for countless generations. They are quiet, reserved men, not easy to understand, and if they rarely open their hearts, you will sooner or later, catch them unawares and be surprised at the depth and sincerity of their friendship. They are hospitable people, too, but above all they are great traditionalists. Representatives of the old craftsmen, they still defy the machine; hurdle-making is still a considerable art in many areas, and only the fierce drive of competition has forced many of them against their will to employ the "new-fangled" tractor instead of the horse. These men of Warwickshire are fiercely devoted to their county.

Loftily intolerant of "foreigners" who trespass on its soil, they are equally averse to crossing the borders of their native land into the "heathen" area that lie beyond. What else could one expect from men whose names were known in the land at the time of the Norman Conquest; whose land was their father's and their father's fathers? These Warwickshire countrymen live very close to nature; the land is their whole life, and, like the land they till so lovingly, they can be cruel as well as kind, but they are always honest, industrious and straightforward. In the large towns and cities a new race of Warwickshire men has grown up, a race who have forsaken the quiet and dignity of labour on the land for the hurry and bustle of the machine age in the cities. Many of these men are Warwickshire's adopted sons, for her industry has absorbed thousands who were persuaded to leave their age-old callings: and it is still in clamour to satisfy its ever-growing needs.

And if the two races, the Warwickshire countrymen and the polyglot machine minder, do not mix too readily, and if the countryman is a little suspicious of the town-dweller, they both have the same goal before them and march forward hand in hand to the greater honour and prosperity of the beautiful county in which they live. [Your user agent does not support frames or is currently configured not to display frames.] The books displayed above are returned using the search terms 'Warwickshire'. *If nothing is found relating to these terms Amazon will display a selection of books from the general Best Seller list. Selected UK Retailers Warwickshire | Familypedia | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Warwickshire is bounded to the north-west by the West Midlands metropolitan county and Staffordshire , by Leicestershire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the east, Worcestershire to the west, Oxfordshire to the south and Gloucestershire to the south-west. The northern tip of the county is only 3 miles (5 km) from the Derbyshire border. An average-sized English county covering an area of almost 2,000 km2, it runs some 60 miles (97 km) north to south.

The majority of Warwickshire's population live in the north and centre of the county. The market towns of northern and eastern Warwickshire were industrialised in the 19th century, and include Atherstone , Bedworth , Nuneaton , and Rugby . Major industries included coal mining , textiles , engineering , and cement production, but heavy industry is in decline, being replaced by distribution centres, light to medium industry, and services. Of the northern and eastern towns, only Nuneaton and Rugby (as the birthplace of rugby football ) are well-known outside of Warwickshire. The prosperous towns of central and western Warwickshire including Royal Leamington Spa , Stratford-upon-Avon , Kenilworth , Alcester , and Warwick harbour light to medium industries, services and tourism as major employment sectors. The south of the county is largely rural and sparsely populated, and includes a small area of the Cotswolds , at the border with northwest Gloucestershire. The only town in the south of Warwickshire is Shipston-on-Stour .

The highest point in the county, at 261 m (856 ft), is Ebrington Hill, again on the border with Gloucestershire, grid reference SP187426 at the county's southwest extremity. The north of the county, bordering Staffordshire and Leicestershire, is mildly undulating countryside and the northernmost village, No Man's Heath , is only 34 miles (55 km) south of the Peak District National Park's southernmost point. There are no cities in Warwickshire since both Coventry and Birmingham were incorporated into the West Midlands county in 1974 and are now metropolitan authorities in themselves. The largest towns in Warwickshire as of 2004 are: Nuneaton (pop. 77,500), Rugby (62,700), Leamington Spa (45,300), and Bedworth (32,500).

Stratford, Warwick, and Kenilworth all house 20,000-25,000 inhabitants, while the smaller towns of Atherstone , Alcester , Coleshill , Southam , Bulkington , Polesworth , Kingsbury , Henley-in-Arden , Studley , Shipston . Wellesbourne and Whitnash have populations between 5,000 and 12,000. Arden and Felden Edit Much of western Warwickshire, including that area now forming part of Coventry, Solihull and Birmingham, was covered by the ancient Forest of Arden (most of which was cut down to provide fuel for industrialisation). Thus the names of a number of places in the northwestern part of Warwickshire end with the phrase "-in-Arden", such as Henley-in-Arden , Hampton-in-Arden and Tanworth-in-Arden . The remaining area, not part of the forest, was called the Felden - from fielden. Historic boundaries Edit Areas historically part of Warwickshire include Coventry , Solihull , Sutton Coldfield and most of Birmingham including Aston and Edgbaston.

These became part of the metropolitan county of West Midlands (and Sutton Coldfield became part of Birmingham) following local government re-organisation in 1974. In 1986 the West Midlands County Council was abolished and Birmingham, Coventry, and Solihull became effective unitary authorities , however the West Midlands county name has not been altogether abolished, and still exists for ceremonial purposes , and so the town and two cities remain outside Warwickshire. Some organisations, such as Warwickshire County Cricket Club , which is based in Edgbaston , in Birmingham, still observe the historic county boundaries. Coventry is effectively in the centre of the Warwickshire area, and still has strong ties with the county. Coventry and Warwickshire are sometimes treated as a single area and share a single Chamber of Commerce and BBC Local Radio Station ( BBC Coventry & Warwickshire ). Coventry has been a part of Warwickshire for only some of its history. In 1451 Coventry was separated from Warwickshire and made a county corporate in its own right, called the County of the City of Coventry . In 1842 the county of Coventry was abolished and Coventry was remerged with Warwickshire.

In recent times, there have been calls to formally re-introduce Coventry into Warwickshire, although nothing has yet come of this. The county's population would increase by almost a third-of-a-million overnight should this occur, Coventry being the UK's 11th largest city. The town of Tamworth was historically divided between Warwickshire and Staffordshire, but since 1888 has been fully in Staffordshire. In 1931, Warwickshire gained the town of Shipston-on-Stour from Worcestershire and several villages, including Long Marston and Welford-on-Avon , from Gloucestershire . Settlements Main article: History of Warwickshire Warwickshire came into being as a division of the kingdom of Mercia in the early 11th century. The first reference to Warwickshire was in 1001, as Wæringscīr named after Warwick (meaning "dwellings by the weir "). During the Middle Ages Warwickshire was dominated by Coventry , which was at the time one of the most important cities in England due to its textiles trade in the heart of England.

Warwickshire played a key part in the English Civil War , with the Battle of Edgehill and other skirmishes taking place in the county. During the Industrial Revolution Warwickshire became one of Britain's foremost industrial counties, with the large industrial cities of Birmingham and Coventry within its boundaries. Boundary changes includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured Video game developing company Codemasters is based in Warwickshire. Local government Edit Like most English shire counties, Warwickshire has a two-tier structure of local government . Warwickshire is divided into five districts each with their own district councils. These districts are: North Warwickshire , Nuneaton and Bedworth , Rugby , Stratford , and Warwick (see map). The county and district councils are responsible for providing different services. Atherstone is the headquarters of the North Warwickshire district, Nuneaton is headquarters of the Nuneaton and Bedworth District and Leamington Spa is the headquarters of the Warwick district. In addition many small towns and villages have their own parish councils although these have only limited powers. Warwickshire is policed by the Warwickshire Police . The 2009 County Council elections resulted in a win for the Conservatives .

County council Edit The county also has a county council based in Warwick which is elected every four years (the last election was held on 4 June 2009 the same day as the European Elections ), is currently controlled by the Conservative Party and operates a cabinet-style council . The county council is made of 62 councillors, who decide upon the budget and appoints the council leader. The council leader selects 2 to 9 councillors and together they form the cabinet. The Leader assigns portfolios on which cabinet members make decisions. Key decisions are made by the whole cabinet while others are made only by the portfolio holders for relevant areas. [4] Education Edit In the state sector, children start school in the school year in which they turn five. They stay at primary school for seven years (although this varies even within the county, as some people have previously gone for four years and then spent another four years at a 'middle school') until they are eleven. Warwickshire is one of the few local authorities in England to still maintain the Grammar school system in two districts: Stratford on Avon and Rugby, although Southam claims to have a comprehensive school.

In the final year of primary school, children are given the opportunity of sitting the eleven plus exam in order to compete for a place at one of the Grammar schools, with two in Stratford and Rugby and one in Alcester (including Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar School for Girls ; King Edward VI School , a boys school; and Alcester Grammar School (mixed)). The exam is sat on three different days and consists of two verbal reasoning and mathematics papers and one extended writing paper. In order to maintain standards, there is a bank of papers that are used in rotation. In 2006, it was revealed in a local newspaper, the Stratford Herald, that some private eleven plus tutors had copies of the exam papers and that they were using them as practice papers for their pupils. This meant that, in some cases, pupils sitting the exam had seen the paper in advance.

It should be noted that Warwickshire contains 3 Further Education Colleges and 1 6th Form College, North Warwickshire & Hinckley College which has main colleges based in Nuneaton and the Leicestershire Town of Hinckley with smaller colleges based around North Warwickshire, King Edward VI Sixth Form College (K.E.G.S) in Nuneaton, Stratford Upon Avon College and Warwickshire College , an institution made up of six main separate colleges that have merged (Leamington Centre, Rugby Centre, Moreton Morrell Centre, Pershore College, Henley-in-Arden Centre, and the Trident Centre in Warwick). There are also five independent schools within the county, namely; Rugby School , Warwick School , Princethorpe College , Kingsley School in Leamington Spa , and The King's High School For Girls , Warwick .

King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon , Rugby School , Warwick School and Southam College are arguably the four most notable schools within Warwickshire, with King Edward VI School Stratford-upon-Avon still using 13th century school buildings and being the likely school of William Shakespeare , Rugby School being founded in 1567 and Warwick School originally being founded c.914 AD, which makes it the oldest surviving boys school in the country. All three schools achieve very impressive exam results and benefit from exceptional facilities. Rugby School is one of nine schools that were defined as the "great" English public schools by the Public Schools Act 1868 , and is a member of the Rugby Group . Both Rugby School and Warwick School are HMC schools, with the Headmaster from each school attending the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference . In 2011, Warwickshire members of the union NUT supported action by staff at Coventry's Tile Hill Wood School , in opposition to the government's programme of Academies . [5] [6] Transport Edit Several major motorways run through Warwickshire.

These include: The M40 motorway which connects London to Birmingham, runs through the centre of the county, and serves Leamington Spa, Warwick, and Stratford. The M6 motorway , which connects northwestern England and the West Midlands to the M1 motorway (and then on to London), runs through the north of Warwickshire, and serves Rugby, Nuneaton, and Bedworth on its way to Birmingham. The M69 Coventry to Leicester motorway which serves Nuneaton. Other motorways pass briefly through Warwickshire including the M45 (a short spur south of Rugby connecting to the M1), the southern end of the M6 Toll , and the M42 which passes through the county at several points. Other major trunk routes in Warwickshire includes the A45 (Rugby-Coventry-Birmingham and east into Northamptonshire route). The A46 (connects the M40 to the M6 via Warwick, Kenilworth and Coventry), the A452 (Leamington to Birmingham route) and the A5 runs through Warwickshire passing Nuneaton between Tamworth and Hinckley (at Atherstone).

Rail Edit Two major railway lines pass through Warwickshire. The Chiltern Main Line , the former Great Western route from London to Birmingham passes through the centre of Warwickshire on a route similar to the M40 motorway, and has stations at Leamington Spa, Warwick, (and Warwick Parkway ) and Hatton . Rail services are provided by Chiltern Railways and London Midland (Birmingham to Leamington only). There are also two branches off the Chiltern line, one from Leamington to Coventry, and another from Hatton near Warwick to Stratford. The WCML at Rugby The West Coast Main Line (WCML) runs through Warwickshire. At Rugby the WCML splits into two parts, one runs west through to Coventry and Birmingham, and the other the "Trent Valley Line" runs north-west towards Stafford and the north-west of England. This section has stations at Nuneaton , Atherstone , and Polesworth (North bound services only). There is one branch off the WCML from Nuneaton to Coventry , and there is a station at Bedworth on this branch.

Other railway lines in Warwickshire include the Birmingham-Nuneaton section of the Birmingham to Peterborough Line , which continues east of Nuneaton towards Leicester and Peterborough . Nuneaton has direct services to Birmingham and Leicester on this line, and there is one intermediate station at Water Orton near Coleshill in the extreme north-west of the county. There is also a branch line from Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon . This line used to continue southwards to Cheltenham but is now a dead-end branch. There are several stations on this line at Henley-in-Arden and at several small villages. Stratford also has direct rail services to London via the branch line to Warwick (mentioned earlier). The only major town in Warwickshire not to have a station is Kenilworth . Although the Leamington to Coventry line passes through the town, its station was closed in the 1960s as part of the Beeching Axe . There is a concerted campaign to re-open the station, although currently there are no local services operating on the line, as it is used only by CrossCountry services. Air Coventry Airport is located in the Warwickshire village of Baginton .

Canals and waterways Canals in Warwickshire include: The Grand Union Canal , which runs through Leamington and Warwick and onwards to Birmingham. The restored Saltisford Canal Arm is close to the centre of Warwick, and is now a short branch of the Grand Union Canal. The arm is the remains of the original terminus of the Warwick and Birmingham Canal and dates back to 1799. The Saltisford Canal Trust have restored most of the surviving canal, which is now the mooring for colourful narrowboats and a waterside park open to the public. Over 800 visiting narrowboats come by water to Warwick each year and moor on the arm. Saltisford Canal Trust The Coventry Canal which runs through the north of the county from Coventry through Bedworth , Nuneaton , Atherstone , and Polesworth , and then onwards to Tamworth . The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal which runs from the Grand Union west of Warwick to Stratford. The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal passes briefly through Warwickshire from a junction with the Coventry Canal at Bedworth .

The Oxford Canal , which runs from near Coventry and then eastwards around Rugby, and then through the rural south of the county towards Oxford . The River Avon is navigable from just north of Stratford. In 1974, the Higher Avon Navigation Trust made a proposal to extend the navigation to Warwick and Leamington, where a junction with the Grand Union Canal would create a new cruising ring. Warwickshire County Council believed the scheme to be a catalyst for economic regeneration in the area, but after gauging public support in 2003, decided not to support the plans. The Stratford and Warwick Waterway Trust is still actively pursuing the proposals. [7] Places of interest Edit The Warwickshire County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) (or Warwickshire GAA) is one of the county boards outside Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic games in Warwickshire. The county board is also responsible for the Warwickshire inter-county teams. The play their home games at Páirc na hÉireann . Warwickshire Schools GAA Board was originally setup in September 2000.

It has grown at a very healthy rate such that as of May 2007 WSGAA now work in partnership with 28 primary schools, 15 Secondary schools, 2 HE/FE Colleges and 5 local GAA clubs and in total an estimated 2385 young people. The aims of the WSGAA include competition by their elite team in the All-Ireland underage championships. This initiative is a remarkable departure from the traditional way in which British GAA clubs have been organised. Hockey Edit Warwickshire has more Clubs than any other County within the Midlands, and has good representation at all levels of the game, and within the Administrative and Officiating Worlds as well. Old Silhillians Hockey Club is the Home of Warwickshire hockey, with many fixtures being played on the site, as well as the County Club Minis being played, Junior Academy Centres being coached, and meetings/County Officials being based at the Silhillians Sports Ground. There are 3 clubs who include the word "Warwickshire" within their names: Olton & West Warwickshire, Coventry & North Warwickshire, and Rugby & East Warwickshire, though it is not certain where these claims to regional areas within the County came from.

Warwickshire as a hockey County is recognised by the England Hockey Board as the region normally associated with Greater Warwickshire, since the West Midlands is not a hockey region within the EHB world, and hence includes Solihull and Coventry as well as the standard regions. People Further information: Category:People from Warwickshire Warwickshire is perhaps best known for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon . Even today, road signs at the county boundary describe Warwickshire as "Shakespeare's County". The county has also produced other literary figures such as George Eliot (from Nuneaton ), Rupert Brooke (from Rugby ), and Michael Drayton (from Hartshill ). The poet Philip Larkin lived in Warwick (born in nearby Coventry), and Elizabeth Gaskell went to school in Barford and Stratford. See also WarwickshireDirectories - Home HISTORY OF THE COUNTY WARWICKSHIRE is bounded to the north-west by the West Midlands metropolitan county and Staffordshire, by Leicestershire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the east, Worcestershire to the west, Oxfordshire to the south and Gloucestershire to the south-west.

The northern tip of the county is only 5 km (3 miles) from the Derbyshire border. An average-sized English county covering an area of almost 2,000 km2, it runs some 96 km (60 mi) north to south. The majority of Warwickshire's population live in the north and centre of the county. The market towns of northern and eastern Warwickshire were industrialised in the 19th century, and include Atherstone, Bedworth, Nuneaton, and Rugby. Major industries included coal mining, textiles, engineering, and cement production, but heavy industry is in decline, being replaced by distribution centres, light to medium industry, and services. Of the northern and eastern towns, only Nuneaton and Rugby (as the birthplace of rugby football) are well-known outside of Warwickshire. The prosperous towns of central and western Warwickshire including Leamington Spa, Stratford-upon-Avon, Kenilworth, Alcester, and Warwick harbour light to medium industries, services and tourism as major employment sectors. The south of the county is largely rural and sparsely populated, and includes a small area of the Cotswolds, at the border with northwest Gloucestershire.

The only town in the south of Warwickshire is Shipston-on-Stour. The highest point in the county, at 261 m (856 ft), is Ebrington Hill, again on the border with Gloucestershire, grid referenceSP187426 at the county's southwest extremity. The north of the county, bordering Staffordshire and Leicestershire, is mildly undulating countryside and the northernmost village, No Man's Heath, is only 55 km (34 mi) south of the Peak District National Park's southernmost point. There are no cities in Warwickshire since both Coventry and Birmingham were incorporated into the West Midlands county in 1974 and are now metropolitan authorities in themselves. The largest towns in Warwickshire as of 2004 are: Nuneaton (pop. 77,500), Rugby (62,700), Leamington Spa (45,300), and Bedworth (32,500).

Stratford, Warwick, and Kenilworth all house 20,000-25,000 inhabitants, while the smaller towns of Atherstone, Alcester, Coleshill, Southam, Bulkington, Polesworth, Kingsbury, Henley-in-Arden, Studley, Shipston. Wellesbourne and Whitnash have populations between 5,000 and 12,000. Much of western Warwickshire, including that area now forming part of Coventry, Solihull and Birmingham, was covered by the ancient Forest of Arden (most of which was cut down to provide fuel for industrialisation). Thus the names of a number of places in the northwestern part of Warwickshire end with the phrase "-in-Arden", such as Henley-in-Arden, Hampton-in-Arden and Tanworth-in-Arden. The remaining area, not part of the forest, was called the Felden - from fielden. Areas historically part of Warwickshire include Coventry, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield and most of Birmingham.

These became part of the metropolitan county of West Midlands (and Sutton Coldfield became part of Birmingham) following local government re-organisation in 1974. In 1986 the West Midlands County Council was abolished and Birmingham, Coventry, and Solihull became effective unitary authorities, however the West Midlands county name has not been altogether abolished, and still exists for ceremonial purposes, and so these cities still remain outside Warwickshire. Some organisations, such as Warwickshire County Cricket Club which is based in Edgbaston, in Birmingham, still observe the historic county boundaries. Coventry is effectively in the centre of the Warwickshire area, and still has strong ties with the county. Coventry and Warwickshire are sometimes treated as a single area and share a single Chamber of Commerce and BBC Local Radio Station (BBC Coventry & Warwickshire). Coventry has been a part of Warwickshire for only some of its history. In 1451 Coventry was separated from Warwickshire and made a county corporate in its own right, called the County of the City of Coventry. In 1842 the county of Coventry was abolished and Coventry was remerged with Warwickshire.

In recent times, there have been calls to formally re-introduce Coventry into Warwickshire, although nothing has yet come of this. The county's population would increase by almost a third-of-a-million overnight should this occur, Coventry being the UK's 11th largest city. The town of Tamworth was historically divided between Warwickshire and Staffordshire, but since 1888 has been fully in Staffordshire. In 1931, Warwickshire gained the town of Shipston-on-Stour from Worcestershire and several villages, including Long Marston and Welford-on-Avon, from Gloucestershire. Council Tax – Warwickshire County Council - Residents Residents Search again Search We use cookies to improve your visit to this site. Details of the cookies we use, and how to block them, can be found on our cookies page. Find out more about our cookies. OK Warwick District Council – Council Tax benefits Eligibility A single council tax bill is issued for each household. It is usually payable by the owner-occupier or tenant, but the owner will be responsible if: the property is empty; it is not anyone’s main home; the occupants are all under 18.

Your local borough/district councils, who collect the council tax, arrange for discounts, benefits and other appropriate reductions, and are the point of contact for any queries regarding these issues. Property bands and charges The level of council tax is related to the value of each property, as assessed by HM Revenue & Customs’ Valuation Office Agency. Each home sits in one of eight valuation bands, based on the value of property on the open market on 1 April 1991, assuming it was in reasonable state of repair, the property was sold freehold or in the case of a flat a 99 year lease. You can find out your home’s valuation band from the Valuation Office Agency . Each band carries a fixed weighting, which determines the relative size of the council tax. The Bands are shown below. The District or Borough Councils, Parish Councils and the Police Authority will also levy separate taxes. The average property value in Warwickshire is Band C. Appeals against property banding should be made to the Valuation Office Agency . In the event of disputes, cases are adjudicated by a Valuation Tribunal.

Council Tax bands and charges Band KellysDirectories - Warwickshire WARWICKSHIRE HISTORY WARWICKSHIRE is bounded to the north-west by the West Midlands metropolitan county and Staffordshire, by Leicestershire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the east, Worcestershire to the west, Oxfordshire to the south and Gloucestershire to the south-west. The northern tip of the county is only 5 km (3 miles) from the Derbyshire border. An average-sized English county covering an area of almost 2,000 km2, it runs some 96 km (60 mi) north to south. The majority of Warwickshire's population live in the north and centre of the county. The market towns of northern and eastern Warwickshire were industrialised in the 19th century, and include Atherstone, Bedworth, Nuneaton, and Rugby. Major industries included coal mining, textiles, engineering, and cement production, but heavy industry is in decline, being replaced by distribution centres, light to medium industry, and services. Of the northern and eastern towns, only Nuneaton and Rugby (as the birthplace of rugby football) are well-known outside of Warwickshire.

The prosperous towns of central and western Warwickshire including Leamington Spa, Stratford-upon-Avon, Kenilworth, Alcester, and Warwick harbour light to medium industries, services and tourism as major employment sectors. The south of the county is largely rural and sparsely populated, and includes a small area of the Cotswolds, at the border with northwest Gloucestershire. The only town in the south of Warwickshire is Shipston-on-Stour. The highest point in the county, at 261 m (856 ft), is Ebrington Hill, again on the border with Gloucestershire, grid referenceSP187426 at the county's southwest extremity. The north of the county, bordering Staffordshire and Leicestershire, is mildly undulating countryside and the northernmost village, No Man's Heath, is only 55 km (34 mi) south of the Peak District National Park's southernmost point. There are no cities in Warwickshire since both Coventry and Birmingham were incorporated into the West Midlands county in 1974 and are now metropolitan authorities in themselves.

The largest towns in Warwickshire as of 2004 are: Nuneaton (pop. 77,500), Rugby (62,700), Leamington Spa (45,300), and Bedworth (32,500). Stratford, Warwick, and Kenilworth all house 20,000-25,000 inhabitants, while the smaller towns of Atherstone, Alcester, Coleshill, Southam, Bulkington, Polesworth, Kingsbury, Henley-in-Arden, Studley, Shipston. Wellesbourne and Whitnash have populations between 5,000 and 12,000. Much of western Warwickshire, including that area now forming part of Coventry, Solihull and Birmingham, was covered by the ancient Forest of Arden (most of which was cut down to provide fuel for industrialisation). Thus the names of a number of places in the northwestern part of Warwickshire end with the phrase "-in-Arden", such as Henley-in-Arden, Hampton-in-Arden and Tanworth-in-Arden.

The remaining area, not part of the forest, was called the Felden - from fielden. Areas historically part of Warwickshire include Coventry, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield and most of Birmingham. These became part of the metropolitan county of West Midlands (and Sutton Coldfield became part of Birmingham) following local government re-organisation in 1974. In 1986 the West Midlands County Council was abolished and Birmingham, Coventry, and Solihull became effective unitary authorities, however the West Midlands county name has not been altogether abolished, and still exists for ceremonial purposes, and so these cities still remain outside Warwickshire. Some organisations, such as Warwickshire County Cricket Club which is based in Edgbaston, in Birmingham, still observe the historic county boundaries. Coventry is effectively in the centre of the Warwickshire area, and still has strong ties with the county. Coventry and Warwickshire are sometimes treated as a single area and share a single Chamber of Commerce and BBC Local Radio Station (BBC Coventry & Warwickshire). Coventry has been a part of Warwickshire for only some of its history.

In 1451 Coventry was separated from Warwickshire and made a county corporate in its own right, called the County of the City of Coventry. In 1842 the county of Coventry was abolished and Coventry was remerged with Warwickshire. In recent times, there have been calls to formally re-introduce Coventry into Warwickshire, although nothing has yet come of this. The county's population would increase by almost a third-of-a-million overnight should this occur, Coventry being the UK's 11th largest city. The town of Tamworth was historically divided between Warwickshire and Staffordshire, but since 1888 has been fully in Staffordshire. In 1931, Warwickshire gained the town of Shipston-on-Stour from Worcestershire and several villages, including Long Marston and Welford-on-Avon, from Gloucestershire. Street Map of Warwickshire and Surrounding Areas England UK Warwickshire Map Showing the English County and Surroundings Street Map of the English County of Warwickshire: Find places of interest in the county of Warwickshire in England UK, with this handy printable street map.

View streets in the county of Warwickshire and areas which surround Warwickshire, including other English counties. Highlights of This Warwickshire Map: Easy to Print Map for County of Warwickshire. Get a Satellite View of Warwickshire. Find Routes To and From Warwickshire area. View Villages and Towns in Warwickshire. Identify Warwickshire Areas of Interest. See Warwickshire Housing & Industrial Estates. Easily Find Warwickshire Tourist Attractions. Zoom in, Pan and Move Around Warwickshire. See Rivers, Canals, Lakes and Waterways. Locate streets and roads in and near Warwickshire, locate interesting places and attractions in and near Warwickshire, locate churches and religious centres in and near Warwickshire, locate hospitals and health centres in and near Warwickshire, locate towns and villages surrounding Warwickshire area. More Maps of England: England Cycle routes - Cycle Route Planner Click on a pointer above to find more details about a England cycle route England Cycle Routes England Cycle Routes > England The county of Warwickshire is located in the west midlands area of England. The county was formed in 1001 and in the 15th Century the Battle of Edge Hill took place in south Warwickshire during the English Civil War.

Stratford upon Avon is well known as the home town of William Shakespeare which brings a lot of tourism to the beautiful town and areas surrounding it. There are three castles which include Brinklow, Kenilworth and Warwick castle, and the region is home to the Heritage Motor Museum which is well worth a visit. Recently added England Cycle Routes Route Name

Question: In which English county would you find the towns of Bedworth and Kenilworth?
Answer: Warwickshire