Warwickshire
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A detailed map |
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Stratford-upon-Avon |
Warwickshire (
pronounced /ˈw'ɹɪkˌʃə/, /ˈw"ːɹɪkˌʃə/, or /ˈw"ːɹɪkˌʃɪə/) is a landlocked
non-metropolitan county in central
England. The
county town is
Warwick. The shape of the administrative area Warwickshire differs considerably from that of the
historic county. Commonly used abbreviations for the county are
Warks or
Warwicks.
Warwickshire is perhaps best known for being the birthplace of
William Shakespeare from
Stratford-upon-Avon. The county has also produced other literary figures such as
George Eliot (from near
Nuneaton),
Rupert Brooke (from
Rugby) and
Michael Drayton from
Hartshill.
Warwickshire is bounded to the northwest by the
West Midlands metropolitan county and
Staffordshire, by
Leicestershire to the northeast,
Northamptonshire to the east,
Oxfordshire to the south, and
Gloucestershire to the southwest and
Worcestershire to the west.
The majority of Warwickshire's population lives 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 Rugby (as the birthplace of Rugby football) is well-known outside of Warwickshire. The prosperous towns of central and western Warwickshire include
Kenilworth,
Leamington Spa,
Stratford-upon-Avon, and
Warwick, with light to medium industry, services, and tourism as major employers.
The south of the county is largely rural and sparsely populated, and includes a small area of the
Cotswolds. 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 on the border with
Gloucestershire, GR SP187426.
The largest towns in Warwickshire as of 2004 are: Nuneaton (pop. 77,500), Rugby (62,700), Leamington Spa (45,300), and Bedworth (32,500).
Historically much of western Warwickshire, including the area now forming part of Birmingham and the West Midlands, was covered by the ancient
Forest of Arden (although most of this was cut down to provide fuel for industrialisation in the 17th to 19th centuries). For this reason, the names of a number of places in the northwestern part of Warwickshire end with the phrase "-in-Arden".
Traditional boundaries
Areas traditionally part of Warwickshire include
Coventry,
Solihull, and most of
Birmingham. These became part of the
West Midlands metropolitan county following local government re-organisation in
1974.
Since
1986 Birmingham, Coventry and Solihull have been effective
unitary authorities, but they still remain legally part of the West Midlands.
Some organisations, such as
Warwickshire County Cricket Club, which is based in
Edgbaston, in Birmingham, still observe the
traditional 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
NHS trust and
ambulance service as well as other institutions.
Coventry has been an administrative part of Warwickshire for only some of its history. In
1451 Coventry was separated from Warwickshire for some purposes 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 re-merged with Warwickshire.
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.
This is a list of the main settlements in Warwickshire, including towns, or villages with a population of over 5,000. For a complete list see
List of places in Warwickshire.
*
Alcester,
Atherstone *
Bedworth,
Bulkington*
Coleshill*
Henley-in-Arden*
Kenilworth,
Kingsbury*
Leamington Spa*
Nuneaton*
Polesworth*
Rugby*
Shipston-on-Stour,
Southam,
Stratford-upon-Avon,
Studley*
Warwick,
Wellesbourne,
WhitnashMain 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
Waeinewiscscr 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.
1974 boundary changes removed Birmingham and Coventry from Warwickshire, leaving the present day county with a rather odd shape, which looks like a large chunk has been bitten out of it.
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Warwickshire at current basic prices
published (pp.240-253) by
Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Agriculture | Industry | Services |
|---|
| 1995 | 5,063 | 153 | 1,717 | 3,193 |
| 2000 | 7,150 | 125 | 2,196 | 4,829 |
| 2003 | 8,142 | 159 | 2,054 | 5,928 |
includes hunting and forestry
includes energy and construction
includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
Like most English shire counties, Warwickshire has a two-tier structure of
Local government. The county has a
county council based in
Warwick, and is also 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, whereas
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.
Roads
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 the north west of England and the 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) and the
A452 (Leamington to Birmingham route).
Rail
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
Central Trains (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
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. 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 campaign to re-open the station, although currently there are no local services operating on the line, as it is used only by
Virgin cross-country services.
Canals and waterways
Canals in Warwickshire, include
*The
Grand Union Canal, which runs through Leamington and Warwick and onwards to Birmingham.
*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
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
River Avon is navigable from just north of Stratford. It has been proposed recently to extend the navigation to Warwick, but this was rejected by local residents.
*
Arbury Hall*
The Belfry*
Burton Dassett Hills*
Compton Verney House*
Compton Wynyates*
Coombe Abbey*
Coughton Court*
Coventry Canal*
Draycote Water*
Grand Union Canal*
James Gilbert Rugby Football Museum*
Kenilworth Castle*
Kingsbury Water Park*
Ladywalk Reserve*
Lunt Fort*
Lord Leycester Hospital*
Mary Arden's House*
Oxford Canal*
Ragley Hall*
River Avon*
Rollright Stones*
Rugby Art Gallery and Museum*
Rugby School*
Warwick Castle*
University of Warwick*
Warwickshire County Council*
Wikipedia images of Warwickshire 
