Ancient history
The Warwickshire area has almost certainly been inhabited since
Prehistoric timesPrehistoric Britain is the period between the arrival of the first humans in Great Britain and the start of recorded British history. The period prior to occupation by the genus Homo is part of the Geology of the British Isles...
. Remains of
barrowA tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world...
s and stone tools and axes have been found, mostly along the
AvonThe River Avon or Avon is a river in or adjoining the counties of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire in the Midlands of England. It is also known as the Upper Avon, Warwickshire Avon or Shakespeare's Avon. The river has a total length of...
valley. Also the remains of around twelve
Iron AgeIn archaeology, the Iron Age is the prehistoric period in any area during which cutting tools and weapons were mainly made of iron or steel. The adoption of this material coincided with other changes in society, including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles.The...
hill fortA hill fort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages...
s have been found in the Warwickshire area.
For the first few decades following the Roman invasion of Britain in AD
43Year 43 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.-Britain:* The long Roman conquest of Britain begins. Aulus Plautius lands with four legions and an equal number of auxiliaries and defeats the Britons, led by Caratacus and Togodumnus, in battles on the rivers Medway and Thames...
, the Warwickshire area found itself at the frontier of Roman rule. The
Watling StreetWatling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
and
Fosse WayThe Fosse Way was a Roman road in England that linked Exeter in South West England to Lincoln in the East Midlands, via Ilchester , Bath , Cirencester and Leicester .It joined Akeman Street and Ermin Way at Cirencester, crossed Watling Street at Venonis...
Roman roads were constructed, and for several decades the Fosse Way marked the western frontier of Roman rule in Britain. The Warwickshire area was heavily fortified during this period and several military settlements were founded to defend the roads. Later on the Ryknild Street was constructed through the Warwickshire area, which passed through what is now
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
.
In time some of these military settlements grew into civilian towns. The largest Roman settlement in Warwickshire was
Aluana (modern day
AlcesterAlcester is an old market town of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in Warwickshire, England, and situated approximately
8 miles west of Stratford-upon-Avon...
). Other significant Roman settlements included
TripontiumTripontium was a town in Roman Britain. It lay on the Roman road later called Watling Street at a site now chiefly within the civil parish of Newton and Biggin in the English county of Warwickshire and partly in Leicestershire, some 3.4 miles north-east of Rugby and 3.1 miles south of...
(near
RugbyRugby is a market town in Warwickshire, in the West Midlands of England, on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
) and
ManduessedumManduessedum was a Roman fort and later a civilian small town in the Roman Province of Britannia. Today it is known as Mancetter, located in the English county of Warwickshire.The fort was founded in around c AD 50-AD 60 on the Watling Street Roman road...
. (modern day
MancetterMancetter is a village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. In 2001, it had a population of 2,449.Mancetter is joined with the town of Atherstone, with which it forms a single urban area...
near
AtherstoneAtherstone is a town in Warwickshire, England. The town is located near the northernmost tip of Warwickshire, close to the border with Staffordshire and Leicestershire and is the administrative headquarters of the borough of North Warwickshire.-History:...
).
Aluana was an important walled town, which stood at a junction of the Ryknild Street and an east-west road.
There was also a large fort in what is now
EdgbastonEdgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
in
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
, and a fort in
BagintonBaginton is a village and civil parish in the Warwick district of Warwickshire, England, and has a common border with the City of Coventry of the West Midlands county. With a population of 801 , Baginton village is four miles south of Coventry city centre and seven miles north of...
near
CoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham with a population of 300,848...
(the
Lunt FortThe Lunt Roman Fort was a Roman fort, of unknown name, in the Roman province of Britannia. It is located just outside the city boundaries of Coventry, in the village of Baginton, in the English county of Warwickshire, where it has been excavated and reconstructed.The site was discovered when large...
).
There is evidence of extensive industry in the Warwickshire area during the Roman period. The area around Manduessedum in northern Warwickshire, is known to have had an extensive
potteryPottery is the ceramic ware made by potters. Major types of pottery include earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. The places where such wares are made are called potteries. Pottery is one of the oldest human technologies and art-forms, and remains a major industry today...
industry, which extended to near what is now
NuneatonNuneaton is the largest town in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth and in the English county of Warwickshire.Nuneaton is most famous for its associations with the 19th century author George Eliot, who was born on a farm on the Arbury Estate just outside Nuneaton in 1819 and lived in the town for...
, the remains of up to thirty pottery
kilnKilns are thermally insulated chambers, or ovens, in which controlled temperature regimes are produced. They are used to harden, burn or dry materials...
s have been found in this area.
Some historians believe that the
Battle of Watling StreetThe Battle of Watling Street took place in Roman-occupied Britain in AD 60 or 61 between an alliance of indigenous British peoples, led by Boudica, and a Roman army led by Gaius Suetonius Paulinus. Although hugely outnumbered, the Romans decisively defeated the allied tribes, inflicting huge losses...
, the last battle of
BoudicaBoudica , formerly known as Boadicea and known in Welsh as "Buddug") was a queen of the Brittonic Iceni tribe of what is now known as East Anglia in England, who led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.Boudica's husband, Prasutagus, an Icenian king who had...
, took place in the Warwickshire area. The historian Graham Webster claimed it took place near Manduessedum. Another possible site put forward by Jack Lucas is the area east of
RugbyRugby is a market town in Warwickshire, in the West Midlands of England, on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
. There is, however, no proof for either of these theories.
Anglo-Saxon period
After the Romans left Britain in the 4th century, the Warwickshire area was settled by
Anglo SaxonAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
tribes. By the 8th and 9th century, the Warwickshire area had become a part of the kingdom of
MerciaMercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
.
In the late 9th century the Mercian kingdom declined and in
874-Europe:* Ingólfur Arnarson arrives as the first permanent Viking settler in Iceland, settling in Reykjavík .* The Danes invade Mercia.* The territory of the Vistulans is conquered by King Svatopluk I of Great Moravia.-Asia:...
large parts of Mercia to the east of Warwickshire were ceded to
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
(Viking) invaders by King Alfred's
Treaty of WedmoreThe Peace of Wedmore is a term used by historians for an event referred to by the monk Asser in his Life of Alfred, outlining how in 878 the Viking leader Guthrum was baptised and accepted Alfred as his adoptive father. Guthrum agreed to leave Wessex and a "Treaty of Wedmore" is often assumed by...
with the Danish leader
GuthrumThe name Guthrum corresponds to Norwegian Guttom and to Danish Gorm.The name Guthrum may refer to these kings:* Guthrum, who fought against Alfred the Great* Gorm the Old of Denmark and Norway* Guthrum II, a king of doubtful historicity...
.
Watling StreetWatling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
, on the north-eastern edge of Warwickshire, became the boundary between the
DanelawThe Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon Law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...
(the kingdom of the Danes) to the east and the much reduced Mercia to the west. There was also a boundary with the kingdom of
WessexThe Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest of...
to the south.
Owing to its location at the frontier between two kingdoms, what is now Warwickshire needed to establish defences against the threat of Danish invasion. This task was undertaken by
EthelfledaÆthelflæd , was the eldest daughter of King Alfred the Great of Wessex and Ealhswith, wife of Æthelred, ealdorman of Mercia, and after his death, ruler of Mercia ....
, "Lady of the Mercians" and daughter of King Alfred, who was responsible for the building of the first parts of
Warwick CastleWarwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a cliff overlooking a bend in the River Avon. Warwick Castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the...
. Defences against the Danes were also built at
TamworthTamworth is a town and local government district in Staffordshire, England, located north-east of Birmingham city centre and north-west of London. The town takes its name from the River Tame, which flows through the town, as does the River Anker. At the 2001 census the town had a population of...
(
see Tamworth CastleTamworth Castle, a Grade I listed building, is a small castle, located next to the River Tame, in the town of Tamworth in Staffordshire England....
).
Periodic fighting between Danes and Saxons occurred until the 11th century. Because of its castle,
WarwickWarwick ) is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, 18 km south of Coventry and 4 km west of Leamington Spa , with a population of 25,434 ..-Culture:Warwick hosts annual festivals ranging from the Spoken Word to Classical and...
grew into a prosperous market town and a powerful centre within the Mercian kingdom. In the early 11th century, new internal boundaries within the Mercian kingdom were drawn and Warwickshire came into being as the lands administered from Warwick. The county was initially divided into ten hundreds.
The first recorded use of the name Warwickshire was in the year 1001, named after Warwick (meaning "dwellings by the
weirA weir , also known as a lowhead dam, is a small overflow-type dam commonly used to raise the level of a river or stream. Weirs have traditionally been used to create mill ponds in such places. Water flows over the top of a weir, although some weirs have sluice gates which release water at a level...
").
Middle Ages
The
NormansThe Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
were responsible for building much of
Warwick CastleWarwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a cliff overlooking a bend in the River Avon. Warwick Castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the...
and
Kenilworth CastleKenilworth Castle is a castle located in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England . Historically the Castle was contained within the Forest of Arden....
following their invasion in 1066.
Many of the main settlements of Warwickshire were established in the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
as
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
s, including
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
,
BedworthBedworth is a market town in the Nuneaton and Bedworth district of Warwickshire, England. It lies northwest of London, east of Birmingham, and north northeast of the county town of Warwick. It is situated between Coventry, to the south, and Nuneaton, to the north.In the 2001 census the town...
,
NuneatonNuneaton is the largest town in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth and in the English county of Warwickshire.Nuneaton is most famous for its associations with the 19th century author George Eliot, who was born on a farm on the Arbury Estate just outside Nuneaton in 1819 and lived in the town for...
,
RugbyRugby is a market town in Warwickshire, in the West Midlands of England, on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
and
Stratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of the county town, Warwick. It is the main town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers a...
amongst others.
The county was dominated throughout the medieval period by
CoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham with a population of 300,848...
which became an important centre of
woolWool is a fibrous protein derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles. The wool is taken from animals in the Caprinae family, principally sheep, but the hair of certain species of other mammals including: goats, llamas, and rabbits may also be called wool...
and textiles trades. Coventry became one of the most important cities in England.
In 1451 Coventry became a
county corporateA county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Ireland and Wales.Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing counties...
in its own right: the
County of the City of CoventryThe County of the City of Coventry was a former English county, which existed between 1451 and 1842.The county covered an area of around and contained the city of Coventry and the surrounding villages of Ansty, Asthull, Biggin, Binley, Caludon, Exhall, Foleshill, Harnell, Horwell, Radford, Stoke,...
.
Civil War
In the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first and second civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war saw fighting between supporters of...
in the 17th century the
Battle of EdgehillThe Battle of Edgehill was the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday 23 October, 1642...
(1642) was fought in Warwickshire, near the
OxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East England region, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire....
border.
Modern period
During the 18th and 19th centuries Warwickshire became one of Britain's foremost industrial counties. The
coalfieldsCoal mining is the extraction or removal of coal from the earth by mining. When coal is used for fuel in power generation it is referred to as steaming or thermal coal. Coal that is used to create coke for steel manufacturing is referred to as coking or metallurgical coal...
of northern Warwickshire were amongst the most productive in the country, and greatly enhanced the industrial growth of
CoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham with a population of 300,848...
and
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
. One notable exception was the town of
Leamington SpaLeamington Spa, properly Royal Leamington Spa, commonly Leamington or "Leam" to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr...
which grew from a small village to a medium sized town during the 19th century on the back of the fashionable
spa waterSpa water can refer to:*bottled mineral water from a the springs of a day spa or destination spa*water in a whirlpool bath...
tourist movement of the time.
Warwickshire became a centre of the national
canalThe canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating...
system, with major arterial routes such as the
Oxford CanalThe Oxford Canal is a 78 mile long narrow canal in central England linking Oxford with Coventry via Banbury and Rugby. It connects with the River Thames at Oxford, to the Grand Union Canal at the villages of Braunston and Napton-on-the-Hill, and to the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury Junction in...
the
Coventry CanalThe Coventry Canal is a navigable narrow canal in the Midlands of England.It starts in Coventry and ends 38 miles north at Fradley Junction, just north of Lichfield, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal...
and later, what is now the
Grand Union CanalThe Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 220 km with 166 locks...
being constructed through the county.
One of the first intercity railway lines: the
London and Birmingham RailwayThe London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846 when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....
ran through Warwickshire. And during the 19th century, the county developed a dense railway network.
Towns like
NuneatonNuneaton is the largest town in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth and in the English county of Warwickshire.Nuneaton is most famous for its associations with the 19th century author George Eliot, who was born on a farm on the Arbury Estate just outside Nuneaton in 1819 and lived in the town for...
,
BedworthBedworth is a market town in the Nuneaton and Bedworth district of Warwickshire, England. It lies northwest of London, east of Birmingham, and north northeast of the county town of Warwick. It is situated between Coventry, to the south, and Nuneaton, to the north.In the 2001 census the town...
, and
RugbyRugby is a market town in Warwickshire, in the West Midlands of England, on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
also became industrialised. The siting of a major railway junction in the town was the key factor in the industrial growth of Rugby.
Towards the end of the 19th century Birmingham and Coventry had become large industrial cities in their own right, and so administrative boundaries had to change. In 1889 the
administrative countyAn administrative county was an administrative division in England and Wales and Ireland used for the purposes of local government. They are now abolished, although in Northern Ireland their former areas are used as the basis for lieutenancy....
of Warwickshire was created, and both Coventry and Birmingham became
county boroughCounty borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. The Local Government Act 1972 abolished them in England and Wales, but they are still used in the Republic of Ireland and Northern...
s which made them administratively separate from the rest of Warwickshire.
SolihullSolihull is a large town in the West Midlands of England, with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
later followed as a county borough. These borougs remained part of the
ceremonial countyThe ceremonial counties are areas of England that are appointed a Lord Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as the Counties for the purposes of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England and Lieutenancies Act 1997...
of Warwickshire, which expanded into
WorcestershireWorcestershire or ; abbreviated Worcs) is a historic and administrative county located in the West Midlands region of central England. In 1974 it was merged with the county of Herefordshire to form the single administrative county of Hereford and Worcester; which was divided in 1998,...
and
StaffordshireStaffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
as Birmingham annexed surrounding villages.
This situation lasted until 1974, when the two cities were removed from Warwickshire altogether, and along with parts of
StaffordshireStaffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
and
WorcestershireWorcestershire or ; abbreviated Worcs) is a historic and administrative county located in the West Midlands region of central England. In 1974 it was merged with the county of Herefordshire to form the single administrative county of Hereford and Worcester; which was divided in 1998,...
became a part of the new West Midlands metropolitan county.
The remaining post-1974 county of Warwickshire was left with a rather odd shape, which looks as if a large chunk has been bitten out of it where Coventry and Birmingham used to be.
See also
- History of Birmingham
The history of Birmingham in England spans 1,400 years of growth, evolving from a small 7th century Anglo Saxon hamlet on the edge of the Forest of Arden at the fringe of early Mercia to become a crucible of immigration, innovation and civic pride that helped to bring about major social and...
- History of Coventry
This article is about the history of Coventry, a city in the West Midlands, England.From its humble beginnings as a settlement around a Saxon nunnery c. AD 700, Coventry grew to become one of the most important cities in England during the Middle Ages due to its booming cloth and textiles trade...
- Victoria County History of Warwickshire, (part of British History Online)