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WARWICKSHIRE

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 343 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WARWICKSHIRE , a midland See also:

county of See also:England, bounded N. by See also:Staffordshire, E. by See also:Leicestershire and See also:Northamptonshire, S. by See also:Oxfordshire and See also:Gloucestershire, and W. by See also:Worcestershire.. The See also:area is 902.3 sq. m. The See also:river See also:Avon, watering a See also:rich valley on a See also:line from N.E. to S.W., divides the county into two unequal parts. The greater, lying to the N.W., drains principally to the See also:Trent through the See also:rivers See also:Cole, Blythe, Rea, Anker and See also:minor streams. Between these valleys, and dividing the See also:system from that of the Avon, the See also:land rises in See also:gentle undulations, and is of See also:plateau-like See also:character, generally between 400 and 600 ft. in See also:elevation. There are considerable tracts of this nature on the western boundary, both See also:north and See also:south of See also:Birmingham, on the eastern boundary north of See also:Rugby, and in the centre between the Blythe, the Anker and the Avon. From this See also:side the Avon receives the See also:Swift, the Sowe and the Alne. The See also:northern See also:district was distinguished by See also:Camden as the Woodland, as opposed to the See also:southern or Feldon, " a See also:plain champain." The northern See also:wood-land embraced the See also:ancient See also:forest of See also:Arden (q.v.) and it is this district which gave to the county the See also:common epithets of " woody " or " leafy." The Feldon or south-eastern district is almost wholly in the Avon valley. From this side the Avon receives the Learn, the Itchen and the See also:Stour. Along the 342 south-eastern boundary runs the highest line of hills in the county, reaching some 800 ft., and including Edge See also:Hill (which gives name to the See also:battle of 1642), and the Brailes, Dassett, Napton and Shuckburgh hills. The county boundary here extends across the highest line of hills, to include the headwaters of some of the feeders of the Cherwell, and thus a small See also:part of the drainage area of the See also:Thames. These hills rise abruptly, and command wide views over the See also:champaign.

The finest silvan scenery is found on the See also:

banks of the Avon; the position of See also:Guy's Cliffe and of See also:Warwick See also:Castle are well-known examples. It is not difficult to trace the See also:influence of the scenic characteristics of the county in the writings of its most famous son, See also:William Shake- speare. See also:Geology.—The Archean rocks are represented by some volcanic ashes and intrusive dykes (the Caldecote See also:Series), which are exposed north-See also:west of See also:Nuneaton. They See also:dip south-westward under the See also:Cambrian beds—Hartshill See also:Quartzite and Stockingford Shales—which give rise to higher ground; the quartzite, which is opened up in numerous large roadstone quarries, contains towards its See also:summit a See also:fauna suggesting that of the Olenellus See also:zone, one of the See also:oldest faunas known. The quartzite as well as the overlying shales is seamed with intrusive dykes of See also:diorite. A small inher of the same shales occurs at Dosthill, south of See also:Tamworth. The See also:Coal See also:Measures of the Warwickshire coalfield See also:crop out in the north of the county between Nuneaton and Tamworth and contain valuable coal-seams; they pass conformably under the so-called See also:Permian red sandstones and marls which are apparently the equivalents of the Keele Beds of Staffordshire, and like them should be grouped with the Coal Measures; they occupy a considerable area north and west of See also:Coventry, and at Corley See also:form high ground (625 ft.) ; in several places shafts have been sunk through them to the productive Coal Measures below. The See also:rest of the county is occupied in the northern See also:half by the Triassic red rocks, and in the south-See also:east by the See also:Lias. Of the Trias the See also:Bunter (soft red sandstones with pebble-beds) is represented only between Birmingham and See also:Sutton Coldfield, where it is succeeded by the See also:Keuper See also:Sandstone, which is occasionally exposed also around the edge of the coalfield (Tamworth, Coventry, Warwick, Maxstoke) ; the Keuper Marls occupy a large area in the centre of the county, while some sandstones in them form picturesque scarps near See also:Henley-in-Arden. The highly fossiliferous See also:Rhaetic beds which introduce the Lias are seldom exposed. The See also:Lower Lias limestones are worked for See also:cement (as near Rugby) and abound in See also:ammonites. The See also:Middle Lias sands and limestones follow, and form escarpments (as at Edge Hill, 710 ft.); but these and the lowest members of the Oolite series scarcely See also:cross the county boundary from Oxfordshire.

Glacial drifts—See also:

boulder-See also:clay, See also:sand and See also:gravel—overspread large areas of the older rocks; their See also:composition shows them to have been deposited from glaciers or See also:ice-sheets which entered the district from the Irish See also:Sea, from North See also:Wales and from the North Sea. Later fluvio-glacial gravels of the Avon valley have yielded mammalian remains (See also:hippopotamus, See also:mammoth, &c.), while See also:palaeolithic implements of quartzite have been found in the old gravels of the Rea near Birmingham. Coal, ironstone, See also:lime and cement are the See also:chief See also:mineral products; See also:manganese ore was formerly got from the Cambrian rocks. See also:Climate and See also:Agriculture.—The climate is generally mild and healthy. The See also:soil is on the whole See also:good, and consists of various loams, marls, gravels and See also:clays, well suited for most of the usual crops. It is rich in pasture-land, and See also:dairy-farming is increasing. It has excellent orchards and See also:market-gardens, and possesses some of the finest woodlands in England. About five-sixths of the See also:total area, a high proportion, is under cultivation, and of this about two-thirds is in permanent pasture. Oats and See also:wheat occupy the greater part of the area under See also:grain crops. In connexion with the See also:cattle-rearing and dairy-farming, over half the acreage under See also:green crops is occupied by turnips, swedes and mangolds. See also:Industries.—The See also:industrial part of the county is the northern. Warwickshire includes the greatest manufacturing centre of the Midlands—Birmingham, though the suburbs of that See also:city extend into Staffordshire and Worcestershire.

See also:

Metal-working in all branches is prosecuted here, besides other industries. Coventry is noted for See also:cycle-making,and,with See also:Bedworth and Nuneaton and the intervening villages, is a seat of the ribbon- and tape makers. A small rich coalfield occurs in the north-east, extending outside the county northward from Coventry. Clay, See also:limestone and other See also:stone are quarried at various points, and an appreciable amount of See also:iron ore is raised. Communications.—The See also:main line of the See also:London & North-Western railway runs within the county near the N.E. boundary, by Rugby, Nuneaton and Tamworth, with branches to See also:Leamington and See also:War-See also:wick, Coventry and Birmingham, and cross-branches. The northern line of the See also:Great Western railway runs through Leamington and Warwick to Birmingham, with branches to See also:Stratford-on-Avon and Henley-in-Arden. The See also:Leicester and Birmingham See also:branch of the Midland railway crosses the north of the county by Nuneaton, and the Birmingham-See also:Evesham line of this See also:company serves See also:Alcester. The East and West Junction railway, from Blisworth in Northamptonshire, serves Stratford-on-Avon and terminates at See also:Broom Junction on the Evesham line of the Midland. See also:Water communication through the east of the county is afforded by the See also:Oxford and Coventry canals. The Warwick & Napton See also:canal joins the Oxford at Napton; the Warwick & Birmingham joins these towns, and the Stratford-on-Avon is a branch from it. The Fazeley canal runs N.E. from Birmingham. None of the rivers is of commercial value for See also:navigation.

See also:

Population and See also:Administration.—The area of the ancient county is 577,462 acres, with a population in 1891 of 805,072, and in 1901 of 897,835, the chief centres of increase lying naturally in the parts about Birmingham and Coventry. The area of the administrative county is 579,885 acres. The municipal boroughs are: See also:Aston See also:Manor (pop. 77,326), Birmingham (522,204), Coventry (69,978), Leamington, officially Royal Leamington See also:Spa (26,888), Nuneaton (24,996), Stratford-on-Avon (831o), Sutton Coldfield (14i264) and Warwick (11,889), the county See also:town. The See also:urban districts are: Bulkington (1548), Erdington (16,368), See also:Kenilworth (4544) and Rugby (16,830). Among the tpwns not appearing in these lists there should be mentioned: Alcester (2303), See also:Atherstone (5248), Bedworth (7169), Coleshill (2593), Foleshill (5514) and Solihull (7517). Warwickshire is in the midland See also:circuit, and assizes are held at Warwick. It has one See also:court of See also:quarter sessions, and is divided into 14 See also:petty sessional divisions. The boroughs of Birmingham, Coventry, Royal Leamington Spa, Stratford-on-Avon, Sutton Coldfield and Warwick have See also:separate commissions of the See also:peace, and the boroughs of Birmingham and Warwick have, in addition, separate courts of quarter sessions. The total number of See also:civil parishes is 267. The county, which is mostly in the See also:diocese of See also:Worcester, but also extends into those of See also:Lichfield, See also:Gloucester, See also:Peterborough and Oxford, contains 297 ecclesiastical parishes or districts, wholly or in part. Warwickshire has four See also:parliamentary divisions—Northern or Tamworth, North-eastern or Nuneaton, South-eastern or Rugby, and South-western or Stratford-on-Avon, each returning one member.

The parliamentary boroughs of Aston Manor, Coventry and Warwick return one member each, and that of Birmingham has seven divisions, each returning one member. Birmingham is the seat of a university, of the large See also:

grammar school of See also:King See also:Edward VI., and of other important educational institutions. At Rugby is one of the most famous of See also:English public See also:schools. The King's School, Warwick, is a large boys' school, and the Leamington High School is for girls. There is a See also:day training See also:college for schoolmasters and schoolmistresses in connexion with See also:Mason University College, Birmingham. Among other institutions there may be mentioned the See also:Lady Warwick College for the instruction of See also:women in the higher branches of agriculture, &c., founded by Frances, countess of Warwick, at See also:Reading in 1898, and subsequently removed to Studley Castle in western Warwickshire, where there is See also:accommodation for 5o students. See also:History.—The earliest English settlers in the district now known as Warwickshire were a tribe of Hwiccas who, pushing .up the See also:Severn valley in the 6th See also:century, made their way along the passages afforded by the Avon valley and the See also:Roman See also:Fosse Way, the extent of their See also:settlement being indicated by the ancient limits of the diocese of Worcester. The vast forest of Arden, stretching from the Avon to the site of the See also:modern Birmingham, barred any progress northwards, at the same See also:time affording See also:protection from the Anglian tribes who were already settled about Atherstone, and it was only after the battle of See also:Cirencester in 628 that the whole of the Hwiccan territory was comprised in See also:Mercia. In 675 Cosford was included in the endowment of Peterborough, and in 757 A thelbald was slain at Seckington in a battle with the West See also:Saxons. The See also:shire of Warwick originated in the loth century about IEthelflxd's new See also:burgh at Warwick, and is mentioned by name in the Saxon See also:Chronicle in Ioi6, when it was harried by Canute. The Danes made frequent incursions in the district in the loth and 11th centuries, but no traces of their settlements occur south of Rugby. The shire offered little resistance to the Conqueror, who was at Warwick in ro68, and Thurkill the See also:sheriff was one of the few Englishmen to retain large estates which he had held before the See also:conquest, his See also:family See also:long continuing in the county under the name of Arden.

The fortification which he had raised at Warwick William entrusted to See also:

Henry, son of See also:Roger de See also:Beaumont, after-wards See also:earl of Warwick, and See also:Robert, See also:count of Meulan, Henry's See also:elder See also:brother, had an important See also:fief. Coventry See also:Minster was richly endowed, and in 1285 the • See also:prior claimed among other privileges to have an See also:independent See also:coroner and to. hold two courts a See also:year. The earldom and castle of Warwick subsequently passed to the Beauchamps, and in the reign of Henry VI. to the Nevilles. The Clintons, founders of the castles and priories at Maxstoke and Kenilworth, enjoyed large estates in the county during the See also:Norman See also:period. The ten Domesday hundreds of Warwickshire are now reduced to four, all of which are mentioned in the 12th century. Hemlingford represents the Domesday See also:hundred of Coleshill; Knightlow, the Domesday hundreds of Bomelau, Meretone and Stanlei; Kineton, the Domesday hundreds of Tremelau, Honesberie, Fexhole and Berricestone; Barlichway, the Domesday hundreds of Fernecumbe and Patelau. Coleshill took its name from Coles-hill, a town near the junction of the Cole and the Blythe; Hemlingford from a See also:ford over the Tame near. Kingsbury; Knightlow from a hill on Dunsmore See also:Heath; Meretone and Stanlei from the villages of Marton and Stoneleigh; Berricestone from Barcheston on the Stour; Barlichway from a See also:plot of ground . on a hill between Haselor and See also:Burton. Patelau hundred, which derived its name from a See also:tumulus between Wootton Wawen and Stratford-on-Avon, was a See also:liberty of the bishops of Worcester, and in the 17th century, though reckoned part of Barlichway hundred, possessed a court leet and court See also:baron. The boundaries of Warwickshire have remained practically unchanged since the Domesday Survey, but Spilsbury, now in Oxfordshire, Romsley, See also:Shipley, Quat and Rudge, now in See also:Shropshire, and Chillington, now in Staffordshire, were assessed under this county, while Sawbridge, Berkswell, Whitacre, Over and Whichford, now in this county, were assessed under Northamptonshire. Warwickshire was See also:united with Leicester-shire under one sheriff until 1566, the shire court for the former being held at Warwick. In the 13th century Warwickshire included the deaneries of Warwick and Kineton within the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester; the rest of the county constituting the archdeaconry of Coventry within the Lichfield diocese, with the deaneries of Coventry, Stoneley, Merton and Arden.

In 1836 the See also:

arch-deaconry of Coventry was annexed to the diocese of Worcester, and in 1854 its deaneries were entirely reconstituted and made thirteen in number. In 1861 the deanery of Alcester was formed within the archdeaconry of Worcester, and Kineton was divided into North Kineton and South Kineton. In 1894 the deaneries of Aston, Birmingham, Coleshill, See also:Northfield, Polesworth, Solihull and Sutton Coldfield were formed into the archdeaconry of Birmingham, the archdeaconry of Coventry now including the deaneries of Atherstone, Baginton, Coventry, Dassett Magna,- Dunchurch, Leamington, Monks See also:Kirby, Rugby and Southam. In the See also:wars of the reign of Henry III. See also:Simon de See also:Montfort placed Kenilworth Castle in See also:charge of See also:Sir See also:John See also:Giffard, who in 1264 attacked Warwick Castle and took prisoner the earl and countess of Warwick, who had supported the king. During the Wars of the See also:Roses the Nevilles, represented by the earl of Warwick, supported the Yorkist cause, while Coventry was a Lancastrian stronghold. On the outbreak of the Civil War of the 17th century Warwickshire and Staffordshire were associated for the See also:parliament under See also:Lord See also:Brooke. The battle of Edgehill was fought in 1642, and in 1643 Birmingham, then a small town noted for its See also:Puritanism, was sacked by See also:Prince See also:Rupert. Coventry endured a See also:siege in 1642, and skirmishes took See also:place at Southam and Warwick. At the time of the Domesday Survey the industries of Warwick-shire were almost exclusively agricultural, the extensive wood-lands north of the Avon affording pasturage for See also:sheep, whilemeadows and water-See also:mills were numerous in the river valleys. The woollen See also:industry flourished in Norman times, and Coventry was famed for its See also:wool and broadcloths in the reign of Edward III. Coal was probably dug at Griff in the 12th century, but the Warwickshire collieries only came into prominence in the 17th century, when John See also:Briggs of Bedworth made an See also:attempt to monopolize the coal See also:trade.

Birmingham was already famous for its smiths and cutlers in the 16th century. In the See also:

early 17th century the depopulation and See also:distress caused by the enclosures of land for pasture led to frequent riots. The See also:silk industry at Coventry and the See also:needle industry about Alcester both flourished in the 18th century. Warwickshire returned two members to the parliament of 1290, and in. 1295 Coventry and Warwick were each represented by two members. Tamworth returned two members in 1584. Under the Reform See also:Act of 1832 the county returned four members in two divisions; Birmingham was represented by two members, and Tamworth was disfranchised. Under the act of 1868 the See also:representation of Birmingham was increased to three members. Antiquities.—Of pre-Norman See also:architecture some traces appear in the See also:fine See also:church of Wootton Wawen in the Arden (western) district. Otherwise the type is scarce, but Saxon remains, such as See also:burial urns and See also:jewelry, have been found in several places. as near Bensford See also:Bridge on Watling See also:Street. For ecclesiastical architecture Coventry with its three See also:spires is famous, and among See also:village churches there are many fine examples. Of those retaining Norman portions may be mentioned: Wolston and Berkswell in the Coventry district; Polesworth, formerly conventual, and Curdworth in the north; and in the south, in the neighbourhood of Edgehill, Burton Dassett, a very noteworthy See also:building, and Warmington, where there is a remarkable specimen of domus inclusi or anchorite's chamber.

There are also fine examples of Decorated See also:

work, such as Knowle, Solihull and See also:Temple Balsall in Arden, and Brailes under the southern hills. Among the numerous religious houses in the county several have See also:left remains. Such are the Cistercian See also:foundations of Coombe See also:Abbey near Coventry, of the 12th century, adjoining the See also:mansion of that name in a beautiful See also:park; of Merevale near Atherstone; and of Stoneleigh near Kenilworth, also adjoining a famous mansion. This abbey was a 12th-century See also:foundation, but a majestic See also:gatehouse of the 14th century also stands. Maxstoke Priory, in Arden, was a foundation for Augustinian canons of the 14th century. Wroxall Abbey was a See also:Benedictine nunnery of the 12th century; but the name is given to a modern mansion. In view of the large See also:share the county has had in war, it is not surprising to find many examples of great fortified houses or castles. Warwick Castle and Kenilworth Castle, the one still a splendid See also:residence, the other a no less splendid ruin, are described under those towns. At Hartshill (the birthplace of See also:Michael See also:Drayton the poet) there is a fragment of a Norman castle. Among fortified mansions Maxstoke Castle is of the 14th century; Baddesley See also:Clinton See also:Hall is of the 15th as it stands, but is an earlier foundation; See also:Astley Castle is another good specimen of the period. Cpmpton Wyniates, once fortified, is a beautiful Elizabethan See also:house of See also:brick, so remarkably hidden in a hollow of the southern hills as to be visible only from the closest proximity on all sides; See also:Charles I. lodged here during the Civil Wars. Charlecote Park is a modernized Elizabethan hall in an exquisite situation on the Avon above Stratford.

Of more modern mansions Arbury Hall, Astley Castle, Newnham Paddox, Ragley Hall and See also:

Walton Hall may be mentioned. See See also:Victoria County History, Warwickshire; Sir William See also:Dugdale, The Antiquities of Warwickshire (London, 1656; 2nd ed., 2 vols., London, 1730) ; W. See also:Smith, A History of the County of Warwick (Birmingham,183o); J. T. See also:Burgess, Historic Warwickshire (London, 1876) ; Early Earthworks in Warwickshire (Birmingham, 1884) ; S. Timmins, History of Warwickshire (" Popular County History " series) (London, 1889) ; J. Hannet, The Forest of Arden (London, 1863).

End of Article: WARWICKSHIRE

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