Warwick

England’s London County town and market town is Warwick. There are eleven miles (18 km) between Leamington Spa and Whitnash, and much of the population is concentrated around the Avon River. 31 345 people lived there in 2011. Despite unbroken habitation from the 6th century AD, there are signs of Neolithic activity.

History of Warwick

Ancient times

A settlement may have begun on the site during the Neolithic era. On the site of Warwick School, archaeologists discovered the footings of a large Roman barn from the 2nd century AD in 2017-2018

Saxon and medieval

Warwick has been continuously inhabited since the 6th century. The name Warwick refers to dwellings by the weir, meaning the settlement was originally situated near a natural weir over the Avon, possibly on its southern bank where the land was easily cultivated.

This is one of ten fortified dwellings that were built by King Edward the Elder of Wessex to defend Mercia from the Danes (Vikings) in 914, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for that year.

 In addition to providing water and stone for building, the local sandstone outcrop along the Avon provided a strategically located position that was easily defendable. A shire was formed in the early 10th century with Warwick as its county town. A royal mint was established at Warwick during the reign of *thelstan (924-939). The other one was located in Tamworth, London. In the mid-12th century, Warwick mint continued to operate. Denmark invaded Mercia in 1016 and burned down Warwick, including a nunnery located where St Nicholas Church stands today.

During the first Earl of Warwick’s reign around 1119, Henry de Beaumont founded our town’s Priory. After being destroyed in the Monastery Dissolution of 1536, it stood where the current Priory Park now stands. Near the east town gate, Henry de Beaumont also founded the Hospital of St John. Today, the site is occupied by St John’s House, which dates back to 17th century. One of the most notable medieval buildings in Warwick is the Lord Leicester Hospital on the High Street, which dates back to 1383.

It wasn’t until 1545 that Warwick became a town.

18th century to present

Founded on January 1, 1788, Castle Bridge, a single arch bridge consisting of sandstone, opened in 1793. Earlier, the Old Castle Bridge, further downstream, had fallen into ruin, though some of its remains are visible today. 

Warwick was the starting point of both the Warwick andLondon canal, as well as the Warwick and Napton canal. The Grand Union Canal now includes parts of these canals.

Organizing the Warwick Pageant, known as the Warwick Pageant in 1906, was Louis N. Parker, who lived in Jury Street and ran it from there. This building served as Pageant House for Warwick Borough Council until April 1974, when Leamington Spa became the enlarged Warwick District Council.

Leamington & Warwick Tramways & Omnibus Company was founded in 1881, and operated a tramway between Warwick and Leamington Spa until 1930