Warwickshire

the most lovely of English counties. Though lacking the peaks and deep–set dales of its near neighbour, Derbyshire, which it touches at its northern limit, it is essentially a county of p

rivers, unagitated by sudden drops from highland sources, pass on their placid ways by rich pasture–land and fields of waving corn, or wind in tortuous convolutions thr

nces, the chief ranges being on its north, eastern and south–eastern borders, has just tha

s most gent

nger touched, b

land!), such

thing too muc

nd; such littl

derly and the wh

valleys, line

oises by invi

res, where you

from white dew

s and elm tree

pon their pro

father's land

my Shak

en written, although many poets have sung them. An Elizabethan singer, Micha

asant pastures, leafy woodlands, and placid and beautiful streams, and should have treasured early memories of vagrant days amid her sylv

ll, in the meadows in which long ago he loved to muse and wander, are found those "daisies pied," "pansies that are for thoughts," the "blue–veined violets," and "ladies' smocks all silver white

rchises, tall horse daisies, yellow rattlegrass, blue and white milkwort, and frail bluebells. In the woodlands, which engirdle Stratford a little way beyond the town, there is in spring a rich carpet of the mingled yellow of primroses and vivid ultramarine of wild hyacinths, and a blended odour of awakening earth and flowers. Few counties have been

for the wayfarer and artist. There is, indeed, no lack of historical associations and of famous houses, connected with which

ngdom at large. Although the traces of the earliest of all inhabitants are comparatively few, sufficient exist, or have been discovered from ti

obscure origin, although it most probably has a distinct connection with that of the tribe Hwicci, who, in common with another

Y–IN–

e second of these has given its name to one of Birmingham's most important streets. Along a portion of the county's western border, too, runs the Ridgeway; and Alcester, Mancetter, and many other spots were once Roman stations or Roman encampments. But although the Roman occupation doubtless affected Warwickshire with the rest of the kingdom, it was of a more partial character than in m

d governor, erecting a string of military posts and forts on the Severn, indicating at all events the partial subjugation of the British. Ultimately the distr

lines of the two great roads, the Icknield–Way and Watling Street, and then chiefly in the immediate vicinity of the

to them certain concessions, and some measure of independence, but these British chiefs later on joined

ne drawn from the town of Burton–on–Trent to High Cross, where the Fosse–Way and Watling Street intersect. The early inhabitants of the southern portion of this thickly–wooded and well–timbered district were principally if not entirely belonging to the tribe of herdsmen known as the Hwiccian Ceangi, and this district of Arden was known as the "Feldon," whilst the northern portion of the county beyond the Avon was then known as the Woodland. The first–named district was of the nature of more open country, with pasture

remains of the occupation have from time to time been discovered in the shape of coins, implements, pottery,

of the country. Depleted of many of its bravest warriors, England was, after several centuries of reliance upon an alien power for defence, when the Roman conquerors departed left at the mercy of any who chose to attack. Not only were all the legions required at home to resist the Saxon invasion under Alaric, who poured his hosts of barbarians over the wide–

its position is considered. Situated in the centre of England, and far removed from the seaboard, it naturally escaped much of the storm and stress of invasion and attack from which less happily placed districts in those wild, early periods of national history so constantly suffered. Except for a record that one Credda, a Saxon commander of note, successfully penetrated into the wooded so

RD PR

ry, on the Tame, was also a place of importance as a royal residence, and, according to Dugdale, the farmhouse, formerly the Hall, stands on the spot where stood the palace of the Mercian kings. Tamworth was destined to play its part in one of those fierce and lurid conflicts between the Saxons and the Danish invaders which took place after the town had been burned by

nce which it continued to hold for a period under the rule of his son Cenwulf. Warwickshire, as a part of Mercia, must naturally have benefited by its greatness and progress, but during the reign of Cenwulf the seeds of a far–rea

med a much more formidable aspect almost ere the King had succeeded in welding together the separate kingdoms u

into Wessex, where they at first achieved some successes, although that kingdom was ruled by a wise and heroic ruler in the person of ?thelred, the bro

by the victorious Danes, and committed as a tributary state to Ceolwulf. Be this as it may, the whole of Warwickshire, there is little reason to doubt, came into the hands of Alfred the

ounties which were anciently West Saxon still retain the names and boundaries of the divisions founded by the successors of Cerdic. Mercia, in contradistinction to the local divisions of Wessex, which were evolved naturally, was apparently mapped out, and the

equence, by the district afterwards to be known as Warwickshire, was considerable. The ultimate vengeance for these massacres, which was taken by Swend in 1013, was shared by the Mercians as well as by

lade and entered and ravaged Mercia, proceeding into Warwickshire during mid–winter's tide, where the Danes ravaged and burned and slew all that they could come across. Afterwards Canute and his forces besieged London. "B

ut glorious; several battles were fought with the Danes and victories won, in consequence of which Canute agreed to a division of the kingdom between Edmund and himself. In t

ignty Warwickshire at least experienced immunity from ravishment by fire and sword, and enjoyed a measure of good government. In the years which imme

ged in a struggle to retain the throne he had ascended and in resisting the invasion of Willia

of Sussex, Harold fell fighting, and with him ended t

ples of individual and personal liberty, in comparison wi

ge number of thirteen hundred and twenty–nine names of settlements, which have been traced throughout the land, belong to Warwickshire. Some few of the most notable were Leamingas (L

the churches at Salford Priors and Beaudesert there are some fragments. Occasionally Saxon jewels have been turned up in the soil. Perhaps amongst the most interesting of these relics are the two Saxon jewels of cut gold, one set with an opal and rubies, and the other adorned on both sides with a cross bet

ople of the period, it is to the Domesday Book, that monumental work of the Conqueror, all historians and students have to go when in search of information regarding the English counties at the time of, immediately prior to, and after the Conquest. The value of this truly wonderful work as regards Warwickshire in particular is considerably enhanced by reason of its co

rors), and the value and extent of their estates. The original holders of the Saxon manors and estates in Warwickshire suffered severely at the hands of the Norman invader; and the pag

nicle sets down a tale of wars, pestilences, storms, and famines, and although there is no direct reference to Warwickshire,

easy task to seek to justly estimate the part played

was concerned, round Kenilworth and Warwick. De Montfort at the outset of the war garrisoned the former castle and placed Sir John Gifford in command. The latter and the troops of the garrison promptly ravaged the country round about, destroying the manor–houses and f

and routed De Montfort and dispersed his force. De Montfort took refuge in the castle, and ultimately effected his escape. With the small force at his command Prince Edward felt unable to successfully attack a fortres

TON C

d standards in the van. At Evesham lay the Earl of Leicester, awaiting his son De Montfort, who, at the time of his defeat near Kenilworth by Prince Edward, had been on his way to join the Earl, then i

ingham and Worcester, and about a mile outside the town, in which not only was the Earl of Leicester, Henry de Montfort and many nobl

English counties rested in the tranquillity which during that period marked the years

hold the might of England. And the same may be said of the brave doings at Agincourt, Crevant, Verneuil, and Herrings; and the defeat sustained at Patay which counted for so much in the future history of the race. At most the disturbing influence of these wars was repre

ndation in the county, built in the reign of Stephen; Merevale Abbey, near Atherston, founded and richly endowed by Robert, Earl Ferrers, in the middle of the twelfth century in one of the most beautiful spots in the northern part of the county; and the once magnificent Maxstoke Priory, built in 1336 by William de Clinton for an establishment of the Augustines. From these and other religious houses emanated what of learning and religion the countryfolk knew in the Middle

the bitterness and discontent which already was bringing the country at large to a state bordering upon anarchy. The serious family quarrels which had commenced whilst the King was still a minor, involving many of the noble houses, either in support of the claims of the House of York or the House of Lancaster, became acute. Shakespeare, in "Henry VI.," well and vividly pictures the historic scene in the Temple Gardens, i

they object aga

out in the ne

truce of Winche

be not then

ve to be acco

signal of my

Somerset and

thy party we

ophesy,-This

faction, in th

ween the red ro

ls to death an

imate and important r?le than many other parts of England where, indeed, the battle royal between the houses of York and Lancaster was regarded with comparatively slight interest. With the

ouse of York numbered many of the most powerful families in Warwickshire, in addition to that of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, destined to go down to posterity as "the Ki

tle of St. Albans in 1455, at the time the Earls of Warwick and March (the latter of whom was afterwards made Edward IV.) set out for London in search of the King's forces, the Lancastrians were actually quartered at Coventry. The troops, however, did not remain long in the town, but marching south–ea

reconciled to Margaret, and exiled Queen of Henry VI. of Windsor, and Edward's own brother the Duke of Clarence. In the same year (1470) Warwick and Clarence made a descent upon England, and Edw

d by the Duke of Clarence, had hastily gathered together at Barnet, "the King Maker" was utterly defeated and slain on April 14, 1471. The landing of Margaret, which had taken place at Weymouth on the same day, caused the Lancastrian forces to rally

ckshire's active participation in the struggles of

marriage of Richard III. with Anne, daughter of the Earl of Warwick, and w

unty Leicestershire at Market Bosworth, in the sanguinary battle of August 22, 1485, which by t

as imprisoned in the Tower. And on the advent of Perkin Warbeck, who represented himself to be Richard, Duke of York, son

Bacon puts the position in a brief phrase, which cannot be easily surpassed for vivid imagery. H

which had flourished in great royalty, power, and renown from the time of Henry II., cam