Ansty is a village and civil parish just outside the outskirts of Coventry

Coventry

Coventry 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, although...

, about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of the city centre. Ansty was part of the County of the City of Coventry

County of the City of Coventry

The 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,...

 until that county was dissolved in 1842.

Ansty is on the Oxford Canal

Oxford Canal

The Oxford Canal is a 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 Bedworth just...

 and the B4065 road, which used to be the main road between Coventry and Hinckley

Hinckley

Hinckley is a town in southwest Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 43,246 . It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council...

. The junction between the M6

M6 motorway

The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...

 and M69 motorway

M69 motorway

The M69 is a lightly used dual three lane dual carriageway motorway in Leicestershire and Warwickshire, England connecting Leicester and Coventry. It opened in 1977.-History:...

s and A46 road

A46 road

The A46 is an A road in England. It starts east of Bath, Somerset and ends in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, but it does not form a continuous route. Large portions of the old road have been lost, bypassed, or replaced by motorway development...

 is 1 miles (1.6 km) southwest of the village.

History

The Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 of 1086 mentions Ansty as part of the hundred

Hundred (division)

A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...

 of Brinklow

Brinklow

Brinklow is a village and parish in the Rugby district of Warwickshire, England. It is about halfway between Rugby and Coventry, and has a population of 1,041 ....

. The main landowner was Lady Godiva

Lady Godiva

Godiva , often referred to as Lady Godiva , was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in order to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation imposed by her husband on his tenants...

. Its toponym

Toponymy

Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...

 comes from Old English Ānstīg meaning "one-path", i.e. "lonely or narrow path" or "path linking other paths".

The Church of England parish church

Church of England parish church

A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...

 of Saint James has a 13th century chancel

Chancel

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

. The arcade

Arcade (architecture)

An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....

 between the nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

 and north aisle is 14th century. Sir George Gilbert Scott

George Gilbert Scott

Sir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses...

 rebuilt the rest of the church in 1856.

Ansty Hall

Ansty Hall

Ansty Hall is a 17th century country house, situated at Ansty, near Rugby, Warwickshire, which is occupied as an hotel operated by Macdonald Hotels Ltd. It is a Grade II* listed building.The Manor of Ansty was owned by the Stanhope family from 1406...

, just outside the village, was built in 1678 for Richard Taylor, who had been on the Parliamentarian

Roundhead

"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...

 side in the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

. The house is arranged in seven bays

Bay (architecture)

A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...

 and built of brick with stone quoins and pediment

Pediment

A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...

. It is now the Ansty Hall Hotel.

A cottage industry of weaving

Weaving

Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...

 developed in the parish from early in the 18th century. This grew into a substantial ribbon-making trade early in the 19th century, but declined in the 1830's.

James Brindley

James Brindley

James Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...

 completed the section of the Oxford Canal through Ansty in 1771. In November 1963 a 30 feet (9.1 m) high embankment on the towpath

Towpath

A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge...

 side gave way, spilling 10,000 tons of sand and clay onto adjoining land.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Armstrong Siddeley Motor

Armstrong Siddeley

Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury motor cars and aircraft engines.-Siddeley Autocars:...

s had its development plant for gas turbine

Gas turbine

A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....

s and aircraft rocket motor

Armstrong Siddeley Screamer

The Armstrong Siddeley Screamer was a rocket engine intended to power the Avro 720 manned interceptor aircraft . Thrust was variable, up to a maximum of 8,000 lbf....

s as well as the Gamma Class rocket motors used in the Black Knight and Black Arrows launchers. The plant is now the Ansty engineering works of Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce plc

Rolls-Royce Group plc is a global power systems company headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines , and also has major businesses in the marine propulsion and energy sectors. Through its defence-related activities...

.

Amenities

Ansty has a public house

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

, the Rose and Castle Inn, beside the canal. There is also an Ansty Social Club and an Ansty Golf Club.