Church Lawford
Encyclopedia
Church Lawford is a village in Warwickshire
. It is located just under 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the town of Rugby
and 4.5 miles (7 km) east of Coventry
. The village lies north of the railway between the two and is also north of the main road, the A428
. To the north is the River Avon
.
The first reference to the village is in the Domesday book
of 1086 when the manor house and the mill (now disused) are mentioned. The first parish church, dedicated to St Peter, was built in the 13th century. The current parish church, also St Peter's, was built in 1874. It was earlier in that century that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
wrote his poem "The Village Blacksmith". Church Lawford along with Cambridge, Massachusetts
is said to be the inspiration for the poem as the poet visited England for a three-year trip. There was a RAF training station situated just over 1 miles (1.6 km) south of the village from 1941 until 1955. There were primary schools in the village between the early 1900s and 1996. The first closed in 1964 and was replaced by a second school which itself shut just over thirty years later.
The village is often mentioned along with the neighbouring village of Long Lawford
to the east and the hamlet of King's Newnham
to the north although they are completely separate settlements. The population of Church Lawford and King's Newnham combined is around 800. There is an industrial unit business centre to the south of the village. It was opened in 1990. Units range in size from 55 to 218 square metres. The village plant nursery is quite well known locally.
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
. It is located just under 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the town of Rugby
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
and 4.5 miles (7 km) east 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...
. The village lies north of the railway between the two and is also north of the main road, the A428
A428 road
The A428 road is a major road in central and eastern England. It connects the cities of Coventry and Cambridge by way of the county towns of Northampton and Bedford.-Coventry - Northampton:...
. To the north is the River Avon
River Avon, Warwickshire
The River Avon or Avon is a river in or adjoining the counties of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire in the Midlands of England...
.
The first reference to the village is in 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 when the manor house and the mill (now disused) are mentioned. The first parish church, dedicated to St Peter, was built in the 13th century. The current parish church, also St Peter's, was built in 1874. It was earlier in that century that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
wrote his poem "The Village Blacksmith". Church Lawford along with Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
is said to be the inspiration for the poem as the poet visited England for a three-year trip. There was a RAF training station situated just over 1 miles (1.6 km) south of the village from 1941 until 1955. There were primary schools in the village between the early 1900s and 1996. The first closed in 1964 and was replaced by a second school which itself shut just over thirty years later.
The village is often mentioned along with the neighbouring village of Long Lawford
Long Lawford
Long Lawford is a village and civil parish in the Rugby borough of Warwickshire, England, located just west of Rugby, in 2001 the parish had a population of 2,831....
to the east and the hamlet of King's Newnham
King's Newnham
King's Newnham is a hamlet and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire.It lost its population as a result of enclosures of the former Royal Manor. Its parish church, St Laurence's, was partially demolished in 1795...
to the north although they are completely separate settlements. The population of Church Lawford and King's Newnham combined is around 800. There is an industrial unit business centre to the south of the village. It was opened in 1990. Units range in size from 55 to 218 square metres. The village plant nursery is quite well known locally.