Berkswell or Berkeswell, Warwickshire
Historical Description
Berkswell or Berkeswell, a village and a parish in Warwickshire, 2 miles SW of Meriden, and 6 W of Coventry. There is a station a mile S of the village on the L. & N.W.R., and a post and money order office under Coventry; telegraph office, Meriden. Acreage, 6169; population of the civil parish, 1374; of the ecclesiastical, including Barston, 1719. Berks-well Hall, the ancient seat of the Wilmot family, is situated in a park of about 260 acres. Nailcote Hall and Mercote Hall are other principal residences. The ancient well which gives its name to the village, was restored in 1851. There are almshouses for 12 old men and women. The living is a rectory, united with the chapelry of Barston, in the diocese of Worcester; gross value, £969 with residence. The church is Norman, and has a crypt and an embattled western tower, it contains several monuments to the Eardley-Wilmot family.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Warwickshire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Berkeswell St John the Baptist | |
| Hundred | Hemlingford | |
| Poor Law union | Meriden |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Warwickshire County Record Office hold the following registers for Berkswell:
| Baptisms | Marriages | Burials |
|---|---|---|
| 1653-1951 | 1654-1998 | 1653-1971 |
Most of the records prior to 1911 have been digitised and are available on Ancestry.co.uk
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Berkswell or Berkeswell from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Berkeswell (St John the Baptist))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Warwickshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Berkswell or Berkeswell are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Warwickshire papers online:
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Warwickshire 1619 is available on the Heraldry page.