Coleshill, Warwickshire

Historical Description

Coleshill, a small market-town and a parish in Warwickshire. The town stands on the river Cole, 10 miles E of Birmingham, and 12 NW of Coventry. It has a station on the Birmingham and Derby section of the M.R. at Forge Mills, 1 mile distant, and another called Coleshill on the Whitacre and Hampton branch of the M.R. Trains on the Leicester section of the M.R. also run to Forge Mills. It occupies an eminence; includes one long street running north and south; and is a seat of petty sessions. It has a post,. money order, and telegraph office under Birmingham, two banks, and a grammar school. The nave of the church is Decorated English, with Perpendicular chancel and west window; underwent complete restoration in 1859; has a tall, graceful, crocketed spire; and contains a richly sculptured Norman font, two recumbent effigies of armoured knights, altar-tombs of alabaster, and monuments of the Digby family from the time of Henry VII. The grammar-school was founded in the reign of Henry VIII. A weekly market is held on Wednesday, and a horse and cattle fair on Shrove-Monday. Petty sessions, public moetings, &c., are held in the large room over the market-place. Outside the market-place stand a pillory, whipping-post, and stocks. A weekly newspaper is published. There are Congregational, Wesleyan, and Roman Catholic chapels, and also almshouses and cottage homes for children erected by the Birmingham Board of Guardians. The parish includes also the hamlet of Gilson. Acreage, 5703; population, 2335. The manor belonged to Edward the Confessor, and afterwards to William the Conqueror; in Henry II.'s reign to the Clintons, one of whom fought against Henry III. at the Battle of Evesham; passed by marriage to the Mountforts, one of whom suffered forfeiture and death for supporting Perkin Warbeck; and was given by Henry VII. to the Digby family, in whose possession it remains. Coleshill House, the seat of the lord of the manor, erected in 1873, is situated in an extensive park; the ancient manor-house has long since disappeared. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester; net value, £800 with residence.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The Warwickshire County Record Office hold the following registers for Coleshill:

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 Coleshill from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Coleshill (St. Peter and St. Paul))

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Warwickshire is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Coleshill 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:

• Leamington Spa Courier

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Warwickshire 1619 is available on the Heraldry page.