Meriden, Warwickshire

Historical Description

Meriden, a village, a parish, and the head of a poor-law union in Warwickshire. The village stands in a valley near the seat and park of the Earl of Aylesford, 2½ miles E of Hampton Junction station on the L. & N.W.R. and M.R., and 5½ WNW of Coventry; was formerly called Alspath, figures in Dugdale's description as " having some good inns for the accommodation of travellers, and grown of late times to the credit of a village, utterly eclipsing its former name;" presents a very agreeable appearance; retains on a green remains of an aucient cross, which once was regarded as marking the centre of England; and has a workhouse, a police station, and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Coventry. The parish comprises 3099 acres; population, including workhouse, 789. The parish council, under the Local Government Act, 1894, consists of six members. The manor belongs to the Earl of Aylesford. Meriden Hall belongs to the Digby family. Meriden House is another chief residence. Forest Hall is used by a society of archers, and contains a horn said to have been used by Robin Hood, and many other curiosities. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester; gross value, £175 with residence. Patron, the Earl of Aylesford. The church stands on an eminence, a short distance from the village, is ancient and was restored in 1883, and consists of nave, two aisles, and chancel, with a tower.

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 Meriden:

Most of the records prior to 1911 have been digitised and are available on Ancestry.co.uk

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Meriden from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Meriden, or Mereden (St. Lawrence))

Land and Property

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

Maps

Online maps of Meriden 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.