880 



WARWICKSHIRE. 



town was burnt in 1694, and in the course of a few 

 years after was rebuilt, the losses of the inhabitants 

 having been relieved by a national contribution of 

 1 10,000. The town stands in an agreeable situa- 

 tion on the north side of the river Avon, and is 

 built upon a rock of freestone. The surrounding 

 country is very beautiful and richly diversified, and 

 the entrances from the Banbury, Birmingham, and 

 Stratford roads are remarkably picturesque. The 

 streets are regularly built and spacious, the two 

 principal ones running east and west, and being 

 crossed by another of considerable extent, near the 

 centre of the town. Here are a public library and 

 a news-room, supported by subscription. Assem- 

 blies are occasionally held in the town-hall, and 

 during the races, in the county-hall ; here is also a 

 small theatre, occasionally opened by the Chelten- 

 ham company. Races are held twice a year, in 

 March and September. Warwick has scarcely any 

 manufactures ; that of worsted is rapidly decreas- 

 ing, and that of cotton is entirely extinct. Malt 

 is made to some extent : and there are lime, coal, 

 and timber wharfs on the banks of the Warwick 

 and Napton canal, which comes up to the north 

 part of the town. This canal communicates with 

 the Oxford and Birmingham canal. Population, 

 in 1801, 5592; in 1841.9124. 



The castle of Warwick is on the south side of 

 the town, and is equally remarkable for its strength, 

 size, and magnificence. A winding road leads from 

 the outer lodge to a gateway flanked with two 

 towers, and in which was formerly a portcullis. 

 This gate admits into the inner court, in which 

 there are several octangular towers, one of which 

 is called Caesar's a common appellation of some 

 commanding part of the fortress in many castles of 

 remote antiquity. Another, and the more import- 

 ant of these towers, is called Guy's. This building 

 is perhaps the most commanding feature of War- 

 wick castle. It is 148 feet in height. From what- 

 ever point it is viewed its proportions are truly 

 majestic. On the north-eastern side are two low 

 embattled towers, in which bears were formerly 

 kept for the purpose of being baited The state- 

 rooms, which are exhibited at Warwick castle, con- 

 tain many objects deserving attention. Some of 

 the pictures are of the first order of excellence, 

 particularly several portraits by Vandyke. In a 

 green-house, delightfully situated in the grounds 

 surrounding the castle, is one of the finest and most 

 perfect remains of antiquity, a Grecian vase of 

 white marble, dug up from the ruins of the emperor 

 Adrian's palace at Tivoli, and sent to England by 

 Sir William Hamilton, in 1774. At the western 

 extremity is the lofty keep, which presents a truly 

 majestic and noble appearance from this side of the 

 castle ; it was erected by the daughter of Alfred 

 the Great, and is now approached by a winding path 

 of great beauty, the grounds having been laid out in 

 shrubberies. The side towards the Avon is by no 

 means the most favourable point of view, consisting 

 entirely of one unbroken line of masonry, only pre- 

 served from monotony by the number of windows. 

 On this side are the remains of an ancient bridge. 



WARWICKSHIRE ; an inland county of Eng- 

 land, bounded on the north-east by Leicestershire, 

 on the east by Northamptonshire, on the south-east 

 by Oxfordshire, on the south-west by Gloucester- 

 shire, on the west by Worcestershire, and on the 

 north-west by Staffordshire. A small insulated 

 portion of it lies in the county of Worcester, another 

 in that of Gloucester, and it includes within its 



limits a portion of the county of Worcester, a few 

 miles south from Stratford-on-Avon. On the 

 establishment of the Saxon octarchy this county 

 was included in the kingdom of Mercia, or of the 

 middle Angles. In 757 a sanguinary conflict took 

 place near Leckington, near the northern extremity 

 of the county, between the people of Mercia under 

 Ethelwald, and the west Saxons under Cuthred. 

 The former monarch was slain in the conflict by 

 one of his treacherous commanders. During the 

 incursions of the Danes the county suffered severely. 

 In 1147, a conflict took place between the earl of 

 Chester and Stephen ; the latter having seized the 

 castle of the former at Coventry. In 1263, the 

 castle of Warwick was seized and dismantled by 

 the revolted barons, who took possession of and 

 fortified the castle of Kenil worth, but were dis- 

 lodged in 1266 by the king, at the head of a power- 

 ful body of men. In the civil wars in the reign of 

 Charles I., the inhabitants of this county almost 

 unanimously sided with the parliament. Warwick- 

 shire contains the city of Coventry, the boroughs 

 and market towns of Warwirk and Birmingham, 

 and the market-towns of Alcester, Atherstone, 

 Coleshill, Henley-in-Arden, Kington, Kenilworth, 

 Leamington, Nuneaton, Rugby, Solihull, Southam, 

 Stratford-on-Avon, and Sutton-Coldfield. 



The principal rivers are the Avon and the Tame. 

 The current of the river Avon is very gentle, and 

 vessels of forty tons burden can sail up to Strat- 

 ford, the river having been deepened, so as to 

 permit of this, in 1637. Its tributary streams are 

 the Dove, the Sow, the Leam, the Stour. and the 

 Alne. The Tame rises in Staffordshire, and enters 

 the county a few miles to the north of Birmingham. 

 Its tributaries are the Anker and the Blythe. 



Warwickshire is a noted grazing county. The 

 Scotch and Herefordshire oxen, and the long-horned 

 breeds, are chiefly preferred for grazing ; for the 

 dairy, the Yorkshire long-horned and Durham breeds 

 are most esteemed ; for breeding, the long-horned 

 Lancashire are preferred. The breeds of sheep are 

 chiefly the old Warwickshire and new Leicester, 

 which, of late, have been much intermingled. 



The mineral productions of Warwick are chiefly 

 coal, limestone, freestone, and a kind of blue flag- 

 stone. The best coal is found at Bedworth, and 

 extending between Coventry and Nuneaton; the 

 seam varying in thickness from three to four feet. 

 Lime is quarried at Bearley, Crafton-Court, Har- 

 bury, Bidford, Nevvbold-on-Avon, Princethorpe, 

 Stretton, and Wilnecote. Freestone exists chiefly 

 in the western vicinity of Warwick, Leamington, 

 Coventry, and Kenilworth ; and extensive quarries 

 of blue flagstone are wrought near Bidford and 

 Wilnecote. Marl abounds chiefly in the western 

 part of the county, and ironstone was formerly 

 raised at Oldbury. 



The principal manufactures of the county are 

 those of hardware, &c. in Birmingham and the 

 vicinity. The city of Coventry is celebrated for 

 the manufacture of watches, silks, and ribands. 

 There are considerable flax-mills at Berkeswell, 

 Balsall, and Tamworth. Fish-hooks and needles 

 are extensively manufactured at Alcester, and horn 

 combs at Kenilworth. The chief exports are the 

 profluce of the manufactures, corn, cattle, and sheep; 

 great numbers of the latter being annually driven 

 to London. 



Within this county is an extensive artificial navi- 

 gation. The Birmingham and Fazeley canal, con- 

 structed in 1790, extends from Birmingham in a 



