WARWICKSHIRE. 



Whitaker, in his " Hiftory of Manchefter," obferves, that 

 thefe and the Britons of Cornwall in the fouth-weftem re- 

 gions of the ifland, and thofe of Caithnefs in the north- 

 eaftern, are all equally termed Carnabii by Richard of Ci- 

 rencefter, who cxprefsly declares that thefe people were ori- 

 ginally fituated in the neighbourhood of the Dee, and ex- 

 tended their pofTeffions acrofs the whole of Warwickftiire, 

 to Bennons, or Cleychefter, on the flcirts of the adjoining 

 county of Leicefter. Of the hiftory of this diftrift while 

 under the Romans, but little can now be fatisfaftorily afcer- 

 tained. In the year 50, Oftorius firft vifited the Arden of 

 Warwick(hire. He led his troops from the banks of the 

 fouthern Oufe, taking in his northward progrefs the courfe 

 of the Watling-ftreet, and probably fixing his encampments 

 on the fcites of Britifh ftations. In order to increafe his 

 fecurity, and to extend the line of military communication, 

 he conftrufted forts and entrenched camps along the banks 

 of the rivers Avon and Severn. As the woodland recefles 

 of the diftrift emphatically termed Arden, then comprifed 

 the greater part of Warwickfhire, and were chiefly inhabited 

 by the Ceangi, or herdfmen, Oftorius probably did not deem 

 it expedient to fix any military ftation in the interior of the 

 county on the north of the Avon. His great Ardsnian 

 ftation was affuredly Tripont'tum (Lilburn, Northampton- 

 (hire, on the border of this county). At High-Crofs was 

 a fecond fettlcment, now included in the county of Lei- 

 cefter. Further north, on the Watling-ftreet, was Mandu- 

 tjfedum (Manchefter). The chain of camps on the Avon 

 communicated with thefe places, and at Warwick, nearly 

 in the centre of the line, fome writers have placed the Prje- 

 fidium of the Romans ; but this ftill remains a fubjeft of 

 difpute among antiquaries. With greater certainty the ho- 

 nour of a Roman ftation may be afcribed to Akejler, on the 

 Ickneild-ftreet, in the fouth-weft divifion of the county. 

 The fecond journey of Antoninus pafles through this part 

 of England, from north to fouth ; but as he adhered ftriftly 

 to the track of the great ftreet, when on the confines of 

 Warwickftiire, he only gives in his Itinerary the name of 

 one ftation — Manduefledum. Cogidunus, who had been 

 originally king of the Dobuni, was not only permitted by 

 the Romans to retain nominal authority, or, in other words, 

 to become an imperial legate, but had various extents of 

 country added to his dominions. Among thefe was a part 

 of Warwickftiire ; and he retained his titular fupremacy to 

 the days of Trajan. When Severus, in the beginning of 

 the third century, divided the Roman territories in Britain 

 into two provinces, the greater part of this county was com- 

 prehended in Britannia Secunda. During the period be- 

 tween the feceflion of the Romans and the conqueft of the 

 midland diftriA of England by the Saxons, the filence of 

 hiftorians refpefting this traft, induces us to fuppofe, that 

 the inhabitants wifely avoided civil contention. Credda 

 was the firft Saxon commander who obtruded on this peace- 

 ful difpofition of the natives. On the formation of the 

 heptarchy, Warwickftiire was conftituted a part of the 

 powerful kingdom of Mercia ; and with this new political 

 arrangement recommence thofe mihtary details which form 

 the grounds of ordinary hiftory. The kings of Mercia 

 often maintained the rude pomp of their court in this 

 county. Tamworth was a favourite feat with feveral fove- 

 reigns, until that town was deftroyed by the Danes. A 

 charter of Burthwulf, king ef Mercia, in the Textus Rof- 

 fenfis, is dated from Warwick : Kinftiury was alfo a regal 

 abode. Among the numerous conflifts produced by the 

 ambition of thofe frefti invaders, to which the country was 

 now fubjeft, the battle of Seckington is efpecially memo- 

 rable. Here Ethelbald, the tenth king of Mercia, fought 



Cuthred, king of the Weft-Saxons, and was flain by Bur- 

 gred, his own officer. The Danes committed great ra- 

 vages in Warwickftiire ; and in the courfe of their feveral 

 irruptions, burned and deftroyed the principal towns. The 

 war between the houfes of York and Lancafter forms the next 

 great hiftorical era. During this calamitous period, the people 

 of this county, in common with other dift rifts, was much 

 divided in fentiment, and loft fome of its beft blood in the 

 field, though it was not the immediate fcene of any impor- 

 tant aftion. As the chief members of the houfe of Neville, 

 of which the earl of Warwick was a diftinguiftied branch, 

 fupported the pretenfions of the duke of York, it will be 

 fuppofed that his intereft was ftrong in the county. But in 

 thofe infuriate days, when even families were divided in motive, 

 no citizen could depend on the integrity of a neighbour. 

 The town of Warwick was fwayed by its earl ; but the city 

 of Coventry had equally ftrong reafons for attachment to 

 the houfe of Lancafter. Henry and Margaret had won 

 the efteem of the inhabitants by frequent vifits, and had 

 conferred on them a particular favour, in conftituting their 

 city, and fome adjacent parifties, a feparate county. The 

 citizens were firm in affeftion and gratitude. In 1460, 

 when a ftrong power, under the earl of Warwick and the 

 earl of March (afterwards Edward IV.), proceeded from 

 London in fearch of the royal forces, the Lancaftrians were 

 quartered in Coventry. They ftiortly, however, quitted 

 that city, and the battle of Northampton enfued. In 1470 

 the earl of Warwick, then a partifan of the Lanc^aftrians, 

 poftefled himfelf of Coventry, and the citizens refufed ad- 

 miftion to Edward IV., who met with a more friendly re- 

 ception in the town of Warwick. When Richard III. 

 took arms to oppofe the earl of Richmond, the ftieriff^ of 

 this county levied men for the king. But it is probable 

 that they were not engaged in the decifive aftion, as it ap- 

 pears, from an inquifition then taken, that the ftierifF { Ri- 

 chard Boughton) was flain two days before the battle of 

 Bofworth ; whence it is fuppofed, that marching to the aid 

 of the king, he was encountered and overpowered by fome 

 of the earl's troops. In the 17th century, when the nation 

 was again plunged into the miferies of civil conteft, the in- 

 habitants of Warwickftiire evinced a greater unanimity of 

 fentiment. Some were found ready to adventure life and 

 fortune in fupport of their king ; but thefe were few in 

 number. The influence of lord Brooke, one of the earlieft 

 and moft ftrenuous advocates of the popular faftion, did 

 much in kindling the zeal of the natives ; and his local re- 

 fources were of diftinguiftied fervice to his party. The 

 caftle of Warwick, fituated near the centre of the kingdom, 

 and ftrong by nature and art, was a moft convenient place 

 of arms ; and the poffeftion of fuch a garrifon gave confi- 

 dence to the firft hoftile movements of the parliament. The 

 flame of oppofition fpread through every town ; and no 

 county exhibited a more decided inclination to take an 

 aftive part in the fanguinary bufinefs. In June and July 

 1642, lord Brooke arrayed the militia of the county, in 

 attention to a commiffion received from the parliament ; 

 and, in Oftober following, was fought the firft great battle 

 between the oppofed parties at Edgehill, on the fouth-eaft 

 border of this county. On this eventful day, lord Brooke's 

 own regiment, compofed of prime Warwickftiire men, 

 fought in the right wing, and entirely broke the left of the 

 king's army. At different periods of this war, the caftle 

 of Warwick fuftained a fiege, the town of Birmingham was 

 fired by the troops under prince Rupert, and many inferior 

 ftiirmifties took place. Though only a comparatively fmall 

 part of the population of England was aftively engaged in 

 thefe degrading hoftilities, yet Warwickftiire furniftied it« 



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