Wellesbourne

Wellesbourne is a large village in the civil parish of Wellesbourne and Walton, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. In the 2021 census the parish, which also includes the hamlet of Walton, had a population of 7,283, a significant increase from 5,849 In the 2011 census. The civil parish was renamed from Wellesbourne to Wellesbourne and Walton on 1 April 2014. With the rapid increase in new housing and industrial developments since the 1990s, Wellesbourne is increasingly referred to as a small commuter town servicing its larger neighbours such as Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, Leamington Spa and Banbury, and a little further afield, the cities of Coventry and Birmingham. Wellesbourne sits on the A429 road, and is located around seven miles south of Warwick and five miles east of Stratford-upon-Avon. Nearby villages include Loxley, Hampton Lucy, Charlecote, Walton and Kineton. The name was first recorded in 862 as Wallesburam. It was later referred to as Waleborne in the Domesday Book. In May 1140 Wellesbourne was hit by a tornado – one of the earliest recorded in the British Isles. It damaged several buildings and killed a woman. Wellesbourne was once two villages – Wellesbourne Mountford and Wellesbourne Hastings, the two villages being divided by the River Dene; the former lying to the south of the river, and the latter to the north. In 1947 the two parishes were merged, and are now considered to be a single village. For these historical reasons Wellesbourne has two village centres, Chestnut Square and the Precinct respectively. The Chestnut Square area no longer contains commercial premises but the old shop fronts are visible in what are now houses. Wellesbourne Hall, dating from about 1700 and grade 2* listed, was owned by the Dewes (later Granville) family for nearly two centuries until 1920. Perhaps the most significant event in Wellesbourne's history was the founding in 1872 of the National Agricultural Labourers Union by Joseph Arch – an event once celebrated by an annual parade, which it was hoped to be revived in 2010.