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Nuneaton

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Coordinates: 52°31′23″N 1°28′06″W / 52.523°N 1.4683°W / 52.523; -1.4683

Nuneaton


Nuneaton Town Centre
Nuneaton is located in Warwickshire
Nuneaton

Nuneaton shown within Warwickshire
Population 70,721 (2001)
OS grid reference SP361918
District Nuneaton and Bedworth
Shire county Warwickshire
Region West Midlands
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town NUNEATON
Postcode district CV10, CV11, CV13
Dialling code 024
Police Warwickshire
Fire Warwickshire
Ambulance West Midlands
European Parliament West Midlands
UK Parliament Nuneaton
List of places: UK • England • Warwickshire

Nuneaton is the largest town in the English county of Warwickshire, and the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth. Nuneaton is most famous for its associations with the 19th century author George Eliot, who was born on a farm on the Arbury Estate just outside Nuneaton in 1819 and lived in the town for much of her early life. In fiction, Nuneaton is referred to as "Milby" in the George Eliot novel Scenes of Clerical Life (1858).

Contents

[edit] Geography

The town is located 14.5 km (9 miles) north of Coventry, 32 km (20 miles) east of Birmingham and 166 km (103 miles) northwest of London. The River Anker runs through the town. Nuneaton (as defined by the Office for National Statistics) had a population of 70,721 according to the 2001 census, though the 2008 estimate is closer to 73,000 inhabitants. However, both of these figures exclude the Camp Hill area of the town, which is deemed to be in Hartshill by the Office for National Statistics. The total population for Nuneaton's 11 wards was 78,403 in 2001 (2001 census)[citation needed].

Towns close to Nuneaton include Bedworth, Atherstone and Hinckley, with Tamworth, Coventry, Lutterworth and Leicester a little further afield. A local landmark is Mount Jud, which is a large mound of earth that was formed when Judkins Quarry was dug out. Mount Jud lies in the northwest of the town and can be seen for miles around.[1]

[edit] History

Nuneaton's name came from a 12th century Benedictine nunnery (parts of which still survive) around which much of the town grew. Prior to this it was a settlement known as 'Etone', which translates literally as 'water-town'. Nuneaton was listed in the Domesday Book as a small hamlet.[2] A market was established in 1233 (and is still held today). The first recorded use of the modern name was in 1247 when a document recorded it as 'Nonne Eton'. The Nunnery fell into disrepair after 1539 (with Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries). Nuneaton's only Grammar School (which would later become a sixth form college), King Edward VI Grammar School, was established by a royal charter in 1552.

Nuneaton grew gradually from the 17th century onwards, due to its position at the centre of the Warwickshire coalfields. At the time of the first national census in 1801 Nuneaton was already one of the largest towns in Warwickshire, with a population of 5,000.[3] During the Industrial revolution in the 19th century, Nuneaton developed a large textile industry. Other industries which developed in the town included brick and tile making and brewing. By 1901 the population of Nuneaton had grown to 25,000.[3]

Nuneaton became an urban district in 1894, and was upgraded to the status of a municipal borough in 1907.[4]

Due largely to munitions factories located in Nuneaton, the town suffered heavy bombing damage during World War II. The heaviest bombing raid on Nuneaton took place on 17 May 1941, when 100 people were killed, 380 houses were destroyed, and over 10,000 damaged,[5] a few smaller raids took place on the town, most notably on 25 June 1942. As a result of the bombing, much of the town centre was rebuilt in the post-war years.

On 6 June 1975, six people died and 38 were injured when a train crashed just south of Nuneaton railway station.

[edit] Nuneaton Abbey

An ancient abbey church founded at 'Eaton' in the 1150s was home to Benedictine nuns and gave the present town the name 'Nuneaton'.

Very little survives today of the original building. The cruciform church was sold after the dissolution and converted into a mansion. Abandoned in the seventeenth century it was quarried away until all that survived by the 1860s were the foundations, some low walls and the battered crossing piers of the former central tower.

In 1876-7 this desolate ruin was brought back to life as a place of worship after centuries of neglect, when half of the original length of the nave was reconstructed on the old foundations in neo-romanesque style by Rolfe with the old crossoing piers enclosed by a temporary brick stucture for use as a chancel. The west wall was also left in plain brick to allow for possible completion of the nave on the ancient footings further west at a later date, though this retains its incomplete appearance to this day.

In 1904 the chancel was rebuilt in neo-gothic style on the old foundations east of the crossing by Harold Brakspear, followed by the north transept in 1930. The architect had drawn up plans to restore the south transept and central tower too, but sadly these were never realised, leaving the south transept as a ruin sealed off by the 1877 'temporary' brick wall and leaving the church in an odd truncated state today (comprising half the nave, the chancel, north transept and base of the crossing).

Inside the ruined crossing piers remain from the original church, as well as part of a fine medieval tiled floor and the bases of what remained of the walls. Outside, the ruins of the nave and South Transept remain as they were, along with the base of what is thought to have been a chapter house.

The church (such as it stands) is used as the Parish Church of St. Mary and is known locally as the Abbey Church.

Despite this building's significance in Nuneaton's past and its extraordinary recent history, it is a relatively unknown and obscure place, with little promotion or signage.

[edit] Economy

Nuneaton's traditional industries like textiles and manufacturing have declined drastically in the postwar years. Due to its good transport links, Nuneaton is now largely a commuter town for nearby Coventry and Birmingham. However electronics and distribution remain major economic activities in the town. MIRA Limited, formerly the Motor Industry Research Association, is based on a disused wartime airfield on the A5, to the north of the town. One of the biggest developments in the town's history, the multi-million pound Ropewalk Shopping Centre, opened on 1 September 2005 in the hope that it will give the town extra income from the shopping, attract more visitors and retailers, and steer shoppers away from larger retail centres such as Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester and Solihull. The town centre itself has undergone a successful transition from being an uninteresting 'dormitory town' service centre in the 1980s to a relatively thriving and well-planned retail and business district by the 2000s. Holland & Barrett is based on the Attleborough Fields industrial estate.

[edit] Politics

Nuneaton is part of the constituency of the same name in the House of Commons, which is currently represented by the Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Bill Olner. The local council, Nuneaton and Bedworth, is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. On 1 April 1974, Nuneaton's council was merged with the neighbouring Bedworth Urban District to form a new district council, originally named just "Nuneaton". Borough status was conferred on the new district on 15 November 1976. Following objections from Bedworth residents, the name of the borough was changed to "Nuneaton and Bedworth" in 1980[6]. The council was controlled by the Labour Party between 1973, when the shadow council was elected in preparation for the 1974 merger, until the 2008 local elections, when the Conservatives gained control. The official result was: Labour lost 6 seats, the Conservatives won 4 seats, and the BNP (British National Party) won 2 seats.[7]

Nuneaton is currently covered by 11 of the borough's 17 electoral wards (see table below). Each ward elects two councillors.

Ward name Approximate coverage Population
(2001 census)
Abbey Abbey Green, town centre 7,234
Arbury Heath End, Glendale, Bermuda, Arbury 5,482
Attleborough Attleborough, Maple Park, SW Whitestone 7,564
Bar Pool Black-a-Tree, Sunnyside, Stockingford (east) 7,451
Camp Hill Camp Hill 7,325
Galley Common Galley Common, Chapel End, Whittleford 7,593
Kingswood Grove Farm, Robinson's End, Stockingford (west) 6,878
St Nicolas Horeston Grange, Hinckley Road, The Long Shoot, St Nicolas Park (south) 7,073
Weddington Weddington, St Nicolas Park (north) 7,286
Wem Brook Hill Top, Caldwell, Chilvers Coton 7,082
Whitestone Whitestone (except SW part), Attleborough Fields 7,435
TOTAL NUNEATON 78,403

[edit] Religion

Nuneaton's name reflects the part that the Christian religion has paid in the town's history. Although the Benedictine Nunnery which gave the town its name was destroyed at the time of the reformation, the remaining fragments were incorporated into the Anglican church building now known as the Abbey Church in Manor Court Road. This, as we now have it, is a Victorian construction. The original ruins are left to be an obvious feature of the new building and its immediate setting.

Near the town centre, but unusually not actually a part of it and outside the ring road, lies the mediaeval church of St Nicholas. Chilvers Coton contains All Saints Church where Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) worshipped. This was badly damaged by bombing during the second world war, and rebuilt largely by German prisoners. There are Anglican churches in Weddington, Attleborough and Stockingford and, more recently built, Camp Hill.

Roman Catholicism is represented by Our Lady of the Angels Church on Coton Road, whose building was largely remodelled in the 1930s, and St Anne's, Chapel End, Nuneaton whose current building dates from 2000.

Other Christian traditions in the towm include Methodism, the URC and Baptist churches.

Immigration form the Indian subcontinent has, like many British towns, brought with it believers in Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism. There is a mosque on Frank Street.

[edit] Media

The local radio stations are Mercia FM and Fox FM part of the independent radio network, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, which are both based in the nearby city of Coventry (although BBC C&W does have an outpost in Nuneaton Town Library) and also Fosseway Radio(Now Oak FM) which is broadcast from the nearby town of Hinckley. Within Nuneaton itself there is Anker Radio which serves the George Eliot Hospital, but also broadcasts on 1386am and can be received throughout the area broadcasting 24 hours a day.

The local newspapers are the Nuneaton Telegraph, a localised version of the Coventry Telegraph - both of which have dropped the 'Evening' from their titles - the Heartland Evening News and the Nuneaton Tribune, which is a free paper delivered to most homes in the area weekly, taking in Nuneaton, Bedworth and Atherstone, and a new paper called the Nuneaton Observer.

The Nuneaton area is covered by BBC West Midlands TV and ITV Central (West) but gets limited coverage, with some areas receiving the East Midlands transmission.

The town has its own search engine called Nunoogle.

[edit] Transport

The town is near the M6, the M42 and M69 motorways and the main A5 trunk road (Watling Street), which also acts as a border with Leicestershire and the neighbouring town of Hinckley.

Nuneaton railway station near the town centre is an important railway junction, served by the West Coast Main Line, the Birmingham to Leicester railway line, and by a line to Coventry via Bedworth. It offers direct rail services to those destinations.

Its importance as a railway junction is underlined by the fact that Nuneaton has the third highest level of interchange passengers (after Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton), of any railway station in the Midlands [8]. This changed in December 2008 when a new Very High Frequency (VHF) timetable was introduced by Virgin Trains on the West Coast Main Line. Very few Virgin services now stop in Nuneaton. Instead, London Midland operate an hourly daytime service between London Euston and Crewe via Northampton, Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent with journey times increased significantly, e.g. 81 minutes to Crewe versus 40 minutes on Virgin. The December 2008 timetable has been the source of much outrage locally[9].

The Coventry Canal passes through the town.

The main operator for buses in Nuneaton is Stagecoach in Warwickshire

[edit] Recreation

Nuneaton has two non-league football teams of note: Nuneaton Town who won promotion from the Southern Football League Division One Midlands on 2 May 2009 and Nuneaton Griff who play in the Midland Combination Premier Division. There is also a thriving Sunday League football scene in the town, with teams from Nuneaton, Bedworth, and North Warwickshire competing in the Nuneaton & District Sunday Football League (NDSFL).

There are three Rugby Union teams in the town: Nuneaton R.F.C. (nicknamed the Nuns), who play in National Division 2, Nuneaton Old Edwardiansof Midlands 3 West (South) division and Manor Park of the Midlands 5 West (South) league.

There are three main leisure centres in the town owned by Nuneaton and Bedworth Leisure Trust and maintained by Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council:

  • The Pingles Leisure Centre - The Pingles is the main leisure centre in Nuneaton. It was rebuilt in 2004 to replace the old 1960s swimming baths. The new Pingles includes an indoor and outdoor swimming areas, a dance studio and gym. The Pingles also has an associated athletics stadium, the Pingles Stadium, which was built in 2004. The Pingles Stadium has a 250 seater stand, a running track, and athletics facilities. The stadium also has a football pitch which is used by Nuneaton Griff for their home matches.
  • Jubilee Sports Centre - The Jubilee Sports Centre is a sports hall. The hall is used for various sports including badminton, five-a-side football/indoor football and basketball. The Jubilee also has a scoreboard, used for major basketball and indoor football matches. The hall can be hired out for uses such as karate lessons.
  • Etone Sports Centre - Etone Sports Centre is another sports hall. Etone sports hall also has astroturf football pitches which are used also for hockey. The centre is in the grounds of the school which bears the same name, Etone School, but Nuneaton and Bedworth Leisure Trust maintains the building.

Nuneaton has a museum and art gallery in the grounds of Riversley Park adjacent to the town centre.

[edit] Culture

  • Nuneaton annually enters the Britain in Bloom competition and in 2000, Nuneaton and Bedworth was a national finalist.
  • Nuneaton is home to the largest carnival in Warwickshire which takes place every June – see www.NuneatonCarnival.org
  • Nuneaton was home to the smallest independent newspaper in Britain (the Heartland Evening News) until it was purchased in 2006 by life News & Media

[edit] George Eliot's Inspirations And Work

Many locations in George Eliot's works were based on places in or near her native Nuneaton, including:

  • Milby (town and parish church, based on Nuneaton and St Nicolas parish church);
  • Shepperton (based on Chilvers Coton);
  • Paddiford Common (based on Stockingford, which at the time had a large area of common land);
  • Knebley (based on Astley; Knebley Church is Astley Church, while Knebley Abbey is Astley Castle);
  • Red Deeps (based on Griff Hollows);
  • Cheverel Manor (based on Arbury Hall);
  • Dorlcote Mill (based on Griff House);
  • The Red Lion (based on the Bull Hotel, now the George Eliot Hotel in Bridge Street, Nuneaton);
  • Middlemarch (based on Coventry);
  • Treby Magna (also thought to be based on Coventry);
  • Little Treby (thought to be based on Stoneleigh);
  • Transome Court (thought to be based on Stoneleigh Abbey).
  • queens jr. school (she came up with the name)

[edit] Twin towns

The borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth is twinned with the following towns:

[edit] Notable inhabitants

[edit] Districts and suburbs of Nuneaton

Within the borough boundaries:

Outside the borough boundaries but often considered to be part of the town:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Garner, Tony. "Silhouetted Spoilheap". Warwickshire Photo Gallery. EnjoyWarwickshire.com. http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/Web/corporate/pages.nsf/Links/1F436DD59A543BC88025710E005328F3. Retrieved on 2008-06-09. 
  2. ^ Nuneaton&Bedworth.gov
  3. ^ a b A brief history of Nuneaton
  4. ^ Visionofbritain.org
  5. ^ Veasey, Ted, (2002) Nuneaton: A History ISBN 1860772153
  6. ^ Bedworth society - Timeline
  7. ^ The full electoral declarations can be found on the following sites: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elections/local_council/08/html/44uc.stm AND http://www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk/news/general-news/local-election-results
  8. ^ "Station usage statistics, 2006-2007". Office of Rail Regulation. http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/xls/station-usage-2006-07.xls. 
  9. ^ "Nuneaton and Bedworth Rail User Group". http://www.nbrug.org.uk/. 

[edit] External links

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