Allesley

Allesley
The old village
Allesley Location within the West Midlands
Population	837 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	SP 297 807
Civil parish	Allesley
Metropolitan borough	Coventry
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	COVENTRY
Postcode district	CV5
Police	West Midlands
Fire	West Midlands
Ambulance	West Midlands
List of places UK England West Midlands 52°25′N 1°33′W / 52.417°N 1.550°W / 52.417; -1.550Coordinates: 52°25′N 1°33′W / 52.417°N 1.550°W / 52.417; -1.550

Allesley Hall, which has a small golf course in its grounds

Allesley /ˈɔːlzli/ is an English suburban village and civil parish in the City of Coventry metropolitan borough, West Midlands, about 3¼ miles (5.25 km) west-north-west of Coventry city centre and 4 miles (6.5 km) east-south-east of Meriden. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 805, which increased to 837 at the 2011 Census (excluding the neighbouring districts of Allesley Park and Allesley Green). Until 1998, Allesley contained the main Jaguar car assembly plant at Browns Lane.

The parish[]

The parish of Allesley covers a much larger area than the village itself, which is based around Washbrook Lane, Browns Lane and Hawkesmill Lane. The parish incorporates the ancient rural Ardens of Pinketts Booth, Pickford, Pickford Green, Harvest Hill, Hawkes End, Hollyberry End, Wall Hill and Brownshill Green, situated at the eastern extreme of the Meriden Gap.^{[citation needed]}.

Allesley Village denotes the area east of the Birmingham Road, including West Point. Although this is largely a dormitory community for Coventry, it retains several aspects of a separate village. Most of the old village is a conservation area on a low ridge between the River Sherbourne and a tributary of it, the Pickford Brook.

The suburbs of Allesley Green and Allesley Park lie to the south and west. Allesley Park developed in the 1950s to 1970s to the east of the A45 and due south of Allesley. Allesley Green, built in the late 1980s, lies a quarter of a mile SW of Allesley. The combined population of the three main districts is approximately 7,000.

History[]

Allesley in 1828/9, by Samuel Rostill Lines

Allesley grew around the 800-year-old All Saints Church (known as All Souls Church until the Reformation). Its spire is prominent on the village skyline. Originally built about 1140, it was rebuilt in 1863 and remains relatively unaltered since then. A noted writer on husbandry, Walter Blith, was baptised there on 7 August 1605.^[2]

The Birmingham Road running through the village was part of the turnpike trunk road laid out between Holyhead and London in 1821–1824 by Thomas Telford. A toll house stood at the junction of Holyhead Road and Allesley Old Road, but the tolls were discontinued by Act of Parliament in 1871 and the toll house demolished in the mid-1930s.

Allesley included the Browns Lane Jaguar car plant and its national showroom, which closed in the late 1990s. Wood veneer trim production for Jaguar continued until the mid-2000s, after which the land was sold to developers.

Twin town[]

Allesley is twinned with Saint-Jean-Soleymieux, near Saint-Etienne, France.^[3]

Sports[]

The parish has an amateur Barkers Butts Rugby Football Club playing at the Bob Coward Memorial Ground, just off Pickford Grange Lane. Formed in 1946, it originally played in Keresley, but moved to Allesley in 1975.^[4]

References[]

Bibliography[]

• David Fry and Albert Smith, 1991/1993, The Coventry We Have Lost. 2 vols, Simanda Press, Berkswell ISBN 0-9513867-1-9/ISBN 0-9513867-2-7