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Nuneaton in Warwick County England History and GeographyNUNEATON, a market town and parish, in the Atherstone division of the hundred of HEMLINGFORD, county of WARWICK, 18 miles (N.N.E.) from Warwick, and 100 (N.W. by W.) from London, containing, with the hamlets of Attleborough and Stockingford, 6610 inhabitants. The name of this place is derived from the river in its neighbourhood, Ea in Saxon signifying water, and from a priory established here, in the reign of Stephen, by Robert, Earl of Leicester, for nuns of the order of Fontevrault, in whose convents abroad there were sometimes nuns and monks in one establishment, but here there were only a prior, a prioress, and nuns, the prioress having supreme authority. In the reign of Henry III., a weekly market was granted to the prioress, and at the dissolution the revenue of the nunnery was £290. 15. 0½. The town is pleasantly situated on the river Anka, over which are two bridges, and consists principally of one long street, from which a cross street leads to the market-place; the houses are in general of mean appearance, though interspersed with some handsome modern buildings: it is neither paved nor lighted, but is well supplied with water. The principal source of occupation is riband-weaving for the London market, in which branch of manufacture French looms and machinery have been recently introduced, especially in the figured gauze riband. The Birmingham and Coventry canal passes by the north-west extremity of the town, and about two miles distant are coal mines: fine clay for pottery, and also manganese, are dug here, and there are quarries of freestone in the parish. The market is on Saturday; and fairs are held on May 14th, 15th, and 16th, for cattle and hardware; on February 18th, and October 31st, for horses and cattle; and a statute fair is held fourteen days before Michaelmas. Three constables are annually elected, and sworn in at the court leet for the town and hamlets; there is also a permanent constable: the town hall is a neat modern edifice of brick, containing in the upper story several apartments, of which one is used as a subscription news-room, and two others for a Sunday school. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Coventry, and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, rated in the king's books at £24. 14. 7., and in the patronage of the Crown. The church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, is a fine structure, exhibiting portions in the various styles of English architecture, with a square embattled tower having pinnacles at the angles: the interior consists of a nave, chancel, and aisles separated by clustered columns and pointed arches; the roof is of oak, divided into panels, and richly ornamented with ribs and foliage. A proprietary chapel has been recently erected, and elegantly fitted up in the cathedral style, but it is not yet used. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists. The free grammar school was founded in the 6th of Edward VI., and endowed with one hundred and three acres of land at Coventry-the management is vested in twelve trustees, who appoint the masters; the classical master has a salary of £50 per annum, with a house and garden; and the under master, who teaches reading, writing, and arithmetic, £45 per annum. An English free school, for forty boys and thirty girls, under the management of seven trustees, was founded in 1712, by the will of Mr. Richard Smith, of St. Ann's, Westminster, and endowed with ninety-four acres of land at Hartshill: the salary of the master is £15 per annum, and that of the mistress £7 per annum, with houses and gardens: a great augmentation of the endowment having taken place, from the discovery of mines of managanese on the estate, an additional annual gratuity of £10 is given to the master, and one of £8 to the mistress. In the churchyard is an almshouse for four aged persons, who receive each a small annual stipend: there is likewise a fund arising from land, for putting out poor apprentices. The site and ground-plan of the ancient monastery, with fragments of columns, and richly-moulded arches, together with a considerable portion of the walls of the main building, are yet visible; the outer walls, which enclosed a spacious quadrangular area, are still standing on the east and north sides; a considerable portion of the materials was used in repairing or rebuilding the church. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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