Brandon is a small village in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Along with nearby

Bretford Bretford is a small hamlet in Warwickshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Brandon and Bretford. Location It is about east-southeast of Coventry, at a junction of the A428 road (Coventry–Rugby) and the old Fosse Way. The two ro ...

, it forms part of a joint

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Brandon and Bretford Brandon and Bretford is a civil parish in the Rugby borough of Warwickshire, England. It contains the village of Brandon and the smaller hamlet of Bretford. Both are within 1½ miles of each other, along the A428 road. In the 2001 Census the pa ...

. Administratively it is part of the

borough of Rugby The Borough of Rugby is a local government district with borough status in eastern Warwickshire, England. The borough comprises the town of Rugby where the council has its headquarters, and the rural areas surrounding the town. The borough has a ...

. The River Avon passes just to the east of the village. Brandon is located upon the

A428 road The A428 road is a major road in central and eastern England. It runs between the cities of Coventry and Cambridge by way of the county towns of Northampton and Bedford. Together with the A421, (and the A43, M40 and the A34), the eastern s ...

between

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, to the west, and

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, to the east. west of Brandon is the suburban village of

Binley Woods Binley Woods is a suburban village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. The village lies marginally beyond the eastern outskirts of Coventry, outside the formal city boundaries. Binley Woods is within the Borough of Rugby, although the t ...

and to the east is the small hamlet of

. Brandon is separated from the much larger village of

Wolston Wolston is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Rugby (borough), Rugby borough of Warwickshire, England. The village is located roughly halfway between Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby and Coventry, and had a population of 2,69 ...

by a railway viaduct, but the two villages practically form a single entity. The railway viaduct dates from 1837 and was part of the original

London and Birmingham Railway The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...

, which is now part of the

Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford Line The Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line (also known as the Birmingham loop) is a railway line in the West Midlands of England. It is a loop off the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between Rugby and Stafford, via the West Midlands cities of Coventry ...

, which runs across the parish; railway station operated here until 1960. The village contains a number of old

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...

s and has a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

near the railway line. Just to the north of the village is

Brandon Stadium Brandon Stadium, also known as Coventry Stadium, is located 6 miles east of Coventry in Brandon, Warwickshire, England. It was the home of the Coventry Bees motorcycle speedway team. It also hosted BriSCA F1 Stock Car Racing on the 1st Satur ...

, also known as the Coventry Stadium, which was used for

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

racing,

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

, and

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

before being sold with the intention of house-building on the site. The stadium was home to the

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees were a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon near Coventry, England. History A Coventry team was first formed in 1928 and competed in the inaugural season of the Southern ...

speedway team. West of the village is Brandon Marsh, a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

with a wide variety of wildlife, especially pondlife. The reserve's visitor centre was opened in 1998 by

Sir David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...

. Also to the west and north of Brandon Marsh is Brandon Wood, a community woodland owned and managed by a local group the Friends Of Brandon Wood. A grassy mound marks the remains of Brandon Castle, which is found to the south of the village. The castle was built in the 12th century by the de Verdon family. It was garrisoned in 1195, but was relatively short lived, as it was said to have been ‘pulled down’ in 1265 by the baronial troops from

Kenilworth Castle Kenilworth Castle is a castle in the town of Kenilworth in Warwickshire, England managed by English Heritage; much of it is still in ruins. The castle was founded during the Norman conquest of England; with development through to the Tudor pe ...

, because John de Verdon was an active supporter of the king.

References

External links

Brandon MarshBrandon Wood
- Brandon Wood Website
Brandon archives - Our Warwickshire
{{authority control Villages in Warwickshire