Priors Hardwick is a village and

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 authorit ...

in the Stratford district of

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-Av ...

, England. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 census was 172. The name derives from the fact that it was originally a manor belonging to the Priors of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the 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 city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

History

The oldest houses in the village are centred on the village green, with The Butcher's Arms dated as 1562, although some sources place it back as far as 1375. The proximity to the drover's road known as the

Welsh Road The Welsh Road, also known as the Welshman's Road or the Bullock Road, was a drover's road running through the English Midlands, used for transporting cattle from North Wales to the markets of South East England. Drovers and their herds would fol ...

influenced the village and the naming of local landmarks. The cattle drovers used to water their animals at a pond outside the village, which resulted in it being named ''Cowpool''. This is unusual, since locally, such waterholes were named ''pits'', rather than the Welsh-derived name ''pool'' (pwyll). ''London End'' in the village, and various buildings with ''welsh'' in their name also derive from the closeness of the road. The original settlement is on the government's list of

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

s with most of the village being enclosed in a Conservation Area. In 1831 the area of the parish was , which was reduced to some time between 1881 and 1891 In 1836 the village became part of the Southam Poor Law Union which ran a

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...

Southam Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Southam is situated on the River Stowe (called 'The Brook' by many locals), which flows from Napton-on-the-Hill and joins Warwickshire's ...

. Until 1974, the parish belonged to the Southam Rural District.

Population

According to census information the population figures have been: * in 1831 there were 69 males aged over 20 * Total Population

Agriculture

In an 1801 survey the agricultural output of the parish was:

Occupations

In an 1831 study the following occupations were categorised:

Population

According to the 2001 census, the parish consists of 79 households with a population of 167 (80 males and 87 females). Of the 79 households, 63 were owner-occupied, 4 were rented from the council, and 12 were rented from a private landlord. 11 households had no car or van, 27 had one car or van, 23 had two and 18 had three or more. the mean population age was 43.88 and the median was 46. The average distance travelled to a fixed place of work was 24.25 km.

Landmarks

The major business in the village i
The Butcher's Arms
originally a pub, now a Portuguese restaurant. The Anglican parish church of St Mary is a Grade II* listed building, with parts dating from the 12th century. It is part o
the Bridges Group
of Parishes.

References

External links

Priors Hardwick village website

Windows on Warwickshire – Priors Hardwick pictures
{{authority control Villages in Warwickshire