Atherstone is a market town 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

North Warwickshire North Warwickshire is a local government district with borough status in Warwickshire, England. The borough includes the two towns of Atherstone (where the council is based) and Coleshill, and the large villages of Hartshill, Kingsbury, Ma ...

district of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Located in the far north of the county, Atherstone is on the A5 national route, and is adjacent to the border with

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

which is here formed by the

River Anker The River Anker flows through Nuneaton, England. It is a major tributary of the River Tame, which it joins in Tamworth. The name derives from the old British for ''winding river''. From source to river mouth at Tamworth is . Course The river ...

. It is situated between the larger towns of Tamworth and

Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire to the north-east.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

. Atherstone is the administrative centre of the North Warwickshire district, with the offices of North Warwickshire Borough Council located in the town. Atherstone has had its own local tradition of holding an annual Shrove Tuesday Ball Game in the streets, which has been played annually for over 800 years since 1199. In the 2021 census the population of the civil parish of Atherstone was at 9,212. The population of the larger built-up area which includes the adjoining village of

Mancetter Mancetter is a village and civil parish in North Warwickshire, England, where Watling Street crosses the River Anker. The population was 2,339 at the 2011 census. It is contiguous with the town of Atherstone, on the B4111 road towards Hartshil ...

was 11,259.

History

Roman

Atherstone has a long history dating back to

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times: The Roman road, the

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...

(most of which later became part of the A5) ran through what is now Atherstone, and an important defended Roman settlement named '' Manduessedum'' existed at

near the site of modern-day Atherstone. It is widely believed that the forces of the rebel Queen

Boudica Boudica or Boudicca (, from Brittonic languages, Brythonic * 'victory, win' + * 'having' suffix, i.e. 'Victorious Woman', known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh language, Welsh as , ) was a queen of the Iceni, ancient ...

were defeated in their

final battle Final Battle is a professional wrestling event, held annually by the Ring of Honor promotion. The event was initially held in 2002. It is held in December, and is the promotion's last show of the calendar year. The 2009 edition of the show was ...

against the Romans at a location near Manduessedum in around AD 60. This was suggested as the most likely location of the battle by among others, the eminent archaeologist Graham Webster, although no firm evidence has emerged to confirm this to be the case.

Medieval

The

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, records that Atherstone (then named ''Aderestone'') was held by Countess Godiva. The name likely originated from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''Aedelred's tun'' 'tun' meaning farmstead or town. After the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

, the manor of Atherstone was given to Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester who bestowed it to the monks of

Bec Abbey Bec Abbey, formally the Abbey of Our Lady of Bec (), is a Benedictine monastic foundation in the Eure ''département'', in the Bec valley midway between the cities of Rouen and Bernay. It is located in Le Bec Hellouin, Normandy, France, and was ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. In 1246 the monks of the Abbey obtained a charter from Henry III to hold a weekly market at Atherstone, thus transforming the settlement into a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

. In the 14th century, the town flourished, and

Ralph Basset Ralph Basset (sometimes Bassett; died c. 1127) was a medieval English royal justice during the reign of King Henry I of England. He was a native of Normandy and may have come to Henry's notice while Henry held land in Normandy prior to becoming ...

founded a house of Augustinian friars here in 1375, although this never became very important. Atherstone Parish Church - geograph

The ancient St Mary's Church in Atherstone dates from the early 12th century. The chapel was granted to Henry Cartwright in 1542, then left abandoned and neglected until 1692 when Samuel Bracebridge settled a yearly sum for the parson of Mancetter to preach there every other Sunday in the winter season. After this, St. Mary's Chapel seems to have experienced something of a revival. Its square tower being rebuilt in the fashionable "

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

" style in 1782, and then was further redesigned in 1849 by Thomas Henry Wyatt and David Brandon.

Battle of Bosworth

On 21 August 1485, Henry Tudor, and up to 11,000 troops stayed at Atherstone the day before the

Battle of Bosworth The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field ( ) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 ...

. Tudor was said to have stayed at the Three Tuns Inn in Long Street, while his troops camped in a meadow north of the parish church. Reputedly, whilst in Atherstone, Tudor secretly met with the powerful noblemen Thomas Stanley and his brother William Stanley who pledged their support for Tudor, which would prove decisive in the subsequent battle. The battle, which is believed to have occurred away near

Market Bosworth Market Bosworth ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 1,906, increasing to 2,097 at the 2011 census. It is most famously near to the site of the decisive final battle of the ...

, resulted in Tudor's forces defeating those of

King Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

, enabling Tudor to claim the throne and become King Henry VII, establishing the

Tudor dynasty The House of Tudor ( ) was an English and Welsh dynasty that held the throne of England from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd, a Welsh noble family, and Catherine of Valois. The Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of Eng ...

. A theory exists, that the battle actually took place in the fields of

Merevale Merevale is a small village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire in England. Located about one and a half miles west of Atherstone, it is the site of a medieval Cistercian Abbey (founded in 1148) and ...

above Atherstone, although this is not widely accepted. The main argument put in favour of this theory, is that financial reparations were made to Atherstone after the battle and not to Market Bosworth. The battle has now been definitively located around the 'Fenn Lanes', which run from near Atherstone to Sutton Cheney. The battle site is NW of Stoke Golding, roughly halfway between Atherstone and Market Bosworth, and near the junction with the road running south from Market Bosworth.

Tudor period

In Tudor times, Atherstone was a thriving commercial centre for weaving and clothmaking. The town's favourable location laid out as a long ‘ribbon development’ along

, ensured its growth as a

. While it remained an agricultural settlement in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times, attempts were made to encourage merchants and traders through the creation of

burgage Burgage is a medieval land term used in Great Britain and Ireland, well established by the 13th century. A burgage was a town ("borough" or "burgh") rental property (to use modern terms), owned by a king or lord. The property ("burgage tenement ...

plots, a type of land tenure that provided them with special privileges. A manuscript discovered by Marjorie Morgan among the

muniment A muniment or muniment of title is a legal term for a document, title deed or other evidence, that indicates ownership of an asset. The word is derived from the Latin noun ''munimentum'', meaning a "fortification, bulwark, defence or protection". ...

s of Cambridge's King's College (Ms. C9), refers to the creation of nine new burgage strips from land belonging to seven of the tenants in Atherstone

vill Vill is a term used in English, Welsh and Irish history to describe a basic rural land unit, roughly comparable to that of a parish, manor, village or tithing. Medieval developments The vill was the smallest territorial and administrative unit� ...

. By the late Tudor period Atherstone had become a centre for

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

working, clothmaking, metalworking and

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

. Local sheep farmers and cattle graziers supplied wool and leather to local

tanners Tanners may refer to: * Tanners (company), a British wine company * Tanners, Virginia, an unincorporated community located in Madison County, United States * Jerald and Sandra Tanner, opponents of the LDS Church (Mormons) * ''The Tanners'' (novel) ...

and

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or '' cordwainers'' (sometimes misidentified as cobblers, who repair shoes rather than make them). In the 18th cen ...

s (an industry that continued until the 1970s), while

metalworker Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on e ...

locksmith Locksmithing is the work of creating and bypassing locks. Locksmithing is a traditional trade and in many countries requires completion of an apprenticeship. The level of formal education legally required varies by country, ranging from no formal ...

s and nailers fired their furnaces with local coal and the alemakers supplied thirsty palates on market days. The surviving

inventories Inventory (British English) or stock (American English) is a quantity of the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation. Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying ...

from 16th century Mancetter provide a fascinating glimpse into Atherstone's

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

merchants and traders, before the town was economically overshadowed by the bustling cities of

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. They show Atherstone at this time as a typical

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

market town, taking full advantage of its location and agricultural setting.

17th century to present

The argument that Altherstone declined in favour of emerging cities in the 18th century has been challenged. In the 1750s, Altherstone was very much still a vibrant settlement, possessing both a book club and a bowling-green. It was regularly frequented by the leisure-seeking gentry, including Sir Roger Newdigate and his circle of friends. The

Coventry Canal The Coventry Canal is a navigable narrow canal in the Midlands of England. It starts in Coventry and ends to the north at Fradley Junction, just north of Lichfield, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal. It also has connections with the ...

reached Atherstone in 1769, and the railways arrived in 1847, with the opening of the

Trent Valley Railway The Trent Valley line is a railway line between Rugby and Stafford in England, forming part of the West Coast Main Line. The line is long and is named after the River Trent which it follows. It was built to provide a direct route from London ...

, upon which Atherstone has its

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

. These transport links helped the industrialisation of the town. Atherstone was once an important hatting town, and became well known for its

felt Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic fiber, acrylic or acrylonitrile or ...

hat industry. The industry began in the 17th century and at its height in the early 20th century there were seven firms employing 3,000 people. Due to cheap imports and a decline in the wearing of hats, the trade had declined substantially by the 1970s with just three companies remaining, Denham & Hargrave Ltd, Vero & Everitt Ltd and Wilson & Stafford Ltd. The production of felt hats in the town ceased altogether with the closure of the Wilson & Stafford factory in 1999. As of 2018 the factory received the go-ahead to be redeveloped into canalside residential apartments. However, the remains of the town's last hat manufacturing site, on Coleshill Road, were scheduled for demolition in 2022, after the local council decided it could not be safely redeveloped for residential use.

Governance

Atherstone is part of the parliamentary constituency of

North Warwickshire and Bedworth North Warwickshire and Bedworth is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Before the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency was known as North Warwickshire with new name taking ef ...

. The current Member of Parliament (MP) for the area being

Rachel Taylor Rachael Taylor (born 1984) is an Australian actress and model. Rachael or Rachel Taylor may also refer to: * Rachael Taylor (rower) (born 1976), Australian rower * Rachael Taylor (academic) (born 1971), New Zealand childhood nutrition academic * ...

of the Labour Party. The local authority is North Warwickshire Borough Council, which, since May 2023, has been under

no overall control In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom no overall control (NOC; ) is a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats, comparable to a hung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for elec ...

. As a

, Atherstone also has a

Town Council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland In 2002, 49 urban district councils and 26 town commissi ...

; Atherstone Town Council has 15 councillors representing three wards.

Geography

Atherstone is situated northwest of

, southeast of Tamworth, north of

, northeast of

, and east-southeast of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. The village of

has become contiguous with Atherstone to the southeast, although it remains a separate

. Atherstone is close to the

which forms the boundary between

and

. The village of

Witherley Witherley is a village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : The civil parish of Witherley includes Atterton, Fenny Drayton, and Ratcliffe Culey ...

is located on the opposite bank of the river in neighbouring Leicestershire. Other nearby villages include

Sheepy Magna Sheepy is a civil parish in the Borough of Hinckley and Bosworth in Leicestershire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : It contains the villages of Sheepy Magna, Sheepy Parva, Sibson, Wellsborough, Upton, Pinwall ...

Ratcliffe Culey Ratcliffe Culey is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Witherley, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in Leicestershire, England, near the county boundary with Warwickshire. In 1931 the parish had a population of 184. The ...

Fenny Drayton Fenny Drayton (once Drayton-in-the-Clay) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Witherley, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. OS Explorer Map 232: Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000): It lies nea ...

, Grendon,

Dordon Dordon is a village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire in England and close to the border with Staffordshire. The village is located on the A5 national route and is contiguous with the larger villa ...

Baxterley Baxterley is a small village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire in England. According to the 2001 Census, it had a population of 335, reducing to 328 at the 2011 Census. The village is about two miles west of ...

Baddesley Ensor Baddesley Ensor is a village and civil parish in the district of North Warwickshire in Warwickshire, England, about three miles west of Atherstone. It runs into the village of Grendon, which forms a parish itself. History There were mining ac ...

and

Hartshill Hartshill is a large village and civil parish in North Warwickshire, England, contiguous with the much larger town of Nuneaton, the town centre of which is 2.5 miles (4 km) to the south-east. The parish borders the district of Nuneaton a ...

. The town of Coleshill is to the southeast.OS Landranger Map 139 : Birmingham & Wolverhampton: (1:50 000) OS Landranger Map 140 : Leicester, Coventry & Rugby: (1:50 000) The

A5 road A5 Road may refer to: ;Africa * A5 highway (Nigeria), a road connecting Lagos and Ibadan * A5 road (Zimbabwe), a road connecting Harare and Bulawayo ;Americas * Quebec Autoroute 5, a road in Quebec, Canada * County Route A5 (California) or Bowm ...

(former

) historically ran through the town centre, but a dual carriageway bypass was opened in 1963. Atherstone is one of the closest towns to the geographic centre of England, which since 2002 has been recognised as being at

Lindley Hall Farm Lindley Hall Farm is a farm in Leicestershire, England, in close proximity to Fenny Drayton and Higham on the Hill. The farm is owned by Stephen Farmer. It has been best known as the geographical centre of England since the Ordnance Survey's i ...

, around east of Atherstone, across the county border in Leicestershire.

Economy

Atherstone used to be known for its hatting industry. In part due to its central location in the UK, Atherstone's economy has expanded rapidly since the 1980s, with several major companies such as 3M (1964)

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

(1987),

Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

(1990s) setting up their head office operations and/or national distribution centres in the town. The

British Home Stores British Home Stores, commonly abbreviated to BHS and latterly legally styled BHS Ltd, is an online store and formerly a British department store chain, primarily selling clothing and household items. In its later years, the company began to exp ...

warehouse which had operated in the town for 40 years, closed in August 2016, It is now used by

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

as a regional sorting office.

Transport

Atherstone is on the main A5 national route and close to the

M42 motorway The M42 motorway runs north east from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire to just south-west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, passing Redditch, Solihull, the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and Tamworth, Staffordshire, Tamworth on the way, ...

. The

and a series of eleven locks runs through the town, as does the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

railway. Atherstone has its railway station on this line, with an hourly service 7 days a week to both

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

via

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

. The current level of service was introduced in 2008, and is a big improvement on the service two decades earlier there were only five trains a day, just going between Stafford and Rugby. The historic station building, built in 1847, was under threat of demolition in the early 1980s. Thanks to a local group, the Railway and Steam Traction Society, listed status was obtained, with the building celebrating its 150th anniversary in 1997. Building work won a special Ian Allan

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manage ...

award. As of 2008, the railway station building is occupied by a local

veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all animal species, both ...

practice.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by

BBC West Midlands BBC Midlands is the BBC English Regions, BBC English Region producing local radio and World Wide Web, web content for the City of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcest ...

and

ITV Central ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee in the English Midlands. It was created following ...

. Television signals are received from the

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of L ...

TV transmitter. Local radio stations are

BBC CWR BBC CWR (Coventry & Warwickshire Radio) is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Coventry and Warwickshire. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV, and via BBC Sounds from studio ...

BBC Radio Leicester BBC Radio Leicester is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Leicestershire, City of Birmingham, South Staffordshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth and Rutland. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at ...

can also be received,

Capital Midlands Capital Midlands is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcasts to Birmingham, parts of the Black Country and the East Midlands from studios at Brindleyplace in Birmingham City Centre. T ...

Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire, formerly Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Coventry and W ...

and Greatest Hits Radio Midlands. The town is served by the local newspapers, Atherstone Herald and

Tamworth Herald The ''Tamworth Herald'' is a weekly tabloid newspaper published every Thursday in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England, with a cover price of £1.40. The newspaper covers events across Tamworth and south Staffordshire, as well as North Warwickshire. ...

Recreation

The major football team in the town is Atherstone Town, known as 'the Adders'. This is after the tradition which has Atherstone being a corruption of the name "Adders – stone". Their ground is located on Sheepy Road. Atherstone's team started out as Atherstone Town Football Club in 1887 but folded in 1979, from 1979 to 2003 Atherstone's football team was known as Atherstone United Football Club but folded again mid-season in 2003. The team then reverted to its previous name Atherstone Town Football Club. The club made the national headlines in October 2013 when during an FA Cup 3rd Qualifying round against

Barrow A.F.C. Barrow Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Having initially played in the Lancashi ...

crowd violence erupted during the first half when a small "minority" of Atherstone supporters ran across the pitch and attacked a number of Barrow supporters. The ringleaders and other participants of the crowd trouble were subsequently arrested, charged and sentenced to various jail terms. Since this incident the club has established itself as a family and community orientated club. The

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team is Atherstone Rugby Football Club who play in the Warwickshire Two League. Their ground is situated on Ratcliffe Road. The same ground is shared by Atherstone Town Cricket Club, Atherstone Rangers Junior Football Club and is the home of Atherstone Adders Hockey Club, who play at the nearby Queen Elizabeth Academy. Atherstone Leisure Complex is at the north end of Long Street and consists of a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

and gym. Atherstone Memorial Hall is also part of the leisure complex.

Shrovetide Ball Game

An annual tradition in Atherstone is the

Shrove Tuesday Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day) is the final day of Shrovetide, which marks the end of the pre-Lenten season. Lent begins the following day with Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is observed in many Christian state, Ch ...

Ball Game played on a public highway with large crowds. The game celebrated its 800th anniversary in 1999. The game is a complete free-for-all played along Watling Street (the old

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

) at the point where it forms the main street of Atherstone town. The ball is decorated with red, white and blue ribbons that are exchanged for money by who ever is able to obtain one and is made of thick leather to make it too heavy to kick far. The match starts at 3:00pm when the ball is thrown from the balcony of the local

Conservative Club The Conservative Club was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1840. In 1950 it merged with the Bath Club, and was disbanded in 1981. From 1845 until 1959, the club occupied a building at 74 St James's Street where ...

(since the closure of the local branch of

Barclays Bank Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

, from whose upper floor the ball was previously thrown, in 2019) and continues until about 5:00pm. However the ball may legitimately be deflated or hidden after 4:30pm. There are no teams and no goals, though in the last century the match was played between a team from Warwickshire and one from Leicestershire. There is only one rule: players are not allowed to kill one another. Whoever is able to hang onto the ball at the end of the game not only wins the game but is allowed to keep the ball as well. The game is controlled by a number of "marshalls" some of whom are former winners. Police are present but for the two hours the game is in progress stand back and allow the action to continue. Legend has it that many an old feud is settled on Ball Game day. This Shrove Tuesday ball game has been held annually since the early 12th century and is one of Atherstone's claims to fame. The 2019 edition of the game was noted for being extremely violent with several videos of the event being uploaded to social media. Event organisers disputed the accounts of violence as "nothing new". The origin of the game, in the reign of King John, is thought to have been a ''"Match of Gold that was played between the Warwickshire Lads and the Leicestershire Lads on Shrove Tuesday"''. The 'ball' used is specially made each year and is 'thrown out' by a prominent sporting or show business personality. Shop windows are boarded-up and traffic is diverted on the afternoon whilst the game, in which hundreds of people take part, progresses along the town's main streets.

Naval connections

Atherstone has strong naval connections. Three

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

ships have been named HMS ''Atherstone'' after the town: the vessels were commissioned in

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

, and most recently,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

Education

Primary age schools in Atherstone include the Outwoods Primary School, the Racemeadow Primary Academy, and St Benedict's RC Primary Academy. The Queen Elizabeth Academy is the state secondary school in the town.

Notable people

Obadiah Grew Obadiah Grew (1 November 1607 – 22 October 1689) was an English nonconformist minister. Life Grew was born at Atherstone, Warwickshire on 1 November 1607, the third son of Francis Grew and Elizabeth Denison. He was baptised the same day at the ...

(1607–1689) an English nonconformist minister. * Abel Roper (1665–1726) an English journalist, who wrote in the

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

interest. *

William Stratford Dugdale William Stratford Dugdale DL (1 April 1800 – 15 September 1871) was a British Tory (and later Conservative Party) politician. Early life He was the only son of Dugdale Stratford Dugdale of Merevale Hall, Warwickshire and his wife, the Hon. ...

(1800–1871) a British Tory politician and MP *

William Yolland William Yolland CB, FRS FRSA (17 March 1810 – 4 September 1885) was an English military surveyor, astronomer and engineer, and was Britain's Chief Inspector of Railways from 1877 until his death. He was a redoubtable campaigner for railway s ...

(1810–1885) an English military surveyor, astronomer and engineer and Britain's Chief Inspector of Railways. * Prof Herbert R. Spencer (1860–1941) a professor of

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...

* Sir

John Bretland Farmer Sir John Bretland Farmer FRS FRSE (5 April 1865 – 26 January 1944) was a British botanist. He believed that chromomeres not chromosomes were the unit of heredity. Farmer and J. E. S. Moore introduced the term ''meiosis'' in 1905. Life ...

(1865–1944) a British botanist * Rhoda Sutherland (1907–1989) an academic of the French language, Old French and Old Provençal * Mary Fox (1922–2005) an artist *

Bill Olner William John Olner (9 May 1942 – 18 May 2020) was a British Labour Co-operative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Nuneaton from 1992 until 2010. Previously, he led Nuneaton Borough Council (which later merged with Bedw ...

(1942–2020) a

British Labour Party The Labour Party, often referred to as Labour, is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that sits on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum. The party has been describe ...

politician, MP for

1992–2010 *

Leigh Lawson Allan Leigh Lawson (born 21 July 1945) is an English actor, director and writer. Early life Lawson was born in Atherstone, Warwickshire. He initially studied at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts before training further at the Royal Academy of ...

(born 1945) a British film and stage actor, director and writer * Sara Thornton (born 1950s) local resident convicted and later acquitted of murdering her violent and alcoholic husband *

Andy Green Andrew Green or Andy Green may refer to: * Andrew Green, Baron Green of Deddington (born 1941), former British diplomat and anti-immigration activist * Andrew Green (Formula One) (born 1965), Formula One engineer * Andrew Green (ghost hunter) (1927� ...

(born 1962) a British RAF fighter pilot and World Land Speed Record holder

Sport

* Charlie Wilson (1895–1971) an English footballer who played over 150 games for Stoke City *

Arthur Johnson Arthur Johnson may refer to: Sports *Arthur Johnson (athletic director), athletic director for Temple Owls *Arthur Johnson (boxer) (born 1966), U.S. Olympic boxer *Arthur Johnson (rugby league), Widnes and Great Britain 1908/09 - 1922/23 *Arthur Jo ...

(1903–1987) an English professional footballer * Jack Barnes (1908–2008) an English pro footballer, also played for Atherstone Town F.C. *

Bernard Hunt Bernard John Hunt, MBE (2 February 1930 – 21 June 2013) was an English professional golfer. Early life Hunt was born in Atherstone, Warwickshire. Professional career He turned professional in 1946 and was a leading player on the Europe ...

(1930–2013) an English professional golfer * Johnny Schofield (1931–2006) an English footballer who played as goalkeeper, later he ran an off-licence in Atherstone * Frank Upton (1934–2011) an English professional football player and manager * Les Green (1941–2012) an English footballer and manager *

Paul Broadhurst Paul Andrew Broadhurst (born 14 August 1965) is an English professional golfer. He won six times on the European Tour and played in the 1991 Ryder Cup. A former World Top 50 player, since turning fifty he has had success in senior events, winn ...

(born 1965) an English professional golfer * Steve Webster (born 1975) an English professional golfer

References

External links

Atherstone Town Council

Atherstone archives
– Our Warwickshire *

History links

* * * * {{authority control Traditional football Market towns in Warwickshire Towns in Warwickshire