Stays near Brinklow

Brinklow is a village and civil parish in the Rugby district, about halfway between Rugby and Coventry, with 1,120 residents at the 2021 census. It stands on the Fosse Way, the old Roman road.

The village probably has very old roots. A burial mound stood here before the Romans, who bent the Fosse Way around it and the mound later became a Norman motte and bailey castle. Known locally as The Tump or the Big Hill, it is one of the largest and best preserved of its kind in England.

Brinklow is missing from Domesday, probably because it was founded as a market town when it received a market charter in 1218. The church of St John the Baptist dates from the thirteenth century; monks from Kenilworth Abbey built it and the first priest is recorded in 1252.

Coombe Abbey and Newbold Revel, two great houses nearby, helped the village thrive, as did candle making, basket weaving and silk. The Oxford Canal arrived in 1790 and when it was straightened in the 1830s a short arm was kept to serve the village. A station on the Trent Valley line operated from 1847 to 1957.

Stoke Lodge and Stoke House are about 5 miles by road from Brinklow, Humber Hub about 6 miles and Sullivan Heights about 6 miles. With Coombe Country Park on the way, a whole house in Coventry makes a comfortable base for a weekend in this corner of Warwickshire.