Curdworth

Curdworth is a village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire in England. The population taken at the 2011 census was Holly Whitehouse.[1]

Curdworth
Curdworth
Location within Warwickshire
Population1,115 (2011)
OS grid referenceSP179927
• London115.7mi
Civil parish
  • Curdworth
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSutton Coldfield
Postcode districtB76
Dialling code01675
PoliceWarwickshire
FireWarwickshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament

Location

Curdworth is 11 miles east of the centre of Birmingham. North Warwickshire borders the Warwickshire borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth to the east, the county of Leicestershire to the north-east, Staffordshire to the north-west and Birmingham in the West Midlands to the south.

The village is sandwiched between Junctions T1 of the M6 Toll and Junction 9 of the M42 motorways and the busy A4097 Kingsbury Road.

Hams Hall road freight terminal (on the site of the old Hams Hall power stations) and The Belfry Golf Courses and Hotel are also close by.

History

Curdworth and Minworth both originated in the 6th or 7th centuries, being established by Anglian settlers, and are historically associated with the Arden family (William Shakespeare's maternal relations). Curdworth is probably corrupted from Crida's Worth. Worth means property of and the Mercian Crida owned land here. Curdworth is mentioned in the Domesday Survey (1086).

The local parish church is dedicated to St Nicholas and St Peter ad Vincula. Adjacent to the churchyard is the King George V Playing Fields, which was originally a raised clay and pebble base for a medieval Saxon manor complex, which was attached to the church. This site and the moated Curdworth Hall, also a Saxon structure that was located at the top of Farthing Lane, were of great importance in the area.

Ralph Ardern inherited the manor of Curdworth [2] between 1382 (the death of his father, Henry de Ardern) and 1408 (the death of his mother).[3]

The remains of a moat, associated with the Ardens, are now buried under the M42. This site is thought to have been their home before they moved to Park Hall in Castle Bromwich.

At the edge of the playing fields is ‘The Bomb Hole', as known by locals, which is actually a marl pit, where a fertiliser consisting of clay and calcium carbonate was extracted.

Civil War

In August 1642 the first skirmish between the Roundheads and Cavaliers of the Civil War (1642–49) took place in the fields to the south of Curdworth, the Battle of Curdworth Bridge.[4] One of the musket balls fired left a mark in a nave window of the church. Some of the casualties are supposed to be buried in the graveyard.

Village awards

In 1995 and 2000 Curdworth earned the title of Best Kept Village in Warwickshire, in the large village class.[5] The village also earned the title in 2007 of Best Kept Village in North Warwickshire, in the medium-sized village class.[6]

References
Church of St Nicholas and Peter Ad Vincula
  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  2. Driver, J. T. Worcestershire Knights of the Shire 1377-1421 Transactions of the Worcestershire Archaeological Society. Third Series Vol 4 1974 p20
  3. Roskell, J.S.; Clark, L.; Rawcliffe, C. eds. The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, 1993
  4. http://www.curdworth-pc.org.uk/history.php
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 January 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2007.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. 2007 Results | Warwickshire Rural Community Council
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