Wroxall Abbey

Wroxall Priory was a medieval monastic house in Wroxall, Warwickshire, England. It was founded c.1135 by Hugh, Lord of Hatton and Wroxall in thanks for his release from seven years' imprisonment in Jerusalem during the Crusades. After reputedly having a vision of St. Leonard, the patron saint of prisoners, he so appreciated the intervention of the saint that he gave 3,000 acres of land to the church in Wroxall to form a monastery for nuns of the Order of St. Benedict which was named the Priory of St. Leonard at Wroxall. A list of the Prioresses up to 1535 and further list of ministers from 1538 circa to the present can be found on the official website. A Charter issued by Pope Alexander III to the Priory of St. Leonard will also be found on the same web site. Along with all the religious houses of England, the house was dissolved in 1536 by Henry VIII. The Priory Chapel survives intact as St Leonard's Church and is a Grade I listed building. It is popularly known as Wren's chapel after Sir Christopher Wren bought the priory estate and is now a cathedral of the Free Methodist Church. It contains the figurine of Prioress Isabella Shakespeare, (aunt of William Shakespeare), and the tomb of Sir Christopher Wren's wife. The ruined remains of the rest of the priory buildings are Grade II* listed.The priory site is now occupied by Wroxall Abbey, a large Victorian house built by James Dugdale, High Sheriff of Warwickshire for 1868–69. It was occupied as a girls' school from 1936 to 1995 but has since been owned by the Quinn family and converted into a hotel. The legend of Sir Hugh is featured in stained glass within the house.

Wren's Cathedral, properly the Church of St Leonard and now a cathedral of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, was originally the Lady Chapel of Wroxall Priory. Wroxall Priory was founded in 1141 as the Priory of St. Leonard for nuns at Wroxall, Warwickshire by Sir Hugh-Hatton, eldest son of the Earl of Warwick. He fought in the Crusades and was released after being held prisoner for seven years in Jerusalem and having a vision of St. Leonard, the patron saint of prisoners. He so appreciated the intervention of the saint that he gave 3,000 acres of land to the church in Wroxall to form a monastery for nuns after the Order of St. Benedict which was named the Priory of St. Leonard at Wroxall. A list of the Prioresses up to 1535 and further list of ministers from 1538 circa to the present can be found on the official website. A Charter issued by Pope Alexander III to the Priory of St. Leonard will also be found on the same web site.

Wroxall is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Beausale, Haseley, Honiley and Wroxall, in the Warwick district, in the county of Warwickshire, England. It is 4.0 miles (6.4 km) from Kenilworth, and 6.5 miles (10.5 km) from Coventry on the A4141 road. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 94. On 1 April 2007 the parish was abolished to form "Beausale, Haseley, Honiley and Wroxall". It has its own cemetery to the north of the village. By far the most important part of the village is the Wroxall Abbey Estate. Built in 1141 by Sir Hugh de Hatton it was a Benedictine Priory for nearly four hundred years, finally closing in 1536 at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. For the next four hundred years it passed through various hands, notable examples being the Burgoyne baronets and Sir Christopher Wren who purchased it as a retreat just three years after completing his work on St. Paul's Cathedral in 1710. It became a girls' school in 1936. The school in turn closed in 1995. In 2001 the current owners, a private investment company, bought the hall. It is now used as a hotel, spa and conference centre. In March 2006, motorsport company Prodrive announced its intent to build a 200-acre (about 800,000 square metres) motorsport facility called The Fulcrum. It will be based at the former RAF Honiley airfield which is located between Wroxall and Honiley. In late 2008 however a change in the rules of Formula One motor racing meant the proposal became uncertain. Haseley Manor, which is a Grade II-listed country house is nearby.

Royal Air Force Honiley or RAF Honiley is a former Royal Air Force station located in Wroxall, Warwickshire, 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Coventry, England. The station closed in March 1958, and after being used as a motor vehicle test track, it has been subject to planning permission from the Prodrive Formula One team for development of their Fulcrum test and development facility however this has been cancelled. From September 2014 the site has been used by Jaguar Land Rover for heritage driving experiences with the location being known as Fen End.

Baddesley Clinton is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, about 5+1⁄2 miles (9 km) southeast of Solihull. The village has Anglo-Saxon origins. It is believed that at some point it was settled by an Anglo-Saxon called Baeddi, Badde or Bade as a clearing in the Forest of Arden to graze cattle. Such a clearing was called a leah or ley – hence Badde's Ley which became Baddesley. Through most the medieval era, the village was part of Hampton in Arden. In 1290 it passed to the de Clinton family. The de Clintons were a powerful Norman family of the area and held Maxstoke Castle, Brandon Castle and Kenilworth Castle at various times. It was at this point that it became known as Baddesley Clinton. The village is famed for its National Trust property, Baddesley Clinton. The village also has a Grade II listed church dedicated to St Michael, which shares a Rector with St Mary the Virgin's church in the nearby parish of Lapworth.

Beausale, Haseley, Honiley and Wroxall is a civil parish in the Warwick District of Warwickshire, England. It was created in 2007 by the merger of the former civil parishes of Beausale, Haseley, Honiley and Wroxall. At the 2001 Census it had a population of 565, increasing to 623 at the time of the 2011 Census. Haseley Manor, a Grade II-listed country house sits in the parish.

Haseley is a small village and former civil parish in Warwickshire, England. It is four miles north-west of the county town of Warwick and nine miles (14.5 km) south-east of Solihull, now in the parish of Beausale, Haseley, Honiley and Wroxall, created on 1 April 2007. The village is on the A4177 and, as it is only five miles (8 km) from the M40 motorway, is easily accessible . Haseley proper, along with Haseley Knob, Haseley Green and Waste Green, consists mainly of detached houses spread over a large area, giving the parish a very low housing density. The 2001 census recorded 207 residents living in 92 dwellings. It is an affluent area, with an average house price of around £277,000 (about $367,325). Due to this and its proximity to the tourist towns of Warwick and Stratford upon Avon, several large and highly rated hotels are around the village. Haseley Manor, a Grade II-listed country house, formerly the staff college for the British Motor Corporation and its nationalised successor British Leyland, now consists of luxury apartments. The parish church, St Mary's, is medieval in origin and revealed evidence of its original decoration during restoration work some years ago.

Beausale is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Beausale, Haseley, Honiley and Wroxall, in the Warwick district of Warwickshire, England, north-west of Warwick. According to the 2001 Census it had a population of 202. On 1 April 2007 the parish was abolished to form "Beausale, Haseley, Honiley and Wroxall".

Rowington is a village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire. It is five miles north-west of the town of Warwick and five miles south-west of the town of Kenilworth. The parish, which also includes Lowsonford, Pinley and Mousley End, had a population of 925 according to the 2001 UK Census, increasing to 944 at the 2011 Census. The Grand Union Canal runs just south of the village and the M40 motorway is also close by. The Heart of England Way for long-distance walkers passes through the village. The parish church of St. Laurence which dates from medieval times is found on a hill in the centre of the village. In the Tudor era Rowington manor was owned by Queen Catherine Parr.Possibly the most famous building however is Shakespeare Hall, where a branch of William Shakespeare's family is reputed to have lived at the same time he was alive, and indeed Rowington is specifically mentioned in Shakespeare's will. It has been claimed he wrote As You Like It there. There is a more modern rival claim (dating from 1973) that that play was written at Billesley.There were once several windmills in the village but only one remains and its sails have been removed and the building converted into a house. At one time Rowington quarries supplied sandstone for several important buildings including St Philip's Cathedral in Birmingham, the parish church of St. Laurence and nearby Baddesley Clinton manor house. No quarries remain in Rowington. The village is home to several farms and livery yards. James Blyth once lived in the village and became a life peer in 1995.

Shrewley is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, about 5 miles north-west of Warwick. It consists of Little Shrewley, and Shrewley Common, Hatton Station, Station Road and Five Ways. It has the Grand Union Canal, which passes through Shrewley Tunnel and cutting which is a SSSI, with the Chiltern Main Line railway and M40 motorway all running parallel and in close proximity at the south-western end of Shrewley Common. The parish has two pubs, The Durham Ox, in Shrewley Common, once well known for its Marrow Sunday post-harvest celebration, steam fair and produce competition and auction, and The Case is Altered at Five Ways. Shrewley has no church, but until the 1990s had an independent chapel with a regular congregation, the site of which has now been converted into a dwelling.

Honiley is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Beausale, Haseley, Honiley and Wroxall, in the Warwick district, in the county of Warwickshire, England. It is 2.5 miles (4 km) from Kenilworth, and 5.5 miles (9 km) from Coventry on the A4177 road. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 62. Honiley was merged with adjoining parishes on 1 April 2007 and can now be found under Beausale, Haseley, Honiley and Wroxall.

Chadwick End is a small village which straddles the border of Warwickshire and the West Midlands Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, situated 3 miles (5 km) southeast of the large village of Knowle and 8 miles northwest of Warwick. It is almost contiguous with the slightly larger village of Baddesley Clinton, which lies a half-mile to the south on the A4141 route. The name Chadwick means 'farm near a spring', and the village remains a farming community. The south side of the village lies within Warwickshire with the north side lying in the Borough of Solihull. The civil parish was split from part of Balsall on 1 April 2014.A mile from the village centre lies Chadwick Manor and its Estate, built in 1875 by the architect Edward Holmes (1832-1909). During the 1930s the Manor became a country-house hotel and the estate a racing-stud both owned by Scottish racehorse owner and breeder Captain. Norman (Norrie) Stewart~MacKay (1895-1980), who sold the estate in 1964 (after which the Manor was converted to luxury flats).The former Poor Clares convent on Rising Lane was founded in 1850; it has been converted into private flats since its closure in 2011.