The Built Environment
Warmington, according to Pevsner, is a show village of Warwickshire. Built largely of local ironstone and nestled on the slope of Edgehill it is just inside the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AoNB) and is a truly lovely place to live. Many of the buildings are listed. Both Warmington and Arlescote are conservation areas. Whilst owning our homes, we are, never the less, merely guardians of the heritage left to us by previous generations and have a responsibility to leave a suitable legacy for those who follow. Sadly, there has been, up to now, no Village Design Statement* for Warmington and this is something now included within the Parish Plan as a way of ensuring that the village retains its essential character for years to come. Historic England tells us that there is widespread evidence that the character of many conservation areas is being gradually eroded by small scale changes such as replacement plastic windows. The Parish Council is keen to ensure that our Parish retains the features that have earned its conservation area status. A full list of our listed buildings is found at the end of this document.
*A Village Design Statement (VDS) is a community prepared document, which gives guidance to developers and individuals to encourage good design of the type that will enhance and protect the individual character of the locality, without preventing future growth. A VDS relates to the physical design and layout of a settlement and may be adopted by the local planning authority as supplementary planning guidance.
Trees
The law requires that anyone proposing to cut down or carry out any work on trees above a certain size in a conservation area must give the Council six weeks notice of their intentions. Work may only be undertaken either when permission has been given or the six weeks has expired. Penalties: For cutting down or destroying a tree, a fine of up to £20,000 can be imposed – and the landowner is also required to replace the tree that was removed. For less serious offences, the penalty is a fine of up to £2,500. (Source - Stratford on Avon DC)
Village features
Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful (William Morris)
The village has many features which contribute to its charm and which, therefore, should be renovated, conserved or afforded protection. Some are listed below –
Many of these features are an essential element of the street scene and therefore contribute to the overall value of the Conservation Area. In some cases their loss would diminish forever the attraction of the village
St Michael’s Church
This grade 1 church was started in the C12th and stands proud above the village.
Graveyard
The graveyard contains many listed headstones – some with fine carving, including one to Captain Alexander Gourdin who died at the battle of Edgehill in 1642; 12 troopers are also buried there. There are also iron railings around the churchyard boundary and graveyard plots, particularly the Harrison Memorials under the East Window
Wells, Pumps and Drinking Trough
The Ordnance Survey map of the 1880s marks at least 16 wells in Warmington village and at least ten pumps. One or two houses still have their wells or pumps
Wells In public places:
In Keys Lane, used by the wheelwright in the 1920s, and St Anne’s Well, Arlescote (a well for travellers on an ancient carriage road) – both high priority for attention.
Drinking trough
– horse trough in School Lane and a much smaller basin in Chapel Street
Milk Stand
The old milk stand outside The Grange was certainly in use until the mid 1970s with milk churns collected by lorry. The buildings were then used as a milking parlour.
Grass Triangle at Junction of Mollington Road and Village Road
Small triangles of grass such as this were once a common feature of Warwickshire villages. Warmington had at least two others in the 1880s.
Sheep-wash
The sheep-wash by the village pond in Warmington is one of a small number identified by the AONB and subsequently awarded funding for restoration.
The Green and pond
The Village Greens and their ponds in both sections of the parish are fundamental to the nucleated settlement pattern of the villages and play a major part in their unique charm.
Milestones
The B4100 was turnpiked around 1730 and at least one milestone– near the garage – can still be seen.
Beeboles
Before the advent of modern hives bees were kept in woven straw skeps placed in specially constructed alcoves or beeboles . Beeboles in the garden area behind cottages on Church Hill are a rare survival and are recorded on the National Beebole Register.
Mullion Windows
Some older homes in the villages still have stone mullion windows with wrought iron casements dating from before 1700. In some homes it is evident that mullions have been cut out and replaced by larger windows presumably once the glass tax was repealed in 1845
Privies
There are good examples at Grove Farm and Agdon House. Earth closets were common throughout the village before mains drainage and mains water arrived in the mid 20th C
Industrial Archaeology
Warmington sits on the very edge of the area where iron stone has long since been extracted. The remains of the Edgehill Light Railway are a significant feature
Flagstone footpaths
Many of the footpaths in the village are of broken flagstones edged with blue limestone setts
The Trust Site
The old site of the WWI Village Hut was given to the village in trust for their use