THE BOROUGH OF WARWICK INTRODUCTION (fn. 1)
. . . So' wrote Dugdale, 'may it justly glory in its
situation beyond any other, standing upon a rocky
ascent from every side, and in a dry and fertile soil,
having . . . rich and pleasant meadows on the south
part . . . and . . . woodland on the north'. (fn. 2) The physical
setting of Warwick, however, was more significant,
in many ways, than its geographical position, for the
Avon was not navigable up to the town and it was
by-passed by important roads. Consequently it was
unable to develop as a centre of trade and industry.
Yet, strategically placed near the centre of England,
Warwick was of considerable military importance
during the Middle Ages, and the castle rather than
the town was the significant factor. The decline of
its military importance in modern times, apart from
the short period of the Civil War, and the continued
inability to overcome the disadvantages of its site,
left Warwick at a standstill while its neighbours
increased in importance. The construction of canals
in the 18th century improved transport to the town
and created an important but short-lived boom in
trade and industry, a stimulus which the railways
failed to provide. Not until the growth of road
transport in the 20th century has Warwick been able
to take advantage of improved lines of communication.
The historical importance of Warwick lies in its
position as the shire town, as one of the few early
mediatized boroughs in the country, and as the
caput honoris of 'one of the most consistently
powerful, influential, and distinguished feudal
dynasties in England'. (fn. 3) The attractiveness of both
castle and town has made Warwick for three
centuries and more a focal point of interest to both
sightseer and antiquarian, so that 'few towns in
England make so fine an appearance'. (fn. 4)
The first mention of the boundaries of any part of
Warwick is in 1033, when those of neighbouring
Myton were described. They included Tach Brook
and the rivers Avon and Leam, and appear to have
been the same as those known at later dates. (fn. 5) The
boundaries of Warwick as a whole were first described, though only briefly, in 1554, when they were
said to be the ancient boundaries of the town. The
limits were Emscote Bridge in the east, Ford Mill
Brook in the south, 'the outer side' of Longbridge in
the west, and Hampton Brook in the north. (fn. 6)
Longbridge and Hampton Brook would have been
better described as in the south-west and west
respectively, and no mention is made of the great
extent of Wedgnock Park which in fact lay to the
north of Warwick. A detailed description of the
boundaries in 1820 (fn. 7) remedies this omission but since
it was concerned with the manor, not the borough, it
takes in even more land on the north-west than
belonged to Warwick.
On the east the borough boundary ran southwards
along the Avon, left it to follow the River Learm for
nearly a mile, ran along a small stream dividing
Warwick from Leamington, and then struck across
open country to reach Tach Brook (formerly Ford
Mill Brook). On the south it followed this brook to
its junction with the Avon, and then kept to the
Avon itself as far as Barford. On the west the
boundary mostly followed small streams, among
them Hampton Brook (or Gog Brook). On the north
Wedgnock Park took the boundary in a long finger
nearly three miles towards Kenilworth, before it
returned to the Avon near Guy's Cliffe.
No recorded change was made to these boundaries
until 1931. The area that was formerly Wedgnock
Park was then transferred to Kenilworth, Beausale,
Leek Wootton, and Budbrooke, and the borough
boundary was rounded off on this northern side. A
small area was also lost to Leamington Spa in the
east. At the same time the boundary was extended
on the west into Budbrooke and Sherbourne. The
net result of these changes was that the area of the
borough was. reduced by 556 acres to 5,057 acres. (fn. 8)
Not included within the borough boundary is Guy's
Cliffe, in the north-east beside the Avon. Described
in 1545 as in the parish of St. Nicholas, (fn. 9) it later
became an extra-parochial place under the Extra-Parochial Places Act of 1857. (fn. 10) The history of its 12
acres is, however, included in this account.
The borough contained only two parishes until
the 19th century, St. Mary's and St. Nicholas's.
The boundary between them ran roughly north south with, in 1891, 2,975 acres in St. Mary's and
2,638 acres in St. Nicholas's. The walled town, the
suburbs of Saltisford, West Street, and Longbridge,
and the whole of Wedgnock Park all lay in St.
Mary's. The suburbs of Smith Street, Bridge End,
Coten End, and Myton were in St. Nicholas's.
The medieval town occupied only a small part of
the extensive territory within the borough boundary,
and only in modern times has its population
substantially increased. The population in 1086 may
have been in the region of 1,500, for in addition to
244 houses mentioned in the town there were 100
bordars cultivating garden plots just outside. In
Coten End a further 20 individuals were recorded
and in Myton 39, most of them no doubt heads of
families. (fn. 11) There is no reliable guide to the 13thcentury population, since the number of houses
described in the Hundred Roll entry of 1279 are
clearly too few. (fn. 12) The 92 taxpayers of 1332 can
similarly represent only a fraction of the total number
of householders, (fn. 13) and there is no surviving poll-tax
return for Warwick.
In the first half of the 16th century the population
seems still to have been only about 2,000. The 296
subsidy payers of 1543 (208 of them in St. Mary's
parish), (fn. 14) the 1,000 'houseling people' of 1545
(though this obviously round figure is rather low), (fn. 15)
and the 410 families in 1563 (288 of them in St.
Mary's parish) (fn. 16) all suggest such a total. In the
1580s, however, there is evidence for a population
of between 2,600 and 3,000. The number of Easter
communicants in St. Mary's parish alone was 1,247,
from 371 households, in 1581, 1,321 in 1585, and
1,291 in 1586; (fn. 17) St. Nicholas's must have provided
about 530 more, from about 160 households, in
1581, for it usually contributed about 30 per cent. of
the town's population. (fn. 18) A survey of St. Mary's
parish for poor-relief purposes in 1582 gives a
figure of 209 households. (fn. 19)
By the late 17th century the population was well
over 3,000. The hearth tax assessment of 1663 gives
only 550 households, (fn. 20) but those of 1670 to 1674
each give over 600, with as many as 636 in 1674. (fn. 21)
The 'Compton Census' of 1676 gives 1,992 adults
in Warwick (1,351 of them in St. Mary's parish). (fn. 22)
This appears to have been an accurate return for in
St. Nicholas's the vicar and churchwardens stated
'This is an exact account, in all respects, according
to the best information we can get, by going to every
house in the parish for our information herein'; (fn. 23) it
suggests a total population of some 3,300. There had
been a marked increase to about 4,500 in 1730,
when there were 676 houses in St. Mary's parish and
about 240 in St. Nicholas's. (fn. 24)
By 1801 there were 5,592 people in Warwick.
Numbers increased steadily and the total was almost
doubled by 1851 when it was 10,952. After a slight
decrease in the next decade it rose to almost 12,000
by 1891 and, after remaining almost stationary for
two decades, to 13,459 by 1931. The boundary
changes of 1931 had had a negligible effect on the
population. In 1951 it was 15,349 and in 1961
16,051. (fn. 25)