; the castle is in the south of the town, next to the River Avon.
Neolithic Human activity on the site dates back to the
Neolithic, when it appears there was a sizable settlement on the Warwick hilltop. Artifacts found include more than 30 shallow pits containing early Neolithic flints and pottery and a number of small post holes indicating rectangular buildings. These are believed to have been created by
Early European Farmers, sometime between 4000 and 2351 BC. An arrowhead from the
Bell Beaker culture was likewise found, believed to date from 2500 to 1700 BC.
Roman Archaeological work on the site of
Warwick School in 2017–2018 revealed the footings of a sizeable Roman barn from the 2nd century AD. Roman rule in Britain begin to break down with the
Great Conspiracy in 367–368, the withdrawal of Roman troops from Britain from 383 to 406 and the barbarian raids of 408.
Saxon Warwick was continuously inhabited from the 5th century onwards. There are three alternative explanations for town's
Old English name, Wæringwīc: • It may be composed of
Wæring, which is a clan name or patronymic, and the suffix
wīc, meaning a 'settlement characterised by extensive artisanal activity and trade'; • Alternatively, it may be derived from
wering, meaning a 'fortification' • Or it may reflect a 'weir,' the latter implying that the original settlement was located by a natural weir over the
River Avon, possibly on the south side of the river, which offered easily cultivable land. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 914 reports that the
Anglo-Saxon Æthelflæd, Lady of the
Mercians, daughter of king
Alfred the Great and sister of king
Edward the Elder of Wessex, built a
burh or fortified dwelling there on a hilltop site overlooking the earlier riverside settlement, as one of ten to defend Mercia from the
Vikings. Warwick was chosen as a site for the burh because the local outcrop of
sandstone alongside the Avon provided an easily defensible position at a strategic site by the river crossing, with a good source of water and building material. In the early 10th century, a
shire was founded with Warwick as its county town. During the reign of
Æthelstan (924-939) a royal
mint was established at Warwick. This was one of two established in Warwickshire at the time, the other being at
Tamworth. The Warwick mint continued until the mid-12th century. In 1016 the Danes invaded Mercia and burned down much of Warwick including a
nunnery, which stood on the site of today's St Nicholas Church.
Norman and medieval , Warwick
William the Conqueror founded
Warwick Castle in 1068, while on his way to Yorkshire to deal with rebellion in the north. The castle stood within the larger Anglo-Saxon burh and a new town wall was created close to the burh ramparts. view of the site of a Deserted Medieval Settlement with
ridge and furrow at Warwick Racecourse The prosperity of medieval Warwick rested on its status as an administrative and military centre, however it was poorly positioned from the point of view of trade, and was consequently never a commercial or industrial centre of more than local significance in medieval times. The east gate was rebuilt in the 15th century with the Chapel of St Peter above it. It was rebuilt again in 1788 and was once used as part of
The King's High School, but is now a holiday home. The town's
Priory was founded in around 1119 by
Henry de Beaumont, the first Earl of Warwick. It was later destroyed during the
Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, it stood on the site of the current Priory Park. Henry de Beaumont also founded the
Hospital of St John near the east town gate. It is now the site of the 17th century St John's House. Relatively few medieval buildings survive in Warwick, however one of the most notable examples is the
Lord Leycester Hospital on the High Street, whose oldest parts date from 1383. Warwick was not incorporated as a
borough until 1545. The mid-17th century saw the founding of
Castle Hill Baptist Church, one of the oldest
Baptist churches in the world.
Great fire of Warwick from Church Street, an example of the 18th century rebuilding of Warwick Much of the medieval town centre was destroyed in the
Great Fire of Warwick on 5 September 1694, which, within five hours destroyed 460 buildings and left 250 families homeless. Thus most of the town-centre buildings are of late 17th and early 18th-century origin, although some medieval
timber-framed buildings survive, especially around the edges of the town centre. The fire burnt down much of the medieval
church of St Mary. However, the
chancel and the Beauchamp Chapel survived, the latter having been built between 1443 and 1464 according to the wishes of
Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who had died in
Rouen in 1439. A full-size reclining copper-gilt
effigy of him lies on his
Purbeck marble tomb – a fine piece of medieval metalwork cast in 1459.
18th century to present In 1788 the Earl of Warwick obtained an Act of Parliament to enable him to build a new bridge over the Avon:
Castle Bridge, which consists of a single sandstone arch was opened in 1793. It replaced an older 14th century bridge further downstream, known as
Old Castle Bridge, which fell into ruin, although remains of it can still be seen. The Warwick and
Birmingham and Warwick and
Napton canals were both opened through Warwick in 1800. They now form parts of the
Grand Union Canal. The Borough of Warwick was reformed under the
Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which reconstituted it as a
municipal borough with an elected Town Council. The
railway arrived in Warwick in 1852 when the
Great Western Railway opened its man line between
Birmingham, Oxford and London through the town, along with
Warwick railway station. However, the train service proved to be a disappointment to Warwick, as no express trains served the town, stopping at nearby
Leamington Spa railway station instead. until the enlarged
Warwick District Council was formed in Leamington Spa in 1974. The
Leamington & Warwick Tramways & Omnibus Company was established in 1881, and operated a
tramway service between Warwick and
Leamington Spa until 1930. It ran across
Portobello Bridge, a three-arch bridge built 1831 to connect the two towns. In 2021 it was announced that Warwick had entered a competition with 38 other contenders to be awarded
city status as part of the
Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours. However, it was not among the eight winners ultimately chosen in May 2022.
Population change Populations before the 1801
census can be based on indirect measures. Historians suggest that Warwick had a population of about 1,500 in 1086. Indicators for ensuing centuries are sparse; however, by the mid-16th century, it is thought to have been about 2,000, which increased by the late 17th century to over 3,000. At the time of the first national census in 1801, Warwick had 5,592 inhabitants. This population nearly doubled by 1851, when it reached 10,952; thereafter, growth was slower for more than a century, reaching 15,349 in 1951 and 16,051 in 1961. Since then it has almost doubled, to 31,315 in 2011. ==Governance==