Early history from which the town gained its name. Part of the church was reconstructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries Nuneaton was originally an
Anglo-Saxon settlement known as 'Etone' or 'Eaton', which translates literally as 'settlement by water', referring to the
River Anker. 'Etone' was listed in the
Domesday Book as a small farming settlement with a population of around 150. In the early 12th century, the settlement came under the control of the
Beaumont family, and in around 1155
Robert de Beaumont granted his
manor of Etone to the French
Abbey of Fontevraud, who established a
Benedictine nunnery here, which became known as
Nuneaton Priory. This led to Etone becoming known as Nuneaton. A document from 1272 referred to the town as
Nunne Eton. The nunnery was closed in 1539 during King
Henry VIII's
dissolution of the monasteries, and subsequently fell into ruin. However part of the Abbey church was rebuilt in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Nuneaton obtained a
market charter in around 1160 from
Henry II which was reconfirmed in 1226, causing Nuneaton to develop into a
market town and become the economic focal point of the local villages. In 1485, the
Battle of Bosworth, the last significant battle of the
Wars of the Roses, was fought around to the north-west of Nuneaton, across the
Leicestershire border In 1543, Nuneaton was recorded as containing 169 houses, with a population of around 800. By 1670 this had grown to 415 households, with a population of 1,867, and by 1740 the population had risen further to 2,480.
The growth of industry Ribbon weaving In the mid-17th century, a
silk ribbon weaving industry became established in the local area which included Nuneaton,
Bedworth,
Coventry and much of
North Warwickshire. This industry was enhanced by the arrival of French
Huguenot immigrants in the latter part of the century, who brought with them new techniques. This industry operated as a
cottage industry, with the weavers working from
top-shops; a type of building which was specific to the local area, and had living space in the two lower floors, and a workshop with very large windows on the top floor. This industry flourished for nearly two centuries, albeit with periodic booms and slumps. However, by the early 19th century the industry was struggling to compete against the
factory produced textiles from northern manufacturers, and the local weavers strongly resisted adopting factory production methods as they valued their independence. Nevertheless, in 1851 46% of Nuneaton's workforce was still employed by the ribbon trade. The industry was finally wiped out after 1860 by cheap imports, following the
Cobden–Chevalier Treaty, which removed duties on imported French silks. This caused a slump in the local economy which lasted nearly two decades.
Coal mining Another major industry which grew in the local area was
coal mining. Nuneaton was located in the
Warwickshire coalfield, and mining was recorded locally as early as 1338. However the lack of efficient transport and the primitive mining techniques kept the industry on a small scale. Mining did not start to develop on a larger scale until the 17th century, with the dawn of the
Industrial Revolution, which led to greater demand for fuel and technical advancement. A major problem was the drainage of water from coal pits as they were dug deeper. The use of a
waterwheel to drive drainage
pumps was recorded as early as 1683. The first recorded use of an
atmospheric engine; a primitive form of
steam engine, to pump water from coal pits was recorded at Griff Colliery in 1714; this was the first recorded use of a steam engine in Warwickshire. Another major problem facing the industry was poor transport. Sir
Roger Newdigate, who owned several local coal mines, developed a
turnpike road to Coventry in the 1750s, which partially resolved this problem. Early on Newdigate recognised the potential of
canals as a means for transporting bulk cargoes. He developed a system of
private canals on his land on the
Arbury Estate from 1764 to transport coal, and helped promote the
Coventry Canal, which opened from Coventry to Nuneaton in 1769, before being finally completed to
Staffordshire in 1790. He also helped promote the
Oxford Canal. Ironically, the new canal system led to a decline in the Warwickshire coal industry after 1800, as it was exploited by Staffordshire coal producers to capture the local market. The local coal industry was not exploited to its maximum potential until the development of the railway network in the 19th century. The first railway to reach Nuneaton was the
Trent Valley Railway which opened in 1847, linking Nuneaton to the growing national railway network at
Rugby and
Stafford. This was followed by a
branch line to Coventry in 1850. In 1864 a line was opened from
Birmingham to Leicester via Nuneaton, and this proved to be the most important for the local economy, as it linked Nuneaton with the rapidly growing town (later city) of
Birmingham. Due largely to this, the local coal industry expanded rapidly in the latter half of the 19th century, with production from the Warwickshire coalfield expanding nearly tenfold between 1860 and 1913 from around 545,000 tons to over five million tons. The industry peaked in the early 20th century; in 1911 one third of the male workforce in Nuneaton were employed as miners. The industry, however, declined rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, with the last coal mine in Nuneaton closing in 1968, although Newdigate colliery at Bedworth lasted until 1982. The last Warwickshire coal mine at nearby
Daw Mill closed in 2013.
Other industries Nuneaton underwent a period of rapid growth from the 1880s onwards with the rapid development of an array of industries. These included
brick and
tile making,
brewing, the production of
hats and leather goods. and
engineering. The parish was made a
local board district in 1850, which was Nuneaton's first modern form of local government; previously it had been governed by its
vestry and
manorial court. The local board's main responsibilities were to provide the town with infrastructure such as paved roads, clean drinking water, street lighting and sewerage. The neighbouring parish of
Chilvers Coton was made a separate local board district at the same time. The two local board districts of Nuneaton and Chilvers Cotton were merged in 1893. The following year, all such districts were converted into
urban districts. The Nuneaton and Chilvers Coton Urban District was elevated to become a
municipal borough in 1907 under the single name of Nuneaton. The borough was enlarged several times, notably in 1931 when it absorbed the neighbouring parish of
Weddington.
Second World War Nuneaton suffered severe bomb damage during
The Blitz in the
Second World War between 1940 and 1942. The heaviest bombing raid on Nuneaton took place on 17 May 1941, when 130 people were killed. 380 houses were destroyed, and over 10,000 damaged during the course of the war.
Postwar to present In 1947 the architect and town planner
Frederick Gibberd was appointed to create a masterplan to redevelop the bomb damaged town centre. The redevelopment, which continued until the 1960s included the features typical of town planning from that era, including a new ringroad,
indoor shopping centre, administrative centre and library. Nuneaton continued to expand in the latter 20th century. In the early postwar years the need arose for low-cost housing, and in response to this around 2,500
council houses were built during the 1950s, the largest such development was at
Camp Hill, where 1,400 new houses were built by 1956, while around 1,100 new council houses were built at new estates at Hill Top, Caldwell and Marston Lane by 1958. Following this, Nuneaton's expansion was largely driven by private developments at
Weddington,
St Nicolas Park,
Whitestone and
Stockingford.
Historic population ==Geography==