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Although Polesworth is classed as a town, local people still like to think of it as a village, and with good cause as it is a small pictureque location without the hussle and bustle of many other towns. It is also the most northerly town within Warwickshire and lies close to the borders of Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire.
The town grew up around a shallow crossing point of the River Anker. This crossing point along with frequent flooding of the river created fertile soils which attracted the first Iron Age settlers to the site. The name Polesworth is derived from "Pol" meaning a 'depth of water' and "Worth" meaning 'a dwelling'.
Polesworth is the site of Polesworth Abbey founded in 827 by King Egbert, but was disbanded as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540.The lands were sold to Henry Goodere, a good friend of John Donne, who used the stones of the Abbey to build a manor house, Polesworth Hall.
Polesworth Hall was a centre of culture during Elizabethan times. The poet Michael Drayton, a local of the area whose collection of sonnets entitled Idea’s Mirror was set around the river Anker, was educated here and it is rumored that William Shakespeare, a close friend of Drayton, also spent time here frequenting the local inns!
Polesworth’s importance as a seat of religious learning is reflected by a number of attractive buildings in the centre of the town. To the west of Abbey Church is the beautiful two storey medieval Abbey Gateway with a number of half-timbered houses close by. The Tithe Barn dates back to the mid 17th century, built on an earlier barn belonging to the nuns of Polesworth Abbey. The beautiful Abbey church is noted for its re-enactment of the Nativity at Christmas.
The Coventry Canal was built through Polesworth in the 1770s, and in the late 1800s Pooley Hall Colliery was opened and Polesworth became the first town in Warwickshire to have an electric light. The pit closed in 1965 and is now the site of Pooley Country Park and Heritage Centre.
Nearby villages and hamlets include Warton, Shuttington, Newton Regis, Austrey, Dordon and Baddesley Endsor.
While the large town of Tamworth sits just to the west within Staffordshire and offers the attractions of Tamworth Snowdome and Drayton Manor Amusement Park.
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Useful Links to Information on Polesworth and organisations within Polesworth.
www.visitnorthernwarwickshire.com
Polesworth Parish Council
Polesworth Abbey
www.british-publishing.com/northwarks
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