Foleshill is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

in the north of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

in the West Midlands of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the mee ...

, Courthouse Green and Rowley Green are to its north and

Keresley Keresley is a suburban village and civil parish in the City of Coventry, West Midlands, England, about north of Coventry city centre and southwest of Bedworth. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 791 falling to 713 ...

is to its west. The population of the Ward at the 2011 census was 19,943.

History

Foleshill was originally a village and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

to the north of Coventry, it was mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 along with Ansty as part of the estate formerly held by

Lady Godiva Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly re ...

. The meaning of the name is believed to be derived from 'hill of the folk or people' (Folks Hill). Foleshill was originally part of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...

, but became part of the County of the City of Coventry from 1451 to 1842, when it again became part of Warwickshire. From 1894 it was the seat of the Foleshill Rural District; when this was abolished in 1932, Foleshill was reincorporated into the City of Coventry. Development of industries within the area such as the

Ordnance Ordnance may refer to: Military and defense * Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment. **The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Uni ...

Works, J&J Cash Ltd (

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from th ...

ribbon A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mat ...

weaving), and various

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

works; was aided by the existence of the Coventry to Nuneaton railway, (upon which it had a railway station until 1965) and the

Coventry Canal The Coventry Canal is a navigable narrow canal in the Midlands of England. It starts in Coventry and ends to the north at Fradley Junction, just north of Lichfield, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal. It also has connections with the ...

. In July 1905, Courtaulds Ltd opened its factory in Foleshill and grew to become a world leader in the production of artificial fibres, requiring a considerable expansion of the facility over the following years. The now-demolished Courtaulds chimney was reputed to be the tallest in England when it was erected in 1924. It stood 365 feet (111 m) tall, was built on 15 feet (4.5 m) - deep foundations, had a base diameter of 26 feet (8 m) tapering to 16 feet (5 m) at the top, and consisted of 917,000 bricks weighing a total of 4,000 tons (4,064 metric tons). Tower Court, formerly one of the Courtaulds buildings, is now used as offices.

Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar car ...

had a factory in the area in the 1930s and 1940s. Riley Cars were based in Foleshill from 1916 to 1948, when production was moved to the MG factory in

Abingdon, Oxfordshire Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England, on the River Thames. Historically the county town of Berkshire, since 1974 Abingdon has been admin ...

. Challenge, an early cycle and car manufacturer, moved into new premises which included an impressive red-brick office building, which can still be seen on Foleshill Road. The original Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital was built in the mid-1860s in the

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style and accommodating just 60 beds, which at the time was sufficient for Coventry's requirements. The hospital was extended to cope with the increasing needs of the developing city, and what remained of the original building was destroyed by

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

bombing during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The most troubled section of Foleshill is arguably the Pridmore council estate, which has a history of crime including widespread arson and vandalism. In October 2000, plans were unveiled to demolish more than 130 homes in the area. However, when plans for new houses on the site were unveiled in July 2002, it was announced that just 65 new properties would be built there, along with a community centre, shops and a public park. By May 2005, the rehousing was almost complete, and a new housing development has since been completed in the place of the old properties. The area gained notoriety across the region when on the evening of 29 January 1999 a 22-year-old man, Richard Waring, was fatally shot during a brawl outside the Crow and the Oak public house. In February 2000, local drug dealer Andrew Henson was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter in connection with the shooting and received an eight-year prison sentence. Two other men were cleared. Filmmaker

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

was proclaimed "Lord Moore of Foleshill" for $8,000 paid with an

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation, multinational corporation specialized in payment card industry, payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Man ...

card as part of a bit in episode 4 of ''

TV Nation ''TV Nation'' is a satirical news magazine television series written, co-produced, directed and hosted by Michael Moore that was co-funded and originally broadcast by NBC in the United States and BBC2 in the United Kingdom. The show blended hum ...

''. Foleshill Health Centre, opened in August 2021, is said to be the UK's greenest health centre, specially designed to international Passivhaus sustainability standards. It was constructed in just 25 weeks, using modules designed and manufactured by Portakabin at its manufacturing facility in York. It is one of the most-energy-efficient health buildings in the UK.

Demography

In the post-WW2 period the area acquired a large ethnic minority population. It is now the only one of the 18 wards in Coventry where non-whites form a majority of the population. At the 2011 census, 50.1% of the population were Asian, 30.8% were

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 11% were

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

, 3.5% were Mixed. 1.7% were

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

, and 3% belonged to another ethnic group.

Notable residents

Tom Mann Thomas Mann (15 April 1856 – 13 March 1941), was an English trade unionist and is widely recognised as a leading, pioneering figure for the early labour movement in Britain. Largely self-educated, Mann became a successful organiser and a ...

(1856–1941), father of the trade union movement and co-founder of the Labour Party UK. * David Dilks (born 1938), historian and professor

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of international relations at

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. *

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

(1841–1849), English novelist, poet, journalist, translator and one of the leading writers of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwa ...

Surjit Athwal Surjit Kaur Athwal (17 July 1971–December 1998) was a British Indian woman murdered in an honour killing in India. She was 27 years old at the time of her death, and had two children, aged 7 and 9 months. Her murder was instigated by her mothe ...

(1971–1998), honour killing victim

References

*Albert Smith and David Fry, (1991): ''The Coventry We Have Lost'' Vol.1. Simanda Press, Berkswell.

External links

British History Online: History of Foleshill
{{Coord, 52, 26, N, 1, 28, W, display=title, region:GB_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Suburbs of Coventry Wards of Coventry