Birdingbury is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

district of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, just south of the

River Leam The River Leam () is a river in England which rises at Hellidon Hill in Northamptonshire then flows through Warwickshire, including the town of Leamington Spa, named after it. It then flows into the River Avon near Warwick, which flows into ...

, and not far from

Draycote Water Draycote Water is a reservoir and country park near the village of Dunchurch, south of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, owned and operated by Severn Trent Water. It draws its water from the River Leam, and supplies drinking water to Rugby ...

. It is located roughly halfway between

and

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

, about eight miles from each. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 327, increasing to 362 at the 2011 Census, decreasing to 341 at the 2021 Census.

History

The village was recorded 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as ''Derbinggerie''. It was given to the

Monks A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

of Coventry Priory by

Leofric, Earl of Mercia Leofric (died 31 August or 30 September 1057) was an Earl of Mercia. He founded monasteries at Coventry and Much Wenlock and was a very powerful earl under King Cnut and his successors. Leofric was the husband of Lady Godiva. Life Leofric was ...

. The village appears as ''Birbury'' on the

Christopher Saxton Christopher Saxton (c. 1540 – c. 1610) was an English cartographer who produced the first county maps of England and Wales. Life and family Saxton was probably born in Sowood, Ossett in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

map of 1637. Birdingbury today consists mostly of 20th century developments, but Birdingbury Hall dates back to the early 17th century, and was rebuilt in Jacobean style in the mid to late 19th century following a major fire, it is a

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building. The current St Leonard's Church in the village dates from the late 18th century, but was enlarged in 1873. It is also grade II listed. Birdingbury once had a railway station, about a mile north of the village centre, it opened in 1851 and closed in 1959, on the former Rugby to Leamington Spa line, which has been partly converted into a cycleway as part of the

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...

. It was announced in March 2021 that the Lias Line cycle route improvements, passing through Birdingbury as Cycle Route 41, were to commence in Mid 2021, with completion by the Summer of 2022. The development will transition the majority of the route onto traffic-free sections of the former railway line, with the first phase beginning near

References

* Allen, Geoff, (2000) ''Warwickshire Towns & Villages'',

External links

Birdingbury Village website

Birdingbury Club website

Birdingbury's entry on Our Warwickshire
{{authority control Villages in Warwickshire