Foleshill ( ) is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

in the north of

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, in the county of the West Midlands, England. Longford, Courthouse Green and Rowley Green are to its north and Keresley is to its west. The population of the Ward at the 2021 census was 22,478.

History

Foleshill was originally a village and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

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

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. She is mainly remembere ...

. 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 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 ...

, but became part of the County of the City of Coventry from 1451 to 1842, when it again became part of Warwickshire. From 1894 to 1932 it was the seat of the Foleshill Rural District. In 1931 the

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 ...

had a population of 1639. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Coventry and Bedworth. Development of industries within the area such as the Ordnance Works, J&J Cash Ltd (

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

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 mate ...

weaving), and various

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

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 sports car and luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational corporation, multinational automaker, car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that ...

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. 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 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, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

bombing during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

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

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

card as part of a bit in episode 4 of '' TV Nation''. 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 chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 11% were

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 3.5% were Mixed. 1.7% were

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

, and 3% belonged to another ethnic group. As of 2021, in Foleshill West and Foleshill East, white people made up 14.6% and 17.2% of the population respectively and around half of the population were born outside of the UK.

Religion

The Muslim population of Foleshill West and Foleshill East stands at 46.1% and 45.6% respectively. There are a variety of religious groups in Foleshill, with their own places of worship. To name a few, there is: * St Paul's Church, consecrated in 1842, and was rebuilt in 1956 after being struck by an incendiary bomb during the Coventry Blitz. * St Laurence's Church, a

Grade II* listed building 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, Hi ...

building with architecture dating from the 15th-19th century. Like St Paul's, it was damaged during the Blitz, requiring extensive repairs. * Foleshill Road United Reformed Church * The Church of Pentecost UK * Foleshill Baptist Church, opened in 1924. * Foleshill Spiritualist Church, founded 1907. * Cornerstone Tamil Church * Ramgharia Sikh Temple * Sanatan Dharm Hindu Temple Worship According to Rev. James Canning, early religious meetings of Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims used the hall of St. Paul's Church as a venue. The presence of multiple religious groups has been a source of community tension in the past.

Notable residents

* Tom Mann (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/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

of international relations at

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. * George Eliot (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 reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

* Surjit Athwal (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
{{Authority control Suburbs of Coventry Wards of Coventry Former civil parishes in the West Midlands (county)