Maxstoke is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

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

North Warwickshire North Warwickshire is a local government district with borough status in Warwickshire, England. The borough includes the two towns of Atherstone (where the council is based) and Coleshill, and the large villages of Hartshill, Kingsbury, Ma ...

district of the county 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. It is situated approximately 2.5 miles north of Meriden. Maxstoke and the

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 ...

of Maxstoke were established in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

Hemlingford Hemlingford Hundred was one of the four hundreds that the English county of Warwickshire was divided into, along with Kington, Knightlow and Barlichway. It was recorded in the Domesday Book under the name of Coleshill. At the time of the Domes ...

Maxstoke Priory

The

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

was established by Sir William de Clinton in 1331 when he endowed a

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

of Priests consisting of five chaplains and a warden. It was built adjacent to an earlier

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

ed farmstead, south of his

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

towards

Packington Packington is a village and civil parish in the district of North West Leicestershire.OS Explorer Map 245: The National Forest :(1:25 000) : It is situated close to the A42 road and the towns of Ashby de la Zouch and Measham. The populatio ...

village. In 1336 it was expanded to a full Priory for

Augustinian Canons The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religio ...

and was completed in 1343. It was dissolved in 1536, when the buildings and lands were granted to Charles Brandon. Today only ruins remain with the exception of the Inner

Gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

. This was a farmhouse in the

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

period and is now a

bed and breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...

establishment. Inside is a room with painted

armorial A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coat of arms, coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms. The oldest extant armorials date to the m ...

shields. The entrance to the farm is by the Outer Gatehouse. The two niches are now empty of statues. On the ends of the drip mouldings over the central window are two busts, one of a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

with his visor down and another of a

monk 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 ...

. In the fields around the priory can be seen traces of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

earthworks for fish farming and water control. The

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

St Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

is of the same age as that of the Priory. The remains of a 14th-century

preaching cross A preaching cross is a Christian cross sometimes surmounting a pulpit, which is erected outdoors to designate a preaching place. In Great Britain and Ireland, many free-standing upright crosses – or high crosses – were erected. Some of thes ...

can be seen in the

churchyard In Christian countries, a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church (building), church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster S ...

Maxstoke Castle

To the north of Maxstoke, about halfway towards

Shustoke Shustoke is a village in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire in England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 549. It is situated 2.5 miles no ...

, is

Maxstoke Castle Maxstoke Castle is a privately owned moated castle dating from the 14th century, situated to the north of Maxstoke in Warwickshire, England. History Maxstoke Castle was built by Sir William de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, in 1345 to a rect ...

. It was built by Sir William de Clinton, in 1345. It is of a square plan with a broad

. Additions were made by Humphrey Stafford who acquired it in 1437 by exchanging it for other manors in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

Railway

Maxstoke railway station was opened on Maxstoke Lane and was on the

Stonebridge Railway The Stonebridge Railway was a railway line between Whitacre Junction and Hampton-in-Arden in Warwickshire, England, passing through Stonebridge. It had an intermediate station at Coleshill, which was renamed Maxstoke in 1923. History The rai ...

line. It connected with and . The station had closed in the 1930s along with the connection line. The site of the platform and sign can still be seen today. It was also located near the town of .

Maxstoke Hill Challenge

The Maxstoke Hill Challenge is a

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

measured from the bottom of Maxstoke Hill (where the road does a 90-degree turn) to the very top of the hill (past the water works – first lay by on the left). The long-standing record held by Mr N. Wiggin was beaten by Mr J. House on his return to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in April 2012. The record now stands at 4 minutes 37 seconds.

Handley Page O/400 crash

On 19 August 1918 a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) Handley Page O/400 from No. 14 Aircraft Acceptance Park RAF took off from

Castle Bromwich Aerodrome Castle Bromwich Aerodrome was an early airfield, situated to the north of Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands of England. The site now falls within the City of Birmingham. History The early years; 1909 to 1937 A large piece of Warwickshire ...

on a test flight. While flying over

, the pilots lost control of the aircraft and crashed into a field at Maxstoke, North

, killing all seven crew on board. The pilots were Canadian Lt Robert Edward Andrew MacBeth and Lt Frederick James Bravery. The other crew members were air mechanics Charles William Offord, J. May, Albert J. Winrow, H. Simmons and G. Greenland. MacBeth and Simmons were buried in

St. Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

's Church

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

. The cause of the accident was determined to be loss of control due to wing failure when the aircraft lost fabric from a wing. It was the deadliest accident involving the Royal Air Force at the time.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Maxstoke Hamlets in Warwickshire Civil parishes in Warwickshire