About Warwickshire

Country: England
Region: West Midlands
Established: Historic
Area: 1,975 km2 (763 sq mi)
Population: 607,600
Largest settlement: Nuneaton (88,800 pop.)

Warwickshire is a county in the West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Oxfordshire and  Gloucestershire to the south, and Worcestershire and the West Midlands county to the west. The largest settlement is Nuneaton. There are noities in Warwickshire. The majority of Warwickshire's population live in the north and centre of the county. The county is largely rural.

Warwickshire is a flat, lowland county, but the south contains part of the Cotswolds Area Of Natural Beauty.

History:
The region was part of Roman Britain and later the Roman road called Watling Street became the boundary between the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia and the Danelaw (area controlled by invading Danes).

Warwickshire came into being as a division of the kingdom of Mercia in the early 11th century. The first reference to Warwickshire was in 1001, as Wæringscīr, named after Warwick. The prefix wara- is the Old English noun waru, which means "those that care for, watch, guard, protect, or defend". A name that was used by both the the Goths and Jutes, two of the Germanic tribes that settled in England. The suffix -wick is an Old English Latin word for village.

The county was relatively settled during the rest of the Middle Ages and Early Modern period. Coventry developed as a major centre of the textiles trade. The playwright William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, living much of his life there, and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was planned near Snitterfield.

During the Middle Ages Warwickshire was dominated by Coventry, at the time one of the most important cities in England because of its prominence in the textiles trade.

Warwickshire played a key part in the English Civil War, with the Battle of Edgehill and other skirmishes taking place in the county. During the Industrial Revolution Warwickshire became one of Britain's foremost industrial counties, with the large industrial cities of Birmingham and Coventry within its boundaries.

During the Industrial Revolution, the Warwickshire coalfield was opened and the west of the county became a manufacturing area.Leamington Spa developed as a tourist resort at the same time.

Stratford-upon-Avon still uses 13th century school buildings and is the likely school of William Shakespeare, Rugby School was founded in 1567 and Warwick School was founded c. 914 AD, which makes it the oldest surviving boys' school in the country. Rugby School is one of nine schools that were defined as the "great" English public schools by the Public Schools Act 1868, and is a member of the Rugby Group.

Warwickshire was the birthplace of William Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon. Road signs at the county boundary describe Warwickshire as "Shakespeare's County