Bedworth
Bedworth is a market town in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwickshire, England. It is situated between Coventry, to the south, and Nuneaton, to the north. In the 2021 census the town had a population of 31,090. The town is pronounced locally as "Beduth", but as "Bedworth" almost everywhere else.
History
The name Bedworth derives from the Old English Bedaworð meaning 'Beda's enclosure'.Originally a small market town with Saxon origins, Bedworth was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bedeword. The first record of a priest at Bedworth was from 1297. The town suffered great decline as a result of the Black Death in the 14th century. In 1590, the town was described as being home to just 14 families. By 1730, Bedworth had recovered somewhat as a result of local coal mining, and was described as containing 260 houses.
Following the passage of the Five Mile Act 1665, which forbade Nonconformist church goers from assembling for worship and preaching within five miles of a corporate town such as Coventry. Bedworth, being exactly five miles from Coventry became a local centre for Nonconformists who assembled at the town. In 1686 the Reverend Julius Saunders established the Old Meeting congregation just north of the five-mile post. An old plaque that was on the mile-post can still be seen on a gate post of the Almshouses. In 1726, a Presbyterian Nonconformist chapel now of the United Reformed Church was built here which still stands, and was restored in 2012.
Bedworth developed into an industrial town in the 18th and 19th centuries, due largely to coal mining and the overspill of ribbon weaving and textile industries from nearby Coventry: Located on the Warwickshire coalfield, coal mining in the area was recorded as early as the 13th century, but grew to a large scale as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The industry peaked in 1939 when there were 20 pits in the area producing over 5.8 million tons of coal. The last colliery in Bedworth, Newdigate Colliery closed in 1982 and Coventry Colliery on the edge of the town closed in 1991. The ribbon weaving industry had been introduced to the area by French Huguenot immigrants in the 18th century; it thrived for nearly a century, until it was largely wiped out in the 1860s following the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty which removed tariffs on imported French silks, causing enormous hardship to the town. Hat making however grew and largely replaced the ribbon trade, and lasted until the 1950s.
The opening of the Coventry Canal in 1789 and later the Coventry to Nuneaton railway in 1850 enhanced the town's growth. More recently, the M6 motorway was opened just south of the town in 1971.
From 1894, Bedworth was a civil parish within the Foleshill Rural District. In 1928, Bedworth was incorporated as an urban district in its own right. In 1932, the urban district was enlarged by the addition of Exhall and parts of Foleshill, Astley and Walsgrave on Sowe parishes. It was further enlarged in 1938 by the addition of Bulkington. In 1974, the Bedworth Urban District was merged with the Municipal Borough of Nuneaton to create the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth.
Geography
Bedworth lies north-west of London, east of Birmingham and north-north-east of the county town of Warwick.Bedworth has six main suburban districts, namely: Collycroft, Mount Pleasant, Bedworth Heath, Coalpit Field, Goodyers End and Exhall. Exhall is a generic name for the area surrounding junction 3 of the M6 motorway, comprising parts of both Bedworth and Coventry. Around to the east of Bedworth is the large village of Bulkington, and around to the south-west, separated by a short gap is the village of Ash Green.
Bedworth is almost contiguous with Coventry; it is defined as being part of the Coventry and Bedworth Urban Area.
The River Sowe rises in Bedworth flowing through Exhall, northern and eastern Coventry, Baginton and Stoneleigh, before joining the River Avon south of Stoneleigh.
Features
Among the most notable buildings in Bedworth are the Nicholas Chamberlaine Almshouses on All Saints' Square in the town centre, which are built in Tudor style and date from 1840, These replaced the original buildings which had been funded by a legacy from the local benefactor Nicholas Chamberlaine through his will. The almshouses were restored in the 1980s and are now Grade II* listed.The majority of the town centre was redeveloped in the 1960s and early 1970s, with the typical architecture of that period and consists of a pedestrianised shopping precinct. The town centre itself contains some of the usual high street retail names, as well as many charity shops, card shops and banks.
The main venue in Bedworth is the Bedworth Civic Hall which opened in 1973 in the town centre, which has an attached arts centre.
South of the town centre is the Miners' Welfare Park, which opened in 1923, originally to provide a recreation space for miners and their families. Now managed by the local council it includes playing fields, sports facilities, footpaths and gardens. A new play area, on the site of the previous aviary and paddling pool near the cricket ground within the park, was dedicated in June 2012 to Sergeant Simon 'Val' Valentine. He was born and brought up in Bedworth, a soldier of 2nd battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers who died in August 2009 while serving his country in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The town centre was closed and thousands of townspeople paid their respects at Sergeant Valentine's funeral in 2009.
The former Bedworth water tower is probably the most noticeable landmark building in Bedworth; built in 1898 in the then fashionable Romanesque style, at approximately high, it is visible from miles around and has been Grade II listed since 1987. It originally had a 60,000 gallon water tank, but became obsolete in 1988 when a new water mains was installed into Bedworth. The tower is home to a pair of peregrine falcons, first noted in 1998. In 2015 it was sold to be converted into six luxury apartments.
Along Mill Street, until recently, were rows of former weavers' cottages which were once inhabited by Huguenot weavers. Some of these were still used as shops, although most had become derelict. They have been demolished as part of the redevelopment of Tesco.
Economy
With most of its historic industries gone, there is still some specialist manufacturing that continues in the town; one firm in Bedworth, Toye, Kenning & Spencer, specialises in producing items such as hats and caps, banners, flags, medal ribbons and Masonic regalia.At the Bayton Road industrial estate in Exhall is a manufacturing firm, Premiere Group, which specialises in producing sheet metal products, primarily for the automotive sector. The firm won the contract to produce 12,000 Olympic torches for the 2012 Olympic Games. The German mechatronic car component manufacturer Brose that supplies 80 vehicle manufacturers worldwide has its UK factory in the estate. The estate was also the home of Abbey Panels which prior to 2002 produced prototype vehicle bodies for many car manufacturers including the first run of alloy bodied Jaguar XK120s in 1948. They also produced aluminium alloy racing car bodies for Jaguar's Le Mans winning cars of the 1950s, along with Formula 1 car bodies in the same era. The company continues as Loades Limited with a site on Bayton Road, but oriented to steel buildings for commercial properties named after their founder Edward Loades.
The domestic appliance insurer Domestic & General has offices in the town centre,
as does Warwickshire County Council.
Politics
Bedworth lies within the parliamentary constituency of North Warwickshire and Bedworth, the local MP since 2024 has been Rachel Taylor of the Labour Party.There are two tiers of local government coverting Bedworth at county level and district level Bedworth is unparished and does not have its own town council. Although the creation of a Town Council has been suggested.
Religion
Church of England
All Saints' Parish Church is situated in the town centre. A church has stood at the site since the 14th century and it still retains its original tower from that period. The rest of the church has been rebuilt several times; the current building dates from the late Victorian era, when it was rebuilt during 1888–1890 out of Runcorn sandstone at a cost of £8,000 raised by public subscription. It replaced the previous building which dated from 1606. The church is now grade II* listed.Roman Catholic
is a prominent building in the town centre. The first church at the site opened in June 1883. Over later years, a number of additions were made, including the porch and tower. The church was made a parish church in 1919 and, in September 1923, it was consecrated in its current form by Archbishop McIntyre.In the early-1970s the interior of the church was modernised, with the tabernacle, altar, pulpit, font, Mary and Child, and the Sacred Heart and Risen Christ, all made by the noted Maltese artist and sculptor Carmel Cauchi.
The church is part of the Rugby Deanery in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham.
Other Christian denominations
There are also Bedworth Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church off Chapel Street in the town centre, which dates from 1727, Bedworth Baptist Church on Coventry Road near the football ground as well as Life Church on Bulkington Road. A Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses is in Deronda Close, behind The Newdigate Arms. Zion Baptist Church is on Newdigate Road and is a striking 1977 replacement of the original 1796 chapel on High Street, which was demolished to make way for the Civic Centre.Sikhism
Bedworth has a Sikh gurdwara on Bayton Road in Exhall, named the Gurdwara Dhan Dhan Baba Vadbhag Singh Ji.Demographics
At the 2021 census, there were 31,090 residents in Bedworth, up slightly from 30,459 in the 2011 census, and 29,082 at the 2001 census.In terms of ethnicity in 2021:
- 88.3% of Bedworth residents were White
- 6.9% were Asian
- 1.6% were Black
- 1.7% were Mixed.
- 1.4% were from another ethnic group.