Ansty Parish History

Ansty is a small village in Warwickshire about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Coventry city centre.Ansty is a civil parish in the Rugby Borough of Warwickshire. It has a population of 324 (2011 Census).

The earliest mention of the village of Ansty describes the Parish as part of the possessions of Earl Leofric and Lady Godiva. When Leofric founded the Abbey in Coventry, around 1043 he conferred the Great Tithes of Ansty upon it, thus from the earliest times Ansty was connected to Coventry.

There is some debate about where the name Ansty originates from, one theory being from Old English Ānstīg meaning one-path, lonely or narrow path or path linking other paths, with another suggestion being that Ansty is an abbreviation of Heanstige, which was the name of the Parish in Saxon times. Hean means high and stige a road. Ansty is in fact situated on high ground, and is one of the most elevated spots in Warwickshire.

After the Norman Conquest, Ansty came into possession of the King who granted it to his nephew, Hugh Avranches, eventually passing on to his son, Ranulf, a religious man who was responsible for building churches in Ansty and Shilton. The Domesday Book of 1086 mentions Ansty as part of the hundred of Brinklow.

St James Church in Ansty can trace its origins back to the reign of King Stephen 1135 - 1155, nothing remains of the first church, however the oldest part of the current church, the chancellery, was built in the 13th century, about the time of Henry III, with the nave, or body of the church about 100 years later.

Old Church in Ansty Warwickshire — Old Church Ansty: This was largely 13th and 14th Century, with alterations made in the 17th century. Major repairs were carried out by Revd T.C Adams, Vicar from 1809 – 51.

Old photograph of Ansty Church in Warwickshire — Church and Steeple: In December 1854 Major-General Henry Adams of Ansty Hall died of wounds received at the Battle of Inkerman. In 1856 his widow commissioned the architect Sir Gilbert Scott to build a spire in his memory. In 1876 Scott carried out a further restoration of the Church.

Over time the Estates of land in Ansty were donated to the Dean and Canons of Windsor, with the Manor House eventually coming into the ownership of Richard Tayler around 1659. Tayler, like the majority of Warwickshire had been on the Parliamentarian side in the English Civil War.

The old Manor House which had been the Tayler family home was pulled down in 1678 and the present Ansty Hall was built by Richards son Edward. The Tayler family descendants the Woollcombe Adams, later the Stopford Adams family continued to live in Ansty Hall until the 1980s, with the Hall being sold as a hotel in 1987.

Old photograph of Ansty Hall — An Engraving of Ansty Hall: Richard Tayler lived many years in Ansty. He died in 1676 and was succeeded by his son Edward, who pulled down the old manor house and built the present hall in 1678. It remained in the family until the death of a later Edward Tayler in 1799. It is now the Ansty Hall Hotel.

Ansty was an agricultural village with the land being farmed by numerous tenant farmers, evidence of Medieval strip farming can still be seen on the landscape today.

Oxford Canal at Ansty — Oxford Canal, Ansty, 1907: The windmill has gone, however on the left are the ridge and furrow lines from Ansty’s Town field, the remains of medieval strip farming.

The construction of the Oxford Canal in the 1770s greatly changed the appearance of the village. Prior to the canal the ancient village was comparatively isolated, standing in the midst of its open fields and dependent almost entirely on agriculture.

Old photograph of the canal at Ansty — Working Canal Boats c1907: The barge Elizabeth appears to be well loaded.

Working Butty Canal Boat at Ansty — A working Butty on the Oxford Canal near Ansty probably during the 1930's.

Cottage weaving spread from Coventry in the early 18th century, seeing a rise in the village population. In 1818 there were 69 people engaged in weaving in Ansty from a population recorded as 205 in 1821. By the 1830s this trade was declining, and unlike neighbouring Parishes of Foleshill and Sowe Waste, as ribbon weaving declined it was not replaced by general industry, reverting Ansty back to its rural character seeing the population steadily fall to 127 in 1891.

RAF Ansty is a former Royal Air Force station, the airfield was opened in 1936 and after training many pupils closed in 1953. The school was home to 9 Elementary Flying Training School during the Second World War and 6 pilots from 9 EFTS are buried in St James Church yard.

In the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Armstrong Siddeley Motors had its development plant for gas turbines and aircraft rocket motors at the site.

Rolls-Royce currently occupies the majority of the site, with the northern side being turned into a business park called Ansty Park.

Ansty is a small friendly village and while the natural and built environment has largely been conserved, socially and economically there is much that has changed. The shop has long since gone. However, the community has retained its church and playing fields. These facilities provide a focus for many community activities including for example the Christmas carol service and village fetes.

Canal Side Shop at Ansty Warwickshire — Canal Side Shop and Cottage, Ansty: The shop has gone and is now a house, at one time Mrs Veasey, the oldest resident in Ansty lived there, although the property belonged to Ansty Hall.

Amenities also include a pub, the Rose and Castle situated on the canal, a social club, the Ansty Hall hotel and Ansty Golf course. The village is popular with boaters and walkers, particularly during the summer months.

Old map of Ansty — An Early Map of Ansty and Shilton: Thought to date from 1587. The site occupied by the cottages in Main Road, Ansty near the Church seems to be the original village. The coming of the canal extended the village towards Coventry.