Keresley was not mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086). It may have been too small to get a separate mention. In the Middle Ages England was divided into units called manors. Keresley was part of Cheylesmore manor. Keresley first appears in writing in the mid 12th century when the Lord of the Manor granted part of the estate to Coventry Priory. More of the estate was given to the priory later in the 12th century. The priory was given the last piece of Keresley in the middle of the 13th century.

In the 12th century Keresley was called Keresleia. Keresley seems to have been a reasonably large village (by the standards of the time) with a population of perhaps 150 in the 14th century. When Henry VIII closed Coventry Priory the estate at Keresley was sold in sections (and the money raised went to the crown!).

In the 18th century Keresley flourished as an industrial village. Many of the inhabitants were farmers but some were weavers who wove wool for the Coventry cloth trade.

In 1762 the road to Coventry was turnpiked. That means it was turned into a private road. The owners were responsible for maintaining it. In return they charged tolls.

The original settlement was at Keresley Green but in the late 18th century a new settlement appeared at Keresley Heath.

Keresley had one inn, the Shepherd and Shepherdess, which was built in the 18th century. The present building dates from 1936.

KERESLEY IN THE 19th CENTURY

In 1801 Keresley had a population of 312. By the standards of the time it was quite a large village. By the middle of the 19th century the population of Keresley had risen to over 500.

In 1801 the village of Coundon had a population of 158. A number of well off people came to live in Coundon during the 19th century but it remained a quiet village.

In 1842 it was decided to build a new church at Keresley. The church of St Thomas in Keresley was consecrated in 1847. It was built of red sandstone donated by a man named T B Troughton from his quarry in Sandpits Lane. The church was built in the Early English style (an architectural style of the 13th century). The architect was Benjamin Ferry. Bells were installed in the church in 1848. They were recast in 1955.

The first vicar of St Thomas Church was a man named W. H. Thickens. He is remembered in a stained glass window in the East wall of the church. The first vicarage was built in 1868. The new church had a tower 52 feet tall with a spire 40 feet tall. The churchyard was extended in 1884 and again in 1938.

In the 19th century the Church of England ran schools called National Schools. One was built at Keresley in 1852. It closed in 1944.

In 1855 the common was purchased for the peoples recreation forever. In 1894 Keresley was given a parish council.

In the mid-19th century the hand weavers who worked in cottages in Keresley were replaced by machines in factories elsewhere.

From the mid 19th century some wealthy people moved to Keresley away from the noise and dirt of Coventry. At the end of the 19th century a man named William Hill who made bicycles (and later cars) built Keresley Hall. The Hare and Hounds also dates from the 19th century.

However Keresley remained a quiet, agricultural village until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1871 the population of Keresley was 471. By 1901 it had risen to 536. In 1911 the population of Keresley was still only 689. Coundon was still a small agricultural village. It was less than half the size of Keresley.

KERESLEY IN THE 20th CENTURY

Then in 1911 shafts were sunk by a coal mining company near Keresley. The coal mine began operating in 1917. As a result of the colliery a new settlement grew up by the colliery at Keresley Newland. Many new houses were built by the mining company for miners. By the standards of the time they were quite good houses. They had inside toilets, which was unusual for working class housing at that time. In 1924 a Social Club was formed for the miners. However mining was a low paid job and many people grew vegetables or kept livestock to help make ends meet.

In 1919 a railway branch line was built to serve the colliery. The shaft was 720 yards deep and by 1939 Coventry Colliery was producing 1 million tons of coal a year. From the mid 1960s there was also a Homefire Plant in Keresley. Unfortunately it produced a great deal of dirt and smoke.

Keresley expanded rapidly between the wars. Farm Close Estate was built in the late 1920s. In the early 1930s houses were built in the Southwest of the area, north of Radford. By 1939 Keresely had a population of 2,516. During the 1930s Keresley and Coundon became suburbs of Coventry.

In 1929 Keresley Hall was converted into a convalescent hospital. It was named after John Alcock who left a large sum of money in his will. In 1942 it was made part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital. Keresley hospital finally closed in 1968. Keresley Grange was made an RAF Volunteer Reserve HQ in 1937. In 1947 it became a childrens home. Coundon Hall became a hotel in 1948. In 1950 Newlands House became an old peoples home.

Keresley Grange Junior and Infant School opened in 1946. Coundon Court became a girls school in 1951. President Kennedy School and Community College opened in 1966. Cardinal Newman School and Community College opened in 1969.

In the 1950s Keresley continued to grow rapidly. The Golden Eagle pub opened in 1964. A new library opened in Bennetts Road in 1964.

The Congregational Church was built in 1906. The Church of the Ascension began as Mission Church in 1925. It changed its name in 1984. In 1964 a new vicarage was built for the Church of St Thomas. The Galilee Room was built in 1991. In 1997 a tapestry was made for the 150th anniversary of the church.

The colliery continued to dominate life in the village. Coalmines were nationalised in 1947. In the 1950s miners from other areas (South Wales, Scotland and Northeast England) came to work in Coventry Colliery. There were also East Europeans and Irishmen.

However Coventry Colliery closed in 1991. It re-opened in 1994 but in 1996 it closed forever. The Homefire Plant closed in 2000. These closures were of course a severe blow to the community but from 1999 a new business park called Prologis Park or Keresley Park was built on the site and is bringing new life to Keresley. A Country Park was also created.

A History of Coventry

A History of Nuneaton

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