Ansley, Warwickshire

{{Short description|Village in Warwickshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Use British English|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox UK place |country = England | coordinates = {{coord|52|31|16|N|1|33|33|W|display=inline,title}} | official_name = Ansley | population = 2,598 | population_ref = {2021}<ref name="CitPop">{{cite web |title=Ansley Parish in West Midlands |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/westmidlands/admin/north_warwickshire/E04009627__ansley/ |publisher=City Population |access-date=6 May 2026}}</ref> | static_image_name = | static_image_caption = | shire_district = North Warwickshire | shire_county = Warwickshire | region = West Midlands | civil_parish = Ansley | constituency_westminster = | postcode_district = CV10 | postcode_area = CV | post_town = NUNEATON | dial_code = | os_grid_reference = SP301914 | london_distance = }}

'''Ansley''' is a civil parish in Warwickshire consisting of Ansley, Ansley Common, Church End, Birchley Heath and, previously, Ansley Hall Colliery. In 2021, the parish had a population of 2,598.

Ansley is on the River Bourne, a tributary of the River Tame. The parish is 526 ft above sea level.<ref>{{cite book |date=1831 |last=Lewis |first=Samuel |title=A topographical dictionary of England : comprising the several counties, cities, boroughs, corporate and market towns, parishes, and townships, and the islands of Guernsey, Jersey, and Man, with historical and statistical descriptions; and embellished with engravings of the arms of the cities, boroughs, bishoprics, universities, and colleges, and of the seals of the various municipal corporations |publisher=S Lewis and Co |location=London, UK |page=40 }}</ref> The Arley Tunnel runs underneath Ansley village. Built in 1864 it forms part of the Birmingham to Leicester railway line.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.railscot.co.uk/locations/A/Arley_Tunnel/ |title=Arley Tunnel|author= |website= railscot.co.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> ==Name== Some suggest that the etymology of the name Ansley is a derivation of the Old English ''ansetleah'', with ‘anset’ meaning isolated hermitage and ‘leah’ (ley) meaning wooded pasture.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ansleychurch.org/news/a-brief-history-of-the-parish-of-ansley/ |title=A brief history of the Parish of Ansley |author=ansley |website= ansleychurch.org |date=3 February 2023 |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> Many place names in the area end with ‘ley’, including Arley, Fillongley, Astley, Hurley, Baxterley, Witherley, Corley, Binley, Allesley, Hinckley and Keresley.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://heartengland.blogspot.com/2011/09/forest-of-arden.html |title=Heart of England |author=Forest of Arden |website= heartengland.blogspot.com |date=3 September 2011 |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> This is likely a result of the "sporadic clearing of the woods" (specifically the Forest of Arden) that originally covered the area, and the gradual creation of new settlements preceding and following the Norman Conquest.<ref>{{cite book |date=1991 |last=Coss |first=Peter R |title= Lordship, Knighthood and Locality: A study of English society c.1180 – c.1280 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |page=25 |isbn=0521402964}}</ref>

Others believe the name to come from ''ãnstiga'', with ‘ãn’ meaning one and ‘stig’ meaning path.<ref>{{cite book |date=2000 |last=Gelling |first=Margaret |title= Place names in the landscape: the geographical roots of Britain's place-names |publisher=Phoenix |location=London, UK |page=63 |isbn=1842122649}}</ref> Ansley appeared as ''Hanslei'' in the Domesday Book (1086). Other later derivations have included ''Anesteleye'' (1235),<ref>{{cite book |date=2003 |last=Mills |first=Anthony David |title= A dictionary of British place names |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |page=14 |isbn=0198527586}}</ref> ''Anstle'' (1316),<ref>{{cite book |date=1908 |title= Inquisitions and assessments relating to feudal aids, with other analogous documents preserved in the Public record office; A.D. 1284-1431. Vo. V |publisher=Stationery Office |location=London, UK |page=179}}</ref> ''Ansteley'' (1416),<ref>{{cite book |date=1960 |last=Ekwall |first=Eilert |title= The concise Oxford dictionary of place names |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |page=10 |isbn=0198691033}}</ref> ''Anceley'' (1658),<ref>{{cite web |title= Farmer, Yeoman of Anerley, Warwickshire |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D802367 |access-date=2023-11-11}}</ref> ''Anestelay'' and ''Anseley''.<ref>{{cite book |date=1912 |last=Abernethy |first=John |title= Warwickshire place names |publisher=Collins |location=Glasgow, UK |page=1 |isbn=0007861427}}</ref>

The name Ainsley is derived from Ansley.<ref>{{cite book |date=2009 |last=Mackenzie |first=James D |title=Collins Scottish names |publisher=William Heinemann |location=London, UK |page=350}}</ref>

==History== The earliest evidence of human settlement in the area consists of a round barrow – an artificial mound concealing a grave – dating from the Bronze Age. Located near where Ansley Hall stands, the mound was excavated and lowered in the mid-twentieth century.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_her/possible-round-barrow-100m-se-of-ansley-mine |title=Possible round barrow 100m SE of Ansley Hall |author= |website= ourwarwickshire.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref>

left|thumb|150px|Lady Godiva, tenant-in-chief of Ansley from 1057 Before the Norman Conquest, the principal landowners of the region were Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his family.<ref>{{cite book |date=1991 |last=Coss |first=Peter R |title= Lordship, Knighthood and Locality: A study of English society c.1180 – c.1280 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |page=25 |isbn=0521402964}}</ref> Ansley’s Domesday Book entry lists a population of 6.5 households and 13 villagers. The settlement was part of the Hemlingford Hundred of Coleshill, Warwickshire, in the subdivision of Atherstone.<ref>{{cite book |date=1875 |last=White |first=Francis |title=Francis White & Co.'s Commercial & Trades Directory of Birmingham with a history, topography, and directory of Warwickshire Vol. II|publisher=Francis White and Co |location=Birmingham, UK |page=1275}}</ref> After Leofric’s death in 1057 the title of Lord and tenant-in-chief passed to his wife, Lady Godiva.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/SP2991/ansley/ |title=Ansley |author= |website= opendomesday.org |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> The Lord of the Manor was Nicholas the Bowman, a Norman soldier rewarded for his service during the conquest.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.manorialcounselltd.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/History-Table.pdf |title=Lordship of Ansley |author= |website= manorialcounselltd.co.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref>

It was probably William II (c.1057-1100) who gave Ansley to Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester, (c.1047-1101).<ref>{{cite book |date=1897 |last=Mackenzie |first=James D |title=The castles of England, their story and structure Vol. 1 |publisher=William Heinemann |location=London, UK |page=350}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=1983 |last=Alexander |first=James W |title=Ranulf of Chester, A relic of the conquest |publisher=University of Georgia Press |location=Athens, USA |page=109 |isbn=0820306738}}</ref> In the early 12th century Ansley passed, through marriage, to the Earl of Arundel, however the manor and its land was given to his tenant, William de Hardreshulle (Hartshill), Lord of Hartshill.<ref name="Johnson 1994 293">{{cite book |date=1994 |last=Johnson |first=James |title=Place names of England and Wales |publisher=Bracken |location=London, UK |page=293 |isbn=1858911338}}</ref> When Hardreshulle died, his eldest son, Robert, inherited Ansley.<ref name="Nichols 1795 316">{{cite book |date=1795 |last=Nichols |first=John |title=The History and Antiquities of the county of Leicester Vol. 4 |publisher=John Nichols |location=London, UK |page=316}}</ref> In the 13th century, Ansley and neighbouring Hartshill were granted by the Hardreshulle family to an unknown knight in exchange for 40 days’ service a year to the King.<ref>{{cite book |date=1991 |last=Coss |first=Peter R |title= Lordship, Knighthood and Locality: A study of English society c.1180 – c.1280 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |page=46 |isbn=0521402964}}</ref> Towards the end of the century, the land passed by marriage to the Colepeper family (also spelt Culpeper).<ref>{{cite book |date=1973 |last=Wilkinson |first=Frederick |title=The castles of England |publisher=G Phillip |location=London, UK |page=24|isbn=0850971837}}</ref>

'''Ansley Castle''' belonged to the Hastings family during the reign of Henry I (1100-1135). It was licensed to be crenellated by Johannes de Hastings in 1300 but was deserted soon after.<ref>{{cite book |date=1973 |last=Kinross |first=John |title=Discovering castles in England and Wales |publisher=Shire Publications Ltd |location=Aylesbury, UK |page=176 |isbn=0852631839}}</ref> By the turn of the 17th century, the antiquarian William Camden (1551-1623) wrote of "mouldering towers covered with ivy".<ref>{{cite book |date=1897 |last=Mackenzie |first=James D |title=The castles of England, their story and structure Vol. 1 |publisher=William Heinemann |location=London, UK |page=345}}</ref> The castle no longer stands.

A few traces of a separate Norman castle built by Hugh Hardreshulle in 1125 are still visible.<ref>{{cite book |date=1899 |last=Murray |first=John |title=A handbook of Warwickshire |publisher=Murray |location=London, UK |page=49}}</ref> right|thumb|200px|John Speed map of Warwickshire from 1610 When the Black Death reached Warwickshire in the mid-14th century,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Britnell |first=Richard |date=October 1994 |title=The Black Death in English Towns |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44613912 |journal=Urban History |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=202 |doi=10.1017/S0963926800011020 |jstor=44613912 |s2cid=144265703 |access-date=2023-10-01|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the people of Ansley abandoned the village and moved approximately a mile to the village’s current location. The parish church of St Laurence, however, remains in its original position.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_her/site-of-possible-shrunken-settlement-at-church-end |title=Site of possible shrunken settlement at Church End |author=Historic Environment Record |website= ourwarwickshire.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> Traces of the original village can still be seen from the air,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://warksbells.co.uk/Ansley/|title=Ansley |author= |website= warksbells.co.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> as can signs of medieval and post-medieval "ridge and furrow cultivation".<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_her/ridge-and-furrow-cultivation-in-ansley-parish |title=Ridge and Furrow Cultivation in Ansley parish |author=Historic Environment Record |website= ourwarwickshire.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/history/story-warwickshires-lost-villages-19906949 |title=The story of Warwickshire's lost villages |first=Rachel |last=Stretton |website= coventrytelegraph.net |date=28 February 2021 |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> By 1482, Ansley was owned by the Prior of St Mary’s, Coventry.<ref name="british-history_ac_uk">{{cite web |url= https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol4/pp5-9#fnn12 |title=Parishes: Ansley |author=L F Salzman |website= british-history.ac.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref>

left|thumb|200px|Ansley Mill and Ford Bourne Brook, running north-east to south-west through the parish, has had an Irish bridge ford at '''Ansley Mill''' since the 12th century.<ref>{{cite news |date=1991-11-16 |work=Birmingham Mail |first=Walk |last=Talk |title=Centenary Way |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002139/19911116/014/0014 |page=14 |location=Birmingham, UK }}</ref> The mill was sold by John Colepeper to Ralph Pickering and John Dyson in 1550.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.englishfords.co.uk/photo_11333335.html |title=Warwickshire |first=John |last=Walton |website= englishfords.co.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> The building that currently stands was built in 1768. The last known miller was Isaac Thurn, in 1896. The mill has subsequently been converted into a private home.<ref name="capabilitybrown_org_uk">{{cite web |url= https://www.capabilitybrown.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/160901AttributionsA-Z5th-ed..pdf |title=A list of landscapes that have been attributed to Capability Brown |first=John |last=Phibbs |website= capabilitybrown.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref>

'''Hoar Park''', located on the B4114, was established in 1430. The current building dates from the 1730s.<ref>{{cite book |date=2007 |last=Long |first=Peter |title=Guide to Rural England: The Heart of England |publisher=Travel Publishing Ltd |location=Aldermaston, UK |page=471 |isbn=9781904434641}}</ref> Hoar Park Wood was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1987.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.protectedplanet.net/137781 |title=Hoar Park Wood|author= |website= protectedplanet.net |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> Other woodlands in the parish are Lady Wood,<ref>{{cite web |url= https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/lady-wood-north-warwickshire |title=Lady Wood, North Warwickshire |author= |website= ornancesurvey.co.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> Seven Foot Wood and New Park Spinney.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/new-park-spinney-north-warwickshire |title=New Park Spinney, North Warwickshire |author= |website= ornancesurvey.co.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref>

==Ansley Hall== Ansley Hall and its estate was home to the Ludford family for the best part of 450 years, from 1410 when Sir Thomas Colepeper leased 50 acres of the land to Henry Ludford. Colepeper’s grandson increased this to 300 acres, but not the hall itself. This gave rise to the situation where the Ludfords claimed for rightful ownership, taking legal action against the Colepepers in 1535 and 1544, both times unsuccessfully.<ref>{{cite news |date=1994-03-02 |work=Heartland Evening News |first=Ted |last=Veasey |title=Ansley Hall – a lost treasure |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003912/19940302/010/0010 |page=11 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref>

In 1551, the Colepepers sold Ansley Hall and its estate. It passed through several hands, including George Wightman of Elmesthorpe, Leicester in 1558,<ref>{{cite book |date=1994 |last=Wightmas |first=Wade C |title=The Wightman Ancestry: Including George Wightman of Quidnessett, RI |publisher=Bookcrafters |location=Chelsea, MI, USA |page=2009}}</ref> who sold it to William Glover, a London dyer, in 1592.<ref>{{cite book |date=1867 |last=Glover |first=Anna |title=Glover memorials and genealogies. An account of John Glover of Dorchester and his descendants |publisher=D Clapp & Son |location=Boston, USA |page=22}}</ref> Sir Thomas Glover sold it in 1609<ref>{{cite book |date=1931 |last=Eland |first=G |title=Purefoy Letters: 1735-1753 Vol II |publisher=Sigwick and Jackson |location=London, UK |page=269}}</ref> and it was purchased by George Ludford<ref>{{cite book |date=1947 |last=Salzman |first=L F |title=A History of the County of Warwick: Vol 4 Hemlingford Hundred |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London, UK |page=9}}</ref> in 1613<ref>{{cite book |date=1830 |last=West |first=W M |title=The history, topography and directory of Warwickshire |publisher=R Wrightson |location=Birmingham, UK |page=559 }}</ref> (or possibly 1611).<ref>{{cite news |date=1994-03-02 |work=Heartland Evening News |first=Ted |last=Veasey |title=Ansley Hall – a lost treasure |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003912/19940302/010/0010 |page=11 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=1989 |last=Alderson |first=Brian |title=The Ludford Box and a Christmass-Box |publisher= Research Library, University of California |location=California, USA |page=43 }}</ref>

From this time, the inhabitants of hall were as follows: {{Tree list}} *George Ludford (1583-1627) m. Sarah Warren **John Ludford (1624-1675) m. Catherine Prescott ***James Ludford (1655-1699) ****Thomas Bracebridge Ludford (d.1700) although younger than his brother Samuel, Thomas initially inherits Ansley Hall from his uncle, James Ludford ****Samuel Bracebridge Ludford (1680-1727) inherited Ansley Hall from his younger brother m. Catherine Lewis *****John Bracebridge Ludford (1707-1775) m. Juliana Newdigate (1711-1780) ******John Newdigate Ludford (1754-1825) m. Elizabeth Boswell (1756-1825) ******* Elizabeth Juliana Bracebridge Ludford (1779-1859) m. Sir John Francis Newdigate Ludford, 5th Baronet Chetwode (1788-1873) assumed the name Newdigate Ludford by Royal Licence, 1826, leased mineral rights for the land under Ansley Hall to the Ansley Hall Coal and Iron Company in 1872<ref>{{cite book |date=2017 |last=Randle |first=Lee |title=Ansley Hall Colliery: Its history and development 1873-1959 |publisher=Nuneaton Local History Group |location=Nuneaton, England |page=9 }}</ref> {{Tree list/end}}

'''Ansley Hall''' was described in ''The Beauties of England and Wales'' (1814) as "a large and rather confusing mansion, irregular but very respectable."<ref>{{cite book |date=1976 |last=Cave |first=Lyndon F |title=Warwickshire Villages |publisher=Robert Hale |location=London, UK |page=167 }}</ref> It was part Elizabethan, part Georgian with gothic sash windows.<ref>{{cite book |date=1979 |last=Hickman |first=Douglas |title=Warwickshire |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=London, UK |page=23 }}</ref> Most of the building dated from 1720 to 1730. It had in its art collection "the celebrated drawing made by Beighton in 1716 from the curious fresco painting of Kenilworth Castle"<ref name="White 1875 1276">{{cite book |date=1875 |last=White |first=Francis |title=Francis White & Co.'s Commercial & Trades Directory of Birmingham with a history, topography, and directory of Warwickshire Vol. II|publisher=Francis White and Co |location=Birmingham, UK |page=1276}}</ref> from a wall at Newnham Paddox.<ref>{{cite book |date=1821 |title=The Queen's entertainment : at Harefield Place, Middlesex, in July 1602, with some particulars relative to several earlier visits at Loseley, Chichester, Southampton, Winchester, Sutton, Barn-Elms, Kingston, and Putney : the princely entertainments at Kenilworth, Coventry, Warwick, Lichfield, Stafford, Worcester, &c. : and extracts from the unpublished letters of John Chamberlain, Esq. to Sir Dudley Carleton, relative to the Queen's progresses, her sickness, and death |publisher= John Nichols |location=London, UK |page=69 }}</ref>

Nearby '''Bretts Hall''', named for the Brett (or Bret) family, who lived there during the time of Henry III<ref>{{cite book |date=1912 |last=Duignan |first=William Henry |title=Warwickshire place names |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London, UK |page=33 }}</ref> was pulled down in 1750 to create '''Ansley Park''', which included a formal avenue, a Chinese temple and a hermitage (cell) which is attributed to Capability Brown (c.1715-1783)<ref name="capabilitybrown_org_uk" /> who built a similar hermitage at Weston Park.<ref>{{cite book |date=2016 |last=Phibbs |first=John |title=Capability Brown: Designing the English landscape |publisher=Rizzoli |location=London, UK |page=178 |isbn=978-0847848836}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_her/ansley-hall-park-ansley |title=Ansley Hall Park, Ansley |author=Historic Environment Record |website= ourwarwickshire.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> right|thumb|200px|Sir William Chambers by Francis Cotes, 1764 The park’s Chinese temple was designed by Sir William Chambers (1723-1796), architect to George III and author of ''Designs of Chinese Buildings, Furniture, Dresses, Machines and Utensils'' (1757). Chambers had travelled to China in the 1740s and was regarded as an expert in his field, "unrivalled by others in his profession".<ref>{{cite book |date=1996 |last=Woods |first=May |title=Visions of Arcadia: European gardens from Renaissance to Rococo |publisher=Aurum |location=London, UK |page=180 |isbn=1854104292}}</ref> He built Ansley Hall’s temple in 1767, and designed similar structures in Kew, Blackheath and Amesbury.<ref>{{cite book |date=1996 |last1=Harris |first1=John |last2=Snodin |first2=Michael |title=Sir William Chambers: Architect to George III |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, USA |page=4 |isbn=0300069405}}</ref> Beneath the temple was a cell containing a monument relating to the Purefoy family, Parliamentarians who had had their estates confiscated because of their involvement in the death of Charles I.<ref>{{cite book |date=1801 |last=Britton |first=John |title=The Beauties of England and Wales, or, Delineations, topographical, historical and descriptive, of each county |publisher=Thomas Maiden |location=London, UK |page=311}}</ref> thumb|right|200px|Ansley Hall Hermitage In 1758 Ansley Hall was visited by the poet Thomas Warton, who would later become poet laureate. He wrote the poem ''An Inscription'' about Ansley’s hermitage which begins "Beneath the stony roof reclin’d / I sooth to peace my pensive mind.<ref>{{cite book |date=1981 |last=Bowers |first=Fredson |title=Studies in Bibliography Vol. 35 |publisher=University Press of Virginia |location=Charlottesville, USA |page=298 }}</ref> In 1814 the park was described as "well stocked with deer".<ref>{{cite book |date=1947 |last=Salzman |first=L F |title=A History of the County of Warwick: Vol 4 Hemlingford Hundred |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London, UK |page=5}}</ref>

Ansley Hall and its land was leased to the Ansley Hall Coal and Iron Company by the Ludford family in 1872 after which the hall was used as a club and institute for colliery officials and estate tenants. After the UK coal industry was nationalised in 1947, the Hall became a social club for miners and their families.<ref>{{cite news |date=1994-03-02 |work=Heartland Evening News |first=Ted |last=Veasey |title=Ansley Hall – a lost treasure |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003912/19940302/010/0010 |page=11 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> With the collapse of the mining industry, the hall was derelict by the 1960s.<ref>{{cite book |date=1996 |last=Marsden |first=Hilary |title=Whitakers Almanac |publisher=J Whitacre and Sons |location=London, UK |page=1141 |isbn=0850212545}}</ref> Between 1998 and 2001 it was developed into 16 private homes.

==Industry== Until coalmining came to Ansley in the 1870s, its principal industry was agricultural (barley, rye, pasture and meadow land), with some silk ribbon weaving and brick making.<ref name="british-history_ac_uk" /> In the early 19th century John Newdigate Ludford of Ansley Hall had been a "noted cheese-maker", selling to the Leicester market.<ref>{{cite book |date=1989 |last=Hickman |first=Trevor |title=Historic cheeses: Leicestershire, stilton and stichelton |publisher=The Derby Books Publishing Company |location=Derby, UK |page=39 |isbn=9781859837368}}</ref> By the early 20th century the principal crops were wheat, oats, peas and beans.<ref>{{cite book |date=1912 |title=Kelly's directory of Warwickshire |publisher=Kelly’s Directories Limited |location=London, UK |page=27}}</ref> Coal was worked on a small scale.

===Ansley Hall Colliery=== The Ansley Hall Coal and Iron Company established the Ansley Hall Colliery in 1872. A pit was sunk between 1873 and 1874 with three shafts, one for ventilation. The mine was described as covering "approximately 3,000 acres and encompassed no less than eleven seams of coals, giving a total thickness of eighty feet and with six seams of a workable quality potentially providing over 100 million tons of gettable coal."<ref>{{cite book |date=2017 |last=Randle |first=Lee |title=Ansley Hall Colliery: Its history and development 1873-1959 |publisher=Nuneaton Local History Group |location=Nuneaton, England |page=14}}</ref> The deepest point was 540 feet below ground. William Garside Phillips (1849-1929) became the managing director in 1879 and was "instrumental in improving the colliery’s productivity and economic fortunes".<ref>{{cite book |date=2017 |last=Randle |first=Lee |title=Ansley Hall Colliery: Its history and development 1873-1959 |publisher=Nuneaton Local History Group |location=Nuneaton, England |page=1 }}</ref> thumb|right|200px|Former pithead baths at Ansley Hall Colliery Ansley Hall Coal and Iron Company’s largest stakeholder was Sir James Barlow (1821-1887), a cotton magnate from Bolton, Lancashire. His son, Sir Thomas Barlow, 1st Baronet (1845-1945), was chairman of the company for some time (he was also the royal physician and known for his research into infantile scurvy). His son in turn, Sir James Alan Barlow, 2nd Baronet (1881-1964) was a director.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_wow/ansley-colliery |title=Ansley Colliery |author=Historic Environment Record |website= ourwarwickshire.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> The company bought the entire estate in 1899.<ref>{{cite book |date=2017 |last=Randle |first=Lee |title=Ansley Hall Colliery: Its history and development 1873-1959 |publisher=Nuneaton Local History Group |location=Nuneaton, England |page=29 }}</ref>

The colliery became significant enough to have its own railway line, and the Ansley Hall Colliery Branch Line opened in 1876. It remained in operation until 1959.<ref>{{cite book |date=1989 |last=Gough |first=John |title=The Midland Railway: A Chronology |publisher=Railway and Canal Historical Society |location=Leicester, UK |page=226 |isbn=0901461121}}</ref> In 1888, instead of relying on pit ponies for transporting coal and coal refuse the pit became fully electric, the first colliery in Warwickshire to adopt this "pioneer movement".<ref>{{cite news |date=1929-01-05 |work=Tamworth Herald |author= |title=Death of Mr W G Phillips JP |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000484/19290105/031/0004 | page=4 |location=Tamworth, UK }}</ref> In 1904 it could produce 1,200 tonnes of coal a day.<ref>{{cite journal |date=7 June 1904 |title=Visit to Arbury Hall and Ansley Colliery |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_gas-journal_1904-06-07_86_2143/page/652/mode/2up?q=ansley |journal=Journal of Gas Lighting, Water Supply and Sanitary Improvement |volume=83 |issue=2143 |pages=653 |access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref> At its peak, in 1940, it employed 670 people.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/a221.htm |title=Ansley Hall Colliery |author= |website= dmm.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> The pit merged with Haunchwood colliery in 1959<ref>{{cite news |date=1959-01-09 |work=Atherstone News and Herald |author= |title=Haunchwood Closure official statement |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003381/19590109/082/0008 |page=8 |location=Atherstone, UK }}</ref> which in turn closed in 1967.<ref name="Pickford 2016 103">{{cite book |date=2016 |last=Pickford |first=Chris |title=Warwickshire |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, USA |page=103 |isbn=9780300215601}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/warwickshire/ |title=Collieries after Nationalisation in 1947 |author= |website= nmrs.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> thumb|200px|right|Ansley Hall brick The company also owned a brickworks capable of producing 3 million hard red bricks per year.<ref>{{cite book |date=2017 |last=Randle |first=Lee |title=Ansley Hall Colliery: Its history and development 1873-1959 |publisher=Nuneaton Local History Group |location=Nuneaton, England |page=56 }}</ref> Some of the bricks were used in the north aisle of St Laurence Church. Production ceased in 1959.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nuneatonhistory.com/brickyards-quarries--collieries-extractive-industries.html |title=The Extractive Industries of North Warwickshire |first=Peter |last=Lee |website= nuneatonhistory.com |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref>

==Water and electricity== Ansley was the last parish in Warwickshire to get a "more or less efficient supply of good water", and remained dependent on shallow wells until 1913.<ref>{{cite book |date=1913 |last=Bostock Hill |first=A |title=15th Annual Report of County Medical Officer of Health |publisher=Warwickshire County Council |location=Birmingham, UK |page=56}}</ref> As late as 1927 there were still "no water closets in the village, and some of the sanitary arrangements were distinctly objectionable."<ref>{{cite news |date=1927-06-03 |work=Atherstone News and Herald |author= |title=Sanitary Condition of Ansley |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003381/19270603/003/0001 |page=1 |location=Atherstone, UK }}</ref> In 1928 Ansley Parish Council cancelled the retaining fee they had been paying to the Nuneaton Fire Brigade, owing to "there being no public water supply, and very little other sources of supply in the Ansley village."<ref>{{cite news |date=1928-09-28 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |first=Walk |last=Talk |title=Ansley and Fire Brigade |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19280928/143/0007 |page=7 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> In 1929 Atherstone’s Medical Officer of Health called Ansley "the one black spot of my district" in terms of water supply. He went on to say that "they would always have trouble at Ansley Village, as there was no water scheme. The water from the wells had been condemned."<ref>{{cite news |date=1929-05-03 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |first=Walk |last=Talk |title="Black Spot of the District" |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19290503/082/0005 |page=5 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref>

An article published in 1929 read, "Ansley village is one of those places which is just on the edge of things, yet possesses little in the way of modern conveniences. It has neither electric or gas lighting, is without an adequate water supply and has no sewerage system. A resident [said] that owing to the lack of a sewerage system the district was infested with rats… and if a fire were to break out in a block of houses it would be impossible to get under control, there being no water to cope with it."<ref>{{cite news |date=1929-01-11 |work=Midland Counties Tribune |author= |title=Ansley |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003335/19290111/124/0009 |page=9 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> In 1931, cast iron water mains were finally laid to the village.<ref>{{cite news |date=1931-03-06 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title=Contract for the Ansley water scheme |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19310306/084/0003 |page=3 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> The following year a sewage scheme for Ansley Common and Chapel End was put in place.<ref>{{cite news |date=1932-04-27 |work=Birmingham Daily Gazette |author= |title=Spottel Fever |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000669/19320427/232/0007 |page=7 |location=Birmingham, UK }}</ref>

The possibility of Ansley's being added to Nuneaton's electricity supply from the Leicestershire and Warwickshire Electric Power Company was first raised in 1923, when the supply to neighbouring Chapel End<ref>{{cite news |date=1923-03-02 |work=Hinkley Echo |author= |title=Improvements at Nuneaton |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004239/19230302/005/0005 |page=5 |location=Hinkley, UK }}</ref> and Hartshill was imminent, Hartstill having "suffered for years from the quality of the gas, which had been rotten."<ref>{{cite news |date=1923-05-11 |work=Hinkley Echo |author= |title=Electricity for Hartshill |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004239/19230511/007/0007 |page=7 |location=Hinkley, UK }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=1923-06-08 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title=The electricity supply |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19230608/104/0006 |page=6 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> In 1932, St Laurence Church was "fitted out and made ready for lighting by means of electricity" for which, in the words of the vicar, Rev. R P Rowan, "we have waited long and patiently."<ref>{{cite news |date=1932-04-08 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title=Church Lighting |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19320408/163/0008 |page=8 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=1930-10-10 |work=Hinckley Echo |author= |title=Late Mr W G Phillips |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004239/19301010/001/0001 |page=1 |location=Hinckley, UK }}</ref> In 1934, despite "the large volume of traffic which use the road",<ref>{{cite news |date=1934-08-17 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title=Petition for electric light |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19340817/215/0008 |page=8 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> there was still no street lighting in Ansley village, although later that year cabling to Ansley Road via Arbury Hall was laid.<ref>{{cite news |date=1932-04-08 |work=Hinckley Echo |author= |title=Supply to Arbury Hall |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004239/19340601/007/0007 |page=7 |location=Hinckley, UK }}</ref>

==Places of worship== ===St Laurence Church=== thumb|right|200px|St Lawrence Church, Church End, Ansley St. Laurence Church is located at Church End. It is a Grade II listed building<ref>{{NHLE |num=1365141 |desc=Church of St Laurence |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> with mid to late-12th century foundations. It is possible that it was originally built for Lady Godiva, as she had "several churches built in the area at this time that were dedicated to St Laurence, after Abbot Laurence, a trusted friend."<ref name="warksbells_co_uk">{{cite web |url=https://warksbells.co.uk/Ansley/ |title=Ansley |author= |website= warksbells.co.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> Whether the name should be spelt Laurence or Lawrence has been a "bone of contention for many centuries".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ansleychurch.org/news/st-laurence-or-st-lawrence/ |title=St Laurence or St Lawrence? |author=ansley |website= ansleychurch.org |date=2 February 2023 |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> It is currently spelt with a ‘u’. thumb|right|200px|Two monsters striving for possession of a man thumb|right|200px|Norman arch In 1206 William de Hardreshulle, Lord of Hartshill (d.1261)<ref name="Johnson 1994 293"/> bestowed the church to the nuns of Polesworth Abbey.<ref>{{cite book |date=1744 |last=Tanner |first=Thomas |title=Notitia monastica: or, an account of all the abbies, priories, and houses of friers, heretofore in England and Wales; and also of all the colleges and hospitals founded before A.D. MDXL |publisher=John Tanner |location=London, UK |page=566}}</ref><ref name="Nichols 1795 316"/> It stayed in the possession of the Abbey until the Dissolution of the monasteries in the mid 16th century. It then became the property of the crown.<ref name="british-history_ac_uk" /> The church’s tower and clerestory were added in the late 15th century. The chancel was doubled in length in the 18th century. The porch was added the late 19th century and the north aisle in 1913. The church was restored in 1894<ref>{{cite news |date=1894-05-26 |work=Tamworth Herald |author= |title=Atherstone |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000484/18940526/011/0005 |page=5 |location=Tamworth, UK }}</ref> and 1902.<ref>{{cite book |date=1966 |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |last2=Wedgwood |first2=Alexandra |title=The Buildings of England: Warwickshire |publisher=Penguin |location=London, UK |page=66}}</ref> A west gallery was removed in 1931.<ref>{{cite book |date=1947 |last=Salzman |first=L F |title=A History of the County of Warwick: Vol 4 Hemlingford Hundred |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London, UK |page=7}}</ref> On one column there is a "grotesque carving of two monsters striving for possession of a man".<ref>{{cite book |date=2016 |last=Ditchfield |first=P H |title=Memorials of Old Warwickshire |publisher=Bemrose and Sons |location=London |page=53 }}</ref> There are the remains of Norman hinges on a door, dating from around 1150.<ref>{{cite journal |date=June 1893 |title= Publications and Proceedings |journal=The Antiquary |volume=XXVII |location=London, UK |publisher=Elliot Stock |pages=222}}</ref> In the churchyard is a Parish Room, an on-site function room, by Kenneth Holmes Associates (2003),<ref name="Pickford 2016 103"/> and the octagonal base of a medieval cross.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_her/cross-in-ansley-churchyard |title=Cross in Ansley churchyard |author= |website= ourwarwickshire.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref>

The church’s financial situation has varied considerably through the centuries, but was particularly parlous in 1837, when the vicar of St Laurence, whose annual salary was £116 – far below the national average of £285 – appealed to the bishop to be ‘non-resident’ in Ansley, citing an "unfit residence".<ref>{{cite book |date=2014 |last=Geary |first=Keith |title=The 1851 census of religious worship : church, chapel and meeting place in mid nineteenth-century Warwickshire |publisher=Dugdale Society |location=Stratford Upon Avon, UK |page=65 |isbn=978-0852200971}}</ref> By 1884, the vicar’s annual income was £236, but had fallen again to £160 by 1904.<ref>{{cite book |date=1986 |last=Russell |first=Anthony |title=The Country Parish |publisher=SPCK |location=London, England |page=229 |isbn=0281042144 }}</ref>

The church was submitted to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings to be considered for inclusion in their list of historic buildings in 1898,<ref>{{cite book |date=1898 |last=Stirling |first=John |title=The Society For The Protection Of Ancient Buildings 21 Annual Report Of The Committee |publisher=The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings |location=London, England |page=49 }}</ref> 1908<ref>{{cite book |date=1908 |last=Stirling |first=John |title=The Society For The Protection Of Ancient Buildings 31 Annual Report Of The Committee |publisher=The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings |location=London, England |page=48 }}</ref> and 1913.<ref>{{cite book |date=1913 |last=Powys |first=A R |title=The Society For The Protection Of Ancient Buildings 36 Annual Report Of The Committee |publisher=The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings |location=London, England |page=75 }}</ref> It received its Grade II* status in 1968.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1365141 |desc=Church of Saint Lawrence |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref>

Temporary girders were added to the church interior by the National Coal Board for the period between 1960 and 1968, to prevent subsidence from coal mining directly underneath.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_wow/ansley-church-interior |title=Ansley, Church interior |author= |website= ourwarwickshire.org.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref>

In 1973, seven weeks before their wedding, and amid much secrecy, Mark Phillips and Princess Anne visited St Laurence Church to attend the funeral of Phillips’ grandmother, Mrs Dorothea Phillips. When the couple married, the parishioners of Ansley gave them "an inscribed telephone notepad".<ref>{{cite news |date=1973-10-10 |work=Coventry Evening Telegraph |author= |title=A royal wedding gift from Ansley |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000769/19731110/129/0010 |page=10 |location=Coventry, UK }}</ref>

St John’s Church in Ansley Common, built in 1927, is now twinned with St Laurence Church.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://facultyonline.churchofengland.org/church-heritage-record-ansley-common-st-john-the-baptist-611061#Home |title=Ansley Common: St John the Baptist |author= |website= facultyonline.churchofengland.org / |access-date=2023-10-04}}</ref>

====Bells and windows==== There are six bells in the tower: <br /> Bell 1: Made by Thomas Newcombe (c.1580) named ‘Margareta’ and is marked with their shield and a cross<ref>{{cite book |date=1910 |last=Tilley |first=Henry Timothy |title=The church bells of Warwickshire; their founders, inscriptions, traditions and uses |publisher=Cornish |location=Birmingham, England |page=30 }}</ref><br /> Bell 2: Made by Robert, Thomas and William Newcombe (1609)<br /> Bell 3: Made by George Oldfield (1669) stamped with ''Feare God Honour The King 1669''<ref>{{cite book |date=1910 |last=Tilley |first=Henry Timothy |title=The church bells of Warwickshire; their founders, inscriptions, traditions and uses |publisher=Cornish |location=Birmingham, England |page=63 }}</ref><br /> Bells 4-6: Three trebles made by John Taylor & Co (1976). These modern bells were funded by Ansley parishioners, from fund-raising barbeques held at Red House Farm and by Frederick and Daisy Cartwright in memory of the Cartwright family of Ansley.<ref name="warksbells_co_uk" />

In the early 20th century, St Laurence took part in the Warwickshire tradition of bell ringing on Bonfire Night,<ref>{{cite book |date=1976 |last=Palmer |first=Roy |title=The folklore of Warwickshire |publisher=Rowman and Littlefield |location=New Jersey, USA |page=38 |isbn=0874718384}}</ref> Restoration Day (29 May) and the Sovereign’s birthday.<ref>{{cite book |date=1910 |last=Tilley |first=Henry Timothy |title=The church bells of Warwickshire; their founders, inscriptions, traditions and uses |publisher=Cornish |location=Birmingham, England |page=90 }}</ref>

The north window in the chancel contains fragments of 15th century glass from Coventry.<ref>{{cite book |date=1997 |last=Osbourne |first=June |title=Stained glass in Warwickshire |publisher=Sutton |location=Stroud, UK |page=232 |isbn=0750916133}}</ref> There are also windows by Jones and Willis (1872), Clayton and Bell (1897), two by William Morris & Co (1921 and 1928) and a ''Woolliscroft Commemorative Window'' (2015) by Claire Williamson.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bsmgp.org.uk/membership/fellows-associates-portfolios/claire-williamson/ |title=Claire Williamson |author= |website= bsmgp.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> In 1931 a window designed by Karl Parsons, ''Christ in Majesty'', together with a new screen, choir stalls and electric lights, were dedicated to the memory of William Garside Phillips,<ref>{{cite news |date=1931-04-17 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title=Ansley Parish Church memorials |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19310417/050/0003 |page=3 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> who had been the managing director of Ansley Hall Colliery since 1879,<ref>{{cite book |date=2017 |last=Randle |first=Lee |title=Ansley Hall Colliery: Its history and development 1873-1959 |publisher=Nuneaton Local History Group |location=Nuneaton, England |page=28 }}</ref> and his wife.<ref>{{cite news |date=1930-10-17 |work=Coventry Herald |author= |title=Ansley Parish Church |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000384/19301017/210/0011 |page=11 |location=Coventry, UK }}</ref> <gallery> File: Ansley Window by Parsons 2.jpg| Karl Parsons, 1931 File: Ansley Window by Parsons 1.jpg| Detail, Parsons window File: Ansley Window by Parsons 4.jpg|Detail, Parsons window File: Ansley Window by Parsons 5.jpg|Detail, Parsons window </gallery>

===Other places of worship=== Over the years, Ansley has had the following additional places of worship, all now closed:

* ''Ansley Congregational Chapel'' on Birmingham Road was established 1822.<ref>{{cite news |date=1922-06-03 |work=Coventry Standard |author= |title=The Congregational Church Centenary |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000683/19220603/059/0005 |page=5 |location=Coventry, UK }}</ref> A new chapel was built in 1904<ref>{{cite news |date=1904-11-25 |work=Midland Counties Tribune |author= |title=Home Topics |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003335/19041125/042/0002 |page=2 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=1942 |last=Nason |first=Edward |title=Annual Report: 1942 |publisher=Nuneaton and District General Hospital |location=Nuneaton, UK |page=24}}</ref> * ''Providence Independent Chapel'', a small chapel, was built in 1823<ref>{{cite book |date=2014 |last=Geary |first=Keith |title=The 1851 census of religious worship : church, chapel and meeting place in mid nineteenth-century Warwickshire |publisher=Dugdale Society |location=Stratford Upon Avon, UK |page=157 |isbn=978-0852200971}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=1855 |last=Sibree |first=John |title=Independency in Warwickshire : a brief history of the Independent or Congregational churches in that county |publisher=G and F King |location=Coventry, UK |page=284}}</ref> * In early 1826 the ''Church of Christ'' began holding open air services in Ansley, with up to 1,200 people in regular attendance. These large turnouts led to money being collected to build a permanent place of worship, with contributions received from "many pious persons in London and in the country". Land was purchased and a chapel was erected to accommodate about 300 people where a first service was held on 14 July 1826, with however only twelve members.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=1827 |author= |title=Village preaching |magazine=The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle |location=London, UK |edition=Vol. V |publisher=Frederick Westley and A H Davis |page=181}}</ref> Ansley appeared in the church’s ''Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle'' in June 1827, where its population was described as "remarkable for ignorance and profaneness" and "remarkable for its moral darkness, and desperate wickedness". It was reported that "very few persons belonging to the village attended" the chapel "and from that time to the present [June 1827] the enemies of truth have exerted all their energies to prevent the success of the Gospel at Ansley."<ref>{{cite magazine |date=1827 |author= |title=Village preaching |magazine=The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle |location=London, UK |edition=Vol. V |publisher=Frederick Westley and A H Davis |page=181}}</ref> * ''Wesleyan Chapel'', Ridge Lane, a new chapel was built on the site of a former chapel in 1931<ref>{{cite news |date=1931-09-25 |work=Midland Counties Tribune |author= |title=Ridge Lane Wesleyans |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003335/19310925/092/0005 |page=5 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Birchley Heath Primitive Methodist Meeting Place'' was founded in 1826 with capacity for 60 people.<ref>{{cite book |date=2014 |last=Geary |first=Keith |title=The 1851 census of religious worship : church, chapel and meeting place in mid nineteenth-century Warwickshire |publisher=Dugdale Society |location=Stratford Upon Avon, UK |page=157 |isbn=978-0852200971}}</ref> * ''Ansley United Reformed Church''<ref>{{cite web |url= https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F91598|title=Ansley United Reformed Church |author= |website= nationalarchives.gov.uk/ |access-date=2023-10-04}}</ref> was in operation by 1881<ref>{{cite web |url= https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N13590209 |title=minutes, registers, accounts and misc papers |author= |website= discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |access-date=2023-10-04}}</ref> * ''Mission Church of St John'', Ansley Common, in operation by 1912<ref>{{cite news |date=1912-09-27 |work=Nuneaton Observer |author= |title=Nuneaton St Nicholas v Ansley Mission Church |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003172/19120927/125/0008 |page=8 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=1955-07-08 |work=Midland Counties Tribune |author= |title=Chapel End Congregational Chapel |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003335/19550708/142/0005 |page=5 |location=Birmingham, UK }}</ref>

==WWI and WWII== right|thumb|200px|Ansley War Memorial (1920) The ''Ansley Village Soldiers’ Relief Fund'' was created during WWI.<ref>{{cite news |date=1917-12-14 |work=Midland Counties Tribune |author= |title=Memorial Service at Ansley |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003335/19171214/234/0004 |page=4 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> The parish’s Grade II listed war memorial, a Latin cross built of Portland stone and Hollington sandstone, stands on the corner of Birmingham Road and Nuneaton Road. A plaque reads "To the honour of the Ansley men who served their country in his Majesty’s forces during the Great Wars"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/68481 |title=Ansley WW1 and WW2 cross |author= |website= iwm.org.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> and lists the names of the 32 men of Ansley who died in WWI and nine in WWII.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/130438 |title=Ansley |author= |website= warmemorialsonline.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref>

The land for the memorial was given to the parish by the Ansley Hall Coal and Iron Company on 21 August 1920 and the memorial was dedicated by Dr Charles Lisle Carr (1871-1942), Bishop of Coventry, on 21 August 1921.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=537 |title=Showcase result Ansley |author= |website= warmemorials.org |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> The memorial originally featured two artillery guns, but these were removed in 1939 to be melted down for the war effort.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101393733-ansley-war-memorial-ansley |title=Ansley War Memorial |author= |website= britishlistedbuildings.co.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> The concrete bases on which the guns stood remain. A grant of £1,300 from English Heritage and the Wolfson Foundation in 2008 was used to clean, repair and repoint the joints of the Hollington sandstone.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/130438 |title=Ansley |author= |website= warmemorialsonline.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref>

In 1940, women from Ansley made 1,263 articles for the Warwickshire War Supply Services scheme, which were distributed to, amongst others, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France and to Ansley’s Air Raid Precaution Point No. 8.<ref>{{cite news |date=1940-02-23 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title=Local Ladies' War Work |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004594/19400223/010/0002 |page=2 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> In 1941, Ansley Women’s Voluntary Services (WVS), overseen by Mrs J H Phillips, the wife of Ansley Hall Colliery’s managing director, contributed 1,344 articles to the war effort, including 50 theatre gowns,180 pairs of pyjamas and 650 bandages, putting them first in the North Warwickshire WVS collection drive.<ref>{{cite news |date=1941-02-28 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title=Villages combine in effort |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004594/19410228/158/0005 |page=5 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> There was also a Soldiers’ Comforts and Parcels Fund based at the Boot Inn, meaning "every soldier, sailor or airman in the village received several gifts from the fund."<ref>{{cite news |date=1941-05-16 |work=Midland Counties Tribune |author= |title=Ansley war effort |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003335/19410516/014/0001 |page=1 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref>

In April 1945 the ''Ansley Common Forces Fund'' was established, to "provide comforts for members of His Majesty’s forces who have gone from Ansley Common." The administrative centre, for when the men were demobilised, was situated at 173 Ansley Common.<ref>{{cite news |date=1945-04-13 |work=Atherstone News and Herald |author= |title=War Charities Act 1940 |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003381/19450413/014/0003 |page=3 |location=Atherstone, UK }}</ref> In 1947 the fund paid for an oak reredos to be installed at the Mission Church of St John, dedicated to two local men who died in WWII.<ref>{{cite news |date=1992-10-15 |work=Midland Counties Tribune |author= |title=Memorial to Heroes |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003335/19470411/008/0001 |page=1 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref>

==Buildings and facilities in Ansley== <gallery> File: Ansley Church Hall, Birmingham Road, Ansley - geograph.org.uk - 1888743.jpg|Ansley Village Hall, opened 1914 File: Nursery Hill Primary School - geograph.org.uk - 1864290.jpg|Ansley County School. The land was donated by W G Phillips.<ref>{{cite news |date=1904-04-22 |work=Nuneaton Observer |author= |title=School matters discussed |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003171/19040422/066/0006 |page=6 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> It opened 1906. Renamed Nursery Hill First School in 1973<ref>{{cite news |date=1949-07-22 |work=Heartland Evening News |author= |title=Retirement of Ansley headmaster |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0003912/19930701/013/0013?browse=true |page=12 |location=Nuneaton, UK}}</ref> File: The Lord Nelson and Victory Restaurant, Ansley village - geograph.org.uk - 3355182.jpg|The Lord Nelson Inn, where, in the late 19th century, a lodge of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows would meet.<ref name="White 1875 1276"/> It contains two microbreweries. File: The Boot Inn, Ansley - geograph.org.uk - 1864330.jpg|The Boot Inn. Open earlier than 1835.<ref>{{cite news |date=1835-02-20 |work=Coventry Herald |author= |title=Deaths |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000384/18350220/034/0004 |page=4 |location=Coventry, UK }}</ref> In the late 19th century, the Friendly Sick Society would hold its meetings. Of the group it was "said to be the best club within many miles of this place"<ref name="White 1875 1276"/> (now closed) </gallery>

==Clubs and societies== Ansley has played host to many clubs and societies since the 19th century:

===Active clubs=== * ''Ansley Allotment Society'' – established 1844 after being "stimulated by the advantages enjoyed by the inhabitants of surrounding villages". A nearby farm was offered to the Society "on easy terms" and the money from a sick club was used for the purchase.<ref>{{cite news |date=1844-12-27 |work=Coventry Herald |first1=John|last1=Jevons|first2=Anna|last2=Watts|title=Nursery Hill remembers |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000384/18441227/019/0004 |page=12 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> Now called Croft Mead Allotments. * ''Ansley Cricket Club'' Ansley Common – in operation since before 1892<ref>{{cite news |date=1892-10-21 |work=Nuneaton Observer |author= |title= Ansley |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002966/18921021/090/0005 |page=5 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Oakridge Golf Course'' – opened 1992<ref>{{cite news |date=1995-11-30 |work=Heartland Evening News |author= |title= Oakridge make their debut at the show |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003912/19951130/025/0025 |page=25 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Haunchwood Sports Football Club'' * ''Ansley Common Residents’ Association (ACRA)'' established 2013<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.northwarks.gov.uk/site/scripts/google_results.php?q=Ansley+Common+Residents%27+Association |title=Ansley Common Residents' Association |author= |website= northwarks.gov.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref>

===Historic clubs=== The following clubs and societies are no longer in operation:

* ''Ansley Benefit Society'': Active in 1862<ref>{{cite news |date=1892-06-13 |work=Coventry Herald |author= |title= Ansley |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000384/18620613/035/0008 |page=8 |location=Coventry, UK }}</ref> (closed in 1899)<ref>{{cite news |date=1899-12-16 |work=Midland Counties Tribune |author= |title= Friendly Societies Act |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003334/18991216/159/0001 |page=1 |location=Birmingham, UK }}</ref> * ''Ansley Victoria Cricket Club'': Active in 1895<ref>{{cite news |date=1897-02-05 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title= Ansley |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004157/18970205/066/0005 |page=5 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Ansley Football Club "The Lord Nelson Conquerors"'': Established in 1896<ref>{{cite news |date=1896-09-19 |work=Coleshill Chronicle |author= |title= Nuneaton |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003369/18960919/076/0005 |page=5 |location=Coleshill, UK }}</ref> * ''Ansley Agricultural and Horticultural Society'': Active in 1900<ref>{{cite news |date=1900-08-10 |author= |title= The Nuneaton Chronicle |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004157/19000810/148/0004 |page=4 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Ansley Tennis Club'': Active in 1912<ref>{{cite news |date=1912-04-12 |work=Nuneaton Observer |author= |title= Hartshill Wedding |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003172/19120412/080/0005 |page=5 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Ansley Boy Scouts'': Established 1914, a new HQ was built in 1933<ref>{{cite news |date=1933-03-03 |work=Midland Counties Tribute |author= |title= Ansley Boy Scouts |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003335/19330303/067/0005 |page=5 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> right|200px|thumb|Ansley Social Club (closed) * ''Ansley Social Club and Institute'': Active in 1921.<ref>{{cite news |date=1921-10-21 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title= Nuneaton Hospital Junior Cup |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19291220/078/0005 |page=7 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> At its peak, it had 11,000 members. In 1926, "a pioneer class under a scheme arranged by the University Joint Committee of Birmingham and the W.M.C. and Institute Union" was run at the club, the subject being 19th century industrial history.<ref>{{cite news |date=1926-07-16 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title=Ansley W.E.A. |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19260716/091/0006 |page=6 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> (closed in 2015, with the land used for housing) <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/in-your-area/former-nuneaton-social-club-become-14438541 |title=New homes to be built on former Nuneaton Social Club |first=Claire |last=Harrison |website= coventrytelegraph.net |date=21 March 2018 |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> * ''Ansley Hall Colliery Football Club'': Active in 1919<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_wow/ansley-ansley-hall-football-team |title=Ansley – Ansley Hall Football Club |author= |website= ourwarwickshire.org.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> * ''Ansley Co-Operative Society'': Active in 1926<ref>{{cite news |date=1926-05-21 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title= Atherstone board of Guardians |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19260521/031/0003 |page=3 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Ansley Girl Guides'': Active in 1927<ref>{{cite news |date=1927-08-05 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title= The Girl Guides |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19270805/151/0008 |page=8 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Ansley Mothers’ Union'': Active in 1928<ref>{{cite news |date=1928-03-16 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title= Mother's Union |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19280316/167/0008 |page=8 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Ansley Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB)'': Active in 1928<ref>{{cite news |date=1928-11-16 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title= Parish Church Services |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19281116/082/0005 |page=5 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Ansley Social Club Orchestra'': Active in 1931<ref>{{cite news |date=1931-07-24 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title= From the social club |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19310724/158/0008 |page=8 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Ansley Women’s Institute'': Opened in 1933<ref>{{cite news |date=1954-11-12 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title= Ansley's Women's Institute comes of age |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004594/19541112/051/0002 |page=2 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Ansley and District Nursing Association'': Active in 1933<ref>{{cite news |date=1933-06-30 |work=Midland Counties Tribune |author= |title= Whist drive |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003335/19330630/109/0006 |page=6 |location=Nuneaton, UK}}</ref> * ''Ansley Sports Club'': Active in 1934<ref>{{cite news |date=1934-03-12 |work=Leicester Evening News |author= |title= County News in Brief |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003330/19340312/113/0004 |page=4 |location=Leicester, UK}}</ref> * ''Ansley Adult School'' (part of the National Adult School Union): Active in 1935<ref>{{cite news |date=1935-01-11 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title= Adult school |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19350111/164/0008 |page=8 |location=Nuneaton, UK}}</ref> * ''Ansley Bowling Club'': Active in 1937<ref>{{cite news |date=1937-09-24 |work=Hinckley Echo |author= |title= Former colliery official |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004239/19370924/009/0009 |page=9 |location=Nuneaton, UK}}</ref> * ''Ansley Hall Scouts'': Active in 1939<ref>{{cite news |date=1993-10-26 |work=Heartland Evening News |author= |title=Memories of Jamborees |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003912/19931026/010/0010 |page=10 |location=Nuneaton, UK}}</ref> * ''Ansley Women’s Voluntary Services (WVS)'': Active in 1941<ref>{{cite news |date=1941-02-28 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title=Villages combine in war effort |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004594/19410228/158/0005 |page=5 |location=Nuneaton, UK}}</ref> * ''Ansley Young Farmers’ Club'': Active in 1942<ref>{{cite news |date=1946-07-06 |work=Coventry Standard |author= |title= Ansley Young Farmers' Club |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000683/19460706/006/0006 |page=6 |location=Coventry, UK}}</ref> * ''Ansley Progressive Association'': Active in 1943<ref>{{cite news |date=1943-07-23|work=Midland Counties Tribune |author= |title= Prisoners of War fund |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003335/19430723/093/0006 |page=6 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> * ''Ansley Common Football Club'': Active in 1995<ref>{{cite news |date=1995-04-20 |work=Heartland Evening News |author= |title= Remember Ansley Hall FC 1969-1970? |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003912/19940111/018/0018 |page=18 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref>

==People connected with Ansley== * Anonymous (late 13th century) – a Franciscan friar born in Ansley. He compiled the ''Liber Exemplorum'',<ref>{{cite book |date=2011 |last=Jones |first=David |title=Friar's tales: Thirteenth century example of the British Isles |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester, UK |page=9 |isbn=978-0719084249}}</ref> a collection of "plausible stories, used to seize the attention of a preacher’s audience and illustrate a moral or theological point"<ref>{{cite book |date=2011 |last=Jones |first=David |title=Friar's tales: Thirteenth century exampla of the British Isles |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester, UK |page=1 |isbn=978-0719084249}}</ref> * In the mid 15th century, the vicar of Ansley granted parish land to Sir Thomas Malory (c.1393-c.1470), the author of Le Morte d’Arthur together with seven other people<ref>{{cite book |date=2006 |last=Hardyment |first=Christina |title=Malory: The Knight who became King Arthur's chronicler |publisher=Harper Collins |location=New York, USA |page=198 |isbn=0066209811}}</ref> * Henry Sewall (1544-1628) – merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1622, owned land in Ansley<ref>{{cite book |date=2002 |last=Farnham |first=Russell Clare |title=A Longfellow genealogy : comprising the English ancestry and descendants of the immigrant William Longfellow of Newbury, Massachusetts, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |publisher=Walrus Publishers |location=Florida, USA |page=951}}</ref> * Robert Clements (b.1595, Cosby, Leicestershire, d 1685, Haverhill, Massachusetts) – founding settler of Haverhill, Massachusetts<ref>{{cite book |date=1939 |last=Todd |first=Georgia Brake |title=God's infinite variety, an American |publisher=National Americana Publications |location=New York, USA |page=165}}</ref> lived in Ansley before sailing to New England, USA * Isabella Farmer (d.1686, Massachusetts) – an early settler of Billerica, Massachusetts and the second wife of Thomas Wiswall, was born in Ansley * Nathaniel Ireson (1685-1769) – master builder, was probably born in Ansley<ref>{{cite book |date=1980 |last=Montagu |first=Howard M |title=A biographical dictionary of British architects 1600-1840 |publisher=Facts on File |location=New York, USA |page=446 |isbn=0871964422}}</ref> * William Chambers (1723-1796) – Swedish-Scottish architect, commissioned to design a Chinese temple at Ansley Hall in 1767<ref>{{cite book |date=2007 |last=Desmond |first=Ray |title=The history of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Kew |location=London, UK |page=64 |isbn=9781842461686}}</ref> * Thomas Warton (1723-1790) – English historian and poet, visited Ansley in 1758 and wrote the poem "An Inscription" about visiting the hermitage at Ansley Hall, published in 1777<ref>{{cite book |date=1947 |last=Salzman |first=L F |title=A History of the County of Warwick: Vol 4 Hemlingford Hundred |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London, UK |pages=5–9}}</ref> * William Hutchins (1792-1841) – churchman and academic was born in Ansley.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search-2018.pl?sur=&suro=w&fir=&firo=c&cit=Ansley&cito=c&c=all&z=all&tex=&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50 |title=William Hutchins |author= |website= venn.lib.cam.ac.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> He sailed to Tasmania in 1836 and was the first Archdeacon of Van Diemen’s Land<ref>{{cite book |date=2004 |last=Lewis |first=Donald M |title=Dictionary of Evangelical Biography |publisher=Hendrikson Publishers |location=Peabody, Mass, USA |page=587 |isbn=1565639359}}</ref> * George Eliot (1819-1880) – novelist, poet, journalist and translator, was born in neighbouring Arbury and may have set ''Middlemarch'' and ''The Mill on the Floss'' around Ansley<ref>{{cite book |date=1997 |last=Britton |first=Paul |title=The Jigsaw Man: The remarkable career of Britain's foremost criminal psychologist |publisher=Bantam |location=London, UK |page=411 |isbn=059304066X}}</ref> * William Garside Phillips, JP (1849-1929) – Chairman of Warwickshire Coal Owners’ Association for 20 years, Chairman of Atherstone Rural District Committee for 21 years, managing director of Ansley Hall Colliery<ref>{{cite news |date=1929-01-11 |work=Nuneaton Chronicle |author= |title= Funeral of Mr W G Phillips JP |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004593/19290111/172/0008 |page=8 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> lived in Ansley for 50 years * Joseph Phillips (1881-1951) – first-class cricketer, was born at Ansley Hall. He played for Ansley Hall Cricket Club.<ref>{{cite book |date=1989 |last=Brooke |first=Robert |title=A who's who of Warwickshire County Cricket Club |publisher=Hale |location=London, UK |page=141 |isbn=0709037309}}</ref> He was grandfather to Captain Mark Phillips<ref>{{cite book |date=1986 |last=Hallam |first=Elizabeth |title=Domesday Heritage: Towns and Villages of Norman England through 900 years |publisher=Arrow |location=London, UK |page=35 |isbn=0099458004}}</ref> * Harry Smith (1886-1955) – manager at Ansley Hall Colliery * Charlie Dixon (1903-1993) – English footballer, born in Ansley * John Eric Maidens – inventor of a knitting machine pattern device, lived in Ansley<ref>{{cite magazine |date=25 February 1974 |author= |title=Patents |magazine=Knitting Times |location=New York, USA |edition=Vol. 43 No. 8 |publisher=National Knitted Outerwear Association |page=64}}</ref> * Ethel Elizabeth Angell, FRSA – oil painter who exhibited at the Royal Academy in the 1930s and 1940s<ref>{{cite news |date=1946-05-10 |work=Midland Counties Tribune |author= |title=Ansley woman painter |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003335/19460510/047/0005 |page=5 |location=Nuneaton, UK }}</ref> was from Ansley Common<ref>{{cite book |date=1973 |last=Monnington |first=T |title=Royal Academy exhibitors, 1905-1970. A dictionary of artists and their work in the summer exhibitions of the Royal Academy for Arts Vol 1 |publisher=EP Publishing |location=Wakefield, UK |page=38 |isbn=0854099875}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=1937 |title=Who's who in American art 13th Edition |publisher=The Art Trade Press Ltd |location=New Providence, USA |page=11}}</ref> * Henry Plumb, Baron Plumb (1925-2022) – politician, born at Park Farm, Ansley.<ref>{{cite book |date=1985 |last=Bishop |first=James |title=The Illustrated Counties of England |publisher=Facts on File Inc. |location=New York, USA |page=154 |isbn=0816011575}}</ref> He attended Ansley C of E Primary School<ref>{{cite book |date=1995 |last=Gibb |first=Robbie |title=BBC-Vacher's biographical guide 1995 |publisher=Vacher |location=London, UK |pages=4–111 |isbn=0951520849}}</ref> and was a member of Ansley Young Farmers’ Club<ref>{{cite news |date=2014-05-10 |work=The Coleshill Post |first=Harry |last=Taylor |title=The Lord Plumb Interview Part 3 |url=https://issuu.com/thecoleshillpost/docs/cp_april2014 |page=24 |location=Coleshill, UK }}</ref> * Johnny Schofield (1931-2006) – played football for Ansley Hall Colliery * Maureen Stephenson (1927-2008) – author, lived at Ansley Mill from the 1980s * Naomi Smith (1980-1995) – schoolgirl, murdered at Ansley Common in 1995<ref>{{cite book |date=1997 |last=Britton |first=Paul |title=The Jigsaw Man: The remarkable career of Britain's foremost criminal psychologist |publisher=Bantam |location=London, UK |page=408 |isbn=059304066X}}</ref>

==Recent developments== In recent history Ansley has been the recipient of several community grants:

===Community Fund=== Ansley has successfully applied for the following grants from the National Lottery Community Fund: *2005 - Ansley Sports Cricket Club was awarded £5,000 for pitch covers<ref name="tnlcommunityfund_org_uk">{{cite web |url= https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/grants/recipients/360G-blf-org-AnsleySportsCricketClubCharity:CharitableUnincorporatedAssociation111895 |title=Ansley Sports Cricket Club |author= |website= tnlcommunityfund.org.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> *2007 - Ansley village and Birchley Heath were awarded £10,000 from the to install new playground equipment<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/grants/0030008870 |title=Birchley Heath and Ansley Village Recreation Grounds project |author= |website= tnlcommunityfund.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> *2007 - Ansley Sports Cricket Club was awarded £3,240 for essential equipment<ref name="tnlcommunityfund_org_uk" /> *2008 - Ansley Allotment Society was awarded £6,873 to create composting toilets with disabled facilities<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/grants/recipients/360G-blf-org-AnsleyVillageAllotmentSocietyCharity:CharitableUnincorporatedAssociation142013 |title=Ansley Village allotment society - organisation |author= |website= tnlcommunityfund.org.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> *2009 - Birchley Heath was awarded £8,986 to improve playground equipment<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/grants/0030095136 |title=Birchley Heath Improved Facilities project |author= |website= tnlcommunityfund.org.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> *2012 - Ansley Parish Council was awarded £10,000 for a Community Hardstanding and Meeting Place project<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/grants/0030070234 |title=CHAMP (Community Hardstanding and Meeting Point) |author= |website= tnlcommunityfund.org.uk |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref>

===Heritage Lottery Fund=== In 2008, Ansley became part of the North Arden Heritage Trail, a circular walk around North Warwickshire, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The 25-mile trail passes through Atherstone, Mancetter, Hartshill, Ansley, Arley, Fillongley, Maxstoke, Shustoke, Nether Whitacre, Kingsbury, Dordon, Baddesley Ensor and Merevale.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Brown |first=Cynthia |date=Spring 2008 |title=Current British work |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40179962 |journal=Oral History |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=15 |jstor=40179962 |access-date=2023-10-01}}</ref>

===Big Local=== In 2012, Ansley village, together with Old Arley and New Arley was a recipient of £1,000,000 of Big Local funding, a National Lottery Community Fund-funded programme,<ref>{{cite web |url= https://localtrust.org.uk/about/|title=About |author= |website= localtrust.org.uk |access-date=2023-11-09}}</ref> which invested in 150 areas across England.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.wcava.org.uk/big-local/|title=Arley and Ansley Big Local |author= |website= wcava.org.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> Initially calling themselves "Leys Millionaires" they changed to "Ansley and Arley Big Local".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.arleyansleybiglocal.co.uk |title= Welcome |author= |website= arleyansleybiglocal.co.uk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref>

===Ansley Common Recreation Ground=== In 2021, Ansley Common, together with three other play areas, were granted £200,000 by the county council to improve play facilities, including building a BMX or pump track.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://atherstone.nub.news/news/local-news/ansley-common-to-benefit-from-off-road-cycling-track-as-part-of-200000-park-improvement-plans|title= Ansley Common to benefit from off-road cycling track as part of £200,000 park improvement plans |first=James |last=Smith |website= atherstone.nub.news |date= 20 January 2021 |access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref>

==Culture== right|thumb|150px|Thomas Warton by Joshua Reynolds right|thumb|200px|''Tom'' sandstone sculpture by Graeme Mitcheson right|thumb|150px|Ansley Village Coal Mining Heritage Wheel * The poet Thomas Warton wrote the poem ''An Inscription in a Hermitage'' after visiting Ansley Hall’s hermitage in 1758.<ref>{{cite book |date=1789 |last=Warton |first=Thomas |title=Poems by Thomas Warton, fellow of Trinity College, Oxford 1789 |publisher=GGJ and J Robinson |location=Oxford, UK |page=19}}</ref> Part of the poem appeared in chapter XVII of Walter Scott’s 1820 novel ''Ivanhoe''.<ref>{{cite book |date=1904 |last=Scott |first=Walter |title=Ivanhoe |publisher= American Book Company |location=New York, USA |page=177 }}</ref> * ''The Ludford Box'' is a collection of eleven children’s books spanning 1746-1781, once owned by John Newdigate Ludford of Ansley Hall and then his daughter, Elizabeth Juliana Ludford. These books were the subject of a 1989 study by Brian Alderson, discussing "their contribution to our knowledge of eighteenth-century children’s literature" and are kept at University of California, Los Angeles’ Department of Special Collections<ref>{{cite book |date=1989 |last=Alderson |first=Brian |title=The Ludford Box and a Christmass-Box |publisher= Research Library, University of California |location=California, USA |page=9 }}</ref> * Ansley appeared in John Byng, 5th Viscount Torrington’s 1793 ''Torrington Diary – A Tour of North Wales'', where he described it as "a pleasant village with a neat public house".<ref>{{cite book |date=1934 |last=Torrington |first=John Byng |title=The Torrington Diaries |publisher= Eyre and Spottiswoode Ltd |location=London, UK |page=219 }}</ref> * The Ansley Morris, a woman’s Cotswold Morris side, was founded in 2007<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.ansleymorrisdancers.com/about-us |title= About us |author= |website= ansleymorrisdancers.com |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.visitnorthernwarwickshire.com/member/ansley-morris-2/ |title= Ansley Morris |author= |website= visitnorthernwarwickshire.com |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> * A sandstone sculpture, called ''Tom'' by Graeme Mitcheson was installed on the village green in 2009. It forms part of the North Arden Heritage Trail and depicts Ansley’s heritage and natural environment, including mining, ribbons, conkers, brooks and great crested newts<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1888697 |title= SP2991: Carved stone sculpture, Birmingham Road, Ansley |first=John |last=Brightly |website= geography.org.hk |access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref> * Ansley is referenced in Rosie Goodwin’s novels ''Yesterday’s Shadows'' (2009) Pub. Magna, ''A Mother’s Shame'' (2014) Pub. Canvas, ''The Soldier’s Daughter'' (2014) Pub. Canvas, ''The Little Angel'' (2017) Pub. Zaffre, ''A Simple Wish'' (2021) pub. Bonnier and ''A Lesson Learned'' (2023) Pub. Bonnier. * Ansley is mentioned in Kathleen Fleming’s autobiography ''Thirty-five Acres, a Spade, and a fork'' (2013) Pub. Xlibris * The ''Ansley Village Coal Mining Heritage Wheel'' was opened on Ansley Island, the roundabout outside the village, in February 2017. It features half of the original shaft winding wheel from Daw Mill colliery, the last working colliery in Warwickshire, which closed in 2013. A plaque reads "A tribute to the many miners who worked in our local coal mines. They worked underground in darkness so that we might be in warmth and light." The other half of the wheel is at New Arley Primary School, New Arley<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/local-news/nuneatons-conservative-mp-wont-unveil-12609150 |title= Nuneaton's Conservative MP won't unveil mining monument after angry backlash from former miners|first=Katrina |last=Chilver |website= coventrytelegraph.net |date= 16 February 2017|access-date=2023-09-09}}</ref>

==Further reading== *{{cite book |date=1947 |last=Salzman |first=L F |title=A History of the County of Warwick: Vol. 4 Hemlingford Hundred |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London, UK}} *{{cite book |date=1988 |last1=Bland |first1=J |last2=Callwood |first2=R |last3=Hayfield |first3=C |title=Ansley Remembered |publisher=Springfield |location=Warwickshire, UK |isbn=978-0951184738}} *{{cite book |date=2017 |last=Pickford |first=Chris |title=Warwickshire |publisher=Yale University Press |location=Yale, USA |isbn=978-0300215601}}

==External links== *[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol4/pp5-9 British History Online – British History - Ansley] *[http://www.nuneatonhistory.com/villages-parishes-churches--estates.html Old photos of Ansley] *[https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/location/ansley#photos ''Our Warwickshire'' historical photos of Ansley] *[https://www.visitnorthernwarwickshire.com/member/north-arden-heritage-trail/ North Arden Heritage Trail]

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Villages in Warwickshire Category:Borough of North Warwickshire Category:Mining communities in England Category:Civil parishes in Warwickshire