Wolvey

Infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Wolvey
latitude= 52.483395
longitude= -1.374096
civil parish = Wolvey
population = 1, 741 (2001)
shire_district= Rugby
shire_county= Warwickshire
region= West Midlands
constituency_westminster= Nuneaton
post_town= HINCKLEY
postcode_district = LE10
postcode_area= LE
dial_code= 01455
os_grid_reference= SP4287

Wolvey is a village and parish in Warwickshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,741.

The village is on the B4065 and B4109 roads and is located in an outlying part of the borough of Rugby; the village is, however, more than 10 miles (16 km) north-west from the town of Rugby and is closer to Nuneaton (five miles to the north-west) and Coventry (five miles south-west). It is also close to the source of the River Anker. To the west of Wolvey, in the hamlet of Bramcote, is Gamecock Barracks.

The village dates back to Saxon times. The most important historic event in Wolvey occurred in 1469, during the Wars of the Roses, when Warwick the Kingmaker captured King Edward IV on Wolvey Heath.

Historically knitting, weaving and milling were the most important trades in the village. At one time there were 27 windmills in the area, although none now remain.

Much of the village consists of modern housing, but it also contains some older buildings such as its church of "St John the Baptist" which dates partly from the 14th century.

Its name most probably came from the Anglo-Saxon "wulf-hæg" or "wulf-hege" = "wolf hedge" = "enclosure with a hedge to keep wolves out".

References

*"Warwickshire Towns & Villages", by Geoff Allen, 2000 ISBN 1-85058-642-X