Allesley () is a suburban village and civil parish in the City of Coventry metropolitan borough, West Midlands. It is about west-northwest of Coventry city centre and east-south-east of Meriden, historically in the Arden area of Warwickshire. The parish population as of the 2021 census was 907. Until 1998, Allesley contained the main Jaguar car assembly plant at Browns Lane.
Geography
Situated at the eastern extreme of the Meriden Gap, the parish of Allesley covers a much larger area than the village itself, which is based around Washbrook Lane, Browns Lane and Hawkesmill Lane. The parish incorporates the ancient rural Ardens of Pinketts Booth, Pickford, Pickford Green, Harvest Hill, Hawkes End, Hollyberry End, Wall Hill and Brownshill Green.
Allesley Village denotes the area east of the Birmingham Road, including West Point. Although this is largely a dormitory community for Coventry, it retains several aspects of a separate village, with many residents still regarding it as such. Most of the old village is a conservation area on a low ridge between the River Sherbourne and a tributary of it, the Pickford Brook.
The suburbs of Allesley Green and Allesley Park lie outside the parish to the south and east. Allesley Park developed in the 1950s to 1970s to the east of the A45 and due south of Allesley. Allesley Green, built in the late 1980s, lies a quarter of a mile south-west of Allesley. The combined population of the three is approximately 8,000.
History
Allesley grew around the 800-year-old All Saints Church (known as All Souls Church until the Reformation). Its spire is prominent on the village skyline. Originating about 1140, it was rebuilt in 1863 and remains largely unaltered since. A noted writer on husbandry, Walter Blith, was baptised there on 7 August 1605.ODNB entry: Retrieved 2 September 2011. Subscription required. Next to the Church is The Elms, Coventry, a former private residence, eye hospital and children's convalescent home,Oakley, Bernard. (2004) The Buildings of Allesley, 2nd ed. Allesley and Coundon Wedge Conservation Society. p. 12-13. which is now a pub and restaurant operated by the Harvester chain.
The Birmingham Road running through the village was part of the turnpike trunk road laid out between Holyhead and London in 1821–1824 by Thomas Telford. Allesley Toll House was built at the junction of Holyhead Road and Allesley Old Road. It was rare in that it allowed payment to be taken on two roads simultaneously. Tolls were discontinued under the Annual Turnpike Acts Continuance Act 1871. The toll house was demolished in the mid-1930s.
Allesley included the Browns Lane Jaguar car plant and its national showroom, which closed in the late 1990s. Wood-veneer trim production for Jaguar continued until the mid-2000s, after which the land was sold to developers. An Amazon fulfilment centre opened on the site in 2018.
Demographics + Census population of Allesley parish Census Population Female Male Households Source 2001 805 424 381 293 2011 837 440 397 318 2021 907 461 446 328
Twin town
Allesley is twinned with the village of Saint-Jean-Soleymieux, near Saint-Étienne, Loire, France.
Sports The parish has an amateur Barkers Butts Rugby Football Club playing at the Bob Coward Memorial Ground, just off Pickford Grange Lane. Formed in 1946, it originally played in Keresley, but moved to Allesley in 1975.
References
Bibliography David Fry and Albert Smith, 1991/1993, The Coventry We Have Lost. 2 vols, Simanda Press, Berkswell /