Population 324 (2011 Census) Civil parish Ansty Country England Local time Sunday 6:03 AM District Borough of Rugby UK parliament constituency Rugby | OS grid reference SP397833 Region West Midlands Sovereign state United Kingdom Shire county Warwickshire Dialling code 024 | |
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Weather 8°C, Wind SW at 14 km/h, 87% Humidity | ||
Ansty is a village and civil parish just outside the outskirts of Coventry, about 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of the city centre. Ansty was part of the County of the City of Coventry until that county was dissolved in 1842. Ansty is on the Oxford Canal and the B4065 road, which used to be the main road between Coventry and Hinckley. The junction between the M6 and M69 motorways and A46 road is 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of the village.
Contents
Map of Ansty, Coventry, UK
History
The Domesday Book of 1086 mentions Ansty as part of the hundred of Brinklow. The main landowner was Lady Godiva. Its toponym comes from Old English Ānstīg meaning "one-path", i.e. "lonely or narrow path" or "path linking other paths".
The Church of England parish church of Saint James has a 13th-century chancel. The arcade between the nave and north aisle is 14th century. Sir George Gilbert Scott rebuilt the rest of the church in 1856.
Ansty Hall, just outside the village, was built in 1678 for Richard Taylor, who had been on the Parliamentarian side in the English Civil War. The house is arranged in seven bays and built of brick with stone quoins and pediment. It is now the Ansty Hall Hotel.
A cottage industry of weaving developed in the parish from early in the 18th century. This grew into a substantial ribbon-making trade early in the 19th century, but declined in the 1830s.
James Brindley completed the section of the Oxford Canal through Ansty in 1771. In November 1963 a 30 feet (9.1 m) high embankment on the towpath side gave way, spilling 10,000 tons of sand and clay onto adjoining land.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Armstrong Siddeley Motors had its development plant for gas turbines and aircraft rocket motors as well as the Gamma rocket motors used in the Black Knight and Black Arrow launchers. The plant is now the Ansty engineering works of Rolls-Royce. In 2013, Rolls-Royce announced the closure of the military part of the plant.The civil part of the plant remains uneffected.
In 2012, Ansty erected its first War Memorial due to the hard work of local villagers headed by Chief Petty Officer Dean Bateman.
Amenities
Ansty has a pub, the Rose and Castle Inn, beside the canal. There is also an Ansty Social Club and an Ansty Golf Club.