WEDDINGTON CASTLE - An Online History
WEBSITE UPDATES
In this section you can find details of all the latest updates to the Weddington Castle website. Despite being demolished nearly a century ago, the legacy and historical impact of the Castle remains and it is a testament to the dynamic nature of history that new information is always being uncovered. Check back here regularly for the latest updates.
You can see earlier updates made between 2005 and 2010 by clicking here.
To return to this page from any of the links below, simply press the 'Back' button on your browser.
| 5th January 2012 |
Information booklet from the late 1960s on
Higham Grange Rehabilitation Centre added to
"Other Local Halls" section. Weddington Castle's website is selected for inclusion in the British Library's 'UK Web Archive' Programme. Ensuring that it will be preserved for future generations. Read the letter from the British Library here. |
| 4th January 2012 | Postcard added to "Weddington Village" section. Produced in 2012 by local campaign group SWORD (Save Weddington: Oppose the Residential Development) as part of campaign to stop building of 326 houses on Weddington Fields in 2012. |
| 3rd January 2012 |
New photo gallery of The Grove in 2012 added
to "The Grove"
section. 4 new photos of Weddington Fields / the Weddington Walk added to "Weddington Village" section. |
| 2nd January 2012 | 14 new photographs of King Edward VI College and the Old Grammar School by Colin Paterson added to "Other Local Halls" |
| 30th December 2011 | Section on King Edward VI College / The Old Grammar School added to "Other Local Halls" |
| 27th December 2011 | Front page article from Nuneaton News (27/12/11) on the Planning Committee refusal to demolish The Grove added to "The Grove" section. |
| 22nd December 2011 | Two spectacular photos of views from the top of St Nicolas Church Tower added to "Other Local Halls" section. |
| 21st December 2011 |
New section on "Old Vicarage (aka St Nicolas
Vicarage") added to "Other Local
Halls" section. 1920s postcard of swans in Riversley Park added to "Picture Gallery." NBBC Planning Committee unanimously voted to REFUSE the proposed demolition of The Grove tonight. |
| 17th December 2011 | 24 excellent modern photos of St Nicolas Parish Church, by Aidan McRae Thomson, added to "Other Local Halls" section. |
| 15th December 2011 | New page on St Nicolas Parish Church added to "Other Local Halls" section. |
| 14th December 2011 | Residents' letter opposing proposed demolition of The Grove added to "The Grove" section. |
| 8th December 2011 |
2 Victorian photos added to
"Picture Gallery":
one of a young lady and the other of a wedding group - both taken by Nuneaton
photographers of the time. Updates made to entry of Alan F. Cook in "Key People" section. |
| 6th December 2011 | Weddington Castle now has its own page on Wikipedia. You can read the entry here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weddington_Castle |
| 4th December 2011 | Details of two previous residents of Weddington Castle, Samuel Whalley (c.1797 - 1803) and E. Lees Esq. (1870-72) added to "Timelines" section. |
| 25th November 2011 | 6 new images of the Grove added to the Picture Gallery. They not only show the first interior shots of the Grove since it closed in 2008, but they also show the degree to which Cartwright's have allowed the building to fall into disrepair. |
| 9th November 2011 |
Cartwrights have applied to DEMOLISH The
Grove.
Quote from the application:
5. NBBC response is that: "principle would be acceptable subject to justification for demolition"
Weddington Castle Online will be objecting to this as a matter of urgency - click here for more information. |
| 3rd November 2011 | Updated details of the history of the surviving terracotta Lion from Weddington Castle added to "Picture Gallery." |
| 27th October 2011 | Information on Sergeant Sydney Vine, Groom to the Shawe family at Weddington Castle in 1911 and later 'chauffeur and manservant' to Captain Charles Shawe in New Zealand, added to "Victorian Servants" section. |
| 4th October 2011 | Early photograph of Nuneaton schoolchildren, undated, added to "Nuneaton Town" section. |
| 27th September 2011 | Image of a garden party at Attleborough Hall, 1855, added to "Other Locals Halls" section. |
| 27th September 2011 |
Nuneaton and Bedworth
Volunteer Centre launches a 'History of Volunteering Project'. Funded by the
Heritage Lottery Fund, its aim is to research and record the volunteering
history within the borough from 1900 to the present day.
Part of this will delve into the time when Weddington Hall was given over to the military to become a hospital for the wounded of World War I. Read a newspaper report here. |
| 26th September 2011 | Record added to "Shawe Family Tree" of Laura Georgina Shawe; Henry Cunliffe Shawe's daughter who died in 1875 aged 9 years, and Margaret Sophia Shawe (1868-9) who died aged just 1 year. |
| 26th September 2011 | Two photos added to "Picture Gallery" - one of the grave in Northern France of Henry Cunliffe Shawe's grandson: John Cunliffe Shawe, son of Charles Shawe CBE (Lieutenant, Royal Artillery, 16 Field Regt. Died: 22nd May 1940 in Belgium); the other of the grave's location in Dunkirk Town Cemetery |
| 25th September 2011 | Two photos added to "Picture Gallery" - one of Captain Geoffrey J. Shakerley (resident at Weddington Hall c1912-1915) and one of a plaque in St James' Church commemorating his three sons, who all died in action in World War I. |
| 22th September 2011 | Details of Captain Geoffrey J. Shakerley (a resident at Weddington Hall c1912-1915) added to "Timescales" section (PDF document). |
| 20th September 2011 | New account of the 1832 murder of Polly Button by John Danks (whose ghosts still reputedly haunt Weddington fields) added to "Appendices". |
| 18th September 2011 | Pre-1945 colour postcard of St James' Church added to "Picture Gallery". |
| 11th September 2011 | Four images of a "Miles Sharp" watercolour painting: "Earthworks near Woodbury Castle, Devon" added. |
| 10th September 2011 | Two new articles by Peter Lee added to "Nuneaton Town" section - 'Arthur Street' and 'Coton Road in the 1960s'. More to follow soon! |
| 9th September 2011 |
Newspaper report
on the burglary and vandalism of St James' Church added. Two images added to 'Higham Hall' page in "Other Local Halls" section - one of the workers who built the Hall, and one of the Hall during renovation. |
| 8th September 2011 |
Two images of Hartshill 'Abbey House' and one
of Michael Drayton's House added to
"Other Local Halls" section. Two images of Bridge Street and one of the Newdegate Arms Hotel added to "Nuneaton Town" section. 'The Grove 2011 - A Sad Sight' added to "The Grove" section. Gravestones of eight former Castle / Grove Owners and Residents (including HC Shawe) in St James' Church Graveyard, added to "Picture Gallery." |
| 7th September 2011 |
Sepia postcard of Tuttle Hill Windmill added
to "Other Local Halls"
section. Section on local historical artist "Miles Sharp" updated with 12 new images. Corley Hall added to "Other Local Halls" section. |
| 17th August 2011 | Plans to build 326 houses on Weddington's Church Fields are narrowly REFUSED by the Council Planning Committee. Read a newspaper report here. |
| 28th July 2011 | Four oil paintings of local historic scenes added to Pictures Galleries: Weddington Castle, St James' Church Weddington, Hartshill Castle and Market Place Nuneaton. Paintings from the collection of Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery. |
| 27th July 2011 | Oil painting of Alderman Edward F Melly (painted 1919) added to Picture Gallery (from the collection of Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery), along with 1907 postcard of Attleborough School carnival float from 1907. |
| 9th July 2011 | Photo of a Victorian couple, photographed by Speights of Nuneaton, added to Picture Gallery. |
| 13th June 2011 | Section on local historical artist "Miles Sharp" updated with 6 new images. |
| 17th May 2011 | Section on local historical artist "Miles Sharp" updated with images of four paintings. |
| 15th May 2011 | Over 120 local residents gathered in Weddington's Church Fields to protest against ongoing plans to build a housing estate there. Nuneaton MP Marcus Jones also attended and a petition opposing the plans with over 3950 signatures was presented. You can view a photograph of the event here. |
| 9th March 2011 | A terracotta Heraldic Lion from Weddington Castle's grounds, rescued from the demolition in 1928, has turned up nearly a century later in remarkably good condition. You can see 5 photographs of this artefact, in the Castle "Picture Gallery". |
| 26th February | Picture of Newdegate Arms and square, 1907, added to "Picture Gallery". |
| 25th February 2011 | Article on the restoration of Astley Castle in Nuneaton News. Click here to read. |
| 15th February 2011 | New article added to "Nuneaton Town": 'The Bunny Run (1960s)' |
| 12th January 2011 | New article added to "Nuneaton Town": 'Abbey Street in the 1932 flood' |
