1928-9 AD

Weddington Gardens & Alsted Lodge built by Hope and Aldridge. Some of the Castle timber is believed to be in the latter (54,90)

1930-33 AD

First new houses built, hard to sell (at around £350), built by Simms of Hinckley (29)

1931 AD

Weddington population: 643 (34)
12th April: Nuneaton-Ashby Joint Railway passenger service closed.
Weddington was incorporated into NUNEATON (34,47)
 

1932 AD

22nd May. River Anker flooded (28,32,37,38). You can see a picture of the flood by clicking here.

1933 AD

River Anker straightened (38,90)

1934 AD

10th July. Tues. 11.15 a.m. HRH Prince of Wales landed by aeroplane in Weddington Lane for his visit to Nuneaton (113)

1935-8 AD

Houses built in Castle Road (29)

1936 AD

26th November. Church Hall built (29)
 

1937-8 AD

The GROVE converted into an hotel by Captain Cunliffe Shawe (29)

1938 AD

Ordnance Survey re-mapped Weddington, Orient Close re-named Elmfield Close (43)
 

1940 AD

Bombs damaged parts of Weddington. German aerial reconnaissance photographs (38) Dummy airfield near railway diverted bombs from Lindley. This was frequently bombed (52)
 

1941  AD

No census; estimated 1,200? (29)

1951 AD

Weddington population: 1,828 (34)

Charles Shawe, son of Henry Cunliffe Shawe, died in Frome, Somerset
 

1956 AD

NEW INCUMBENT Rev. John GALE (81)

1958  AD

2nd July. River Anker flooded (38)

1959 AD

August/September. The old Rectory was demolished; new houses built in Church Lane, Wimpey Estate and Castle Road (30,38,90)
 

1960 AD

Good Friday 15th April 2.00am: the Coventry Cathedral Cross of Nails is brought to Weddington. It then moved on to Exhall, having come previously from Stockingford, then Atherstone.

Wimpey estate expands (38)
Land Utilisation Survey mapped Weddington (46)
 

1962 AD

Mrs Jessie K. Pearson last mentioned in the Electoral Roll at The Lodge (Grove Bungalow) (85)

1964 AD

NEW INCUMBENT Canon Guy CORNWALL-JONES, went to Bilton 1984, then Leek Wootton (81)

1965 AD

Church Farm demolished (85)
Brick Railway bridge near Shanklin Drive replaced with a steel one.
(38,90)
 

1967 AD

Grove Bungalow: i.e: the Northern Round Gatehouse Lodge is demolished. The local legend of tunnels between the Castle and the Lodges and Church were not proven (57)

1969 AD

Harry CLEAVER gives land for sports field (38), his name is later remembered when Cleaver Garden flats are built on the site of Weddington Gardens.

1969 AD

17th August. Nuneaton-Ashby Joint Railway finally closed. Wagon storage only (38,90)

1972 AD

January - March. Railway track is removed from Nuneaton-Ashby Joint Railway (38,90)

1972 AD

21st July. The Weddington Road bridge is blown up. Weddington Junction Signal Box is burnt down. Nameplate and Train registers rescued and donated to Shackerstone Museum (38,90)
The first Infra-Red colour photographs taken of the Deserted Mediaeval Village at Weddington (90)
 

1972-3 AD

Hedges and field boundaries begin to change with mechanised agriculture. The old castle's southern gateway is demolished (63,90)

1974 AD

March - May. River Anker was dredged and deepened (90)
July. Weddington Gardens are abandoned, sold to build Cleaver Gardens flats (90)
 

1975 AD

18th February: a picture of Weddington Castle appeared in the Tribune / Observer showing nurses and guests c. 1915-7 (113)
Many horseshoes were found in the bottoms of gardens along Shawe Avenue. There was a building there; believed to be a farriers (113)

6th June: a fatal rail crash just south of  Nuneaton Railway Station. It happened when the 23:30 sleeper from London Euston to Glasgow was derailed after entering a temporary speed restriction at too high a speed. Six people, four passengers and two staff, died and 38 were injured.
 

1977-8 AD

Flood Relief Culvert began construction (90)

1981 AD

Water pipe laid to Church, quartzite rubble was found from old Church, Swithland Slate from roof (65,90)

1983 AD

10th October: 'Weddington Walk' officially opened as a Green Track on the route of the former Weddington Railway Line (50,90)

1984 AD

NEW INCUMBENT Rev. John BARNES, moved to Wilnecote 1989, then Walsall Wood, then Bentley, retired 1995 (81)
Fire partly destroyed Lower Farm (38,90)
20th June. River Anker flooded after 1 inch of rain in 24 hours (113)
 

1988 AD

Lower Farm demolished, discovery of a timber-frame building of high quality. It belonged to the South Western School and had numerous carpenters' marks. The main doorway was less than 67" high and skilfully carved with rebates and grooves. Several possible explanations:

a) It was the in situ remains of a 16th C. grand manor or farmhouse on that site.
b) It was from a larger 16th C building that was demolished and sold e.g. Lindley Hall or Weddington's Capital Mansion House.

It was dismantled and re-erected in the Ashbourne area (38,90)
 

1989 AD

NEW INCUMBENT Rev. Tony ADAMS (81)

1990 AD

3 shallow depth, small diameter soil boreholes drilled in the field between the river and the church.
Borehole 1 found a rusted iron implement similar to an ancient plough blade at considerable depth.
Borehole 2 found a layer or burnt soil and charcoal at about 18" depth.
Borehole 3 found what appeared to be a piece of wattle and daub (90)
A book is published on Weddington called 'Skylark Fields' by Alan Sheasby. Sensitive observations of the 1940-50's (86)
 

1991-2 AD

Church Alterations: new drive, doors, floor, central heating, gas laid (65,90)

1992 AD

First publication of “A geology, geography and history of
WEDDINGTON, in the County of Warwick" by Alan F Cook
 

1993 AD

Factories & shops extended & improved e.g. Parkside (Trinity – then Citreon), Jacques (Nial Bailey – then Bailey Buildbase), Abbey Metals & ATS. Track lifted from railway near ATS.
Two periods of high rainfall caused waterlogged fields especially in the ridge & furrow (113)
 

1995 AD

July. The church flower festival. The talented ladies group created various scenes from Weddington’s pre-history and history, as well as copying the heraldic crests of the parish’s various owners.

1996 AD

4th Feb. Roman mortaria and Samian pottery found in a ditch or pit structure beneath 284 Weddington Road (113)
20th Apr. The Weddington Hotel has foundation constructed at the rear for an extension. At 1.0 m depth they were in natural clay, probably glacial drift or re-worked Mercia Mudstone, no evidence of archaeological surfaces. The Hotel changed its name to The Fox & Crane, there are rumours that a tunnel between the Grove and the Castle was found at this time. (113)
 

1997 AD

29th Jun. Official archaeological trial excavations to the east of the church in preparation for a new building. Unique stone drains were found c. 1670 designs from Dugdale’s monograph on land drainage. A stone building c. C17th was found near the stream. Mesolithic flints and a Bronze Age tool had also been found. The whole area was ultimately designated as an important archaeological zone. Most of the adjacent Oak trees were subject to Tree Preservation Orders (113)

1998 AD

January. The Public Inquiry rejected the proposed new church at Weddington – euphemistically known as the “Stealth Bomber” because of its shape!
November The Weddington Green Track and others were adopted by the Countryside Commission as type examples.
Part of the Rectory grounds were sold for a new house
 

1999 AD

9th January. The first steam engine through Weddington for 35 years
15-16th January. The River Anker flooded Weddington,.
 

2000 AD

2000 21st June. Foundation excavations at the rear of St. James church for a new extension. Large blocks of Attleborough Sandstone rubble which may have been parts of the original Church were found as well as an unknown skeleton. The official “dig” had revealed nothing.

30th Oct. 6th Nov. 8th Dec. River Anker flooded the parish fields
December Cable television excavations in the parish
 

2001 AD

January. River Anker flooded the local fields
February. Foot and Mouth breaks out in local farms
It was not officially over until October in the area
INCUMBENT Rev. Dr Alan Munden (81, 113)
 

2002 AD

May. The housing market was lively, many semi-detached houses
in the parish are on sale for £120,000 (they had been £23,000 in 1983)
June. Plans were revealed to develop the Church Hall site. Millennium money had been available for the restoration of these aging community facilities (18, 81)
Revised publication of “A geology, geography and history of WEDDINGTON, in the County of Warwick" by Alan F Cook
 

2004 AD

2004 Building commenced on the new Church Hall with houses to be built on the former allotment land at the rear.

A piece of enabling work was done by the council to downgrade Weddington's open green field land from the status as “Area of Restraint”. This would allow any developer wishing to build on it to do so, given planning permission. Local opposition begins.

2005 AD

Launch of the ‘Weddington Castle – An Online History’ website (www.weddingtoncastle.co.uk) by John Brookes.

'Weddington Castle - A History' released on CD-Rom (featuring the above website).

Several new houses built behind the new Church Hall off Church Lane. The access road has been named "Swinnerton's Heritage". The Swinnerton family were major farmers in the area. Robert Swinnerton lived at The Grove in the C19th and there is an impressive memorial for the Swinnertons in St. James Churchyard.

The Fox & Crane restaurant (formerly "The Grove"), is purchased by AR Cartwright Ltd builders. The restaurant is scheduled to close on 17th January 2008, and it is rumoured that the building is to be either converted to flats or turned into a retirement home.

2008 AD

The Fox & Crane restaurant (formerly "The Grove") finally closes to the public on Tuesday 15th January.