Dow Bridge is a location in the English Midlands where the A5 road (the former Roman Watling Street) crosses the River Avon. It is the point where the three counties of Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire meet, forming a tripoint.
A bridge has existed at the location since Roman times. The sixteenth century antiquary John Leland wrote 'Where this bridge is there were two smaller ones, the wider for carriages, the lesser, evidently Roman, for foot passengers and horses.' The site was for centuries believed to have been the location of the Roman town of Tripontium, however this was later discovered around a mile to the north. The bridge was rebuilt in around 1776 by the Road Commissioners, consisting of five brick arches and was again rebuilt in 1838, incorporating parts of the earlier bridge. On this bridge was a stone called the 'Three Shires Stone' marking the junction of the three counties. This bridge became grade II listed in 1990. It is now disused having been replaced by a modern road bridge to the west which was built in the 1930s. [1] [2] [3]
It lies close to the Warwickshire villages of Newton and Clifton-upon-Dunsmore (the bridge being in the parish of the former) the Leicestershire village of Catthorpe and the Northamptonshire village of Lilbourne.
Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. At the 2021 census, its population was 78,117, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby, which had a population of 114,400 in 2021.
Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main Roman roads in Britannia. The route linked Dover and London in the southeast, and continued northwest via St Albans to Wroxeter. The line of the road was later the southwestern border of the Danelaw with Wessex and Mercia, and Watling Street was numbered as one of the major highways of medieval England.
Warwickshire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire to the south, and Worcestershire and the West Midlands county to the west. The largest settlement is Nuneaton and the county town is Warwick.
Harborough is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. It is named after its main town, Market Harborough, which is where the council is based. The district also includes the town of Lutterworth and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. In the north of the district it includes parts of the Leicester Urban Area, notably at Thurnby, Bushby and Scraptoft. Covering 230 square miles (600 km2), the district is the largest by area of the eight districts in Leicestershire and covers almost a quarter of the county.
This article is intended to give an overview of the history of Leicestershire.
Lilbourne is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. It is close to the M1 motorway which runs east of the village, and the A5 road, west of the village which marks the boundary with Warwickshire, slightly to the north is the River Avon which marks the boundary with Leicestershire. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 254 people, increasing to 273 at the 2011 Census, and further to 305 at the 2021 census.
Elkington is a hamlet and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire in England.
High Cross is the name given to the crossroads of the Roman roads of Watling Street and Fosse Way on the border between Leicestershire and Warwickshire, England. A naturally strategic high point, High Cross was "the central cross roads" of Anglo-Saxon and Roman Britain. It was the site of a Romano-British settlement known as Venonae or Venonis, with an accompanying fort.
Newton is a small village in the civil parish of Newton and Biggin in the Rugby borough of Warwickshire, England. The civil parish population taken at the 2021 census was 1,273.
No Man's Heath is an area of the civil parish of Newton Regis, in the North Warwickshire district, in the county of Warwickshire, England, about 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Tamworth. It is near the boundaries of four English counties: Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire. Nearby in the late 19th century were Netherseal Colliery and Netherseal Hall. Today a small village exists here, also called No Man's Heath, which is the northernmost settlement in Warwickshire. No-Mans-Heath was formerly an extra-parochial tract, in 1858 No Mans Heath became a separate civil parish, on 24 March 1888 the parish was abolished and merged with Newton Regis. In 1881 the parish had a population of 70. The county boundary which used to divide the village between Leicestershire and Warwickshire has been re-drawn on 1 April 1965 to place the whole village in Warwickshire.
A Three Shire Stone is a monument marking the point where three shires meet. The term is mostly used in England.
The A427 road is a major road in the English Midlands. It connects the Leicestershire town of Market Harborough and the A6 with the Northamptonshire town of Oundle and the A605.
Catthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is located beside the River Avon and close to the A5 road, and hence close to the tripoint at Dow Bridge formed by Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire; the nearest towns are Rugby, in Warwickshire around 4 miles (6.4 km) to the southwest, and Lutterworth around 4 miles (6.4 km) to the north. At the 2001 Census, the parish had a population of 179, falling slightly to 173 at the 2011 census, further decreasing to 156 at the 2021 census.
Bretford is a hamlet in the Borough of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Brandon and Bretford.
Clifton-upon-Dunsmore is a village and civil parish in the Rugby borough of Warwickshire in England on the north-eastern outskirts of Rugby, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) from Rugby town centre. The population of the parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,304, increasing to 2,991 at the 2021 census. Clifton is counted as being part of the Rugby built-up area, but is considered separate from the town. The parish also includes the new development of Houlton to the south of the old village, which may account for the large population increase since 2011.
Shangton is a parish and village 1 mile (2 km) north of Tur Langton in Leicestershire, England. The parish is part of the Harborough district. According to the University of Nottingham English Place-names project, the settlement name Shangton could mean 'shank farm/settlement', a long, narrow bent piece of ground; a narrow ridge or 'shank' projecting from high ground beside the village. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was approximately 125.
Kirkby Road is a cricket ground in Barwell, Leicestershire. Cricket in Barwell dates to 1807, with cricket being played at Kirkby Road since at least 1913. First-class cricket has been played there three times in 1946 and 1947, with Leicestershire playing Lancashire and Warwickshire in the 1946 County Championship and Worcestershire in the 1947 County Championship. Over half a century later in 2001, major cricket returned to the ground when it played host to a List A one-day match between the Leicestershire Cricket Board (LCB) and the Northamptonshire Cricket Board in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, which was won by the LCB, with their captain Neil Pullen scoring 88. The ground is still used by the village club and adjoins the football ground used by Barwell F.C.
The Four Shire Stone is a boundary marker that marks the point where the English counties of Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire once met. Since 1931, when the Worcestershire exclave of Evenlode was transferred to Gloucestershire, only three counties have met at the stone.