Princethorpe

Princethorpe
Princethorpe  Princethorpe shown within Warwickshire
Population	376 (2011)
OS grid reference	SP4068
Civil parish	Princethorpe
District	Rugby
Shire county	Warwickshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	RUGBY
Postcode district	CV23
Dialling code	01926
Police	Warwickshire
Fire	Warwickshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Rugby and Kenilworth
List of places UK England Warwickshire

Princethorpe is a village and civil parish in the Rugby district of Warwickshire, England. In 2001 the parish had a population of 382, reducing to 376 at the 2011 Census.

Princethorpe is located roughly halfway between the towns of Rugby and Leamington Spa and is at a crossroads between the A423, B4453 and B4455 (Fosse Way) roads. The village contains a pub called the Three Horse Shoes.

Situated on Leamington Road in the village is Our Lady's Primary School. It is a primary school with around 100 children between the ages of 4 and 11.

Just outside the village is Princethorpe College, a Roman Catholic school. The school incorporates the buildings of the former St. Mary's Priory, which was founded by French Benedictine nuns from Montargis who sought asylum from the French Revolution. The college chapel was designed and built by Pugin. There is also an independent retreat centre close to the college.

The area surrounding the college is heavily wooded. There is a small, well-stocked pond among the trees called Little Switzerland

In the 1950s, a number of Roman coins were found in Princethorpe. This is related to the fact that the Fosse Way, an old Roman road, runs through the village. There is also what seems to be an ancient burial or signal tower mound on the outskirts of the village (on the road to Marton), but not much else is known about it.

Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Prǽnesþorp = Prǽn's outlying farmstead or hamlet.In the time of Edward I it was called Prenesthorpe.In the reign of Henry VI it came into the possession of the Hugford family of Emscote and stayed in that family until the reign of Henry VII when John Hugford sold it to Sir William Compton.

Princethorpe was originally in the parish of Wolston but was made, for convenience, a separate parish with Stretton by an Act of Parliament in the reign of William III. The Parish was to be known as the Parish of All Saints with the Vicar, Francis Hunt, residing in Stretton.

There is also a small hamlet north west of the college called Burnthurst and there are roughly 12 dwellings.

Notable people

Land drainage reformer Joseph Elkington developed his drainage techniques while farming at Princethorpe.

External links

• Princethorpe College website
• Princethorpe Retreat Centre website