History of Radway
Radway has a history of being community spirited. It is understood that until the early 1870’s when there was general social unrest, an annual festival including a flower show, was held in the Grange gardens with a marquee erected for teas and a band. This festival was connected to the dedication of the old and new Church to St Peter on `Wake` Sunday, the first Sunday after St. Peter’s Day and the celebration was the Wednesday of that week. Colonel Starkey permitted a fete and flower show to be held in the Park where there were sports, teas and dancing. This was not connected to the `Wake`.
Some of the more significant features of the village’s history are:
- Early Saxon
- it is assumed that King John’s Lane was a Mercian boundary
- Saxon
- earliest recorded historic links are to Coventry when Radway was wholly owned by the Church
- Radmore Monks
- Edward1 in 1284 grants a “free warren” (an enclosed area for the breeding of game), in Radway Manor
- Church of St Peter
- originally built in 1321, it was demolished when the present church was consecrated in 1866
- Radway Grange
- built in the 16th century by the Stoneleigh monks and redesigned and landscaped by Sanderson Miller in the 18th century
- The Farmers
- Spring line village with organised drainage. Grazed parkland, visible evidence of ridge and furrow, working farms within the village
- The Quakers
- significant Quaker tradition with a burial ground and Quaker Meeting House (Oriel Cottage) which was in use until 1850
- Village Hall and Church School
- commissioned by Charles and John Chambers in 1852 and 1854 respectively
- War Memorial Lych-gate
- erected in grateful remembrance of those belonging to the village who served in the Great War 1914 – 1918 and in sacred memory of those who fell in active service 1939 – 1945. Field Marshall Earl Haig is listed in the roll of honour
- The Green
- houses erected by the council in the 1950’s in three phases on the “boundary” of “The Green”
- Townsend Farm
- adaptation of former farm buildings to create 5 dwellings in the late 1980’s
- Old Stable Yard Stable Mews
- adaptation of former stables and new buildings to create 7 dwellings in the late 1990s