Tourism

There's plenty to see in Coleshill and the surrounding countryside. Pride of place goes to the St Peter & St.Paul Church located on Church Hill in the center of the Town opposite the Old Market Hall.

This church shares its Priest and Lay Readers with St. Michael and All Angels, Maxstoke. As part of a signed covenant they also work together wherever possible with Maxstoke Parish Church and Coleshill United Church.

With its 52 metre (170ft) high steeple, dating from the 13th century, it is one of the finest examples in Warwickshire. Inside there is a 12th century font of Norman origin, which is one of the finest examples in the country. There are also medieval table tombs with effigies of Knights, including John de Clinton. Just outside the south door are the preserved remains of a medieval cross.

The Market Square is also the location of the town's Pillory and Whipping Post. Historically these were used to punish drunks and bakers who sold underweight loaves. Today though, they are one of the town's tourist attractions, having been restored and preserved by the Gascoigne family, a local family who have run businesses in Coleshill for over 100 years.

At the top of Coleshill, just past Packington Lane, is a red post box that bears the Royal Seal of Edward VIII. It is one of a small number to have been placed in the UK before his abdication, of which only 14 remain.

Maxstoke Castle is a privately owned moated castle dating from medieval times is situated to the north of Maxstoke. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade I listed building.

It was built by Sir William de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, in 1345 to a rectangular plan, with octagonal towers at each angle , a gatehouse on the east, and a residential range on the west, the whole surrounded by a broad moat. Additions were made by Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham who acquired it in 1437 by exchanging it for other manors in Northamptonshire. The castle is unusual in that it has survived largely intact.

Amongst the antiquities there is a 15th century chair upon which Henry VII was crowned after the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, a table owned by Sir Everard Digby (cousin to the Digbys of Coleshill) around which the Gunpowder Plot was planned in 1605, and a 'Whispering Door' (two doors with a common jamb) brought from Kenilworth Castle.

The present owners, the Fetherston-Dilkes, came into possession in the 17th century. During the Civil War Maxstoke was garrisoned for Parliament. The garrison musters reveal that between March 1644 to October 1645, the Captain of the garrison was Mr Henry Kendall Sen. lord of the manor of Austrey. His son Henry Kendall Jun. was his lieutenant. The garrison included several of their Austrey tenants: William Smart (a joiner's son), Henry Orton, Henry Spencer and John Crispe. Source: [P.R.O. Exchequer SP28/121A-122]

In the 18th century William Dilke of Maxstoke married Mary Fetherstone-Leigh of Packwood House near Knowle. Since then the two families and houses have been closely linked.

Maxstoke Castle is opened to the public on rare occasions, in aid of local charities. The parkland of Maxstoke has been a golf course since 1948. At one time the land was listed as a deer park; deer can still be seen there