Bedworth Timeline
1086
According to the Domesday Book, the Earl of Mellent, a brother of the Earl of Warwick, held the the Manor of Bedworth. This holding was made up of 60 people, living with no priest or mill, on 720 arable acres for which they had two ploughs. Before the Norman Conquest of 1066 the land was owned by Edwyn, Earl of Mercia.
1086
1300
Philip de Turville became the second recorded Rector of Bedworth
1349
Few inhabitants of the town escaped the Black Death.
1349
1555
Lawrence Saunders, nephew of John Saunders of that Estate in the manor of Bedworth, was burned at the stake for heresy, in Little Park, Coventry.
1570
Bedworth coal mines were the subject of a report to the Government by Richard Hussey, Stephen Verney and Michael Purfrey.
1570
1590
The historian William Dugdale recorded only 14 families in the township.
1662
The Act of Uniformity was passed by Charles II, requiring England to accept the book of Common Prayer.
1662
1664
Nicholas Chamberlaine became Rector of Bedworth.
1686 – 1686
The Old Meeting Church was established, with Julius Saunders as its first minister. His original manuscript diary is still preserved, together with a chained set of Bible commentaries
1686 – 1686
1690
William Dugdale recorded that there were now 260 houses in Bedworth and 30 in Collycroft.
1715
Nicholas Chamberlaine died in July. His will specified his vision for the formation of the School Foundation (church schools) and Hospital and Sermon charities (Almshouses) which were to be named after him.
Almshouses and schools were built in the grounds of Bedworth Hall.
1715
1715
The Old Meeting Church was built.
1727
Steam engines were first used in a local mine, and experiments in mine ventilation began using a ‘Blow George’ ventilation fan.
1727
1770
Parliament passed the first Bedworth Enclosure Award.
1782
John Wesley preached at Bedworth brickyard on 13th July.
1782
1790
Boiler works established at Collycroft.
1821
The population rose to 3,519.
1821
1824
The Parish appointed Josiah Page as Medical Attendant. He was to provide his own leeches.
1827
One Parish Meeting considered the Canal Company’s refusal to pay the levied rate, while another changed the official Wake from November to the first Sunday in September. The church was repaired and considerably enlarged.
1827
1828
There was great economic distress in Bedworth, the poor rate amounted to almost £1,500.
1832
In the year of the great Reform Bill a local Board of Health was established.
1832
1840
The old Almshouses were superseded by the present ones, at a construction cost of £8,500.
1845
The Church Schools were built; the Headmaster’s House in the town centre later became part of the schools when a replacement was built.
1845
1846
Dr. Beaumont opened the present Wesley Church.
1850
Bedworth welcomed its new street gas-lighting, though Collycroft remained without gas till 1908.
1850
1851
Despite meetings and protests, the Coventry, Nuneaton and Bedworth Railway was completed.
1860
The distress of thirty years earlier was repeated for the weavers, on whom £30 a week was spent from public subscriptions.
1860
1861
The population was now 5,636.
1863
In September the shaft at Exhall Colliery was sunk.
1863
1864
Parish business began to be transacted at the Parish Room in Congreve Square.
1871
The population had dropped by 498 in less than ten years to 5,138.
Bedworth Hall demolished.
1871
1873
Bedworth Burial Board appointed Mr. Thomas Dewis as its first Clerk. The Central Schools were enlarged by an additional classroom and playgrounds.
1881
A report on water supplies to the town’s 5377 people showed that only half of the 1,150 houses were adequately supplied.
1881
1883
The Roman Catholic Church of St. Francis in Rye Piece was opened.
1887
Messrs. Wootton and Forge brought the new hat-making industry to Leicester Street in Bedworth.
1887
1889
The County Council assumed liability for the top part of King Street between the “Shoulder of Mutton” and the railway.
1891
The population, now rising, reached 5,485.
1891
1894
The new Parish Council assumed the powers of the church, churchwardens and similar officials.
1898
The mine-shaft at the new Newdigate Colliery was sunk in December.
1898
1899
New offices in Bulkington Road for the Warwickshire Miners’ Association opened.
1900
Bedworth Water Works and Tower came into use.
1900
1901
The Parish Room saw the last Church Vestry Meeting, which considered the granting of a faculty to build the Belfry Gates.
The population of the town had increased to 7,189.
1906
Mr. William ‘Billy’ Johnson began his unbroken twelve years’ representation of the Nuneaton Division in parliament.
1906
1907
The new Council School in George Street was opened.
1914 - 1918
The First World War began, in which 1,129 Bedworth men served. 207 of these lost their lives.
1914 - 1918
1921
The Great War memorial in the cemetery was unveiled.
The population reached 11,548.
1923
The Miners Welfare Park was opened, and the Roman Catholic Church of St. Francis was consecrated.
1923
1924
The Parish was divided into five wards.
1928
Bedworth Urban District was established on 1st October and the first Council elected on 13th October.
1928
1931
At the last census before the Second World War, the population was 12,060.
1932
From 1st April the Bedworth boundary embraced Exhall, Northern Foleshill, East Astley and part of Walsgrave-on-Sowe.
1932
1938
A further boundary extension saw Bulkington come under the Urban District Council.
1939-1945
The Second World War.
1939-1945
1946
The first Local Elections for seven years were held.
1951
The population reached 24,866.
1951
1952
The Bulkington Sewerage Scheme, costing £160,000 was started.
1953
Queen Elizabeth II was crowned and Bedworth celebrated its Silver Jubilee as an Urban District.
1953
1957
Population is now 28,640.
1973
Bedworth Civic Hall opens.
1973
1974
End of Bedworth Urban District Council. Bedworth becomes part of Nuneaton Borough Council.
1980
Bill Lenton leads a successful fight to include Bedworth in the council title, becoming Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council
1980
1981
The Bedworth Society was formed to fight for the preservation of the Victorian Parsonage which is part of the town's Almshouses.
1991
Bedworth’s population is now approximately 32,500.
1991
2000
Parsonage Project Heritage Centre opened in the Parsonage.
2001
Bedworth’s population is now approximately 40,000.
2001
2003
Completion of refurbishment of Nicholas Chamberlaine Almshouses.