Things you didn't know about... Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a writers' paradise

Shakespeare is Warwickshire's most famous writer but there are other notable Warwickshire writers and poets, including Rupert Brooke, George Eliot, Dame Rose Macaulay and John Wyndham.

Warwickshire is the birthplace of rugby

In the 19th century, Rugby in Warwickshire gave its name to the game of rugby when a young scholar of the town, William Webb Ellis, broke the rules of football by picking up the ball and running with it.

Warwickshire played a part in the notorious Gunpowder Plot

The Warwickshire village of Dunchurch has often been dubbed the "Gunpowder Plot Village". It was here that the conspirators waited to hear if their mission had been accomplished. And it was in the nearby village of Coughton that some of the wives of the Gunpowder Plotters awaited the outcome of the exploit.

Warwickshire—at the very heart of England

The Warwickshire town of Leamington Spa might be best known for its healing waters, but it also claims to be located right at the very centre of England. The exact spot is marked by a plaque on a tree called the Midland Oak, which grows just to the north-east of the town centre.

Warwickshire's gruesome unsolved murder

A murder in the small Warwickshire village of Lower Quinton on Valentine's Day in 1945 remains etched on the minds of locals because of the victim's suspected involvement in witchcraft.

The body of 74-year-old farm labourer Charles Walton was discovered pinned to the floor with his pitchfork; a cross had also been carved into his chest. The crime has never been solved.

The Devil got his kicks in Warwickshire

Near Lower Quinton lies Meon Hill, an area also surrounded by strange tales of devilish deeds. According to an 8th-century legend, the Devil kicked a boulder from the top of the hill, intending to destroy the newly built Evesham Abbey. But Satan was said to be thwarted by the locals' prayers, and the stone missed.

Tolkien was inspired by Warwickshire

Author JRR Tolkien grew up in the then-Warwickshire village of Sarehole (now part of Birmingham). The village is believed to have been the inspiration for Tolkien's fictional locations of Hobbiton and the Shire, while Sarehole Mill is said to have been the basis for the Great Mill, which features in The Hobbit.