Lowsonford History

Lowsonford is a peaceful traditional English village, well hidden in the Warwickshire countryside. It lies at the junction of the valleys formed by the Kingswood brook and the Fox brook. Their combined flow heads south towards the river Alne, shortly to be joined by the Tapster brook.

The village is accessible by the leafy lanes that follow these valleys from Lapworth and from Shrewley. Other winding lanes climb the valley sides to Rowington and Preston Bagot.

The area is known to have been inhabited around the 5^th century. Lowsonford began as a hamlet settlement later developing in the 16^th century as a cottage settlement located along the edge of common land and by 1672 it was recorded with the name spelt in its present form.

In 1793 an act of parliament approved the construction of a canal from Birmingham to Stratford upon Avon. The southern section of 13 miles from Kingwood to Stratford was not completed until 1816. It also follows the valley of the Kingswood Brook through Lowsonford. The local farmers were initially keen to get their produce to the Birmingham and Dudley markets and the see cheap coal coming by return but the canal was overtaken by the coming of the railways and by the end of the 19^th century it had fallen into disuse.

The overgrown and silted up canal was cleared in the 1960’s by volunteers helped by the army and by prisoners from Winston Green Jail in Birmingham. When finally opened again through to Stratford it was taken over by the National Trust who maintained it for several years until it was acquired by British Waterways.

The most well known of Lowsonford’s attractive buildings is the Fleur de Lys public house. Mr Brooks had bought the tenancy with his gratuity at the end of the war. Mrs. Brooks used to bake her meat pies for the family. One day having made too many her husband sold the surplus over the bar. They rapidly achieved great popularity and started a cottage industry in the village with many local housewives baking to Mrs. Brook’s special recipe for the Fleur. Production was moved to a factory in Leamington but the Fleur’s reputation had been established and lasts to this day.

The small chapel of ease, St. Luke’s, was built in 1877 and is still in regular use by local worshipers with its services always well attended.

The attractive Village Hall with its lawns along the banks of the canal was built in 1936 by a charitable trust set up by a group of local residents headed by Basil Darby who was a direct descendent of Abraham Darby of Ironbridge. They purchased the land and funded the building of the Hall for the benefit of the inhabitants of Lowsonford and district.

In 1979 the village of Lowsonford was selected as a place with special characteristics worthy of designation as a conservation area. The original area was extended in 2001 and now includes the Village Hall, St Luke’s Church and the listed canal bridge, Lock and Lock Cottage. There are a further 4 listed buildings within the conservation area which is defined as an area of special architectural historic interest, character or appearance which it is desired to preserve or enhance.

The proposed locating is in GREEN BELT LAND and is within 100 yards of the Lowsonford Conservation Area.

The Warwick District Council leaflet on the Lowsonford Conservation Area states:

“Old buildings and their settings are an important part of our local and national heritage. It is important to preserve them both as a historical and social record, together with a pleasant environment to be enjoyed both by those who live in them and for the enjoyment of others.”

The village of Lowsonford has been selected as a place with special characteristics worthy of designation as a Conservation Area.

In many ways, Conservation Areas are a fragile environment which can soon be destroyed by unsympathetic changes or lack of maintenance.”

The Conservation Area in Lowsonford was designated in 1979 and extended in 2001.