Over Whitacre

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Over Whitacre
Warwickshire
St leonard's church over whitacre 2s07.JPG
St Leonard's Church in Over Whitacre
Location
Location: 52°30’57"N, 1°37’32"W
Data
Population: 411  (2011[1])
Post town: Birmingham
Postcode: B46
Local Government
Council: North Warwickshire

Over Whitacre is a hamlet and parish in the Hemlingford hundred of Warwickshire. The population of the village at the 2011 census was 411.[1]

It is one of 'The Whitacres' – Over Whitacre, Nether Whitacre and Whitacre Heath, although Whitacre heath is actually the heath of Nether Whitacre and not a separate parish.

The hamlet appears in the Domesday Book so it was already established in the Saxon period. However, objects belonging to much earlier Neolithic and Bronze Age times have been found in the soil. Whitacre was spelt then as 'Witecore' which means white field. The area has many stone-built buildings of the 17th and 18th centuries. The 18th-century parish church of St Leonards is situated on the main road between Coventry and Tamworth (the B4098 or old A47). It is of classical Italian style, built in 1766 on the site of an earlier foundation. Two of the oldest buildings in the parish are Barbers Farm, dating to 1586 and The Bothie at Botts Green.

The village today is mainly residential and agricultural, but there is some light industry.

The nearby hamlet of Furnace End probably derives its name from iron smelting furnaces owned by the Jennens of Nether Whitacre.

References

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