Keresley facts for kids

Keresley is a village and civil parish located in the City of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It's about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north of Coventry city centre and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of Bedworth. In 2011, about 713 people lived in the parish.

Keresley and Keresley End are actually two different places. Keresley is part of Coventry. Keresley End, sometimes called Keresley Village or Keresley Newlands, is mostly in Warwickshire. However, one road in Keresley End, Thompsons Road, is still inside Coventry. The village has shops, bus stops, a beauty salon, a primary school, a doctor's office, a fish and chip shop, a small church, a post office, a library, a park, a garden centre, and a community centre.

Where is Keresley Located?

Keresley is in the northwest part of Coventry. It's in an area called the Bablake ward. It shares borders with other areas like Woodlands, Whoberley, Sherbourne, Radford, and Holbrook.

Nearby villages include Corley, Corley Moor, Ash Green, and Brownshill Green.

A Look at Keresley's Past

For most of its history, Keresley was made up of two smaller villages: Keresley Green and Keresley Heath. Keresley Green was the older and more northern part. But Keresley Heath, to the south, grew more with schools and the church of St. Thomas being built there.

In 1911, the Warwickshire Coal Company built the Coventry Colliery (a coal mine) near Keresley Green. This brought more development back to that area. It wasn't until 1974 that Keresley Green and Keresley Heath officially became one united Keresley. The coal mine closed down in 1991.

Keresley parish is mostly countryside with beautiful old woodlands. Surveys by Coventry City Council show that much of this area is very important for nature. It has many different types of homes for plants and animals. There are also many footpaths, so people can easily explore the area. It's one of the few places in Coventry where you can still hear skylarks singing.

What Does the Name Keresley Mean?

The name Keresley is thought to be very old, possibly from the Saxon times around the 7th century. However, the village wasn't mentioned in the famous Domesday Book of 1086.

Many villages in England have names ending in "-ley." This part of the name means "a clearing in the woods." So, Keresley was a clearing in the ancient Forest of Arden. The first part, "Keres-," might come from a Saxon word for "cress" (a type of plant) or it could be someone's name. This means Keresley could mean "the cress clearing" or "Mr. Cress's Clearing."

The Parish Church of Saint Thomas

The Church of England parish church of Saint Thomas is located just off the Tamworth Road (B4098). It was designed by an architect named Benjamin Ferrey in a style called Early English Gothic. The church was built between 1844 and 1845.

The church's bell tower has a set of six bells that can be rung in a special way called change ringing. St Thomas's Church is a Grade II listed building, which means it's an important historical building.

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  St Thomas' Church, Keresley.

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  The tower of St Thomas' Church.

Local Services for Everyone

Coventry City Council is the local government for Coventry. The city is divided into 18 areas called Wards, and each Ward has three councillors who help make decisions.

Keresley is part of the West Midlands Police force area. The police team that looks after Keresley, Coundon, and Allesley is called the Bablake neighbourhood team.

Famous People from Keresley

Several well-known people were born in Keresley:

• The actor Clive Owen.
• The cybernetics professor Kevin Warwick.
• The novelist Graham Joyce.
• Roddy 'Radiation' Byers, who was the guitarist for the 1980s ska band The Specials.
• Graham Stevenson, a British Communist leader, trade unionist, and author.

William Tallon, who was nicknamed "Backstairs Billy," lived in the village when he was a teenager. He later joined the Royal Household in 1951.

The Mysterious Apple Rain

On the evening of Monday, December 12, 2011, something very strange happened in Keresley. Hundreds of apples reportedly fell from the sky near the crossing of Kelmscote Road and Keresley Road. Several people saw hundreds of apples seemingly drop out of the sky, landing on the ground and on cars.

This unusual event was reported by local and national news. Even the Met Office (the UK's national weather service) commented on it, but the incident still remains a mystery!