Church of St Peter and St Paul, Coleshill

Coleshill is a small town in North Western Warwickshire that can trace signs of occupation back to the Iron Age but its current location dates from the "Dark Ages" when a church was built on top of a hill south of the Roman period settlements. In the Domesday book Coleshill was listed as a royal manor rated 3 hides. The current town of Coleshill grew up from a village built around this church, the Church of St Peter and St Paul, and was an important stop in the days of stage coaches.

The tower was said to have been built by William de Montfort in the 1380s₁ (though some details indicate it may have been a bit later) with some parts of the church dating from the 1340s. The tower's spire was struck by lightning in 1550 and had to be rebuilt, it is now 15ft lower than it originally was. It also has a Norman font dating from the 12th century. Much of the current form dates from a restoration undertaken 1868-9. The external masonry and internal stonework were renewed and scraped, unfortunately robbing the church of manyh of its historical traces.

1) L. F. Salzman (editor). "Parishes: Coleshill." A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 4: Hemlingford Hundred (1947): 47-57. British History Online. Web. 27 January 2012.