Arden, Warwickshire

Arden is an area, located mainly in Warwickshire, England, and also part of Staffordshire and Worcestershire traditionally regarded as extending from the River Avon to the River Tame. It was once heavily wooded, giving rise to the name 'Forest of Arden'. It does not seem that the area was subject to forest law however.

Believed to be derived from a Brythonic word ardu- "high" (cf. Welsh ardd), by extension "highland", the area was formerly thickly forested and known as the Forest of Arden. Located near the geographical centre of England, the Forest of Arden, through which no Roman roads were built, was bounded by the Roman roads Icknield Street, Watling Street, Fosse Way, and a prehistoric salt track leading from Droitwich. It encompassed an area corresponding to the north-western half of the traditional county of Warwick, stretching from Stratford-on-Avon in the south to Tamworth (in Staffordshire) in the north, and included what are now the large cities of Birmingham and Coventry, in addition to areas that are still largely rural with numerous areas of woodland. The most important and largest settlement in the forest was the town Henley-in-Arden (in a valley of the River Alne, approximately 15 miles southeast of Birmingham), the site of an Iron Age hillfort.

An ancient mark stone known as "Coughton Cross" is still present at the south western corner of the forest, at the junction of Icknield Street (now A435) and the salt track. It is located at the southern end of the frontage of Coughton Court and is owned by the National Trust. According to local tradition, travellers prayed here for safe passage through the forest.

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