Keresley

Keresley is a village and civil parish in the City of Coventry, West Midlands, England, about 5 miles (8 km) north of Coventry city centre. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 791 falling to 713 at the 2011 Census. Keresley and Keresley End are two separate areas; Keresley is in Coventry, while the slightly more rural Keresley End, also known as Keresley village or Keresley Newlands, is in Warwickshire, with the exception of Thompsons Road in the village, which comes under the Coventry boundary. The village features two grocers shops, two bus stops, a beauty salon, primary school, doctors surgery, a fish and chip shop, a small church, a post office, library, park, garden centre and community centre.

Keresley is located in the north west of the city. Keresley lies within the Bablake and it is bounded by the Woodlands, Whoberley, Sherbourne, Radford and Holbrook wards.

For most of its history, Keresley was a combination of two further villages: Keresley Green was the most northerly and first to exist, but it was Keresley Heath to the south which was developed the most with the building of schools and the church of St. Thomas. However, in 1911 the construction of Coventry Colliery by the Warwickshire Coal Company near to Keresley Green brought the focus of development back to that area. It was not until 1974 that the two parts of Keresley lost their separate identities and became united. The closure of the colliery followed in 1991.

Keresley parish is largely rural and contains some beautiful ancient woodland. Coventry City Council's wildlife surveys which include Keresley parish, have classified much of the area as an "A" grade - "An area of very high natural history value, containing several varied habitats and a wide diversity of plants and animals". The area has a lot of footpaths which make it accessible to the public and is probably one of the few areas of Coventry where you can hear skylarks. Despite this Coventry City Council propose the area can be developed as an "Eco" suburb with 3000 homes, and a separate estate of new properties is currently being built, as of January 2010.

The etymology of the word Keresley suggests that it is Saxon in origin, meaning that the name could originate from the 7th century, although the village was not cited in the Domesday Book of 1086.

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