History of Brandon

Brandon has a history rooted in medieval times, featuring the ruins of Brandon Castle built in the 12th century, which was slighted in 1265. The village itself was recorded in the Domesday Book and underwent a period of shrinkage, as evidenced by earthworks. Later developments include the 19th-century railway line and station, the former Brandon Stadium, and the 228-acre Brandon Marsh nature reserve opened in 1998. 

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Domesday Book:

Brandon is listed in the Domesday Book within Stoneleigh Hundred, indicating its existence as a settlement with a mill, meadows, and woodland. 
 

Brandon Castle:

To the south of Brandon, there are the remains of a Norman motte and bailey castle. The castle dates back to the 12th Century and was founded by Geoffrey de Clinton, treasurer to King Henry I of England. The village's most prominent historical feature was Brandon Castle, built in the 12th century by the de Verdon family. The castle was later destroyed by Simon de Montfortin 1265 during the Second Barons' War, though it continued to be occupied for a time before being abandoned. Today, only earthworks and foundations remain as a scheduled monument. 

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Medieval Settlement:

Evidence of a medieval settlement has been found through archaeological work and aerial photography, showing signs of a former village to the west and possibly the east of the current "Main Street".

 

Brandon Hall:

Brandon Hall began life in the 17th century as a modest shooting lodge within the expansive Brandon estate. By 1825, the property underwent significant transformation when the Beech family, the local

landowners, rebuilt it into a refined country residence known thereafter as Brandon Hall. The family not only resided there but also established key community institutions, including the village school and the Brandon Club for estate workers.

 

During World War II, Brandon Hall took on a new role, serving as the Headquarters and Quartermaster’s Stores for D Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Warwickshire Home Guard—making it an important local hub for wartime defence efforts.

 

An enduring reminder of the estate’s 19th-century grandeur is the ice house in Brandon Little Woods. Dating from around 1825, this Grade II–listed structure—built of red brick with a vaulted tunnel and earth mound—served to store ice harvested from a nearby pond and remains largely intact, preserving a tangible link to Brandon Hall’s former landscape and amenities.

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Brandon Railway Station:

​Next to Brandon, lies Wolston, with the two villages separated by the River Avon and a railway viaduct which dates from 1837. The viaduct was part of the original London and Birmingham Railway. The station was opened in 1879, replacing an earlier station from 1838. Despite being the only station between Coventry and Rugby, Brandon and Wolston struggled for customers and was closed in 1960.

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Brandon Working Men’s Club:

Brandon Working Men’s Club was built in 1885 by the trustees of the late James Beech (a railway magnate). It was originally contained reading and refreshment rooms plus a club room and was run by a committee; in 1911 the secretary was gardener Mr William Baines.
 

In February 1911 the annual meeting was held, presided over by Colonel Beech. A committee was elected and asked to obtain better lighting for the billiard tables. Mr & Mrs Baines were thanked for their hard work maintaining the Club, and his salary was increased by £5 a year. The club had a large number of billiard tables and a keen team who won matches against other local teams. In March 1911 the Brandon Working Men’s Club team played Wolston Social Club at billiards and whist: Brandon won the billiards 5:2 whilst Wolston won the whist 5:2.3  In April 1911 a concert was held where prizes donated by Mr & Mrs Ashburner were given out for billiards and bridge. Entertainment was provided by singers with a gramophone and some ‘up to date’ records.
 

Currently the club is licensed; it offers snooker, pool, darts and skittles and a function room that hosts local organisations including our Parish Council meetings.

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​Royal Oak Public House:

This inn at Brandon was established by Sarah Cave in 1837, and taken over by her son John Cave in the 1840s when he became of age. The brewery side of the business thrived and in 1901 Leonard Walton, John’s son in law, moved to the pub.  John Cave passed away in 1904 and Leonard in 1908; John’s other son in law, James Fitter (who had married Edith Cave) took over and became very proactive in promoting the business: he instigated the tea-room project. However, both James and Edith had passed away by the end of 1912.

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Kelly’s trade directories show the ‘Peoples Refreshment House Association Ltd’ in Brandon with Henry Leech as manager in 1921; he was succeeded by the splendidly-named Archibald Horace Crisp in 1924 and 1928. 5 There is no entry for 1932 so it seems likely that the tea garden had ceased to operate by then. We are glad to report the Royal Oak still survives today as a public house, and has overcome a series of floods recently (one causing it to shut for four months); as a result it has installed flood gates.

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Royal Oak Tea Gardens:

In 1911 Mr Fitter, the publican at the Royal Oak, found a great demand for teas on Easter Monday. He got permission from the local landowner, Colonel Beech, to use a stretch of the river Avon for swimming and boating. By May, Mr Fitter had built a landing stage and was planning a pavilion and garden to provide refreshments ‘in a sheltered and pleasant little nook on the banks of the Avon’. 

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All did not run smoothly, because Mr Fitter had not obtained planning permission from Rugby Rural District Council for the building. When a plan was submitted, it showed the roof was not fireproof and there were concerns about the drainage. Mr Fitter attended a meeting and said he knew nothing about the bye laws! However, an amended plan seems to have reassured the council and the building was approved. 

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Brandon Mill:

A water mill used to stand on a mill-stream off the river Avon between Brandon and Ryton on Dunsmore; it was situated on what is now the eleventh green of Brandon Wood Golf Course. The earliest record of this mill is a map from 1630 showing ‘Mr Wilcoxes Mill’ and it was probably built in the 17th century as a mill for fulling cloth in connection with the textile industry in nearby Coventry.

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By 1743 the mill had been adapted for paper making, using hammers powered by an overshot water wheel. Later in the 18th century a house was added to the mill with an orchard and garden; this is recorded in a beautiful estate map created in 1792 for a sale after the owner of the paper mill went bankrupt. A few trees from this garden still survive, alongside the millstream and a little footbridge.

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In the early 19th century, the mill was adapted again for silk throwing: a process that turns raw silk into threads strong enough to be woven. It employed well over 100 people from surrounding villages (Wolston, Brinklow, Ryton on Dunsmore and Stretton on Dunsmore) including children as young as eight. At that time, many children were employed in such factories, often in appalling conditions. 

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The silk industry suffered periodic slumps and the property was sold in 1867; the sale particulars mention a row of small cottages nearby that had been erected for workers, and give helpful details of the silk-throwing machinery in the mill. A delightful inventory survives that lists the contents of the house down to the knives and forks, sheets and mattresses. Details in this inventory suggest that the property was being used as a farm and brewery at that time.

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The mill was restored as a silk-throwing mill that thrived for a while, and the mill owner – Mr Iliffe – opened another silk mill in Brinklow that operated for about ten years and this building still survives today (though now converted into housing). However, the continued decline of the silk industry in Coventry caused the final demise of Brandon Mill by the end of the 19th century. The site was disused in 1905, and deteriorated into a ruin in the 20th century.

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Brandon Wood:

Brandon Wood is a rare remnant of the ancient Forest of Arden, once stretching across much of prehistoric Britain. Unlike surrounding land cleared for farming as early as Neolithic times, the clay soil of Brandon Wood meant it remained largely untouched for centuries.

 

The wood survived Roman, Saxon, and Norman periods, even standing beside major routes like the Fosse Way. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) and later became part of the Brandon Castle estate. Medieval villagers used it for grazing, fuel, and timber – practices such as coppicing and pollarding kept it sustainable for generations.

 

In the 19th century, the Beech family used Brandon Wood for shooting, creating the grid of woodland rides still visible today. During and after WWII, many of its great oaks were felled, and in the 1960s large areas were planted with conifers by the Forestry Commission. Parts of the wood were also lost to gravel extraction and landfill.

 

When threatened with further development in the 1980s, the Friends of Brandon Wood was formed. In 1986 it became England’s first official Community Woodland. After years of fundraising – with vital support from local people and schools – the Friends purchased the wood outright in 2000 for £100,000.

 

Today, Brandon Wood is owned and managed by the community. It remains a precious landscape for walking, wildlife, and conservation – a living link between ancient history and local people.
 

Brandon Speedway:

Opened around 1928, Brandon Stadium quickly became a founding venue for speedway in the region. The first speedway meeting was held on 29 September 1928, and by 1929 the Coventry team began competing in the Southern League. Despite a brief interruption in the 1930s, speedway racing returned in 1948 under Coventry Stadium Ltd., reintroducing the beloved Coventry Bees.

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Brandon wasn’t just a local track—it hosted premier international events, including the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain (1998–2000), the Under-21 World Championship Final in 1991, and the storied Brandonapolis, an annual race drawing crowds of up to 24,000. It also staged stock car racing (BriSCA F1) from 1954 until 2016, as well as greyhound racing intermittently between 1978–2016.

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The stadium closed to regular racing in 2016, marking the end of nearly nine decades of motorsport at Brandon. Local residents and motorsport fans have resisted redevelopment plans, including proposals for housing and a 3G football pitch. In each instance, planning applications were rejected—most recently in early 2024, the appeal was dismissed because the stadium was found to be not surplus to requirements and hence contrary to the Local Plan and the Neighbourhood Plan.

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