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Occasionally have open days

Might stop one day and have a proper look at the fort

A fine example of a Warwickshire town. Lovely old town centre with plenty of options for refreshments.

The Church of ST. MARGARET is situated on the east bank of the river Itchen, north of the village. It is a small church consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, vestry, south porch, and a timber bell-cote on the west gable. It dates from the latter part of the 13th century, when it consisted of a nave and chancel, and appears to have been repaired at the end of the 14th century, and re-roofed at the end of the 16th century; in modern times a north aisle, vestry, and south porch were added and the whole church drastically restored. All the roofs are covered with tiles. The chancel, except parts of the north and south walls adjoining the nave, has been entirely rebuilt with a light-coloured sandstone ashlar, the old portions being red sandstone coursed rubble. The east end has angle buttresses and is lighted by a plain tracery window of two pointed lights with a pointed arch. On the south side at the west end is a rectangular low-side window of two splayed orders, and a modern central buttress dividing the old walling from the modern. On the north side a modern vestry has been built, which incloses a blocked low-side window corresponding with the one on the south. The south wall of the nave has three windows of two trefoil lights with tracery under square heads, all modern but perhaps copies of the previously existing 14th-century windows. Between the last two is a four-centred doorway, with a single splay, covered by a modern timber porch. The west gable of the nave is the most interesting and unaltered part of the building and is built of red sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings. In the centre there is a buttresslike projection which reaches to the apex of the gable, where it is weathered off. It contains a long chamfered lancet window with a simple label moulding. On the top of the gable is a small square weather-boarded bell-cote for two bells, with a pyramid roof terminating in a weather vane representing a cock. Between this and the angle buttress at the south-west angle there is a massive buttress in four weathered stages built of lightcoloured sandstone with a moulded plinth, probably part of the 14th-century repairs. In the west gable of the modern north aisle are two lancet windows of one splay with a hood-moulding continued over both, and on the north side, which has three shallow buttresses, are three windows with trefoil heads, one a single light, one of two, and the other of three lights. Built into this wall is a round-headed 13th-century doorway, now blocked with masonry, taken from the north wall of the nave when it was destroyed. At the eastern end is the modern vestry, with a single-light window on the north and a doorway in the east with a chamfered pointed arch. The aisle and vestry are built of hammerdressed ashlar. The chancel (18 ft. 8 in. by 12 ft.) has a modern tiled floor, plastered walls, two steps up from the nave and one to the modern altar. The roof, which is of the queen-post type, is modern, but constructed with old timbers, probably members of the earlier roof, re-used. In the south wall the low-side window has a splayed recess with a flat head; the corresponding one on the north is plastered over and is only visible inside the vestry. On this wall there is a marble monument to James Enyon, died 1623, and Constance his wife, died 1610; also on an oak board is a small brass representing seven figures, with an inscription, 'This brass, circa 1485, was found in the churchyard in 1906 and fixed in the church in 1946'. The figures appear to be gazing upwards and may have formed part of an Assumption group. The nave (33 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 10 in.) has a modern tiled floor and plastered walls. On the south side the window recesses are square with flat heads, and that in the west has deeply splayed jambs. The chancel arch has been destroyed and its jambs cut away and a plain modern segmental arch inserted, which carries the modern gable above and stops abruptly on the walls at both ends. The late-16th-century roof is a form of queen-post truss, with carved central bosses on the undersides of the stop-chamfered tie-beams, and plastered between the rafters. The modern north arcade is in three bays with pointed arches of two splayed orders which continue uninterrupted down to moulded stops forming square bases. Opposite the south door is a late-14th-century font of white sandstone, which has a circular basin with eight round shafts projecting from its face, dividing it into as many panels, which are decorated with foliated designs of different patterns, the rim moulding being carried round the shafts to form capitals. The underside of the basin is moulded, the stem circular on a base of three graduated splays. It stands on an octagonal step with a square one on the west side. The pulpit placed on the south side of the chancel arch is modern; also the seating. The north aisle (33 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 3 in.) has a modern tiled floor, ashlar walls, and an open roof of king-post type with curved brackets and plastered between the rafters. The window recesses are splayed, with pointed arches. Standing against the west wall there is the deep basin of a plain font with part of its rim broken away. Of the two bells, (fn. 97) one is medieval, of c. 1350, the other was probably cast by Thomas Bullisdon of London, c. 1510. The registers begin in 1718.

Blackdown Mill, a watermill for which there are documentary records from the Medieval period. It was in use until the 1920s and the waterwheel and some of the machinery survive. It is on the south side of Hill Wootton Road. A mill, probably this site, is recorded in 1086. Later it became the property of Coombe Abbey. Information on ownership exists for the 16th to 20th centuries. The mill operated until the mid 1920s. The buildings are now the premises of an antiques dealer. The mill is a mixture of 18th and 19th century buildings. The older part is a three-storey brick structure with a large wooden extension housing the waterwheel. The appearance of this building has been considerably altered this century. The waterwheel is in place, but most of the machinery has been removed. In the yard behind the mill are traces of a steam engine which was installed in the mid 19th century.

The Lunt Roman Fort is the archaeological site of a Roman fort, of unknown name, in the Roman province of Britannia. It is open to the public and located in the village of Baginton on the south eastern outskirts of Coventry. The fort has now been fully excavated and partially reconstructed; the wooden gateway rebuild was led by archaeologist Margaret Rylatt, using the same tools and techniques that the military engineers of the Roman Army would have used. In 2001, Anglo Saxon artefacts dating to Sub-Roman Britain were discovered on the site. Four periods of occupation of the fort during periods of unrest in Roman Britain have been identified by excavation. The fort was built around AD 60 to act as a supply depot and headquarters for an unknown legion during the final campaign against Boudica. From AD 64 it was used, in the second phase, by a cohort which reduced the size of the fort, but from which the principia, praetorium, two granaries and six barrack blocks have been excavated. A number of buildings were demolished to construct a gyrus.[citation needed] Many horse fittings, possible stabling, an extensive metalworking area, granary and storage space suggests a cavalry unit was present at this time. This second phase lasted until AD 77/8. The third period of AD 77/78-79 included construction of a double ditch system, a twin-portalled gateway on the south and occupation outside the defences until the fort was decommissioned. After AD 260, perhaps during the rebel Gallic Empire, it was recommissioned as a temporary fort with ditches on a similar alignment but slightly larger than that of Period 2. Gyrus The north, south and west sides followed the usual pattern for a Roman camp of straight ditches and ramparts. However, on the eastern side the defences bulge out around a circular structure with a diameter of 32 m (105 ft). The sand and gravel subsoil had been dug out to a depth of 600 to 900 mm (24 to 35 in) and the area surrounded with a timber stockade. This ring, the only known "gyrus" in the Roman Empire, may have been used for training horses. The gyrus was added to the fort during its second period of occupation and its construction caused significant disruption to the fort. Having the gyrus within the fort affects not just the wall which curves to accommodate the structure deviating from the Roman playing card shape pattern but also the layout of the fort which is significantly different from the standard layout. This makes the fort unique not just in Britain but also in the Roman Empire.

The building still fascinates me

Always love it went I cross a county line, I sometimes forget where I am and these help remind me.