HAMPTON ROAD
Although the original village was in Kenilworth Road there are signs which suggest
that there may have been a cluster of buildings at the north end of the village.
Knowle Lodge, which stood on the corner of High Street and Lodge Road, where the
surgery is today, dated from about 1400. The upper part of Artillery Cottages on
the Warwick Road dates from about 1600, whilst the timbered cottage below the British
Legion is said to be on even earlier foundations.
Hampton Road (formerly Hampton Lane and originally Malthouse Lane) leads to the hamlet
of Eastcote, crossing the ford on the way to Hampton-in-Arden. A little way along
is Grimshaw Hall, a beautiful Elizabethan former yeoman farmhouse dating from about
1560. It stands in a loop of the old road (now private), with high hedges either
side. A short stretch visible from Hampton Road is a reminder of the attractive
character of this historic lane. Further along is Waterfield Farm, where the route
from the old village to the parish church at Hampton-in-Arden is thought to have
joined Hampton Road.
At the crossroads at Eastcote a right turn leads to Barston; to the left lies Ravenshaw;
Hampton is straight ahead. In old documents Eastcote is spelt Escote, as it is still
sometimes pronounced.
Left: Hampton Road near the Wilson Arms, 1891.
Above: Waterfield Loop near Waterfield Farm, created when a bend in the road was
straightened.
