COLESHILL,
a small town, a parish, and a subdistrict in Meriden district, Warwick. The town stands on the river Cole, adjacent to the Hampton line of the Birmingham and Derby railway, 9 miles by road, but 14½ by railway, E by N of Birmingham. It occupies an eminence; includes one long street, running north and south; is a seat of petty sessions and a polling-place; gives the title of Baron to the family of Digby; and has a station on the railway, a post office‡ under Birmingham, a banking office, two chief inns, a bridge over the Cole, a market-house, a parish church, two dissenting chapels, and a grammar-school. The church is decorated English; underwent complete restoration in 1859; was then found to include many remains of a previous Norman church; has a tall, graceful, crocketted spire; and contains a richly sculptured Norman font, two recumbent effigies of armoured knights, four altar-tombs of alabaster, and monuments of the Digby family from the time of Henry VII. The grammar school and institutions connected with it have £215 from endowment; and other charities £83.

A weekly market is held on Wednesday; and fairs on Shrove-Monday, 6 May, and the first Monday of Jan., July, and Oct. The parish includes also a place called Gilson. Acres, 6, 200. Real property, £11, 535. Pop., 2, 053. Houses, 456. The property is divided among a few. The manor had an ancient castle; belonged to the De Clintons, one of whom fought against Henry III. at the battle of Evesham; passed to the Mountforts, one of whom suffered forfeiture and death for supporting Perkin Warbeck; was given to the Digbys, who became Earls of Bristol and Earls Digby; and belongs now to G. D. W. Digby, Esq. Roman coins have been found. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester. Value, £718.* Patron, G. D. W. Digby, Esq. Sir William Dugdale, the antiquary, was a native. The sub-district contains seven parishes and part of another. Acres, 22, 223. Pop., 4, 903. Houses, 1, 088.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

This is a description of Coleshill in 1870-72. How would you describe the Town now and what would impact would you like to have on it in the next 100 years.