Warwick

Castle views and pub stops

Warwick Castle rises on a rock above the River Avon, and the reflection of it in the water is the view the town is known for. The castle has held this high ground since 1068, when William the Conqueror raised a motte-and-bailey here. The town underneath it is compact, walkable and, for reasons of fire, mostly younger than it looks.

The pubs are the reason to slow down. The Roebuck Inn on the market side is described as Warwick's oldest, dating to 1470, all black beams and white walls with hand-pulled ales and plain cooking. The Fourpenny Shop won the Heart of Warwickshire CAMRA Pub of the Year in 2024 after a refit and claims possibly the best beer garden in the centre of town. Near the station, the Wild Boar keeps six real ale hand pulls, wooden floors and real fires, and is home to the Slaughterhouse Brewery, Warwick's longest-standing microbrewery since 2003. The Black Pug, once the Millwright Arms and dating from the 1600s, has an expansive garden and comfort food. The Rose and Crown, in the market place a short walk from the castle, was voted Best Pub in the UK in 2004.

Canal ales and the Beauchamp Chapel

For a longer sit outside, the Cape of Good Hope stands on the Grand Union Canal, an alehouse from 1798 pouring three permanent real ales and three local guests, with boats going by.

The Collegiate Church of St Mary carries the town's history in one building. Its nave, transepts and tower were rebuilt by Sir William Wilson between 1697 and 1704 after the Great Fire of 1694, with Christopher Wren supervising and perhaps adjusting the design. What the fire spared is the Beauchamp Chapel, built between 1442 and 1463 for the tomb and copper-gilt bronze effigy of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. His executors spent over £2,400 on it and the work took more than twenty years.

Fire, survival and waterside walking

The fire of 1694 ran through Castle Street, Market Street and High Street until the thick stone walls of the former Lord Leycester Hotel on Jury Street stopped it. The medieval Guildhall that is now the Lord Leycester Hospital came through as well; its oldest parts date from 1383, and it is one of the best preserved examples of medieval courtyard architecture in England, today a charity supporting ex-servicemen. The timber-framed buildings around Oken's House, once home to Thomas Oken, a Tudor mayor and benefactor, also came through.

Walking follows the water. A 3.5-mile riverside route shadows the Leam, the canal and the Avon all the way to Royal Leamington Spa, with a café and toilets at St Nicholas Park along the way. A shorter circular of about four and a half miles runs the towpaths and riverbanks in under two hours, returning to those castle views.

Arriving in Warwick

Warwick railway station sits in the town centre, with Warwick Parkway to the west near M40 Junction 15; the M40 also reaches the town at Junction 13.

Tolkien's Warwick connection

In 1916 J.R.R. Tolkien married Edith Bratt at the Catholic church here. A blue plaque marks it, and scholars have looked at Warwick's medieval outline and seen the beginnings of Minas Tirith.