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Warwickshire
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Monks Kirby

Attractions and Places To See around Monks Kirby - Top 20

Best attractions and places to see around Monks Kirby include historical landmarks, natural landscapes, and cultural points of interest. This Warwickshire village, with a history dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period, offers a blend of rural charm and ancient sites. The surrounding countryside features fields, meadows, and woodlands, providing opportunities for outdoor exploration. Approximately a quarter of the region is forested, making it suitable for walks and rambles.

Best attractions and places to see around Monks Kirby

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Last updated: April 23, 2026

Hawkesbury Canal Junction (Sutton Stop)

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An important link in England's canal network for around 200 years, Hawkesbury Junction is the northern termination of the Oxford Canal, as it joins the Coventry Canal. If you've just …

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St John the Baptist Church

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The parish church of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, on the west side of the main street, stands in a small churchyard on the slope of a hill, the ground falling …

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Wolston War Memorial

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When the War Memorial was first proposed, as a tribute to the memory of those brave villagers who had gone off to fight in the Great War and failed to …

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Hillmorton Locks

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A number of amenities are on offer at Hillmorton Locks. This is one of the busiest stretches along the Oxford Canal. The Canalchef Cafe is a simple establishment that serves terrific, hearty portions.

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Gared
March 27, 2026, Hillmorton Locks

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The church isn't level inside! It's well worth popping in. The VE Day memorial is very well done and worth a closer look.

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beautiful place to ride by, especially at sunrise or sunset. the greyhound pub is on the junction for a half time stop as well. can either head to Bedworth/nuneaton, back into Coventry Central or round to Longford.

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Hawkesbury Junction is a major waterways place at the junction of the Coventry Canal (Main Line - Coventry to Hawkesbury) with the Coventry Canal (Main Line - Hawkesbury to Fazeley) and the Oxford Canal (Northern Section - Main Line).   Coventry Basin (Canal Terminus) is on the Coventry Canal (Main Line - Coventry to Hawkesbury), 5 miles and 4 furlongs to the southwest. Hawkesbury Engine House is on the Coventry Canal (Main Line - Hawkesbury to Fazeley), ½ furlongs to the northeast. Sutton Stop is on the Oxford Canal (Northern Section - Main Line), ½ furlongs to the east. It is the centre of Hawkesbury Junction. The nearest place in the direction of Coventry Basin is Hawkesbury Services; ¼ furlongs away. The nearest place in the direction of Hawkesbury Engine House is Hawkesbury Junction Gauging Stop; ¼ furlongs away. The nearest place in the direction of Sutton Stop is Hawkesbury Junction Bridge; a few yards away.

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Sutton Stop is a major waterways place on the Oxford Canal (Northern Section - Main Line) between Wyken Arm Junction (Old Colliery Branch) (1 mile and 3½ furlongs to the southeast) and Hawkesbury Junction (Junction of the Coventry Canal Main Line with the Oxford Canal Northern Section.) (½ furlongs to the west)  It is part of Hawkesbury Junction. The nearest place in the direction of Wyken Arm Junction is Sutton Stop Changeline Bridge; a few yards away. The nearest place in the direction of Hawkesbury Junction is The Greyhound Inn; ¼ furlongs away.

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The parish church of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, on the west side of the main street, stands in a small churchyard on the slope of a hill, the ground falling from east to west, its eastern boundary being the outer ditch of the castle. It consists of a chancel, nave, north and south aisles, west tower, and north and south porches; the south porch has been converted into a vestry. It was rebuilt about the end of the 15th century and all that remains of the earlier church is the chancel, parts of the north aisle walls and possibly the staircase to the roodloft. The chancel is built of a mixture of limestone and sandstone rubble patched with bricks and tiles and has a modern steep-pitched tiled roof, modern coping and cross finial, and rebuilt buttresses. It is lighted on the east by a modern window of three pointed lights with a hood-mould and head-stops. The south side has a central buttress, and west of it are two restored lancet windows with a narrow doorway between them. The lancet to the west is divided by a transom to form a low side window. The doorway has a restored pointed arch, the splay carried down the jambs. The north side has a central buttress and another butting against the aisle wall, with a restored lancet window between them. The south aisle is built of red sandstone ashlar with a plinth of one splay, stepped down to conform with the slope of the ground. The wall is diminished in thickness by a weathered offset at sill level. It has a low-pitched lead-covered roof with a plain low parapet, with a moulded coping projected on a moulded stringcourse. The east gable is lighted by a partly restored traceried window of three cinquefoil lights under a hollow-moulded four-centred head. The south wall has buttresses at the angles, two intermediately, and a porch towards the western end. It is lighted between the buttresses by three windows similar to the one in the east wall. The porch has been rebuilt in brick and stone with a tiled roof and the entrance blocked to form a vestry. The south door, which has a four-centred arch under a square head, has been mutilated. The west end is similar to the east, but the coping is carried up as a lean-to instead of a gable. The buttress at the angle is diagonal, splayed to a point. The north aisle is built of rubble similar to the chancel and has a lean-to roof covered with lead, a battlemented parapet with trefoil panelled pinnacles at each end and crocketed finials. Originally there were two intermediate pinnacles, of which only the bases remain. The north side has diagonal buttresses at the angles, one intermediate and, towards the west, a porch. It is lighted by two three-light traceried windows with splayed fourcentred heads, the centre light trefoiled, the two outer cinquefoil; by a similar window on the east; and on the west by a trefoiled single light with a square head. The porch is timber-framed with a tiled roof, and the entrance has been fitted with a pair of modern doors. On both sides the timbering has been concealed, externally with roughcast and internally with plaster. The front retains its timbering, the entrance having a heavy moulded frame and four-centred head, carved spandrels and lintel, and a timber-framed gable plastered between the timbers. The door has a moulded four-centred head, square hood-mould, carved spandrels, and trefoil-panelled soffit and reveals which have been badly mutilated. In the centre of the hood-mould there is a shield with three swords (for Clarke). The tower is built of light-coloured sandstone ashlar with a moulded plinth and battlemented parapet on a coved string-course; at each angle there are bases for pinnacles. It rises in four stages, diminished at each stage by weathered offsets on the north and south, and on the east and west at the first and half-way up the third only. At the angles there are diagonal buttresses rising in five stages and splayed off to a sharp edge, except at the third stages on the west side which have gabled trefoiled niches. The west doorway, in a deep wave-moulded splay, is constructed of red sandstone and has a moulded four-centred arch under a square head, with carved spandrels. It is flanked by wall aracading in two tiers of trefoil-headed roll-moulded panels. Above the doorway is a tall pointed traceried window of three cinquefoil lights with a hood-mould, the tracery and mullions being modern, and in the second stage a clock dial. The tower staircase is in the south-west angle, with a loop-light to each stage and a square-headed doorway opening on to the aisle roof. The belfry is lighted on each face by pointed traceried windows of two trefoil lights, and the ringing chamber by similar windows on the north and south. Internally the floor of modern tiles has been laid to a continuous fall from east to west, probably taking the place of a series of steps, as the bases of the arcade pillars and windows are stepped down following the slope. The walls, except the arcades and tower, are plastered, the plaster being finished round all the aisle windows with scalloped edges. The chancel (28 ft. 4 in. by 15 ft. 6 in.) has four steps from the nave and three to the altar in addition to the slope of the floor. The east wall has a dado of modern coloured embossed tiles, and the window a segmental pointed rear-arch. At the east end of the south wall there is a shallow recess with a segmental pointed stop-chamfered head, probably a blocked piscina. The lancet windows have splayed recesses with square heads, and the doorway a segmental pointed rear-arch. The roof is a modern hammer-beam, its trusses supported on carved stone corbels. It is continued under the chancel arch with twin trusses, panelled between with pierced panels and supported on slender stone shafts with carved capitals and moulded bases resting on moulded corbels. The nave (48 ft. 3 in. by 17 ft. 7 in.) has a modern open roof with curved trusses resting on moulded timber corbels. Both arcades consist of five bays of pointed arches, of two splayed orders, supported on lozenge-shaped roll-moulded pillars, the arch splays dying out on the mouldings, which terminate in splayed stops on plain lozenge-shaped pedestals. At the junction of the south arcade with the chancel there is a circular stair up to a square-headed doorway which gave access to a rood, and half-way up there is a pointed opening to the aisle. It is lighted from the east by a small square-headed two-light window. The chancel arch is a modern pointed one, of two splayed orders, dying out on the north wall and on the south resting on a floriated corbel. The tower has a pointed arch of two splays to the tower and three to the nave, the inner order supported on three-quarter-round responds with moulded capitals and bases. The arch is of red sandstone with capitals of a light-coloured stone, and on the tower side in the apex there is a carving of an angel. The south-west angle is corbelled out in three steps for the tower staircase, the upper step being trefoiled, and below it there is a square-headed doorway. The pulpit and reading desk, of stone, are modern. The south aisle (49 ft. by 12 ft. 9 in.) has a lowpitched open roof of five bays with moulded members and carved bosses in the centres of the tie-beams. It probably dates from the early 16th century; the boarding and some rafters are modern. The trusses rest on stone corbels on the south wall, and on the north the outer roll mouldings of the arcade pillars are carried up with capitals in place of corbels. At the east end, the north-east angle is splayed to accommodate the staircase to the rood. The windows have hollowmoulded reveals with four-centred rear-arches, the window to the east having its arch extended eastwards and carried down to form a recess. The east wall has an offset at sill level with a chamfered stone capping, and the window reveals are carried down as a recess. In the east window there are some fragments of early coloured glass consisting of two chalices and parts of a canopy. The north aisle (45 ft. 7 in. by 9 ft. 11 in.) has a lean-to roof of five bays, of which two retain some of their original moulded members, probably early-16thcentury. The trusses are supported on stone corbels on the north wall and on square blocks of stone as capitals to the outer roll moulding of the arcade pillars. Over the door there is a painted coat of arms of George IV. The font, with a lead-lined basin, is built into the west side of the north arcade pillar opposite the door. It is of stone, with an octagonal moulded basin with paterae, and octagonal stem and base which has been rendered in cement. It has been re-dressed but is probably contemporary with the arcade. Near the door there is a small 17th-century oak chest with three hasps and fitted with lifting rings at each end. In the centre and east windows there are a few fragments of early glass, including a peacock and portions of a castle. The tower (15 ft. 10 in. by 13 ft.) has a window with widely splayed reveals, and a rear-arch of two splayed orders; the recess is carried down to include the doorway. In the chancel and aisles there are a number of 18thand 19th-century wall memorials. There are five bells, all of 1705, by Joseph Smith of Edgbaston. The registers begin in 1558.

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When the War Memorial was first proposed, as a tribute to the memory of those brave villagers who had gone off to fight in the Great War and failed to return, money was raised by public subscription and a generous donation by Bluemels Bros. The design was by Mr W.H. Wood, architect to the Newcastle Cathedral authorities, and the total cost was £250. There was a difference of opinion as to where the Memorial should be located and the people subscribing to it were asked to choose between a site on the Derry next to the village pump and sign-post and the site opposite what we now call the Old Post Office. The location chosen, away from the hustle and bustle of the Derry, on the piece of land opposite the Old Post Office near to the entrance to the road to the Church allowed people to stand to read the names and contemplate the sacrifice made in peaceful surroundings.

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An important link in England's canal network for around 200 years, Hawkesbury Junction is the northern termination of the Oxford Canal, as it joins the Coventry Canal. If you've just finished the Oxford Canal Walk, you'll have earned yourself a refreshment in the Greyhound Inn, a traditional canalside inn with a higgledy-piggledy interior.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What historical sites can I explore in Monks Kirby?

Monks Kirby is rich in history. You can visit St John the Baptist Church, a Grade I listed parish church with a history dating back to the 10th century. Another significant historical site is Hawkesbury Canal Junction (Sutton Stop), an important link in England's canal network for approximately 200 years. The village also features several Grade II listed buildings on Main Street and Bond End, some from the 16th and 17th centuries, showcasing its architectural heritage.

Are there any natural attractions or green spaces to visit?

Yes, Monks Kirby offers several natural features. Explore New Close Wood, a woodland predominantly comprised of oak, ash, and silver birch, offering shaded paths and opportunities to observe local flora and fauna. The River Swift winds through the countryside, providing pleasant walking routes, and a nearby lake offers a tranquil spot. The village green, adorned with three oak trees, also contributes to the area's open and green character.

What outdoor activities can I do near Monks Kirby?

The area around Monks Kirby is ideal for outdoor activities. You can enjoy hiking and walking through the rural Warwickshire landscapes, with numerous trails available. For cycling enthusiasts, there are several road cycling routes, such as the 'Honey Hill – Swinford Village loop' or the 'Brinklow Village Sign – Brinklow Castle loop'. Gravel biking is also popular, with routes like the 'Pathway in Park – Great Central Walk in Rugby loop'. You can find more details on these activities in the hiking guide, road cycling guide, and gravel biking guide for the region.

Are there family-friendly attractions in Monks Kirby?

Yes, Monks Kirby has attractions suitable for families. Hawkesbury Canal Junction (Sutton Stop) is a family-friendly spot where you can watch narrowboats and enjoy the canalside atmosphere. New Close Wood offers easy, shaded paths perfect for family strolls and observing nature. The general countryside around Monks Kirby, with its fields and woodlands, provides ample space for children to explore.

Where can I find walking and hiking routes in Monks Kirby?

Monks Kirby is an excellent starting point for walks and hikes. The surrounding countryside offers a patchwork of fields, meadows, and woodlands, perfect for exploration. You can find various hiking routes, including easy options like the 'Brinklow Castle (the Tump) – Start Point Opposite Surgery loop' or moderate trails such as the 'Coffee Van – Fosse Meadows loop'. For more detailed information and route options, refer to the hiking guide for Monks Kirby.

What is the significance of Hawkesbury Canal Junction?

Hawkesbury Canal Junction (Sutton Stop) is a historically significant site within England's canal network. It marks the northern termination of the Oxford Canal as it joins the Coventry Canal and has been an important link for approximately 200 years. It's a great place to observe narrowboats and visit the traditional canalside Greyhound Inn.

What is special about St John the Baptist Church?

St John the Baptist Church, also known as St Edith's Church, is a Grade I listed parish church with a history of Christian worship since at least the 10th century. Largely rebuilt around the end of the 15th century, it retains parts of its earlier structure, including the chancel. Its imposing tower is a prominent landmark, and inside, you can find 18th and 19th-century wall memorials.

Are there any war memorials in the area?

Yes, the Monks Kirby War Memorial, erected after the First World War, commemorates the fallen from Monks Kirby and Street Ashton. Additionally, the nearby Wolston War Memorial is another significant monument in the region, designed by Mr W.H. Wood.

What is Newnham Paddox?

Newnham Paddox is a historic estate that has been the seat of the Earls of Denbigh since the 15th century. While the original manor house was demolished, the estate features a mid-18th-century landscape park designed by Lancelot Brown and 19th-century formal gardens. A 12-hectare sculpture park was also established there in the early 21st century.

What do visitors enjoy most about Monks Kirby?

Visitors to Monks Kirby appreciate its blend of historical landmarks, natural beauty, and tranquil rural setting. The community particularly enjoys the historical significance of sites like Hawkesbury Canal Junction and St John the Baptist Church, as well as the peaceful walking opportunities through woodlands like New Close Wood. The area's charm and opportunities for outdoor exploration are highly valued.

Are there any connections to famous historical figures in Monks Kirby?

The nearby Newbold Revel is historically known as the home of the medieval writer Sir Thomas Malory, author of 'Le Morte d'Arthur'. The village's proximity to the ancient Fosse Way also hints at its Roman past, with Roman artifacts having been discovered in the area.

Can I find pubs or places to eat near the attractions?

Yes, at Hawkesbury Canal Junction (Sutton Stop), you'll find the traditional canalside Greyhound Inn, which is known for pub meals, especially on weekends. This makes it a convenient spot for refreshments after exploring the canal network.

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