Attractions and Places To See around Dunchurch - Top 20

The primary structure of St. Giles Parish Church dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries, while the chapel's origins can be traced back to a period prior to 1153. In the church, you'll come across a pair of "green men" that hail from the 13th century, a Norman font, and stained glass created by Kempe. Additionally, the medieval tower houses a set of six bells.

Draycote Water is an artificial reservoir (23 million m3), which was completed in 1969. In addition to its function as a water reserve, it is a leisure park u.a. for anglers, sailors, hikers. The rich bird life invites also to observations. Swimming is not allowed in the lake.

These sculptures were created to remind visitors of the rich geological history of the Ryton Pools where pieces of neck, tooth and tusk of the straight-tusked elephant were found in the local sand quarries. These massive creatures roamed this area half a million years ago and the life size sculptures bring to life the ancient history of the park.

Excellent 8km cycling with great views and rest areas.

Funded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund the Dunsmore Living Landscape scheme aims to restore the most significant area of ancient woodland in Warwickshire, increase landscape connectivity through the restoration of hedgerows, grasslands, ponds and heritage sites and engage local communities in a programme of natural  and heritage-related activities. These metal sculptures were created and installed to help bring to life the geological history of the Dunsmore Living Landscape Scheme area at Ryton Pools, where pieces of neck bone, tooth and tusk of the Straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus, were all found in the local sand quarries. The sculptures were a collaboration between Spencer Jenkins, a green wood and metalwork artist (designer, and project manager), and Artfabs Ltd, a specialist fabrication contractor who will assist with larger construction challenges. These creatures would have roamed the area around half a million years ago. The life size sculptures will bring to life the ancient history of the park and reflect important palaeontological finds made on the site during quarrying.

As part of the creation of a new UK Mail facility at the Prologis Park Ryton, our client Prologis had created a temporary borrow pit as part of the works and inadvertently, created the perfect new home for a colony of Sand Martins Riparia riparia which moved in and successfully bred (2015). The birds were left to nest in peace after a wide exclusion zone was implemented but realising that the site was on the birds’ migration route together with the fact that the borrow pit couldn’t stay on site long-term, we worked with Prologis, Whiting Landscapes and the park rangers at nearby Ryton Pools Country Park to create a brand new permanent and purpose-built nesting site in this 100 acre site managed jointly between Warwickshire County Council and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust. The Sand Martin nesting wall was completed in March 2016 and this year has already had a couple of pairs taking an interest. As well as providing a large and safe nesting habitat, the 15m long structure also has a number of pre-formed swallow nest sites and a rear door inspection hatch so that the rangers can keep an eye on the nesting progress and carry out any necessary maintenance. To prevent predation by other wildlife such as stoats, an anti-predator baffle has been installed below the tunnels which have been constructed of plastic pipes. We also helped create the new information board which has been installed opposite the nesting wall to inform the local visitors to the country park about the new nesting site. It’s hoped that grizzled skipper butterflies will also benefit from the new structure as one of the food plants of the larvae stage – strawberries – are to be planted on the aggregate roof in the near future! Sand Martins are gregarious and therefore tend to nest in large colonies. They are Europe’s smallest hirundine (martins and swallows) and the insectivorous birds are summer visitors to the UK, over-wintering in Africa.

Although part of Ryton Wood was lost to sand and gravel extraction in the 1960s, the wood has been returned to its present excellence though traditional management practices, and is one of the county's largest surviving semi-natural ancient woodlands.   Arguably the best of the Princethorpe Woods, Ryton Wood covers 85 hectares, has been designated as an SSSI and boasts an extensive list of notable species.   Parts of Ryton Wood date back to the 11th century, so the land may have been wooded since the end of last ice age. Finding coppiced, small-leaved lime stools is evidence to support this. Once the most common tree 5,000 years ago, the species is no longer so common. Huge ditches also indicate the wood’s ancient, medieval boundaries.   Forty or so species of tree and shrub have been identified, with oak the dominant tree. An abundance of honeysuckle, our county flower, scrambles through the lower-growing hazel - enjoy its sweet perfume on summer days.

The church of ST. GILES is situated in a cul-de-sac at the western end of the village on the north side of the LeamingtonWolston road. It has a small churchyard. The church consists of chancel, nave, west tower, vestry, and south porch. The church was built late in the 13th century, when it consisted of chancel and nave. The tower was added early in the 14th century and the top stage late in the same century. The only evidence of an earlier church is the 12th-century font in the tower. A modern vestry and boiler-house have been built on the north side. The 13th-century church is built with a dark red sandstone in roughly coursed rubble with ashlar dressings; for the later work a lighter coloured stone was used. The roofs are modern, covered with tiles. The east gable wall of the chancel has been completely rebuilt, with twin buttresses, in a light-coloured sandstone. It has a three-light tracery window with a hood-moulding. The south side has three late-13thcentury single-light windows with pointed arches of two splayed orders; a splayed string-course runs at sill level, and below the westernmost window is a blocked low-side chamfered window with a flat head, the sill 1 ft. 9 in. above ground. (fn. 42) The north side is similar but with only two windows; a third has probably been built up. It has a tiled roof finishing on a splayed eavescourse, and a plinth of one splay. The south wall of the nave has two single-light windows with pointed arches of two splayed orders, and towards the east another with two orders of wave-mouldings and a hood-mould. The string-course continues from the chancel and is carried round twin buttresses at its west end; the east buttress is modern. The 13th-century south door has a richly moulded pointed arch, the moulding continued down the jambs to a square stop of modern cement. It has a label-moulding with both stops broken off. Outside this door is a modern brick porch with a tiled roof; the roof timbers are re-used from elsewhere and have the initials IB: PA: C: W and the date 1616. On the north side the string-and eaves-courses carry on from the chancel, and the string is taken across a large buttress with a gabled head and twin buttresses at the west end There are two single-light windows corresponding in detail with the western on the south side. The early14th-century north doorway has a pointed arch with a single wave-moulding continued down the jambs and a hood-moulding with mask stops. Above, there is a modern triangular window enclosing a cusped circle. At the east end, overlapping the chancel, is a modern vestry built of sandstone ashlar. The tower rises in four stages, unmarked by string-courses, but with a splayed offset for the later top stage. There are twin buttresses in three stages at the north-east and south-west angles, which only reach to the top of the first stage. On the west side a battered brick base has been built between the buttresses, and it extends to the height of the second stage of the buttresses. There are single lights with pointed arches of two splayed orders to the second and third stages, except on the north side, which has one to the third stage only. On the south side there is a similar modern window to the lower stage. The wall is built of light-coloured sandstone ashlar, patched with red bricks, and the upper stages of the buttresses at the south-west angle are rebuilt with red brick. The top stage is built of a mixture of red and light-coloured sandstone ashlar, with a plain parapet and crocketed pinnacles at the angles. On each face is a tracery window of two trefoil lights, of two splayed orders, with four-centred arches and hood-mouldings with grotesque head stops. On the east face there is a roof line of steep pitch with a clock-face above. The chancel (25 ft. 6 in. by 18 ft. 3 in.) has a modern hammer-beam roof resting on stone corbels, and a modern tiled floor. The window recesses have widesplayed reveals and pointed arches with stopped hollow splays, and at the sill level there is a large continuous roll-moulding which is carried on round the nave. The splayed window-recess at the west end of the south wall is carried down to the floor to embrace the blocked lowside window, the sill moulding being stopped against its moulded arris. The nave (43 ft. by 20 ft.) has a modern roof similar to that over the chancel, and a modern tiled floor. The window recesses are splayed and have segmentalpointed arches with stop-chamfers; the arches over both the north and south doorways are similar. The large roll-moulding at sill level in the chancel is continued on both sides of the nave. The chancel arch is tall and narrow with a pointed arch of two hollow splays supported on moulded corbels decorated with carved knots, and on either side are similar arches, but lower, which appear to be modern. The centre arch has been rebuilt 2 ft. east of its original position, and the wall now overlaps the splay of the low-side window recess. The tower (9 ft. 3 in. by 9 ft. 3 in.) has no staircase, and access is now by a ladder from a modern boiler-house to a door broken through the wall on the north side of the tower. The pointed tower arch has two orders, the inner a wave-moulding, the other a splay on the nave side, and two chamfers towards the tower. It rests on moulded corbels with grotesque masks. The modern window recess has a segmentalpointed arch. The font dates from the 12th century and has a tapered circular basin, supported by a central shaft and eight detached columns with moulded capitals and bases on a modern step. The seating is modern varnished pitch-pine. The pulpit is a large modern one of stone and coloured marbles, and is placed on the south side of the chancel arch. Opposite is a reading-desk of similar materials. There are three bells: (fn. 43) one (c. 1600) by Newcombe, the second by Henry Bagley, 1670, and the third by T. Mears, 1803. The registers begin in 1698, but the first volume is imperfect.