Napton on the Hill
Including Southam
County of Warwickshire
About an hour south of Birmingham on the Oxford Canal is a lovely village called Napton on the Hill, or just Napton to the locals. Located adjacent to the village is the town of Southam. As they are within close proximity to each other, I've included them here, on the one page.
Napton is a market town in the Stratford-upon-Avon district in the county of Warwickshire. It's name is derived from the old English words which mean, "hill" and "settlement".
Located down the hill to the north is a canalboat marina called Wigrams Turn and that's how I discovered the town of Southam.
My first experience of the Naption Village was by boat as I began cruising down the Oxford Canal. Initially, I was in my little cruiser boat but about half way up the flight of locks, my boat became stuck in the lock. That's a whole other story. I turned the boat around and moored down the bottom of the flight. As luck happens, I was very fortunate to discover one of the loveliest pubs I'd ever visited to date and what I have since dubbed as one of the best pubs in Britain....The Folly.
The Folly @ Napton
It was a cold, bleak day in January when I discoverd this pub. After trying to unsuccessfully battle the Napton flight of locks, I was in need of a bit of warmth, a meal and a couple of pints of local cider to warm my soul.
My eyes lit up upon entering as I discovered a wonderland of old antiques made of brass, a slow combusting fire with atmosphere you could cut with the knife.
Mark, the publican who owned and managed this pub was this (not too old) fella with a great big moustache. As the night went on, we shared stories of our travels together along with our love of music. He had quite an eclectic taste of music, some of it Australian so naturally we had much to discuss.
Napton Village
About a 15 minute walk from The Folly is the only shop in the village, Naption Stores. They sell a lovely variety of local produce including locally made jams and biscuits. They have a little cafe attached where you can purchase a coffee and homemade cakes. They stock supplies for the locals including boaters, like kindling and fire lighters. It's a lovely little village store, quite popular on weekends with outdoor seating often frequented by travellers passing through including cyclists.
Up the Hill
If you're feeling energetic, you can walk up to the top of the hill but it's worth your while. At the top is the Church of St. Lawrence, a very old church which was first constructed during the medieval period in about the 12th century. However, according to Wikipedia, there has been a priest resident at Napton since around the time of the norman invasion in 1066.
From the top of the hill, there are views overlooking the green pastures below and all the way across the Warwickshire plain.
Southam
About 3 miles west of Napton is the town of Southam. It's a much larger town than Napton of course with a town centre complete with an abundance of shops and historical buildings including the Olde Mint, once used as a butchery which produced around 20lbs of sausages for the dining table at Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria.
As the name suggests, this building was the site of a coin mint, used to make trade tokens for the locals from 1560 to around 1650. Local legend suggests that this site was also used during the period of the Civil War when King Charles called upon local aristocracy to bring all their silver so it could be melted down for payment to his troops. It is also believed that this site was the meeting place for King Charles I as he prepared for the battle of Edgehill.
Holy Well
Unbeknownst to the majority of visitors of Southam is the Holy Well. Dating back over 1000 years, the water from this spring was used by the monks of the area and was believed to cure many eye ailments.
It is classified as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and is now a Grade II listed building. An early reference to the Halewellene occurs in the Warwickshire Feet of Fine (1206), ancient records of property transactions.
