Warwickshire - Chris Pickford

Highlights of this fully revised and updated guide are the magnificent medieval fortresses of Warwick and Kenilworth Castles, but this county is also home to some of the most significant developments of England's postwar modern architecture, notably the rebuilt city center of Coventry destroyed in the Blitz. Leamington Spa has fine terraces of the Regency period but most famous of all is the market town of Stratford-upon-Avon where William Shakespeare was born and educated and the houses associated with his family are preserved. Also featured are the area's greatest country houses, from Tudor Compton Wynyates and the moated Baddesley Clinton to Baroque Stoneleigh, Palladian Ragley, and Arbury Hall, one of the finest mansions of the Gothic Revival.