The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

106
THE BEITISH ISLES.
basin of the Avon, only a small section of its extreme northern part being drained
by the Tame and other small rivers flowing northward to the Trent. The surface
is varied only by gentle undulations. Formerly nearly the whole of the county
was an extensive forest, and it still retains somewhat of this ancient character, small
patches of woodland and heath being by no means infrequent. The Avon is the
only navigable river, but canals and railways afford ready means of intercommuni-
cation.
Coal is found in the north, and as a manufacturing county Warwickshire
takes a high rank, for within its borders lies Birmingham, the centre of a huge
industrial district.
The Avon, the principal eastern affluent of the Severn, rises nearer to the
German Ocean than to the Bristol Channel. Its springs lie in Northamptonshire,
near Naseby Hill, rendered famous by the defeat of the Royalists in 1645. The
first town in Warwickshire which is reflected in its waters is Rughy, celebrated
for its grammar school, founded in 1567. The original endowment of this public
school consisted of 8 acres of land, near the city of London, yielding an annual
income of £8. In course of time these have become covered with houses, and
produce now an annual revenue exceeding £6,000. The school occupies a fine
Gothic building, and is attended by five hundred pupils.
Warwick, the capital of the county, occupies a central position. It has
played a great part in the history of the English people. Its castle, on a hill
washed by the waters of the Avon, and seated in the midst of a fine park, was one
of the most magnificent and extensive castles of the Middle Ages, and much of its
pristine beauty still survives. In 1871 a fire threatened destruction to this seat of
Warwick the King-maker, but the damage sustained has been repaired, and the
costly paintings and other treasures of art were fortunately saved. Foremost
amongst these is the celebrated Warwick Vase, recovered from the ruins of
the Emperor Adrian's villa at Tivoli. " Caesar's Tower " is probably as old
as the Conquest, but from Guy's Tower may be obtained a more magnificent view.
Looking northward, we catch a glimpse of another castle, almost equally famoiis,
namely, Kcnilworth, where Dudley, Earl of Leicester, entertained Queen Elizabeth
for seventeen days (1575). Cromwell caused this stronghold to be dismantled,
an-d its extensive and picturesque ruins now form one of the great attractions
of the visitors to the neighbouring spa of Leamington. In 1811 this fiivourite
resort of invalids and pleasure-seekers was a humble and obscure village of five
hundred inhabitants. Since then the fame of its sulphureous, saline, and chalybeate
springs has gone on increasing, and with it the number of residents and visitors, and
now this new towna far exceeds in population its venerable neighbour Warwick,
from which it is still separated by the Avon, here joined by the Leam, but which
its new streets are rapidly approaching.
Only a few miles below Warwick we reach another town rich in historical
associations. This is Sfraf/ord-on-Aron, the birthplace of Shakspere. The
house in which the poet lived, and was j^robably born, still exists, and there are
few monuments held in higher veneration than this humble dwelling, now
converted into a museum. The last descendant of the family, having become