| Fenny Compton | |
|---|---|
.jpg) SS Peter and Clare parish church | |
  Fenny Compton Location within Warwickshire | |
| Population | 808 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SP417523 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Southam |
| Postcode district | CV47 |
| Police | Warwickshire |
| Fire | Warwickshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Fenny Compton is a village and parish in Warwickshire, England, about eight miles north of Banbury. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 797, increasing to 808 at the 2011 census.[1] Its name comes from the Anglo-Saxon Fennig Cumbtūn meaning "marshy farmstead in a valley".
In 1498 Sir William Cope, who served as Cofferer of the Household of Henry VII from 1494 to 1505 (in the absence at that time of a Treasurer of the Household he carried out the duties of that office as well), was granted the Lordships of Wormleighton and Fenny Compton, part of the lands of Simon de Montford who had been attainted in 1495. He later sold the lands to the Spencer family, later of Althorpe. The Parish church of St Peter and St. Clare was built in the 13th century and is a Grade II* listed building.[2]
The village has a doctor's consulting-room, a small Co-op Food store, a popular local pub located centrally and another pub on the outskirts. The old part of the village has many notable buildings including the Woad House, Knotts Cottage, the Red House, the Old School House and the Hollies.
Fenny Compton is small but had two railway stations, Fenny Compton on the Great Western Railway route from Oxford to Birmingham Snow Hill, and Fenny Compton West on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway route from Bicester North to Broom.[3] The GWR station and SMJ station were built alongside each other controlled by a joint signal box. The Fenny Compton Railway Station (Great Western from Birmingham Snow Hill to London Paddington and the London, Midland & Scottish Railway branch line from Stratford-Upon-Avon to Blisworth) closed in 1964, apart from the railway line from Fenny Compton to CAD Kineton.
Fenny Compton has a special place in the development of the UK Computer Industry as the home of Andrew and Kathleen Booth who were computer pioneers in the 1940/50s. They built their prototype electronic computer called All-Purpose Electronic Computer (APEC) in a barn at their home at the Wharf, Fenny Compton. That prototype led directly to the ICT 1200 computer, which, with over 100 sales, was the UK's first mass-produced computer. [4]
The village was struck by an F0/T1 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day.[5]
The village features in the 2024 TV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office about the British Post Office scandal as the location for the first meeting of ex sub-postmasters and mistresses in 2009.[6]
