Atherstone is a Warwickshire market town. The history of Atherstone dates back to the Romans however it was first developed as a town in the 13th century by an isolated French religious order. Atherstone developed as an important market town where the hill farmers exchanged or sold their produce to the farmers from the flat lands. As wood was used up and not replanted the area round Baddesley was found to contain coal so keeping the traditional industries in the area. As well as coal mining and farming the traditional industries were hat making, brewing of beer and soft drinks and tanning, all based on there being a good supply of fresh water. In the industrial revolution hatting moved out of the sheds and garrets into factories built right in the middle of town. Atherstone was at its height of prosperity around the turn of the 19th Century. First the canal, then the railway had helped with trade. Atherstone was the centre for distributing post first from the Mail Coaches then through the railway. Atherstone railway station used to have stables and cowsheds to accommodate the livestock coming to the Market. At least 3 butchers had their own slaughter houses in the town as recently as the 1960s. On market days the town was full and the pubs were allowed to stay open all day. With the demise of the traditional industries Atherstone has had to re-invent itself. Geographically its position at the heart of England and within reach of all the major motorways has led to the development of warehouses and distribution depots.

Atherstone is also known for the Ball Game. The Shrove Tuesday game has been running for over 800 years. In 1790 Ralph Thompson of Witherley wrote:
 “The beginning of the Foot Ball play at Atherstone on Shrove Tuesday. It was a Match of Gold that was played betwixt the Warwickshire Lads and the Leicestershire Lads on Shrove Tuesday; the Warwickshire Lads won the Gold. It was in King John’s reign . . . . . Atherstone being the nearest town to the place where they play’d it it is and has been a custom to turn a Foot Ball up at Atherstone on Shrove Tuesday every Year since that time.”
As King John reigned from 1167 - 1216 it would appear that the game might well have been going for 800 years. Such games were common but very few have survived into the 21st Century. Many times it has been threatened with extinction but even during World War II the Head’s Log Book at the secondary school reported that the school closed for a half holiday every Shrove Tuesday throughout the war. It was first broadcast on radio in 1934 and televised in 1958 since when it has regularly appeared on Midlands’s television.
Further information about our town can be found at: http://www.friendsofatherstone.org.uk/index.htm