A short history of Cnolle upto around 1276
At the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, Knowle, as a hamlet was intricately linked to Hampton in Arden, as part of Hampton in Arden Manor, (owned by the de Arden family) and Hampton in Arden Parish. There is evidence that Knowle was already a settlement by 1068, but as it lay in the extensive manor of Hampton in Arden it was not separately recorded in the Domesday Book.
The first record of Knowle is a document from about 1200 when William de Arden gave his wife Amice, a grant of Dower for Gnolla. This document written on parchment was thought to measure only 11cms by7cm and is now believed to be in the British Museum. Over time the village became Cnolle, Knolle, Knoll and finally Knowle.
In 1276 on the death of the grandson of William de Arden Knowle lacked an appropriate heir and the Manor passed to the Crown in April 1276. But in July 1276 the Manor was assigned to his widow Agnes by dower for life, making Knowle a ‘Manor’ for the first time.
Knowle became a Royal Manor when Agnes died. Her daughter Amice, wife of Sir John Le Lou sold the manor to King Edward 1 and Queen Eleanor, his consort. In the following years, Knowle enjoyed Royal patronage until the Queen’s death in 1290, keeping 60 horses of the royal stud at Knowle.* When Eleanor died in 1290 Edward gave Knowle to Westminster Abbey to pay for an elaborate ceremonial on the anniversaries of her death. After the Reformation it passed through various hands including Elizabeth I , Robert Dudley the Earl of Leicester and James I.
Life in Knowle in the 1270’s
In the year 1276, the settlement known as Cnolle, derived from the Saxon word for a small hill, was a small hamlet nestled in the heavily wooded Forest of Arden, encircled by the River Blythe.
By 1278 records show it was a hamlet of agricultural workers, brewers, millers, a potter and the Lord of the Manor*.
Daily life likely revolved entirely around the rhythms of the land and the seasons. Agricultural workers tended their strips of field and livestock, shepherds tended sheep, kept for wool and meat, millers ground grain at the local mill, brewers produced ale for sustenance and trade, and a potter supplied the practical earthenware vessels that every household depended upon.
Until 1403 every inhabitant of Knowle was obliged to attend their parish church in Hampton in Arden – a two mile walk including crossing the river Blythe.
The manor court – meeting under the name Cnolle – handled local misdemeanours such as trespassing, disturbance of the peace, and the brewing of ale without proper regulation. Disputes between neighbours, questions of common land use, and minor infractions were all settled locally. Due to the Westminster connection, Knowle was a manorial peculiar, with some matters coming under the jurisdiction of the manor court rather than the diocese.**
The Miller and the Baker
Of all the tradespeople in Cnolle, the miller occupied one of the most important positions in the community. Millers were responsible for grinding grain into flour using water or wind-powered mills, producing the flour essential for baking bread and other foods.
The baker worked in close partnership with the miller. Most people did not bake bread at home – they either brought their dough to a central oven run by a baker, or bought loaves directly. Bread was not a luxury; it was the foundation of every meal. The Assize of Bread and Ale of 1266 regulated the quality and price of both bread and ale, which is why the matter of unlicensed brewing was so serious.
The Agricultural Workers
The majority of those living in Cnolle would have been agricultural workers, and their lives were governed by the seasons. Medieval villages typically had two or three giant open fields, each divided into long narrow strips, with each peasant household holding a number of scattered strips to farm.
Days began at first light and ended at dusk, with the rhythm of ploughing, sowing, and harvesting broken only by religious feast days, of which the medieval calendar had many. The Christmas season, Candlemas, Shrovetide, Easter and its festivals, May Day, and a summer-long string of local celebrations all provided relief from the relentless grind of field labour.
Other labourers and craftsman such as blacksmiths would likely to have been part of the community but are not recorded in the 1278 document.
Knowle “High Street”
In medieval times Kenilworth Road, once called Knowle Street was far more significant that the Warwick Road as it led to Royal Kenilworth Castle, and to Coventry with its markets and trade guilds. This route certainly influenced the development of the medieval settlement between Kixley Lane and the early manorial hall, and close to the site of the ancient Cuttle Mill. Kixley Lane was the first stage of the original route from Knowle’s early settlement to Hampton in Arden, used by villagers to attend church and the markets.
The area between Kixley Lane and the Manor House is known as Golden End, and it is thought that a market was held in the centre of the early settlement on the land which now forms the long gardens of the 16th 17th century cottages.
It was later on, in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the growing importance of the London to Birmingham route, that Warwick Road grew in importance.
In 1276, “roads” would have been muddy tracks across commons with occasional timber-framed, wattle-and-daub dwellings that doubled as workshops and homes. Knowle was surrounded by fields, open common, pastures, meadows and woodland. The baker, the potter, and the brewer would each have worked from their own premises here. It was likely the Market Square would have been the gathering point for any market activity – the buying and selling of surplus grain, livestock, or the potter’s wares. The manor court, when it met to deal with misdemeanours, would likely have convened somewhere along this central route too. Records from the 1600’s show the Lord of the Manor residing at Knowle Hall on Kenilworth Road. The market square, in short, would have been the place where everything happened: commerce, justice, gossip, and community.
Knowle Society 750 Exhibition
This was co-written by Visit Knowle and Knowle Society. You can find out more by visiting the Knowle Society’s 750 exhibition in Knowle Library from June 20th 2026.
750 Celebrations
We are really looking forward to celebrating 750 years of Knowle becoming a manor. We’ll be sharing more stories about Knowle’s history in the lead up to the day, and we’re inviting everyone to Knowle High Street on Sunday June 21st to celebrate together. Find out more about the celebration event on our Knowle 750 page.
* Source: Eva Wootton, “The History of Knowle”, 1980
** Source: http://www.knowlehistory.org.uk/