The West Midlands, also known as the Heart of England has always been a booming economic centre, starting with the wool trade in the Middle Ages which enriched Coventry, before becoming the pivot of the Industrial Revolution, fuelled from the Black Country. The Gunpowder Plotters who sought to bring down the Government lived here, but so did William Shakespeare who transformed the English language with his plays and verses.
Castles and history galore
Fringed by border castles at Goodrich and Ludlow, the Heart of England has no shortage of great estates, abbeys and important gardens. Step back into Elizabethan England in the Shakespeare Houses and get close to Britain’s greatest writer or explore the recreated Elizabethan gardens at Kenilworth Castle.
Follow the development of our taste for the gothic from the Strawberry Hill style extravaganza of Arbury Hall to the 19th century splendour of Eastnor Castle or explore the homes of families at the centre of our economy at Soho House and Sarehole Mill.