THE LONG and often turbulent history of Warwick Castle draws visitors from across the world.

But for those who take a walk beyond its ramparts and into the town they will find history at every turn.

Lynne R Williams’ latest book Warwick: A Potted History is a lavishly illustrated accessible history of the town from its beginnings to the present day, highlighting significant events and people along the way.

Warwick’s history can be traced back to an Anglo Saxon settlement by the River Avon, later becoming the county town.

The medieval town, dominated by its Norman castle, was partially destroyed in the Great Fire of Warwick in

1694. Some medieval buildings remain today but much of the town’s fabric dates from after the fire. Industry and commerce in the 18th and 19th centuries brought more changes to the town, but the postwar period after the Second World witnessed Warwick’s greatest expansion as new housing extended into the countryside beyond the town’s old boundaries.

But it still maintains many of its ancient traditions such as the annual Mop Fair, and also a few slightly newer ones, such as the Christmas Victorian Evening and the Warwick Folk Festival.

Lynne is a well-travelled local historian based in Warwick, whose previous publications include

Warwick Then & Now and The Little Book of Warwickshire.

Warwick: A Potted History is published by Amberley, priced £15.99.

Remains of the original town wall in Bowling Green Street.

The ribbed barrel vaulting of Westgate Arch.

Felons were once hanged outside this gate in Barrack Street. Marks of the gibbet are still visible and rings on either side of the gate are still embedded. These secured chains which were stretched across the road and held the public at bay.

The stocks were once located in the Market Hall and used mainly for drunkenness.

The atmospheric ruins of Guy’s Cliffe. Below the rocky outcrop is a cave where the Saxon nobleman Guy of Warwick lived as a hermit until his death after returning from the Crusades.

A monument, erected in 1821, stands in the hollow of a rock on Blacklow Hill where the execution of Piers Gaveston, favourite of Edward II, took place in 1312.