The area of land sandwiched between Upper Spring Lane and Coventry Road, known locally as Parliament Piece, is one of the many areas of the town to feature on the new Heritage Trail mapped by Kenilworth Town Council.

Two main theories have been put forward as to why the area of land, which is now a meadow, is called Parliament Piece.

The original story, which is now widely discounted, is that Henry III held a parliament there in August 1266 during the siege of Kenilworth Castle.

Lasting from June and December 1266, the siege of Kenilworth remains the longest in English medieval history.

Taking place during the Second Barons' War, Prince Edward (later Edward I) besieged the castle to wrestle it from the control of those rebelling against King Henry III.

Whilst we know that a parliament was convened in Kenilworth during the siege, the general consensus is that this was far more likely to have taken place at the Augustinian abbey in Abbey Fields.

During the parliament, regardless of its location, the Dictum of Kenilworth was signed.

The Dictum stated, amongst other things, that those who had been disinherited by the king the previous year could effectively buy back their land at several times its value, the factor to be determined on how much involvement they had had in the revolt.

The second naming theory relates to the events of the English Civil War some 400 years later.

In August 1642 the castle was taken by Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarian army. It is said that the troops camped on the piece as they prepared to lay siege to the castle - a siege which never materialised as the Royalist army withdrew from the town.

Then in 1649 parliament decreed that the castle be left 'untenable' and so the walls were destroyed.

There remains some doubt over this story, and no definitive source for the name of Parliament Piece has been given.

Whilst the mystery of the name remains, what is certain is that the land was donated to the Open Spaces Society, based in Henley-on-Thames, in 1986 by Miss Helen Martin.

The land was then transferred to Warwick District Council in 1999 on a 99-year lease. The council now manages the space jointly with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.