In 1150 Robert Earl of Leicester gave the nuns of Chaise-Dieu in France 6 virgates in Eton (Nuneaton) and Attleborough in exchange for land in Olney (Buckinghamshire). In 1243 the Prioress of Chaise-Dieu leased the manor of Attleborough to Nuneaton and about 50 years later the lease was converted to sale. At the dissolution of the monasteries the manor passed to Sir Marmaduke Constable with Nuneaton and descended with it, but remaining its separate manorial conditions, until at least 1815. By 1900 it had been acquired by the Earl of Harrowby. Manorial rights appear to have expired.
There is said to have been a chapel there with a priest paid £5 pa but nothing is known of its history (a suggested possible site is near The Green).
At the time of the 1851 census there were 1283 people (676 female, 607 male) living in the village. Of these only 608 gave their birthplace as Attleborough which shows a surprising level of mobility. There were 315 households (or more correctly people claiming to be heads of household) so the average household size was almost exactly 4. The age distribution of the inhabitants shows a remarkably youthful population
0-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 70+
348 229 226 140 107 100 94 39
The range of occupations was very broad but the majority of those specifying an occupation (719), 488 were weavers of which 310 were ribbon weavers. Surprisingly agriculture employed only 85 so the village could be classed as industrial rather than agricultural. Although weaving was a fairly precarious occupation in the 1850s only 8 people were recorded as paupers. The occupations given are as listed below and one of note in the county hangsman who was also a sawyer.
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