NUNEATON, a market-town of Warwickshire, England, is situated near the Leicestershire border, on a branch of the river Anker, on the Coventry Canal, and on three railway lines, 97 miles north-west of London, and 22 east of Birmingham. It consists principally of one long street with a cross street leading to the market-place. The church of St Nicholas is a large and handsome structure in various styles of architecture, and consists of nave, chancel, and aisles, with a square embattled tower having pinnacles at the angles. It contains several interesting monuments. The new church of St Mary the Virgin was erected in 1877 on the ruins of the old priory. A free grammarschool was founded in the reign of Edward VI., and an English free school for the instruction of forty boys and thirty girls by Richard Smith in 1712. A library and reading-room was established in 1851, and a literary institute in 1865. The ribbon industry is of less importance than formerly, but there are ironworks, cotton, hat, elastic, and worsted factories, currieries, and tanneries. Nuneaton derives its name from a priory of nuns founded here in 1150. In the reign of Henry III. a weekly market was granted to the prioress. The population of the urban sanitary district (area 6021 acres) in 1871 was 7399, and in 1881_ it was 8465.