Great Packington is a hamlet and parish in the Hemlingford Hundred, union of Meriden and country of Warwickshire (WAR), historically known as Packington Magna. It is located 8 miles from the city of Coventry and next to the parish of Little Packington. 

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The settlement of Great Packington was recorded in the Doomsday Book as being in the hundred of Offlow and the county of Staffordshire, where it was called ‘Patitone’. The land was owned by Turchil de Warwick, who let it to his brother Godmund. It was later gifted to the Priory of Kenilworth, which was confirmed by King Henry II of England in 1163. The estate land continued to belong to Kenilworth Priory until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. 

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From 1538, churches were required to keep a record of all births, marriages, and burials in the parish through registers. Great Packington records survive from the beginning of parish registration. The earliest surviving poor law records date from 1715. They show payments made to widows, to working men/their families when they were unwell (such as with smallpox) and to make rent payments on behalf of impoverished parishioners.

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The original Packington Manor House (now known as Packington Old Hall) was built for Sir Clement Fisher, 2nd Baronet, and his wife Jane Lane in 1679. This was the family residence until Packington Hall was built by his nephew the 3rd Baronet in 1693. The garden was designed by Capability Brown. The Packington estate descended through the Fisher's to the Earls of Aylesford through marriage and in 1772 it was extended and remodelled by the 4th Earl in the Palladian style.

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In 1887, it was found that the steeple of Great Packington's parish church was in a bad condition and the church was demolished. This original parish church had been dedicated to St. John. A new chapel was built 2 years later, designed by Italian architect Joseph Bonomi in a unique architectural style! During construction of the new church, baptisms and marriages were held at St Bartholomew’s Church in the neighbouring parish of Little Packington, Warwickshire. The church now holds an organ said to have been played on by Handel. 

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Great Packington has a small population, with the historic peak between 1801 and 1861. While it may be small, there have been many newsworthy and unusual events over the years, such as: arson at the Workhouse, bankruptcy, bastardy orders, church bells breaking when ringing for victory at the Battle of Waterloo, construction of a unique Greek revival church, a Countess who produced over 2,800 botanical watercolour drawings, an Earl who became a Texan cowboy, the establishment of an archery club, a fish choking on a smaller fish, a local lad becoming a Japanese prisoner of war during World War 2, a man who died when struck by lightning, manor houses being let to game keepers, a USA military camp established during the Second World War, murder, numerous cases of poaching, Parliamentarian soldiers plundering fish from the Packing Hall pools during the English Civil War for food, shooting at a Police Constable, stolen cows, technical innovations at the first landfill site in the UK to convert landfill gas into electricity and even visits from Royalty to enable the extramarital affairs of the Prince of Wales. All this alongside the rhythm of rural life, people making a living farming or moving away to find work, and worship in the parish church. The inhabitants also came from a wide range of society, from high society Earls to unemployed labourers. 

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Great Packington is also notable for the number of pools of water in the parish, many of which are now used by Packington Fisheries. The parish also features some of the highest land in England and is neighbour to the traditional centre of England, Meriden.