Great Packington, or Packington Magna, is neighbour to the rural parish of Fillongley, sometimes historically called Young Fillongley or Fillongley Hastings. Fillongley centres around an old village with surrounding scattered settlements and farms that are so spaced out that some dwellings have a Birmingham postcode whilst others have addresses in Corley Moor! Fillongley is also further from the coast than any other settlement in Britain.

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Old Fillongley belonged to the monks of the Priory of St. Mary, Coventry, at the time of the Norman Conquest and the spelling of Fillongley in the Domesday Book of 1086 varies from Fillonglei to Filunger. There was a motte and bailey castle in the early medieval period belonging to the powerful De Hastings family. The first known Lord was Henry de Hastings in 1235–1236. From 1301 his descendants were granted licence to hold a weekly market and an annual fair, and a market cross was erected. In 1372, the manor was bequeathed by John de Hastings to his cousin William Beauchamp. Lord Bergavenny.

 

Fillongley's St Mary's and All Saints Church was built in red sandstone during the 13th century and the first priest was appointed in 1248. The north chapel was added in the 15th century with an archway into the nave. It became an Anglican Church after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538. The church graveyard is reported to have a ghost, a lady wearing a long dress who appears on misty nights!

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The Kinwalsey elm tree, on the borders of Meriden, Fillongley and Hampton in Arden, is known locally as Kinnesy Church. John Wesley would preach underneath the tree and the trunk was used for posting notices. A Wesleyan chapel opened in 1892 and the Methodists raised funds to build cottages for retired Methodist preachers at Berryfields in the Fillongley parish. Today, both the Anglican Vicar and Methodist Minister preach from St Mary's and All Saints Church.

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Fillongley Hall was built in the mid 13th century and was damaged in a fire in 1929, with rumours at the time suggesting that this was purposeful arson by the owner to claim insurance money and settle debts. There was a medieval gallows located near to Fillongley Old Hall.

 

There were several public houses in Fillongley, most of which are now closed, including the The Butcher's Arms (image above), The Cock Inn, The Durham Ox, The Red Lion, and The Saracen's Head. The Bell Inn (image below) in the centre of the village operated as a public house, village bank and post office. Fillongley also had a bakery, blacksmiths, butchers shop, cobblers, crafts factory, saddlers, village shop, watermill (now converted to a house) and windmill. For recreation there was a choir, cricket club, football club and working men's club. There was a railway station in operation and a public bus route once a week to Coventry. 

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Shustoke Industrial School, later known as Shawbury Approved School, was a reformatory institution for boys that operated in Fillongley from 1868. It catered to 'delinquent' working class boys between 10 and 14 who had been sentenced to detention by magistrates after committing a crime. The 'inmates' were given a basic education (reading, writing and arithmetic, 3 hours a day), were trained in a useful trade (such as farming, shoemaking or baking for 4-6 hours a day) and had daily religious instruction. They participated in activities like the military-style drum and fife band or the school football team (image below). There were strict rules which were maintained by a combination of rewards and punishments. It was hoped that the juvenile offenders would be reformed into responsible citizens who would not turn to crime in adulthood. They were usually discharged into the care of a 'responsible person' with arrangements made for them to enter employment or service on release. Some of the boys were sent to Canada each year. During the Great War, students at the Industrial School participated in military drills and were taught how to fire guns in preparation for being called to to military service. There was also Fillongley Girls School in the parish, 

During the Second World War, an anti aircraft battery operated from Fillongley, near to Beckfield Lodge Farm, and the site has since been converted to stables. 

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An old custom in Fillongley was 'Beating the Bounds' where members of the parish church congregation met once a year to to walk around the 32 miles boundary of the parish and 'beat' landmarks on the route. It was a way to pass the knowledge of the parish boundary to the next generation, as it was historically important to know which parish you were in.

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