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Ansley is a civil parish in Warwickshire consisting of Ansley, Ansley Common, Church End, Birchley Heath and, previously, Ansley Hall Colliery. Ansley is on the River Bourne, a tributary of the River Tame. The parish is 526 ft above sea level. The Arley Tunnel runs underneath Ansley village. Built in 1864 it forms part of the Birmingham to Leicester railway line.

Some suggest that the etymology of the name Ansley is a derivation of the Old English ansetleah, with ‘anset’ meaning isolated hermitage and ‘leah’ (ley) meaning wooded pasture. Many place names in the area end with ‘ley’, including Arley, Fillongley, Astley, Hurley, Baxterley, Witherley, Corley, Binley, Allesley, Hinckley and Keresley. This is likely a result of the "sporadic clearing of the woods" (specifically the Forest of Arden) that originally covered the area, and the gradual creation of new settlements preceding and following the Norman Conquest. Others believe the name to come from ãnstiga, with ‘ãn’ meaning one and ‘stig’ meaning path. Ansley appeared as Hanslei in the Domesday Book (1086). Other later derivations have included Anesteleye (1235), Anstle (1316), Ansteley (1416), Anceley (1658), Anestelay and Anseley. The name Ainsley is derived from Ansley.

The earliest evidence of human settlement in the area consists of a round barrow – an artificial mound concealing a grave – dating from the Bronze Age. Located near where Ansley Hall stands, the mound was excavated and lowered in the mid twentieth century. Before the Norman Conquest, the principal landowners of the region were Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his family. Ansley’s Domesday Book entry lists a population of 6.5 households and 13 villagers. The settlement was part of the Hemlingford Hundred of Coleshill, Warwickshire, in the subdivision of Atherstone. After Leofric’s death in 1057 the title of Lord and tenant in chief passed to his wife, Lady Godiva. The Lord of the Manor was Nicholas the Bowman, a Norman soldier rewarded for his service during the conquest. It was probably William II (c.1057 1100) who gave Ansley to Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester, (c.1047 1101). In the early 12th century Ansley passed, through marriage, to the Earl of Arundel, however the manor and its land was given to his tenant, William de Hardreshulle (Hartshill), Lord of Hartshill. When Hardreshulle died, his eldest son, Robert, inherited Ansley. In the 13th century, Ansley and neighbouring Hartshill were granted by the Hardreshulle family to an unknown knight in exchange for 40 days’ service a year to the King. Towards the end of the century, the land passed by marriage to the Colepeper family (also spelt Culpeper). Ansley Castle belonged to the Hastings family during the reign of Henry I (1100 1135). It was licensed to be crenellated by Johannes de Hastings in 1300 but was deserted soon after. By the turn of the 17th century, the antiquarian William Camden (1551 1623) wrote of "mouldering towers covered with ivy". The castle no longer stands. A few traces of a separate Norman castle built by Hugh Hardreshulle in 1125 are still visible. When the Black Death reached Warwickshire in the mid 14th century, the people of Ansley abandoned the village and moved approximately a mile to the village’s current location. The parish church of St Laurence, however, remains in its original position. Traces of the original village can still be seen from the air, as can signs of medieval and post medieval "ridge and furrow cultivation". By 1482, Ansley was owned by the Prior of St Mary’s, Coventry. Bourne Brook, running north east to south west through the parish, has had an Irish bridge ford at Ansley Mill since the 12th century. The mill was sold by John Colepeper to Ralph Pickering and John Dyson in 1550. The building that currently stands was built in 1768. The last known miller was Isaac Thurn, in 1896. The mill has subsequently been converted into a private home. Hoar Park, located on the B4114, was established in 1430. The current building dates from the 1730s. Hoar Park Wood was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1987. Other woodlands in the parish are Lady Wood, Seven Foot Wood and New Park Spinney.