Despite historically having stronger links with Bedworth, Bulkington forms part of the Nuneaton Urban Area.

Bulkington was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Bochintone, meaning "estate associated with a man called Bulca".

[4] The parish originally contained seven hamlets, two of which were subsumed by Bulkington village following residential building expansion which began in the 1930s.

[7] Today Bulkington is largely a commuter village for larger nearby urban centres such as Coventry, Nuneaton, Bedworth, Hinckley and Leicester.

Bulkington has connections with the locally born author George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), who knew the village well.

The early history of Bulkington can be traced in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is mentioned as among the estates of the Count of Meulan, overseen by his sub-tenant Salo.

[7] Because of this, ribbon weaving supplemented or replaced agriculture as the main source of income for the majority of Bulkington's population.

[9] This cottage industry had spread to Bulkington from the major centres of Coventry and Bedworth,[9] where it had been introduced by the Huguenots in the 18th century.

[9] The 1830s saw a slump in the industry, due in part to the introduction of factory production at Coventry, and competition from cheap imports.

[9] The industry collapsed in the 1860s "when the Cobden treaty with France removed the duty on French silks entering England".

[11] The Bulkington Baptismal register, 1841–1861, records that: 'On Thursday, 15 August 1861, six families comprising 27 members left for Quebec, Canada, in consequence of the continued depression of the Ribbon trade… .

Speculative private housing development began in the 1930s and by the 1960s surrounded the village with expansive suburban areas.

Numbers 3 and 4 Church Street, and the wrought iron railings on St James' are also afforded listed status.

[15][nb 2][failed verification] The Nuneaton and Bedworth district is a subdivision of the Warwickshire County Council, which is currently Conservative controlled.

[7] The church had chapels in Weston, Ryton, Marston, Bramcote, Shilton and Ansty; the latter two were transferred from the Abbey of Leicester to Coventry Priory, and subsequently became independent parishes.

The rectory, "was acquired in 1587 by Robert Johnson, Archdeacon of Leicester, as part of the endowment of the grammar schools which he founded at Oakham and Uppingham".

It lay unoccupied for some time but has since been renovated and is now occupied by the new pastor and his wife who moved to the area in the summer of 2008.

Ryton Methodist Church was initially situated in Long Street but moved to Rugby Road in 1911.

[28] The presence of the (post-Reformation) Catholic Church in Bulkington begins in 1842 when Richard Brome de Bary, owner of Weston Hall, converted to Catholicism.

Recent architectural additions include the extension of the sacristy, the building of a parish hall, and the erection of a grotto to the Virgin Mary.