Rugby, Warwickshire

Early Iron Age settlement existed in the Rugby area: The River Avon formed a natural barrier between the Dobunni and Corieltauvi tribes, and it is likely that defended frontier settlements were set up on each side of the Avon valley. Rugby's position on a hill overlooking the Avon, made it an ideal location for a defended Dobunni watch settlement. During the Roman period the Roman town of Tripontium was established on the Watling Street Roman road around 3.4 miles (5.5 km) north-east of what is now Rugby, this was later abandoned when the Romans left Britain.[4]

The small settlement at Rugby was taken over by the Anglo-Saxons around 560 AD, and it was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Rocheberie; there are several theories about the origin of the name; one is that it is derived from an old Celtic name droche-brig meaning 'wild hilltop'.[5] Another theory is that Rocheberie was a phonetic translation of the Old English name Hrocaberg meaning 'Hroca's hill fortification'; Hroca being an Anglo-Saxon man's name pronounced with a silent 'H', and berg being a name for a hill fortification, with the 'g' being pronounced as an 'ee' sound. By the 13th century the name of the town was commonly spelt as Rokeby (or Rookby) before gradually evolving into the modern form by the 18th century.[4] In 1140 the first recorded mention was made of St Andrew's Church which was originally a chapel of the mother church at Clifton-upon-Dunsmore, until Rugby was established as a parish in its own right in 1221. In 1255 the lord of the manor Henry de Rokeby obtained a charter to hold a weekly market in Rugby, which soon developed into a small country market town.[6]

In the 12th century Rugby was mentioned as having a castle at the location of what is now Regent Place. However, the nature of the 'castle' is unknown, and it was possibly little more than a fortified manor house.[7] In any event the 'castle' was short lived: It was probably constructed early in the reign of King Stephen (1135–1154) during the period of civil war known as The Anarchy, and then, as a so-called adulterine castle, built without Royal approval, demolished in around 1157 on the orders of King Henry II. The earthworks for the castle were still clearly visible as late as the 19th century, but have since been built over. According to one theory, the stones from the castle were later used to construct the west tower of St Andrew's Church, which bears strong resemblance to a castle, and was probably intended for use in a defensive as well as a religious role.[4][8]

Rugby School was founded in 1567 with money left in the will of Lawrence Sheriff, a locally born man, who had moved to London and made his fortune as the grocer to Queen Elizabeth I. Sheriff had intended Rugby School to be a free grammar school for local boys, but by the 18th century it had acquired a national reputation and gradually became a mostly fee-paying private school, with most of its pupils coming from outside Rugby. The Lawrence Sheriff School was eventually founded in 1878 to continue Sheriff's original intentions.[9][6]

Rugby High Street in 1830

During the English Civil War, one of the earliest armed confrontations of the conflict took place at the nearby village of Kilsby in August 1642.[10] That same year, King Charles I passed through Rugby on his way to Nottingham, and 120 Cavalier Horse Troops reportedly stayed at the town, however the townsfolk were sympathetic to the Parliamentarian cause, and they were disarmed by the Cavalier soldiers. Later, in 1645, Rugby was strongly Parliamentarian, and Oliver Cromwell and two regiments of Roundhead soldiers stayed at Rugby in April that year, two months before the decisive Battle of Naseby, some 12 miles (19 km) to the east, in nearby Northamptonshire.[4][6]

Until the 19th century, Rugby was a small and relatively unimportant settlement, with only its school giving it any notability. Its growth was slow, due in part to the nearby markets at Dunchurch and Hillmorton which were better positioned in terms of road traffic. In 1663 Rugby was recorded as containing 160 houses with a population of around 650. By 1730 this had increased to 183 houses, with a population of around 900. Rugby's importance and population increased more rapidly during the late 18th and early 19th century due to the growing national reputation of Rugby School, which had moved from its original location at a (now long vanished) schoolhouse north of St Andrew's Church, to its present location south of the town centre by 1750. By the time of the first national census in 1801, Rugby had a population of 1,487 with 278 houses. By 1831 this had increased further to 2,501 in 415 houses. This growth was driven by parents who wished to send their boys to Rugby School, but were unable to afford the boarding fees and so took up residence in Rugby.[11][12][4]

Rugby's growth into a significant town was prompted by the arrival of the railways, as its location made it an ideal meeting place for various railway lines, by the middle of the 19th century, the railway junction at Rugby had become one of the most important in the country: The first railway arrived in 1838 when one of the earliest inter-city main lines, the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was constructed around the town. In 1840 the Midland Counties Railway made a junction with the L&BR at Rugby, which was followed by a junction with the Trent Valley Railway in 1847. A line to Peterborough opened in 1850, followed by a line to Leamington in 1851, by which time there were more than sixty trains a day passing through Rugby railway station via the five converging lines. A line to Northampton opened in 1881, and finally the Great Central Main Line opened in 1899.[11][5] Rugby was transformed into a railway town, and the influx of railway workers and their families rapidly expanded the population.[6] Rugby's population grew to nearly 8,000 by 1861.[12] reaching nearly 17,000 by 1901. By which time around 1 in 5 Rugbeians were employed by the railways.[13][5]

Late 19th century map of Rugby

In the later half of the 19th century, Rugby also developed some local industries: Large-scale cement production began in the town in 1862 when the Rugby Lias Lime & Cement Company Ltd was founded to take advantage of the locally available deposits of Blue Lias limestone.[14][4] A factory producing corsets was opened in 1882, this survived until 1992, by which time it was making swimwear.[6]

In the 1890s and 1900s heavy engineering industries began to set up in Rugby, attracted by its central location and good transport links, causing the town to rapidly grow into a major industrial centre: Willans and Robinson were the first engineering firm to arrive in 1897,[15] building steam engines to drive electrical generators, they were followed by British Thomson-Houston in 1902, who manufactured electrical motors and generators. Both firms started producing turbines in 1904, and were in competition until both were united as part of GEC in 1969.[16] For most of the 20th century, the various engineering works dominated employment in Rugby; at their height in the 1960s, they employed around 22,000 people.[17] Rugby expanded rapidly in the early decades of the 20th century as workers moved in. By the 1940s, the population of Rugby had grown to over 40,000, and then to over 50,000 by the 1960s.[13]

A local board of health was established in Rugby in 1848, to provide the town with necessary infrastructure for its growth, such as paved roads, street lighting, clean drinking water and sewerage, this was converted into an urban district council in 1894. Rugby's status was upgraded to that of a municipal borough in 1932, and its boundaries were expanded to incorporate the formerly separate villages of Bilton, Hillmorton, Brownsover and Newbold-on-Avon which have become suburbs of the town.[12][18] In 1974 the municipal borough was merged with the Rugby Rural District to form the present Borough of Rugby.[19]

In the postwar years, Rugby became well served by the motorway network, with the M1 and M6 merging close to the town. Although many of the railway lines into Rugby were closed during the same period.[16] In the 21st century, Rugby's urban area has undergone further expansion with large new developments at Cawston and the large new development of Houlton on the site of the former Rugby Radio Station to the east of the town.

Rugby School.

Rugby is most famous for the invention of rugby football, which is played throughout the world. The invention of the game is credited to William Webb Ellis, a Rugby School pupil who, according to legend, broke the existing rules of football by picking up the ball and running with it at a match played in 1823. Although there is little evidence to support this story, the school is credited with codifying and popularising the sport. In 1845, three Rugby School pupils produced the first written rules of the "Rugby style of game".[3]

Rugby School is one of England's oldest and most prestigious public schools, and was the setting of Thomas Hughes's semi-autobiographical masterpiece Tom Brown's Schooldays, published in 1857.[3] A substantial part of the 2004 dramatisation of the novel, starring Stephen Fry, was filmed on location at Rugby School. Hughes later set up a colony in America for the younger sons of the English gentry, who could not inherit under the laws of primogeniture, naming the town Rugby. The town of Rugby, Tennessee still exists.[20]

Rugby School is said to have been a major inspiration behind the revival of the Olympic Games: the French educator, and father of the modern Olympics Pierre de Coubertin, visited Rugby School several times in the late 19th century, and cited the school as one of his major inspirations behind his decision to revive the Olympic Games.[3]

Rugby is a birthplace of the jet engine. In April 1937 Frank Whittle built and tested the world's first prototype jet engine at the British Thomson-Houston (BTH) works in Rugby, and during 1936–41 based himself at Brownsover Hall on the outskirts, where he designed and developed early prototype engines. Much of his work was carried out at nearby Lutterworth. Whittle is commemorated in Rugby by a modern sculpture near the town hall dating from 2005, made by Stephen Broadbent.[21][3][22]

Holography was invented in Rugby in 1947, by the Hungarian born inventor Dennis Gabor, also while working at BTH. For this he later received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971.[23]

In the 19th century, Rugby became famous for its once important railway junction which was the setting for Charles Dickens's story Mugby Junction.

The town centre is mostly Victorian and early 20th century, however a few much older buildings survive, along with some more modern developments. Rugby was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as 'Butterfieldtown'[24] due to the number of buildings designed by William Butterfield in the 19th century, including much of Rugby School and the extension of St Andrew's Church.

The main shopping area in Rugby has traditionally been in the streets around the Clock Tower, two of which – High Street and Sheep Street – were pedestrianised in the 1980s.[6] Until the 19th century, Rugby's urban area consisted of only Market Place, High Street, Sheep Street, Church Street, North Street and what is now Lawrence Sheriff Street. These centred on what is now the Clock Tower, which was built in 1887 on the site of an ancient cross. These streets still form the core of the town centre. In the Victorian and Edwardian eras several more shopping streets were added in order to cater for the growing town, including Albert Street and Regent Street, the latter of which was built in 1905, and was intended to be Rugby's main shopping street, although it never achieved this goal.[4][25] The town centre has an indoor shopping centre called Rugby Central Shopping Centre which opened in 1979 (previously named The Clock Tower shopping centre).[6] A street market is held in the town centre several days a week. In recent years several out-of-town retail centres have opened and expanded to the north of the town, including: Elliott's Field Retail Park, Junction 1 Retail Park and Technology Drive.

From 1885 until 1983 Rugby was a constituency in itself, a status it regained in 2010. Rugby historically has been one of the Midlands' most marginal seats. From 1885 until 1924 Rugby was a marginal seat which changed hands between the Conservative and Liberal parties. From 1924 until 1942, the prominent Conservative David Margesson was Rugby's MP, his resignation triggered the 1942 Rugby by-election which was won by an independent trade unionist William Brown, who retained the seat until losing it to James Johnson of the Labour Party in 1950. From 1950 until 1983 Rugby was a Labour-Conservative marginal, with the Labour Party holding it for the majority of that period.[31]

In 1983 Rugby was joined with Kenilworth to become part of the parliamentary constituency of Rugby and Kenilworth. Between 1983 and 1997 Jim Pawsey was the Conservative Member of Parliament, losing in 1997 to Labour's Andy King. At the 2005 general election Jeremy Wright regained the seat for the Conservatives.[31]

Following the recommendations of the Boundary Commission for England, Warwickshire was allocated a sixth parliamentary seat. In the 2010 general election, the existing Rugby and Kenilworth constituency was abolished and split in two. A new Rugby constituency was created, and a new constituency of Kenilworth and Southam formed to the south of Rugby, and as a result the town regained its pre-1983 status of returning its own member of parliament, albeit with the addition of the Bulkington Ward from Nuneaton. Jeremy Wright chose to stand for Kenilworth and Southam in the 2010 general election and was successful. Mark Pawsey, son of former Rugby MP Jim Pawsey, was elected for Rugby in 2010.[31]

Rugby Town Hall – The headquarters of Rugby Borough Council

Rugby is administered by two local authorities: Rugby Borough Council which covers Rugby and its surrounding countryside, and Warwickshire County Council. The two authorities are responsible for different aspects of local government. Rugby is an unparished area and so does not have its own town council.

The Borough of Rugby was created in its current form in 1974, with the first elections held in 1973, since then, Rugby Borough Council has spent the majority of its time under no overall control, alternating with periods of Conservative control. (see Rugby Borough Council elections) since 2023 it has been under no overall control.

Rugby is covered by Warwickshire Police and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service. Ambulance services are covered by the West Midlands Ambulance Service.

The local hospital in Rugby is the Hospital of St. Cross which is part of the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.[32] A more extensive range of health services are provided at the University Hospital Coventry, some ten miles away.[33]

Game of Rugby being played on 'The Close' at Rugby School, where the game was invented.

• Rugby has a number of rugby union teams including; the Rugby Lions, Rugby Welsh, Rugby St. Andrews RFC, Newbold-on-Avon RFC, AEI (Rugby) Rugby Football Club and Old Laurentian RFC.[50]
• Rugby has two non-league football clubs, Rugby Town F.C., who play in the United Counties League Premier Division, and Rugby Borough F.C., formed in 2017, who were Leicestershire Senior League Division One Champions in 2017–18.
• There are two golf courses near the town: Rugby Golf Club to the East, and Whitefields Golf Club to the South West.
• The Rugby Lawn Tennis Club, is one of the oldest in the world, having been established in 1876.[51]
• Rugby's Artistic Swimming Club is competitive on a regional and national level.[52]

Places of interest in the town include:

• The Rugby School Museum, which has audio-visual displays about the history of Rugby School and of the town.
• The combined art gallery and museum. The art gallery contains a nationally recognised collection of contemporary art. The museum contains, amongst other things, Roman artefacts dug up from the nearby Roman settlement of Tripontium. The facility became the physical home of the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2016.[96]
• The Webb Ellis Rugby Football Museum, where traditional rugby balls are handmade. It contains much rugby football memorabilia.
• The Benn Hall, a conference, seminar, exhibition and party venue.
• Newbold Quarry Park, nature reserve
• Swift Valley Nature Reserve

Places of interest around Rugby include:

• Brandon Marsh
• Brownsover Hall
• Coombe Abbey
• Coton House
• Dunchurch – Historic village
• Draycote Water – Reservoir and nature reserve
• Oxford Canal
• Ryton Organic Gardens
• Stanford Hall

Rugby is situated near to several major trunk routes including the M1, M6 and M45 motorways, and the A5, A14 and A45 roads. Other main roads in the town include the A426 road, the A428 road and the Rugby Western Relief Road, linking the A45 with the Leicester Road, that connects with junction 1 of the M6.

In 2010, a short local bypass was opened; it was the first part of the Rugby Western Relief Road. It runs from the A428 (Lawford Road), along the edge of the built-up area to the A4071 (road from Rugby through Bilton and Cawston), a little west of Cawston; it takes through heavy traffic off suburban housing roads such as Addison Road. On 10 September 2010, the final part of Rugby's Western Relief Road was opened. The road runs from Potsford Dam near Cawston, through the Lawford Road and ending at Newbold Road, near the Avon Valley School. The initial estimated cost was projected at £36.6 million, while the final figure was in excess of £60 million.[97]

Buses run to Coventry, Southam, Leamington Spa, Daventry, Leicester and Northampton, as well as serving the major estates of the town on a regular basis. Stagecoach in Warwickshire have a depot in the town.[98]

Rugby railway station

Rugby railway station is served by the West Coast Main Line and has frequent regular services to London Euston, Birmingham New Street, Stafford and Crewe. There are also some infrequent services between Rugby and Glasgow Central, the North West of England, Shrewsbury, Chester and Holyhead.

Rugby has had a railway station since 1838, when the London and Birmingham Railway was opened, though the present station dates from 1885. Rugby station used to be served by lines which have now been closed, including to Leicester, Leamington Spa and Peterborough. These were closed in the 1960s as part of the Beeching cuts.[99]

Between 1899 and 1969, Rugby had a second station; Rugby Central station on the former Great Central Main Line, which had services to London Marylebone to the south and Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield to the north. The station and line were closed in the 1960s as part of the Beeching cuts.[99]

British Railways' locomotive testing centre was in Rugby.[99]

Warwickshire County Council have proposed a new station; Rugby Parkway station be built on the Northampton Loop Line, south-east of the existing station, serving the Hillmorton area of the town, and the new development at Houlton. The station is to be built in between the current edge of town and DIRFT to accommodate for the future expansion of the town where 6,200 homes are planned to be built over a 15 to 20-year period. No date, however, has been given for the opening of this station.[100]

Newbold canal tunnel on the Oxford Canal at Rugby

There are direct railway links to the nearest major airport Birmingham Airport. The smaller Coventry Airport is also nearby.

The Oxford Canal from near Coventry to Oxford runs around Rugby, through the Newbold, Brownsover and Hillmorton areas, although it does not come close to the town centre. The canal was opened in 1790, as a winding contour canal, but was straightened out in the 1830s. Notable features of the canal locally are the 250 yd (230 m) long tunnel at Newbold, and the flight of locks at Hillmorton, which are the busiest flight of locks on the national canal network.[101][102]

There are a number of cycling routes in Rugby, some of which are roadside cycle lanes, and others are off-road and traffic free, some of which reuse old railway infrastructure.[103]

• 
  Neil Adams, Judoka, multiple Olympic medal winner
• 
  Rupert Brooke, poet
• 
  Norman Lockyer, scientist, discovered helium
• 
  Richard Lindon, leatherworker, inventor of rugby ball
• 
  Jason Pierce, musician, (Spacemen 3, Spiritualized)
• 
  Barbara Stocking, former head of Oxfam GB

State schools

Independent

• Crescent School

Comprehensive Schools

• Avon Valley School
• Bilton School
• Harris Church of England Academy
• Houlton School
• Rugby Free Secondary School

Partially selective schools

• Ashlawn School

Grammar schools

• Lawrence Sheriff School
• Rugby High School for Girls

Independent schools

• Rugby School
• Bilton Grange

• Rugby College – which is a part of the Warwickshire College Group.
• Percival Guildhouse - Independent adult education charity.

• Bishop Wulstan School
• Hillbrow School
• William Temple College (1954–71): an Anglican theological college.

The local radio stations are:

• BBC CWR: 104.0 FM
• Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire (formally known as Mercia Sound and Mercia FM): 97.0FM
• Capital Mid-Counties: 107.1 FM

The main local newspapers are:

• The Rugby Advertiser
• The Rugby Observer
• The Warwickshire Telegraph; a localised sub-edition of the Coventry Telegraph.

The Rugby area is covered on regional TV News by:

• BBC Midlands Today
• ITV News Central