Margaret Rushton In a town replete with Regency architecture, it comes as something of a surprise to stumble on a fine Tudor façade a short distance from The Parade. The building in question is the old Leamington College in Binswood Avenue, designed in Tudor Gothic style by local architect Daniel Squirhill and built in 1847 as … Read more
Milverton Lawn, better known to many Leamington residents as The Sunshine Home, is now apartments, and renamed Goodway House, but it was once a substantial Victorian family home, with a fine multi-coloured marble staircase, and a double height ballroom.. The house was built in the early 1860s for the Company Secretary of the Warwick and … Read more
In the early 1970s, Kit and Ivy Reading were interviewed for the 1st edition of the Bath Place Times, painting a vivid picture of their lives and the area where they grew up. The Reading family kept the Althorpe Arms in Althorpe Street for 42 years, until the area became a trading estate in the … Read more
This large copper beech tree stood in Jephson Gardens, close to the Davis Clock, for almost 170 years. According to Leamington History Group member Robin Stott, the tree dates back as far as the late 1840s when Edward Willes’ Newbold Gardens were remodelled and renamed Jephson Gardens. The tree was felled in 2013 because although … Read more
Leamington Priors was one of only four Spa towns in 19th century England to have Bath-chairs as a form of transport, and Thomas Timms played a major role in developing this form of transport. Towards the end of his life, he published a short memoir, detailing his early life and experiences. He was … Read more
Alice Rosa Barker, was born in Wolverhampton in 1843 and was possibly the child of her mother’s 20th pregnancy. She arrived into a world of great change, energy and creativity – only a month after the launch of Brunel’s SS Great Britain. With motion at the very heart of nineteenth century industrial expansion – wider … Read more
From its earliest days as a Spa town, Leamington has always hosted bands and their music. There used to be military bands playing in the Pump Room Gardens every morning in the summer season, – an unwelcome distraction in the early years of the 20th century, for the girls at the Grammar School, sitting examinations … Read more
The British Army has engaged in many heroic actions over the years but few have achieved such legendary status as one during the Crimean War in October 1854. This action, described by The Times reporter present as ‘an atrocity without parallel’ came to be known as The Charge of the Light Brigade and moved the … Read more
The Leamington Business Directory for 1899 lists many hundreds of small businesses at a period that was arguably the heyday of the independent trader in Leamington Spa. Many of the entries relate to what we would today call service industries. Whether you wanted a paper hanger, a bill poster, a bone setter or a laundress … Read more
The Leamington Priors mineral springs had been exploited by local physicians from the early eighteenth century but it wasn’t until the start of the nineteenth century that they were promoted on a commercial basis. Drinking health-giving mineral waters and regular bathing in them was a well established custom widely practised and known as ‘taking the … Read more
In1889, middle-aged Sarah Kibbler was a general servant at the home of Dr and Mrs Horniblow, 76 Clarendon Street, Leamington. Her duties included cleaning and taking care of the family, the doctor, his wife, their only son William – and of the family pet, a rat kept in a cage in the scullery. Mrs … Read more
Mary Beamish. 1791 – 1876 From her marriage in 1815 until 1836, Mary Beamish was the farmer’s wife, at Manor Farm Lillington, where her father in law had first become the Wise family’s tenant in 1805. With the help of a housemaid and a dairy maid, she was responsible for the farmhouse, an extensive … Read more
Contact the Secretary, Margaret Rushton: secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk
June 9, 2026
Nelly (later known as Eleanor Velasco) Thornton was born in Stockwell, London, on 15th April 1880 to Frederick and Sarah Ann Thornton, who was also known as ‘Nellie’. They had...
May 26, 2026
This is Mark’s own brief personal and professional story about how he became interested in the history of Leamington Spa and producing films about the town’s full, varied and fascinating...
May 6, 2026
Acknowledgements to Contributors Writers of Articles Stella BolithoNigel BriggsPeter CoullsBarry FranklinMichael JeffsAllan JenningsMichael PearsonDr Sylvia PinchesMargaret RushtonSidney SysonRichard TaulbutDr John Wilmot Substantial Contributors to Articles. Kay Bugg; Alan Griffin; Dr...