NOTE that we have not found any streets in the town beginning with X or Z. The Streets of Leamington beginning with W Note. A typical entry lists the date of the street, the origin of the name and finally the location of the street. Please refer to the page entitled Streets of Leamington for … Read more
The house I grew up in, which we know today as 59 Beauchamp Avenue has not always been No. 59, or even Beauchamp Avenue. When the first plans for the development of this part of Leamington’s ‘New Town’ were made in 1825, the street was going to be called Newbold Terrace. When it was … Read more
Perhaps you are vaguely aware of the shield for Leamington which has a chevron on top of a lion with two tails, three stars at the top and a border containing eight fleurs-de-lys. In an idle moment you may have wondered about its origins, what it all represents and if it tells you anything about … Read more
Here is the history of Leamington College for Boys, otherwise known as Binswood Hall, in Binswood Avenue. The story is told in 42 slides and was compiled by Alan Griffin. Click on the forward and back arrows on screen or on the keyboard to navigate through the presentation. Click on the two-headed arrow symbol in … Read more
This gallery provides images of some of the dates which appear on buildings in the town. Mick Jeffs, May 2017 All images by the author
The only remaining Almshouses left in Leamington are in Prospect Road. They were built by a bequest of William Riley who was born in 1815 and died in 1st May 1904 and a charity was set up called “William Riley Of Birmingham and Leamington Charity”. The charity would build Almshouses in both areas in the … Read more
When the last member of the Wise family died in 1924, and the handsome contents of Shrubland Hall had been sold at auction by Loveitts, a teacher by the name of Miss Nellie Gurney Callier came from Daventry to take the house and grounds to run as a “High Class Boarding School for Girls”. Miss … Read more
The Wise Hall St John’s Parochial Hall (aka ‘The Wise Hall’) was built originally by Dr. John Hitchman. It was used by him as a place of worship for people connected with his Arboretum Hydropathic Hospital which opened close by in 1862. After the formation of St. John’s Parish in 1875, it was given by Mrs. … Read more
The project to build a church for the spiritual welfare of the residents of South Leamington first occurred to Mrs. Matthew Wise of Shrubland Hall in 1874 whilst she was making alterations to her will. She donated £1,000 for the purpose. A Committee, including Lord Leigh of Stoneleigh, and Canon Young, Rector of Whitnash, was formed and a meeting was held in the Crown Hotel on 5th September 1875. In … Read more
What’s in a name? The Newbold part of the above local name is quite simple, – the ‘New’ denoting a parcel of land newly brought into cultivation. Whilst ‘Bold’ is Saxon for a building, the two words together indicate an area of land or village more recently established than the adjacent villages. This could have … Read more
Take a look at the engraving of the Parade in this article and in particular take a close look at the classical portico on the left of this image, the Palladian style building with the Ionic columns. This engraving first appeared in Hopper’s History of Leamington Priors published in 1842 and has been reproduced in … Read more
Beech Lawn, “Dr Jephson’s splendid mansion” once stood at the corner of Warwick Street and Dale Street. Designed by a local architect, William Startin, it was built by a workforce of 140 in 1830-31 for the Leamington doctor, whose advocacy of a plain diet, exercise and the taking of the Leamington waters made the Spa … Read more
Contact the Secretary, Margaret Rushton: secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk
September 9, 2026
August 12, 2026