This page is one of several pages which are based on articles in our book entitled Royal Leamington Spa, A History in 100 Buildings which was published in 2018 and is no longer in print.
This building stands on the corner of Pound Lane and Cubbington Road. It was designed by John Cundall in 1882 as the Local Board of Health Offices for Lillington, before Lillington was incorporated into the Borough of Royal Leamington Spa. An early postcard describes it as Corporation House. The Local Board represented an early form of local government who investigated ‘nuisances’ such as drainages faults, accumulations of noxious matter, noise and smoke emissions.
In addition there was a branch Police Station with living accommodation for the Officer covering the locality, the main headquarters being in the High Street, Leamington Spa.
After local government use ceased, in 1926 it became a branch library. The Lillington Men’s Club formed in 1897 who used to meet in the Old School Room, moved in 1922 to premises in Lime Avenue, Lillington. They had a lending library, the stock of which was eventually transferred to the Lillington Branch Library which had been established in the Board Room of the Board of Health. In “Royal Leamington Spa – a Plan for Development” published in 1947 it was identified that the Library had out-grown the space available and extension was not possible. It remained until 1960, when the premises became inadequate as the growth of borrowing from lending libraries was on the increase.
The Board Room was used as a schoolroom for some Junior pupils prior to the ‘New School’ being built in the early 1960s.
A potentially redundant building was then used by the Lillington Pre-School Playgroup for a number of years, in recent times it is also used by an ‘Evangelical Church’, as well as a Polling Station when elections are held. In 2018 it is used twice a week for table tennis by Lillington Free Church Table Tennis Club.
Peter Coulls, January 2018