Manor Farm was the largest of the three Lillington village farms, extending over 230 acres to the Cubbington boundary. At the turn of the 19th century, all three farms were owned by local landowner Matthew Wise, whose family had owned the land since it was divided into fields almost a hundred years before at the … Read more
What is today known as The Loft Theatre Company began as the Warwick and Leamington Dramatic Club which was founded in 1922. The first performance was The Silver Box which was staged at the Spencer Street schoolroom in 1923. It became the only theatre in town when the Theatre Royal (see article) was converted to a cinema … Read more
There is a substantial building with a certain ‘presence’ on the east side of Kenilworth Street which is now the home of many retired people. At its heart is a Victorian building enlivened with patterns of different colours of bricks. Many will recall that in the 1960s part of it was the home of Griffin and … Read more
The Justice Centre sits on a site near the western end of Newbold Terrace and is the second full redevelopment of the site since the mid-1960s. The original buildings demolished on the site were a terrace of three-storey houses built by G F Jackson between 1835 and 1838. A terrace of similar properties which remain and have … Read more
The concept of constructing hexagonal houses is not a new one, with examples surviving from the 19th century. Indeed in 1941 Sir Frederick Stewart, Minister for Social Welfare in Australia, was advocating “hexagonal houses with a hole in the roof for a chimney” as a solution to that country’s housing problem, as well as providing a … Read more
What became known as “The Jewel Factory” was based on Tachbrook Road, Royal Leamington Spa, where all kinds of jewellery and other items made of precious metal were manufactured. The firm of Henry Griffith was established in Birmingham in 1850 and moved to a new purpose-built factory in Leamington in 1919/20. The move from Birmingham was … Read more
Harrington House was designed by Edward Welby Pugin (1834-1875), son of A W N Pugin, and famous in his own right for designing over 100 Catholic Churches at home and abroad, despite dying young at 41. It was built in 1869 at the north-west corner of Newbold Street and Newbold Terrace on land bought by local builder and … Read more
The address of this pub was originally in Cross Street, which was later named Regent Street in honour of the Prince Regent. The Golden Lion was one of the first buildings to be built north of the river Leam as part of the “new town” in 1810 and it was one of the few places where accommodation … Read more
It has been suggested that the earliest evidence of a Gas Works in Leamington was 1819, although other sources imply that it could even be some four years before that. T B Dudley in 1901 claimed that there were works “on the site of the present works, erected by Mr Roberts, of the Warwick Foundry, probably … Read more
Originally the land on which houses in Aintree Drive were built belonged to Mr S McGregor, who ran a successful stud farm. This is the reason why, after he sold the land for building, many roads were named after racecourses. Valley Road runs through the middle of the estate and on either side are Aintree Drive, … Read more
In 1860 John Gardiner sent plans to the local board to build a large house on the corner of Upper Holly Walk and Newbold Road (now Willes Road). The plans were eventually approved and the large house was built in a Classical style. It demonstrates the long period within which houses were built in the street; some on … Read more
As there was no provision for Methodists in Leamington in the early 1800s, worshippers travelled to Warwick, or further afield to Coventry. A London barber, William Scott, set up a place of worship for Methodists in Barnacle’s Yard, Satchwell Street in 1817. Two years later, with a congregation of just nine, a large room in Brunswick … Read more
