Year Event
1086 ‘Domesday Book’ Survey was carried out. The overlords of the land in Rugby and the nearby district are listed below:
(a) Thorkell of Arden who held Rugby (spelt ‘Rocheberie’), Cawston (spelt ‘Calvestone’), Little Lawford (spelt Lilleford) and part of Bilton (spelt ‘Bentone’).
(b) Osbern Fitz Richard, son of Richard Fitz Scrope of Richard’s Castle, Herefordshire, who held Dunchurch (spelt ‘Donecerce’.)
(c) The Count of Meulan who held most of Hillmorton (spelt ‘Mortone’). The remainder was held by Hugh of Grandmesnil and Richard the Forester.
(d) Earl Aubrey who held Clifton upon Dunsmore (spelt ‘Cliptone’), having wrongly annexed it from Coventry Church.
(e) Geoffrey of La Guerche who held Newbold on Avon (spelt ‘Newebold’), Long Lawford (spelt ‘Lelleford’) and Brownsover (spelt ‘Gavra’).
(f) Earl Roger who held Church Lawford (spelt ‘Leileford’) and a part of Bilton (spelt’Beltone’).
1140 First mention of St Andrew’s Church in Rugby.
1221 Simon the Decon (Deacon) is the first known priest in Rugby. Henry de Rokeby makes arrangement with Leicester Abbey, so Henry can appoint subsequent priests, a major step towards becoming a separate parish.
1255 Market charter granted to Rugby by a statute of Henry III (to Sir Henry de Rokeby).
This was for a weekly market on Saturdays and a yearly fair from 9th to 11th August.
1298 Rugby Parish Rectory income assessed as £5 per year.
1327 Manor of Rugby was granted the right to hold a Court Leet.
1349 Ralph, Lord Stafford, later the 1st Earl of Stafford purchased the manor of Rugby and advowson of St Andrew’s.
1460 Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, died, holding the Manor of Rugby. His 2nd son Henry inherited.
1483 Manor of Rugby in the dower of Countess of Richmond, widow of Sir Henry Stafford, and mother of Henry VII.
1484 Rugby manor confiscated from Countess of Richmond by Richard III.
1485 Rugby manor restored by Henry VII to his mother, the Countess of Richmond.
1508 The will of Richard Fosterd founded a charity to maintain bridges over the Avon in Rugby and Newbold. (Some sources give the date as 1558.)
c1515 Lawrence Sheriff born in Rugby.
1521 Rugby manor granted by Crown to Sir Gilbert Talboys.
1558 (Alternative date for creation of Fosterd Bridge Charity – see 1508).
1560 Lady Elizabeth Dudley sold the manor of Rugby and advowson to John Wyrley.
1562 69 households attended St Andrew’s in Rugby. (This excludes recusant Catholics and dissenting Protestants.)
1567 Lawrence Sheriff dies and leaves a London estate to fund a Grammar School (now Rugby School) and 4 Almshouses for old men.
1594 Richard and Susannah Burnabye purchased the manor of Rugby and advowson for £2,100.
1632 James Nalton, a noted Puritan preacher, was appointed as Rugby rector.
1634 A serious fire and an outbreak of plague occurred in Rugby.
1642 Charles I passed through Rugby.
1645 Large force of Parliamentarians and Cromwell quartered in Rugby about two months before Battle of Naseby.
1652 Extra rates collected towards costs of repairs to Rugby Parish church.
1660 Four tradesmen in Rugby struck copper tokens for local money circulation, due to shortage of official coins. (Tokens banned by Statute in 1676.)
1662 The George Inn built in Market Place, Rugby.
1663 Hearth tax in Rugby applied to 94 houses containing a total of 213 hearths; a further 66 small houses, with one hearth each, were exempt from the tax.
1669 Bennfield House (“Bennfields”) built in North Street, Rugby.
1688 Drury Lane was known as Tinkers Lane at this time.
1690 King William III passed through Hillmorton and Rugby on his way to Ireland, previous to the Battle of the Boyne
1707 Richard Elborowe founded a Charity School and almshouses in High Street, Rugby, shortly before his death.
1710 Severe smallpox epidemic in Rugby resulting in 53 burials, normally less than 20.
1716 Serious fire in Rugby.
1719 Another serious fire in Rugby.
1720 William Boughton of Bilton (1682-1720) purchased the rights & privileges of the Manor of Rugby from Frances Burnaby.
Henry Plowman of Northampton purchased the manorial estate of Rugby from Frances Burnaby.
The rights & privileges of the Manor of Rugby were bequeathed by William Boughton on his death to his sister in law, Ann Boughton (d. 1729).
1721 Rugby rates accounts mention the ducking stool.
1725 Henry Beighton (1687-1743) produced an outstanding map of Warwickshire, scale 1 inch to 1 mile, one of the first in England to be based upon trigonometrical survey methods.
1729 William Boughton (1718 – 46) succeeded to the Manor of Rugby on the death of his mother, Ann.
Boughton House was built in North Street by Edward Boughton of Cawston for his daughter, Judith, and her husband Thomas Harris.
1730 Rugby had 183 houses and a population of 900.
1738 More Rugby town fires.
1744 The common animal pound adjoining Langley’s Barn (near the present School Science Room) was transferred to the Butts (Union Street fields).
1746 Edward Boughton (1742 – 45) succeeded to the Manor of Rugby on the death of his father, William Boughton.
Anna Boughton (1746 – 77) became the infant Lady of Rugby Manor following the death of her brother, Edward.
1748 The old Rugby Manor house on the present site of Rugby School, was bought by the School Trustees from Mrs Rebecca Pennington, daughter of Henry Plowman.
1750 Rugby School moved to a new large school room that had been added to the old Rugby Manor House.
1751 By Act of Parliament, subsequent new years start on the 1st of January, instead of Lady Day, 25th March, as previously.
1765 Anna Boughton married Alexander Hume (d. 1794, Enfield, Middx). They levied a “fine” to allow him to become the Lord of the Manor of Rugby.
1767 Lord Craven bought advowson of Parish church; the church was re-pewed.
1769 Original workhouse for parish of Rugby opened in North Street.
1774 1560 acres of open fields in Rugby Parish were enclosed and divided up under an Act of 1773.
1775 Fire Engine given to Rugby by Henry Wilson.
1781 Inquest of Sir Theodosius Boughton held at the ‘Bear and Ragged Staff Inn’. Capt Donellan was hanged for his murder.
1783 Lawrence Sheriff’s ‘Mansion House’, the original school site, pulled down and four additional almshouses were erected on the site.
1791 William Butlin, draper of Rugby died this year aged 61. His widow, Ann, acquired the banking business of Samuel Clay in that year and traded as A Butlin & Son.
1792 Organ from Norton-by-Galby, Leicestershire, built by Bernard Smith, bought for £395 for Parish church.
1794 Abraham Hume (1769 – 1846), of Bilton Grange, became the Lord of the Manor of Rugby on the death of his father, Alexander.
1796 Hewitt’s windmill, located off Newbold Road near to the present day Avon Street, was totally destroyed by fire.
1797 South Aisle of Parish Church enlarged to the east.
1801 Abraham Caldecott (1763-1829) purchased the rights and privileges of the Lord of the Manor of Rugby from his nephew Abraham Hume.
1803 Baptist Church built at the corner of Gas Street and Castle Street by Sir Egerton Leigh (1762-1818).
1809 School House, Rugby School, built on the site of the old Manor House (see entries for 1748 & 1750).
1814 Rugby School boys ceased to attend Parish church due to insufficient room; they used Great School instead, until School Chapel was built.
Bear & Ragged Staff Inn converted to house and draper’s shop by Mr Thomas Voile.
1816 Punishment by pillory abolished, it stood near the corner of the George Inn in Market Place.
Old Big Side playing field created from three smaller fields at Rugby School.
1818 10 parishes, including Rugby, formed a poor law union and built a new workhouse in Lower Hillmorton Road to accommodate 130.
Rugby Bank for Savings established. It catered for the savings of “the prudent and frugal” and was secured by the personal funds of its trustees.
1819 Building of Rugby School chapel started (completed in 1821).
1823 Wesleyan (Methodist) Chapel erected in Chapel Street (Swan St), replacing chapel in Harrals Court off Drury Lane.
William Webb Ellis reputedly introduced running with the ball into Rugby School football.
Rowell & Sons established first printing press in Rugby by printing a pamphlet for the Bible Society.
1825 The Rev. John Moultrie MA (1799-1874) was appointed Rector of St Andrew’s Parish Church.
1826 Thomas Caldecott (1798 -1875) takes over from his father as Lord of the Manor.
1828 Dr Thomas Arnold appointed Head Master of Rugby School.
Another four Lawrence Sheriff almshouses built and the earlier eight were renovated in line with the new ones. Each almshouse was also given a porch.
1830 South aisle of parish church enlarged further, requiring Richard Elborowe and wife to be re-interred in a new grave.
Malin’s Pool, in Warwick Street between Union Street and Bilton Road, filled in.
Caldecott (later Trinity) School built in Church Street on the site of the horse pool, opposite the Squirrel Inn, the gift of Thomas Caldecott.
First formal planning application made for the London-Birmingham railway.
1832 Cholera epidemic in Rugby.
1833 Henry Giffney’s map of Rugby & adjoining parishes published; scale 2.95 inch to 1 mile – 1:21,478.
1834 Old 304ft contour Oxford Canal improved by building new sections removing the longer loops from the main route, saving 13 miles between Napton and Coventry.
1835 National Provincial Bank of England Ltd was the first of the multiple banks to set up in the town by opening in Market Place.
1836 New Rugby Poor Law Union formed with 39 parishes.
1837 First street lamp posts erected in Rugby, with oillamps!
Miss Day’s boarding and day school established in Little Church Street.
1838 Rugby Gas Company formed with a Capital of 150 £20 shares; its first gas works built in Railway Terrace.
London & Birmingham Railway opened with Rugby’s first station beside the bridge in Newbold Road.
1839 Street- lighting by gas was introduced in the town, with 47 lamps.
Queen Adelaide (widow of King William IV) visits Rugby School on 21st Oct.
1840 Midland Counties Railway opened and Rugby became a junction. A new station built with access by Railway Terrace.
Knightlow Constabulary formed, replacing parish constables in the Hundred of Knightlow (including Rugby).
1841 St Matthew’s Church built, as district church in St Andrew’s Parish.
Primitive Methodist Church built on corner of Queen and Russell Streets.
College for the Deaf and Dumb opened in Castle Street by Mr Henry Brothers Bingham (1801-75).
1842 Dr Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby School died.
W I Tait set up his own printing press in Church Street, Rugby.
William Gilbert (rugby ball maker) moves to a new building in St Matthew’s Street from 19 High Street.
1844 Rugby Cricket club formed, playing first match in a field off Bilton Road.
First Catholic Mission opened at 7 Chapel Street.
1845 St Matthew’s Elementary School opened in Pennington Street.
The Catholic Mission moved into larger premises in Chapel Street near to its junction with West Street.
1846 First edition of Rugby Advertiser was published from Church Street with cover price of 1d by W.I.Tait.
Last meeting of the Rugby Court Leet was held.
Worst streets of Rugby were drained by the Parish highway surveyors.
The town was provided with a new manual fire engine in October.
George Inn in Market Place demolished and rebuilt as George Hotel.
1847 St Marie’s Catholic Church built on “the brow of the hill” on the Dunchurch Road. It was opened in September by Bishop William Wareing, Vicar Apostolic
for the Eastern District
Trent Valley Railway opened between Rugby and Stafford.
Queen Victoria and family stop at Rugby Station while her train changed engines. This was observed by large numbers of townspeople.
1848 Rugby Benefit Building & Investment Society established in High Street.
A Catholic school for boys and girls opened in Dunchurch Road (close to present site of the Royal Oak).
1849 Rugby Local Board of Health formed. (Rugby and Croydon were the first towns to create a Local Board under the Public Health Act of 1848.)
The Wesleyans opened a day school behind their chapel in Chapel Street.
A detailed map of Rugby Parish was published by Crossley & Billingto, printers of Rugby, at a scale of about 1:4874 (13 inches to a mile). It may have been surveyed by Frederick Wood (c1807 – 1893).
1850 Post Office moved about this year from High Street near to the north corner of Chapel Street.
Rugby to Market Harborough railway line opened.
Catherine Butlin endowed six almshouses in Stephen Street for ‘six poor women of Rugby’.
1851 Rugby to Leamington Railway opened on Saturday, February 22, 1851.
Ordnance Survey large scale town plan produced by Capt. Beatty R.E.
Haswell’s brickyard recorded as being on Dunchurch Road below Catholic Church.
1852 St Matthew’s School build premises for older children in Bridget Street; infants remained at Pennington Street.
105 foot high water tower in Barby Road was brought into use. Its capacity was 56,000 gallons.
The Rugby Advertiser moved its offices to Albert Street from Church Street.
1853 Count William Ferdinand Wratislaw, solicitor, (b 1788) died.
G H Walker of Newbold purchased the Victoria Quarry at New Bilton.
New Rugby Divisional Police Station and Lock Up erected in Plowman Street.
Miss Frances Nicholson opened a school for girls in Warwick Street,
1854 Holy Trinity completed to designs by Sir George Gilbert Scott.
Town Hall Company Ltd formed.
A Catholic School for Boys was opened in January in St Marie’s Churchyard fronting on to Dunchurch Road.
1855 A Catholic School for Girls was opened in August in St Marie’s Churchyard adjacent to Oak Terrace.
1856 Richard Elborowe’s school and almshouses moved in May to Hill Street and St John Street respectively, when their original site in High Street was purchased for building of Town Hall.
Mr Hopewell’s Ilminster Academy, Classical & Commercial School, was relocated in Albert Street from Edgeworth Cottage (North Street).
Temperance Society formed.
1857 Rugby Flour and Bread Co Ltd established.
Warwickshire Constabulary formed providing cover for the whole county except certain boroughs which retained their separate forces.
Miss Nicholson’s School for Girls moves to larger premises, Irton Craig, in Newbold Road.
1858 Town Hall and Corn Exchange (with indoor market) opened in High Street (cost about £6,500).
Rugby Gazette first published on 15th May by Thomas Rogers and Anthony Thomas Read, with a cover price of 2d.
1859 Volunteer Rifle Company formed.
Alterations to the buildings by the north corner of Market Place and Chapel Street left the Post Office on the corner of Chapel Street and also the property of the Crown.
1860 St Matthew’s Church enlarged.
Catherine Butlin’s Almshouse Charity was further endowed by her will when she died in December 1859.
1861 A regular cab stand established in Market Place.
Rugby College for the Deaf and Dumb closed.
First Rugby Working Men’s club formed at Eagle Hotel, but short lived.
1862 Rugby Benefit & Building Investment Society re-formed as Rugby Provident Permanent Benefit Building Society.
The Rugby Co-operative Society Ltd established, opening a store in North Street shortly afterwards.
Richard Lindon, bootmaker of High Street and later of Lawrence Sheriff St, introduced footballs with india rubber bladders.
1863 Rugby Waterworks Act allows extraction of water from River Avon at new works in Mill Lane.
Clifton Road Cemetery opened in November 1863.
1864 Enlargement of St Marie’s by Edward Welby Pugin completed.
St Oswald’s, New Bilton opened as a mission chapel to St Mark’s, Bilton.
Rugby Savings Bank closed due to the introduction of Government secured Post Office Savings Banks.
1865 Congregationalists held their first services in Town Hall.
Rugby Gazette sold to James Kenning.
G H Walker opened the Rugby Clay, Lime, Cement, & Brick Co Ltd at New Bilton.
1866 Rugby Benefit Building Society established; it traded as the Rugby Freehold Land Society.
The Sanitary Act of this year compelled local authorities to improve local conditions and remove health hazards.
1867 Congregational Church built in Albert Street.
Rugby Football Club formed.
St Oswald’s, New Bilton, becomes a separate parish.
1868 Public Schools Act passed by Parliament.
National Provincial Bank removed to Church Street.
The multiple bank Lloyds Banking Company sets up in Rugby having taken over the local bank of A Butlin & Son.
1869 The nursing house in Pennington Street, with 6 beds for the sick and injured of Miss Frances Nicholson’s school, was opened to the public.
Methodist Church opened in Market Place; the Chapel Street building was taken over by its day school.
The rights and privileges (inc. market rights) of the Lord of the Manor were surrendered to the Local Board of Health.
Thomas Hunter established in Mill Road as a railway wagon builder and repairer.
1870 Parish church ceased to ring “the Curfew Bell” at 5am and 8pm.
Statute fair moves to Reynolds Field, east of Holy Trinity Church.
Co-operative Society store moves to Chapel Street site.
New gas works opened in Wood Street on September 20th.
1871 Old Star Inn demolished. It projected beyond the building line and restricted entry into Warwick Street.
Rugby Gazette renamed Midland Times and Rugby Gazette.
The Rugby Football Union founded.
1872 St Marie’s new tower and spire (almost 200ft above ground level) opened on August 20th.
The Pennington Street nursing house moves to the former Deaf and Dumb College in Castle Street, and becomes the Rugby Hospital and Nursing House with twelve beds.
Rugby Blue Lias Cement and Brick Co. re-founded as the Rugby Portland Cement Co. Ltd.
A new Working Men’s Club opened in Castle Street. (It closed in 1879).
1873 Rugby Football Club affiliates to Rugby Football Union.
Rugby Flour and Bread Co. flour mill in New Bilton burnt down.
1874 Smallpox outbreak in Rugby. Isolation Hospital built near the water tower in Barby Road.
Rev J. Moultrie MA died from smallpox after ministering to the sick at the Isolation Hospital.
Whitehall Road recreation ground purchased by the Local Board for a cattle market site, but never used as such.
1875 Rugby Volunteer Fire Brigade formed.
Rugby Gas Company converted to Rugby Gas Light and Coke Co, with capital of £50,000.
St Matthew’s became a separate parish.
1876 Rugby now has a continuous supply of water. Most street pumps and wells abolished.
Rugby Lawn Tennis club formed at Rugby Cricket Club ground.
The manual fire engine was removed from Warwick Street to a new fire station in the Board of Health’s yard in Russell Street.
1877 Dr Temple laid foundation stone of Primitive Methodist chapel in Railway Terrace, replacing Queen Street building.
St Andrew’s Parish Church rebuilt to William Butterfield’s design.
The Whitehall Recreation Ground, ’The Rec’, was opened in Hillmorton Road. (see entry for 1874.)
1878 Lawrence Sheriff Lower School opened to maintain free education of local boys under terms of Rugby School Act so Rugby School could become fully fee paying.
Cattle Market moved to Craven Road site near to Railway Station.
Rugby’s turnpike trusts disbanded and toll gates removed.
A rugby football match between Rugby & Lutterworth was played under electric light.
New railway engine sheds built (to hold 125 locos).
There were 188 gas-lit street lights.
1879 The old Whitehall demolished.
Campbell’s Coffee Tavern opened in the former Working Men’s Club in Castle Street.
A National school was built in New Bilton for 200 children.
1881 Northampton loop-line opened, forming sixth route from Rugby.
St Oswald’s church enlarged to designs by Bodley and Garner.
Severe gale uprooted several elm trees in School Close.
Baptist Chapel in Castle Street rebuilt in September to provide more capacity.
Rugby Corset Company formed with capital of £5,000.
Campbell’s Coffee Tavern moved to Church Street, beside Church Walk.
1882 St Andrew’s Boys school opened off Bath Street.
Start of building of St Cross Hospital.
The Corset Company opened a factory in Spring Street.
Rugby Gas Light & Coke Company re-incorporated by Act of Parliament. It was renamed the Rugby Gas Co.
Rugby Football Club move to present ground off Bilton Road, (now known as Webb Ellis Road).
Salvation Army starts meeting in Albert Hall, Albert Street (in former roller skating rink).
1883 Wesleyan Chapel built in Cambridge Street at a cost of £900.
Rugby Cycling Club formed.
Co-operative stores opened in Cross Street.
1884 Hospital of St Cross opened. Cost £17,000, the gift of Richard Henry Wood.
1885 Rugby Town and Trade Improvement Association founded.
Methodist Day School in Chapel Street relocates to a new building on another site in Chapel Street.
Freeman, Hardy and Willis, the boot and shoe retailer, opens in Market Place.
Arthur George Salter purchased Mrs Griffin’s menswear business in High Street; and renamed it as Salters.
1886 The 3rd L&NWR station completed on current site; this site is 90 yards to the east of the 1840 station.
Post Office opened sorting office in Murray Road (then named Mill Road) opposite new railway station.
1887 Rupert Brooke, poet, was born at 5, Hillmorton Road.
The number of gas lit street lamps had increased to 254.
1888 Upper storey added to St Andrew’s Caldecott School in Church Street.
1889 J Parriss, watchmaker, established at 26 Church Street; now in Regent Street
A clock tower was completed in Market Place to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee and handed over to the Local Board in January.
A new St Matthew’s School was built for use by girls only. The 1852 school was then limited to boys.
1890 Police were provided with a hand cart ambulance, based at Plowman Street.
The Theatre Royal opened in October, in Station Road (now named Railway Terrace) in a wooden building with a capacity of 1,000.
1891 Public Library opened on present site in a former school building, the gift of R.H.Wood.
Rugby Corset Co. Ltd became R & W H Symington.
Mrs James Haddock presented to the town a cabman’s shelter that was erected at the foot of the Market Place ClockTower.
1893 A horse-drawn steam fire engine manufactured by the Fire Appliances Manufacturing Co. of Northampton,was added to the Voluntary Fire Brigade’s equipment.
1895 Rugby Urban District Council created, taking over the functions of the Rugby Local Board of Health.
Benn School opened in Craven Road for up to 500 children.
Boots the Chemist established in High Street; removed in 1979 to the new shopping centre.
Rugby Town and Trade Improvement Association was dissolved.
1896 Willans and Robinson Works established, off Newbold Road.
The Northamptonshire Union Bank Ltd opened a branch at 4 Market Place.
North-East Tower and Spire added to St Andrew’s Church.
1898 Town’s first telephone exchange opened in Little Church Street by the National Telephone Company on January 6.
Salvation Army Citadel opened in Castle Street.
1899 Great Central Railway and Station in Hillmorton Road opens.
British Thomson-Houston Co. (BTH) buy theirfirst plot of land in Mill Road.
Willans’ Works fully operational, later becoming English Electric, GEC and then Alstom.
Rugby Police Station connected to the National Telephone Company’s exchange.
The Fire Brigade moved to purpose-built premises in the Chapel Street yard of Rugby UDC.
1900 Rugby Urban District Council (Rugby UDC) moved from their offices bounded by Windmill Lane and ChapelStreet to newly built Benn Buildings in High Street on site of the former ‘Shoulder of Mutton Inn’.
1901 New Post Office opened in Albert Street on February 17.
St Peter’s Church opened in Clifton Road.
1902 BTH start production at Mill Road site, later becoming AEI, GEC, Alstom, Converteam and GE.
A branch of the Midland Counties District Bank opened at 3 Albert Street.
Control of the Elborow Schools was transferred from the charitable foundation to the LEA.
1903 Rugby UDC created an Electricity Undertaking to supply electricity to the public using generators installed in the BTH factory power house.
Arnold High School founded in Elsee Road (later became Rugby High School).
Elborow Girls School moves to new premises in Wood Street, to become Wood Street Girls School.
1904 The first dedicated horse drawn ambulance in Rugby, the ‘Mary Wood’ Ambulance, becomes operational.
Caldecott Park opened without ceremony.
As a result of amalgamations the Midland Counties District Bank became the Birmingham and District Counties Bank.
1905 The UDC procured a modern horse drawn fire escape for the Voluntary Fire Brigade in June.
The County Police Station moved from Plowman Street to a new building in Railway Terrace.
Lloyds Bank moved to a new building on its present site at 14 Church Street.
1906 Rugby Baptist Church opens in St Andrew’s Street (later renamed Regent Place), replacing Gas Street Chapel.
1907 Princess Beatrice (wife of Prince Henry of Battenberg) opens the Children’s Wing at St Cross.
The Birmingham and District Counties Bank became the United Counties Bank.
The London City and Midland Bank (later the Midland Bank Limited) opened in the premises vacated by Lloyds Bank.
The Theatre Royal was closed and the site cleared following voluntary liquidation.
1909 King Edward VII visits town to open Temple Speech Room at Rugby School.
1910 Frank Langley opened the Palace Theatre, his travelling theatre, in Railway Terrace by Wood Street.
“New Palace Theatre” was opened by Frank Langley in a new permanent building in Railway Terrace.
Indoor Swimming Baths opened in St Andrew’s Street (later renamed Regent Place).
The upper floor of the old Town Hall became Vint’s Palace of Varieties.
1912 Ownership of the telephone system in Rugby was transferred from the National Telephone Company to the Post Office on January 1st.
A Museum was opened in the Library on 22 October so fulfilling Mr R H Wood’s wishes.
Following the bankruptcy of Frank Langley, the “New Palace Theatre” had new owners and became the “Vint’s Hippodrome” in September.
1913 The Empire “Cinema De Luxe” opened in Henry Street. It became the Scala in 1923.
The United Counties Bank relocated to larger premises at 6 Market Place.
1914 Great War begins August 4th.
St Philips church opened in Wood Street.
1916 Lodge Plug factory built in St Peter’s Road.
The United Counties Bank in Market Place was acquired by Barclays Bank.
1918 Great War ends with an armistice on 11th November.
1919 Arnold High School for Girls was taken over by the local authority.
1920 Rugby Day Continuation School founded in Lower Hillmorton Road on Rugby College site.
The Picture House cinema (later Regent and Century) opened in June in Bank Street.
Winston Churchill rented School Field, the home of H C Bradby, for the six week polo season.
Rugby Town Hall Company was wound up in August. The building was purchased by the International Promotion Syndicate.
National Provincial and Union Bank of England Ltd acquired the Northamptonshire Union Bank Ltd.
1921 New Bilton Methodist Mission opened in Lawford Road.
Vint’s Palace of Varieties in the Town Hall building closed following severe fire damage.
A Dennis motor pump was obtained by the Rugby Volunteer Fire Brigade in March.
1922 Woolworths opens in High Street in the old Town Hall building.
Rugby War Memorial Gates at the entrance to the Whitehall Recreation Ground were opened on March 22nd.
1923 Hippodrome Theatre in Railway Terrace renamed as the Prince of Wales.
The Thomas Hunter railway carriage and wagon repair business became an incorporated company with limited liability.
Public electricity supply now received from the Leicestershire and Warwickshire Power Co, instead of from the generators in BTH Power House.
1924 Construction of Rugby Radio Station started.
1925 Percival Guildhouse (adult education centre) founded in Matthew Bloxam’s former house in St Matthews Street.
HM Radio Station was handed over to the Post Office in August.
1927 Arnold High School for Girls moves in part to Clifton Road and is renamed as Rugby High School.
The Rugby Freehold Land Society ceased to act as a Land Society and used its registered name of Rugby Benefit Building Society. About this time it became generally known as the Rugby Building Society.
1928 Cambell’s Coffee Tavern becomes the Corner House Restaurant and Hotel.
The Day Continuation & the Technical and Art Schools merged as The Rugby College of Technology and Arts.
1929 The open air Avon Mill Swimming Pool opened in July.
Duchess of York opens the Out Patients’ Department at St Cross Hospital.
Mrs Edith Yates, widow of the late Harry Yates, on July 4th became the first woman to be elected as a councillor of the Rugby UDC.
1930 Rugby Town Silver Prize Band wins Daily Mirror Challenge Cup.
Duke of York (later King George VI) tours BTH Works.
Bennfield House in North Street demolished and site used to build a new Post Office.
The Picture House cinema (see 1920) was renamed as the Regent Cinema.
1931 The Prince of Wales Theatre re-opens in September as the Regal Cinema.
1932 Rugby Municipal Borough formed with Wednesday, 19th October being its Charter day.
Mary, the Princess Royal, opens the new Sun Pavilion at St Cross.
The Corner House Restaurant and Hotel was sold to the Rugby Gas Company for use as a showroom.
St Andrew’s Church House, Castle Street, (the former Baptist Church), was sold to Rugby Brotherhood in December.
Rugby High School’s new buildings were finally completed this year.
1933 Plaza cinema opened in North Street on Monday 30th January.
The cabmen’s shelter in Market Place was removed.
1934 New water tower near Ashlawn Road brought into use.
The Albert Street Head Post Office and the Murray Road sorting office relocate to a new building in North Street on 5th March.
The Murray Road PO sorting office was closed.
Church Street, Whitehall Road & part of Clifton Road were lighted by electric (mercury vapour) lamps.
Rugby Rural District Council purchased 24, Warwick Street to provide it with office accommodation
1936 The first two pedestrian crossings in Rugby with ‘Belisha Beacons’ were installed in Church Street and Market Place.
Post Office opens an automatic telephone exchange in Albert Street at corner of James Street on October 21 replacing the manual exchange located in the former PO building elsewhere in Albert Street.
1937 Council Offices moved from Benn Buildings to The Lawn in Newbold Road.
Marks and Spencer moved into the Benn Buildings.
Rugby Borough Council agreed to one-way traffic in Sheep Street and High Street.
1938 The Voluntary Fire Brigade became a full time Municipal Brigade, a full time Chief Officer having been appointed in 1936
1939 Second World War began on 3rd September.
1942 Duke of Kent inspected Civil Defence units at BTH and on School Close.
1944 Salvation Army Citadel removed to Bennfield Road.
1945 Second World War ended with surrender of Germany and Japan.
Winston Churchill visited Rugby to campaign for the Conservative candidate, Lt Col John Lakin.
1946 The Scala cinema closed for the last time in June following a fire in the projection room.
The Plaza Cinema was re-named as the Granada in May following being taken over by the Granada Theatre chain in 1944.
The Coventry Trustees Savings Bank opened a branch, known as the Rugby Trustees Savings Bank, at 3 Albert Street, Rugby.
1948 Warwickshire County Fire Brigade created.
Rugby Workhouse infirmary transferred to the National Health Service & renamed St Lukes Hospital in 1949.
Control of the electricity supply in Rugby was transferred from the RBC to East Midlands Electricity Board.
Locomotive Testing Station opened at Rugby by British Railways.
1949 Rugby Theatre opened in the former Scala cinema in Henry Street. First production was on 5 December.
The West Midlands Gas Board took over responsibility for supplying gas in Rugby from the Rugby Gas Company.
1951 Symington’s corset factory in Spring Street switched its manufacturing to modern underclothes.
The RBC purchased the old St Andrew’s parish rectory in Little Church Street (built early 19th century). The house at 79 Clifton Road on the western corner of Grosvenor Road became the ‘new’ rectory.
1952 Johnny Williams (1926 – 2007) wins British and Empire Heavyweight boxing title.
1953 General Market moved from Market Place to Church Street following the demolition of the former Art School/Girls School.
Clifton Mill railway station closed in April.
The Rugby Provident Permanent Benefit Building Society becomes known as the Rugby Provident Building Society.
A branch of Martin’s Bank was opened at 24 Market Place on July 1st.
The Regal Cinema closed down in January. The building was purchased by Pickfords, the house contents removers.
1954 William Temple College moved from Hawarden, N Wales to the old parish Rectory in Little Church Street. Its purpose was to promote theological and social studies. It relocated to Manchester Business School in 1971.
The first traffic lights in Rugby were installed at the junction of Lawrence Sheriff Street and High Street.
The Westminster Bank Ltd opened its first branch in Rugby at 33 Regent Street.
1955 Royal George Hotel, in Market Place, demolished.
St Margaret’s Presbyterian Church opened and dedicated in Hillmorton Road.
Regent Cinema renamed as The Century.
1956 Valley Sports FC (VS Rugby), now Rugby Town, founded. First game, against Dunchurch Lodge was on September 8th.
1958 Newly built Corporation Street opened to traffic, as single carriageway.
The national telephone system became Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in December.
1959 Rugby twinned with Evreux in Normandy, France.
Regular passenger services on the Rugby to Leamington line were withdrawn in June.
The Sacred Heart RC parish in Bilton was established and a new church was opened in 1960.
1960 St Andrew’s Elborow School closed in July, following a merger with Wood Street Girls School to become Rugby St Andrews (CE) Junior and Infants Schools.
Rugby became the sixth town to have the advantage of telephones with STD.
1961 Lawrence Sheriff Almhouses moved to Dunchurch Road.
Rugby High School opened its new buildings in Longrood Road, Bilton, on 4th May.
New Town Hall and Benn Memorial Hall opened by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, on 5th July.
Lodge Plugs acquired by Smiths Industries.
The Century cinema closed its doors for the last time.
Old Midland Counties Railway main line from Leicester closedat the year end.
1964 Duke of Edinburgh visited Smiths Industries (formerly Lodge Plugs).
The Trent Valley line into Rugby was electrified in November.
1965 Rugby railway locomotive shed and testing station closed.
Barclays Bank relocated from Market Place to 36 North Street.
Corporation Street became a dual-carriageway.
In December the first scheduled electric passenger train arrived at Rugby on its way to Liverpool.
Rugby Portland Cement opened a 57 mile long pipeline bringing chalk slurry from Kensworth, near Dunstable, Bedfordshire, to Rugby.
1966 Rugby to Market Harborough railway line closed in June.
Original water tower in Barby Road (see 1852 entry) demolished.
Fire Station removed from Chapel Street to Corporation Street.
1967 Full electrification of the railway at Rugby completed.
Queen Elizabeth II opens the Queen’s Gates in Rugby School Close and tours the English Electric Works.
Symingtons Corset Factory acquired by Courtaulds.
The Rugby Building Society amalgamated with the Warwick and Warwickshire Permanent Benefit BS to become the Rugby and Warwick BS.
Post Office Sorting Office was relocated on November 11th to new premises in Mill Road.
1969 Great Central Railway closed. Services south of Rugby had ceased in 1966.
1970 Gas works in Wood Street closed on conversion of supply to natural gas.
Following a merger, the National Provincial and Westminster Banks became the National Westminster Bank.
Draycote Reservoir opens, construction having started in 1967.
1971 Martins Bank was relocated at 37 Clifton Road, following expiry of the lease on their Market Place branch.
1972 Rugby Day Continuation School closed, following the raising of school leaving age to 16.
Thomas Hunter Ltd was taken over by Ariel Industries Ltd.
1973 The Council decided in March that the open air Avon Mill swimming pool should be permanently closed.
Indoor Swimming Baths in Regent Place closed and demolished the following year.
Ken Marriott Sports Centre opens with new indoor swimming baths.
Post codes were introduced in July for each postal address.
1874 Rugby Municipal Borough and Rural District Councils combined to form the present Rugby District Borough Council.
The Rugby & Warwick BS merged with the Walsall Mutual BS to become the Heart of England Building Society.
The Grand Hotel, Albert Street, closed on September 16th.
1975 Congregational Church in Albert Street closed on merger with St Margaret’s Presbyterian Church in Hillmorton Road to form the Rugby United Reformed Church.
New Police Station and Magistrates Court completed in Newbold Road.
Rugby Hindu Temple, Kimberley Road, was formally opened in July.
1976 Granada cinema closed, later reopened as a bingo hall. The Christie cinema organ was removed at this time.
1977 Rugby twinned with Russelsheim, Germany.
The Rugby Ambulance Station was removed to Brownsover Lane in July.
1979 New indoor shopping precinct (Clock Towers) opened in town centre.
1980 The James Gilbert Rugby Football Museum (now the Webb Ellis Rugby Football Museum) opened in Gilbert’s premises, St Matthews Street.
1981 Gyratory system opened in January, work having started in 1979.
Market Place Methodist Church sold off and demolished.
1982 High Street and Sheep Street were pedestrianised.
1983 Holy Trinity Church closed and demolished.
Rugby Provident Building Society merged with Hinckley Permanent Building Society to create Hinckley and Rugby Building Society.
VS Rugby won the FA Vase at Wembley Stadium, beating Halesowen 1-0.
Post Office returned to the site of the 1901 building in Albert Street in April.
1984 The Methodist Church Centre built in Russelsheim Way, replacing the Methodist churches in Market Place, Railway Terrace & New Bilton. The Cambridge Street Methodists joined them shortly afterwards.
Regent Street branch of Nat West Bank removed to North Street.
Wood Street gas works site cleared for re-development.
1985 The remainder of the Rugby to Leamington Railway closed in July, when freight services to the Southam Works of Rugby Portland Cement ceased, the section between Marton Junction and Leamington having been closed in 1966.
1988 Diana, Princess of Wales visits Herbert Gray College, the HQ of the Marriage Guidance Council (now Relate).
Rupert Brooke statue in Regent Place unveiled.
1989 The Rugby War Memorial Gates were moved a short distance to the east, to allow Bruce Williams Way, a new access road to the sports centre, to be built through Whitehall Rec.
1991 Rugby hosted launch of 2nd Rugby World Cup with ceremony and re-enactment on Rugby School Close.
1992 Symington’s Corset factory closed down (had by then been making swim suits).
Morgan Matroc took over Smiths Industries Ceramics in St Peters Road.
St Peter’s Church merged with St John’s Church of Cambridge Street, to form St Peter and St John’s Church.
1993 Diana, Princess of Wales visited Bosnian refugees at Fawsley House in Hillmorton Road.
St Luke’s Hospital closed for patients and for the remaining NHS services in 1994.
The Heart of England BS acquired by the Cheltenham & Gloucester BS.
1995 A large residential development initiated at Cawston.
The Cheltenham & Gloucester converted to a public limited company as part of the Lloyds Bank Group.
The Trustee Savings Bank merged with the Lloyds Bank Group to become Lloyds TSB .
1997 Rugby Public Library closes its original buildings and moves to temporary buildings near Chapel Street.
William Webb Ellis statue unveiled outside Rugby Schoolby Jeremy Guscott in September.
2000 Rugby Library, Museum and Art Gallery opened in new £3.5M building.
New awnings replace the single, overall roof at Rugby Station.
RMC Group (formerly Ready Mixed Concrete Ltd) acquired the cement activities of the Rugby Group plc.
The new Rugby cement works was fully commissioned in July.
The National Westminster Bank was acquired by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
2001 The Cineworld Cinema (9 screens) opened in the Junction One Leisure Park on 21 February.
2002 Mill Road water works closed; water treatment plant moved to Draycote.
Rugby Myton Day Hospice opens in grounds of St Cross Hospital.
Rugby FM Radio station starts its transmission from Spring Street Studios.
Grays International purchases the Gilbert rugby football and netball business.
2003 Rugby College merges with the larger Warwickshire College.
St Philip’s Church closed in May.
2005 Morgan Technical Ceramics (formerly Smith Industries Ceramics) relocated to Central Park by J1 of M6 motorway and the St Peter’s Road site sold for housing development. Cemex completes the acquisition of Rugby Cement from RMC in March.
2006 The Butlin and Elborow Almshouses merged to form the Butlin & Elborow Housing Trust.
2007 Transmissions from Rugby Radio Station ceased and the remaing four 820 feet masts were felled.
2008 Rugby Station development completed with new platforms and booking hall.
Cattle Market moves to Stoneleigh and Craven Road site sold for development.
Herbert Gray College, national headqarters of Relate charity, relocated to Doncaster
2009 ASDA supermarket and Swan Court area opens.
Blue Bin comprehensive refuse recycling scheme was introduced by the Rugby Borough Council.
Caldecott Park refurbished under Heritage Lottery Fund scheme.
Woolworths’ High Street store closes following liquidation of the company.
2010 Rugby Western Relief Road opens throughout on September 10th. Construction had started in 2007.
Warwickshire College, Rugby, relocated to Technology Drive on former BTH site.
2012 Former Granada Cinema in North Street demolished.
St Matthew’s Church in Warwick Street was closed and merged with St Oswald’s Church, New Bilton.
The former St Philip’s Church is reopened by the Rugby United Pentecostal Church.
The former Rugby College site in Lower Hillmorton Road was cleared for re-development.
Post offices, as Post Office Ltd, were seperated from the mail delivery service, Royal Mail.
2013 The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Leisure Centre opened in August replacing the Ken Marriott Leisure Centre.
The Rugby Ambulance Station in Brownsover Lane closed in November.
The engagements of the Cheltenham & Gloucester were transferred to the TSB.
The TSB Bank was divested from from Lloyds Banking Group.
2014 Rainsbrook Cemetery and Crematorium, Ashlawn Road, was completed in March.
Brethertons, the current successors to the practice founded by Count Wratislaw in Church Street, relocated its main office to new premises in Clifton Road.
2015 Marks and Spencer relocates its store to the Elliott’s Fields Retail Park.
Work starts on the residential development known as Houlton of Rugby Radio Station site.
The TSB Bank was taken over by the Spanish banking group, Sabadell.
2016 Salter’s menswear business in the High Street closed. The hire part of the business continues elsewhere in Rugby.
World Rugby, Hall of Fame opens in the Rugby Art Gallery and Museum complex.
2017 The Clock Towers shopping centre was renamed as the Rugby Central Shopping Centre.
2018 RBS branch in Church Street closed in August. Its business transferred to Nat West Bank in North Street.
2020 The TSB branch in Sheep Street closed in September, leaving Rugby without any representtion of this Bank.
2021 The World Rugby, Hall of Fame is not to re-open after the temporary closure due to the national lockdown.