Rugby, Warwickshire

Rugby is a market town in the county of Warwickshire in central England on the River Avon. Rugby has a population of 62,790 (2002 estimate). The larger borough of Rugby has a population of 89,240.

History

Early History

In the Iron Age the Rugby area was settled. Rugby's site on a plateau at about 400 feet above sea level, overlooking the River Avon made it an important strategic post overlooking the Avon, which was a natural barrier between the Dobunni and the Coritani tribes. Iron Age remains, probably lookout posts or forts, have been located on either side of the Avon.

Related Topics:
Iron Age - River Avon - Dobunni - Coritani

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In Roman times, two major Roman roads were built very close to the site of modern day Rugby: the Fosse Way and Watling Street. Twelve miles north of Rugby is High Cross - the point at which the two roads meet.

Related Topics:
Roman - Roman road - Fosse Way - Watling Street - High Cross

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Just outside modern day Rugby, remains have been found of a Roman town called Tripontium, on the original Watling Street which is now known as the A5. Historians believe that the settlement was a kind of ancient service station, providing stabling and accommodation to passing Roman armies and travellers.

Related Topics:
Tripontium - A5

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Rugby got its name in Saxon times. It was first mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 as a small farming settlement then called Rocheberie. One theory is that the name came from the Anglo-Saxon Hrōceburh = "Rook fort", where Rook may be the birds or may be a man's name. There is another theory that it is derived from an old Celtic name Droche-brig meaning "wild hilltop". The name later evolved; in 1200 it was spelt Rokebi. Later Viking influence in the area changed the ending to the Old Norse -bý. The name later evolved into "Rokeby", and by the 18th century had become "Rugby".

Related Topics:
Saxon - Domesday Book - 1086 - Celtic - 1200 - Viking - Old Norse

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In 1255 Rugby gained a market charter, and became a small rural market town, which it remained until the 19th century. The layout of the streets in the town centre around the market place still follows the pattern set down in medieval times. Rugby's built-up area was only High Street and Sheep Street and North Street and the Market Place.

Related Topics:
1255 - Market town - 19th century

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One of the most significant events in the town's history was the founding in 1567 of Rugby School: Lawrence Sheriff, a locally born grocer to Queen Elizabeth I, left money in his will to establish a school in Rugby for local boys. The school needed to take some fee-paying pupils from outside the area, to help pay the bills, and gradually became a largely fee-paying school.

Related Topics:
1567 - Rugby School - Lawrence Sheriff - Elizabeth I

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The Rugby area has associations with the Gunpowder Plot - On the eve of the plot on November 5th, 1605, the plotters stayed at an inn in nearby Dunchurch to await news of the plot. If it had been successful then they planned to kidnap the princess Elizabeth of Bohemia, who was staying at nearby Coombe Abbey, and install her as Queen.

Related Topics:
Gunpowder Plot - November 5th - 1605 - Dunchurch - Elizabeth of Bohemia - Coombe Abbey

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From medieval times until the late 18th century, the population of Rugby stayed at around 500-1000. It began to grow in the 1770s when the Oxford Canal was constructed around the town and spurred some growth in local industries and in population.

Related Topics:
18th century - 1770s - Oxford Canal

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19th-century development

Rugby really came into its own in the 19th century.

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Rugby School, one of England's oldest and most prestigious public schools, rose to national prominence in the 1820s through the teaching methods pioneered by its headmaster, Dr Thomas Arnold, which contributed to a radical change in Public School education in England. Most of the present school buildings, near the centre of the town, date from this period.

Related Topics:
Public schools - 1820s - Thomas Arnold - Public School

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The growing popularity of the school in the early 19th century led to an increase in population of the town. Many immigrants came to Rugby, many of whom were Rugby School pupils' parents, who preferred their sons to be able to go to a normal home life each night instead of having to endure school conditions (poor food, crowding, bullies) 24 hours every day; in Rugby such immigrants were called "sojourners". This caused an expansion of Rugby along Bilton Road and Dunchurch Road.

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In 1835 Rugby was a small rural town with a population of around 2,500, but developed rapidly with the coming of the railways. In 1838, the London and Birmingham Railway, an early part of what later became the West Coast Main Line, was built through the town. In 1840, the Midland Counties Railway, which linked the East Midlands with North East England, formed a junction with the London and Birmingham, making Rugby the busiest and most important railway junction in Britain.

Related Topics:
1835 - Railway - 1838 - London and Birmingham Railway - West Coast Main Line - 1840 - Midland Counties Railway - East Midlands - North East England

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By the 1850s railways from five directions joined at Rugby, including the main 'Trent Valley Line' to the north-west of England. For nearly 30 years, nearly all rail traffic between London, the Midlands, the north of England, Scotland, and north Wales passed through Rugby junction, giving the town huge national importance.

Related Topics:
1850s - Scotland - Wales

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By the 1860s the junction had become extremely congested, so much so that it was not uncommon for trains to have to queue for hours to pass through. This caused much anger and frustration amongst travellers, for whom Rugby became a byword for delays. Charles Dickens lampooned it in his short story Mugby Junction (1866). To relieve this congestion a new line, later called the Midland Main Line, was built, taking a more direct route to London, avoiding Rugby. Much traffic was diverted onto the new line; Rugby remained one of the most important railway junctions in the country, but was no longer an all-important hub.

Related Topics:
1860s - Charles Dickens - Mugby Junction - Midland Main Line

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Many wagon works, and engineering facilities were opened, and Rugby's population reached 10,000 by the 1870s, many employed by the railways. Because of its transport links, a number of engineering and manufacturing industries developed in Rugby. The built up area of Rugby extended northwards, to the area between the town centre and the railway station.

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20th century

From the 1890s onwards Rugby began to attract engineering industry, due largely to its good transport links. The Willans & Robinson works opened in Rugby in 1893 which made steam engines. And in 1899 the British Thomson-Houston works opened

Related Topics:
1890s - Engineering - Willans & Robinson - 1893 - Steam engines - 1899 - British Thomson-Houston

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which made electrical equipment and later turbines. Engineering would dominate the town's economy for most of the century. The engineering works in Rugby atracted many workers to the town, and in the early decades of the 20th century the population grew rapidly and Rugby's built-up area spread fast, particularly down the northern hill slope to the railway.

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In 1901 the population of Rugby was 16,950, by 1931 it had reached 40,000. Rugby became a municipal borough in 1932 and absorbed the nearby parishes of Bilton, Hillmorton and Newbold-on-Avon.

Related Topics:
1901 - 1931 - Municipal borough - 1932 - Bilton - Hillmorton - Newbold-on-Avon

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From 1926, near Rugby to its east was a large antenna farm for the Rugby VLF transmitter. All but four of the twelve big radio masts (used to broadcast the MSF time signal) were demolished in June 2004 - delayed by rabbits chewing through the wires controlling detonation http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/3823335.stm.

Related Topics:
Antenna - Rugby VLF transmitter - Radio - MSF time signal - Rabbit

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In the late 1930's Frank Whittle developed the jet engine in Rugby.

Related Topics:
Frank Whittle - Jet engine

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Unlike nearby Coventry and Nuneaton, Rugby was highly fortunate to avoid German bombing during World War II. This is perhaps somewhat surprising given the town's strategic importance as a railway junction and engineering centre. A few stray bombs landed on Dunchurch however, but no other significant bomb damage occurred in the area.

Related Topics:
Coventry - Nuneaton - World War II - Dunchurch

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In the postwar years Rugby became a centre of the national motorway network. Two of Britain's most important motorways, the M1 and M6, as well as the M45, run close to the town.

Related Topics:
Motorway - M1 - M6 - M45

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At the same time several of the railway lines which radiated from Rugby were closed as part of the Beeching axe, including the once hugely important Midland Counties Railway (Rugby - Leicester) in 1961. As of 2003, only the West Coast Mainline still serves the town.

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From the 1950s, Rugby gained a substantial Afro-Caribbean community, and a sizeable community from the Indian sub-continent, making Rugby a multi-cultural town. There is a small Hindu temple in Rugby; it was converted from two adjacent terrace houses.

Related Topics:
Hindu - Temple - Terrace house

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