Lillington Local History Society

NEWSLETTER

September 2011

Contents LILLINGTON’S FIRST BLUE PLAQUE

Programme of meetings Herbert Edward Cox was a well-known local artist, who produced mainly until December 2011 water colours, especially of Coventry between the Wars. Many of his works are displayed in Coventry’s Council House. He lived at 7 Manor Road, where he had a studio from 1913 until he died in 1941. He taught painting at the September 2nd Regular Coventry Institute, now City College Coventry. Leamington Museum and Art monthly meeting Cubbington Gallery has a particularly fine example of his work in a water colour painting Road Free Church Hall, 4.30 pm of Lillington Church, with cows in Church Lane.

September 3rd 3.30pm Unveiling of the Blue Plaque dedicated to Herbert Cox at 7 Manor Road.

September 8th and 11th National Heritage Weekend guided walk round historic Lillington

September 17th Open Meeting: Octagon, Vicarage Road, 7.30pm. The Making the James Fish 1711 Map of

Lillington; memories of a child growing up in the prefabs and of the brickfields. Lillington Church. 1912. Herbert Edward Cox (1870-1941) Image reproduced by kind permission of Leamington Museum & Art Gallery, Warwick District October 7th Regular monthly Council meeting Cubbington Road Free Church Hall, 4.30 pm The house at 7 Manor Road looks, from the front, identical to all the rest of Manor Road. Viewed from the rear however, you can still see the studio November 4th Regular extension to the back of the property on the first floor. monthly meeting Cubbington Road Free Church Hall, 4.30 At 3.30 p.m. on Saturday, 3rd. September, the Mayor of Leamington will unveil pm: Special feature on a new Blue Plaque on the front of 7 Manor Road. The event has been Leamington Brewery organised by Leamington’s Blue Plaque Group, but it is thanks to Lillington December 2nd Regular Local History Society, The Coventry and Warwickshire Society of Artists, the monthly meeting Cubbington Royal Leamington Spa Decorative and Fine Arts Society, City College Coventry Road Free Church Hall, 4.30 as well as independent sponsors, that the event is being taken forward, since pm they are providing the finances and have stirred interest in the project.

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ELM BANK: LILLINGTON ROAD, formerly known as Old Kenilworth Road

The current Lillington Road can be seen clearly on the James Fish 1711 map of the area. [South is at the top of the map]. There were open fields on both sides, farmed in strips and organised into four large ‘fields’. Lillington Road ran through the middle of Nether Field. The ‘big’ houses were built during the nineteenth century and were grand Church Lane family residences reflecting Leamington’s growing prosperity.

Elm Bank was the only large house on the north side of the upper end of the road. Entrance was by an ‘in and out’ carriage drive opposite

Sandy Lane Park Road. The land belonged to the Willes family.

The 1861 and 1871 census returns for Elm Bank show the property

CR26/2/4[77/28599] leased by Thomas Stranger-Leathes, a ‘landed proprietor’ born in Hanover Square London. He was 80 in 1871, and lived in Elm Bank with his three unmarried daughters Fanny 48, Sophia 43 and Emma 39. They had five live-in servants: a cook, housemaid, parlour maid, kitchen maid and a groom.

The 1881 and 1891 census shows the house occupied by George James, a retired merchant, his wife Eliza, and their two daughters Louisa 44 and Kate 38. In 1891 they had two live-in house maids.

The lease changed hands again, and the 1901 census records William Hoskins, 48 living in the house on private means with his wife Jane 50 and three daughters: Mary 23, Dora 14 and Emily 12. Their servants included a housemaid, a cook, and a scullery maid.

In 1906 Mrs Standbridge bought the house from Mrs Willes together with eight acres of extra land. The house was sold on her death in 1934 to John Varley. Mr A.C.Lloyd bought the house in 1952 and made it his family home. Planning permission was granted in 1954 to build 20 houses in what became Elm Bank Close. Elm Bank itself was demolished in 1960 to make room for three additional large houses. Chris Rhodes

Acknowledgements: The National Archive, Kew Warwickshire County Record Office: 1711 map [WCRO AC/CR 26/2/4] ‘No bricks without mortar’: Shirley Reading 1998

Does anyone remember:  Sidney McGregor who bought Village Farm on the Cubbington Road opposite Lime Avenue?

 Sidney McGregor’s new farmhouse built in 1933 and the Stud Farm buildings in the fields beyond Epsom Road?

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LILLINGTON BOARD OF HEALTH 1859-1890

On 21st April 1859 a Committee, appointed by the Vestry of the Parish of Lillington, unanimously decided to establish a Local Board of Health [See WCRO DR 426/53].

The photograph of Corporation House on the corner of Cubbington Road and Pound Lane comes from a sepia post card in the Helen Scott collection.

6th October 1862 An application was made by Mr Jn. Gibbs Butcher Leamington for a remission of the penalty paid to the Pinner for impounding1 Horses and Sheep belonging to him. Ordered that under the circumstances 7s 4d of the penalty paid to be remitted but in future the full amount to be enforced.

3rd November 1862 A Plan of two Cottages proposed to be erected in the Villager was submitted by Mr Bailey on behalf of H.C.Wise Esq and approved of subject to the Party Wall being 14 instead of 9 inches thick and the same carried 12 inches above the Roof.

6th June 1864 A Plan of New School room in the Village was submitted by Mr Ballard on behalf of the Revd.J.Wise and approved

4th July 1864 A letter was read from Major Gresley of Meridan Lodge complaining of a foul smel;l issuing from a Street Grating near his house.

Extracts from the Minute Book 1859-1869. WCRO CR 1563/195. Compiled by ER with the permission of Warwickshire County Record Office

2011 GUIDED HERITAGE WALKS IN LILLINGTON

Last year, for the first time, the Society conducted guided Heritage Walks in old Lillington. These proved successful and over sixty people joined the walks. Building on this success, we have decided to arrange for further walks this year, so on Thursday, 8th. September at 7.30 p.m. and on Sunday, 11th. September at 2.30 p.m. conducted walks will set out from The Chain office at the Library end of Crown Way. The events will form part of the Heritage Weekend arranged by Warwick District Council and there will be no charge. The walks will take under an hour. All are welcome.

1 PresumablyGRAHAM E.COOPER. in the Pound at the junction between the current Pound Lane and Cubbington Road. The Pinner was employed to manage the pound.

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SPORT IN LILLINGTON

With the Olympic Games on the horizon, it seems appropriate to try to connect them to Lillington in some way, and perhaps the best way to do this is to set up a section dealing with sport in our area.

It has recently been confirmed that the park at the junction of Cubbington and Lillington Roads was a Ladies’ Golf Club at the turn of the last century. The Lillington Bowling and Tennis Club in Lime Avenue was built on land originally sold by Sir William Waller to Edward McGregor and opened on May 1st 1930. The original tennis courts were sold for housing in 1965. A tiny part remains as a car park. The Free Church has a formidable table tennis team, and there is a karate club based in the Community Centre.

On the Campion Hills there used to be steeple chases, and the Fox and Vivian public house in Clarendon Avenue was apparently named after a jockey - Fox - and his horse - Vivian, and, of course, Sidney McGregor bred the famous race horse April the Fifth at Stud Farm which won the Derby in the 1932.

Vicarage Road 1907. The funeral procession of John Francis Rollason, 1887-1907, buried in Lillington, who drowned with his father in the sinking of the "Berlin" off the Hook of Holland on their way to a racing engagement in Holland. Image reproduced by kind permission of Warwickshire County Record Office PH350/1543 img 1926(3/1830)

There are The Old Leamingtonians and Leamington Rugby Clubs between Kenilworth and Bericote Road, and near by the Arnold Lodge Playing Field. The Cricket Ground off Arlington Avenue is also in the old Manor of Lillington.

Lillington Avenue cricket ground 1900-1909 Image reproduced by kind permission of Warwickshire County Record Office (3/5134)

There are probably other sports connections in Lillington, so if you are aware of any I have omitted, or if you are able to offer histories of the sports mentioned, I should be glad if you would let me know.

GRAHAM E.COOPER. Tel. 01926 426942. 4

LILLINGTON’S HEXAGONAL HOUSES

Every area has interesting characteristics if you look for them. Lillington has several, and one of them is the hexagonal houses in Cubbington Road, roughly opposite Pound Lane. There was recently correspondence in The Daily Mail indicating that there is 1964 British Pathe newsreel entitled Hexagonal Houses, which indicates the country’s first houses of this design with a strikingly modern exterior. This resulted in a letter drawing attention to such a brick-built house in the Oxfordshire village of Balscote, about 5 miles from Banbury just off the A422 Banbury to Stratford Road. It was built by a Mr. Randolph Harper who owned and ran a shop fitting business from the site. Apparently, there was no square corner in any of the rooms. Another correspondent stated there was a hexagonal house in Walton-on-Trent, South Derbyshire, and another, a Mr. K.Johnson of Cubbington, indicated the hexagonal houses in Cubbington Road.

As a result of this exchange, a Mary Liquorish of Hedon, East Yorkshire, wrote in to say that in the early nineteen sixties, she was employed by the Warwick construction company, Lewis and Watters, responsible for the development of system built (i.e. prefabricated) hexagonal buildings. An idea was to sell them to local authorities for the housing market. The firm created the “Formula Housing Division” and two houses were built on the site of the offices at The Cape in Warwick, one being furnished as a show house, and the other used as offices.

Councillors from all over the country were invited to inspect the houses in the hope they would purchase them for public housing needs. The owner of the Caleta Palace Hotel in Gibraltar visited with a view to Image reproduced by kind permission of Warwickshire County Record Office CR3379/3 buying units to increase the hotel’s size. The units img 9619(3/8769) were constructed with a central column in which all the services, including a ducted warm air central heating system, were housed.

Perhaps someone from one of the “Three Penny Bit Houses”, as some people have called them (though a three penny bit had twelve sides!) might read this, and contact Lillington Local History Society to tell us first hand what it is like to live in an unusually designed house.

Finally, those with a computer may like to visit www.britishpathe.com and search for Hexagonal Houses: if successful you should find a 1 minute 47 second clip of a promotional film in colour of the houses in question. Also look at Outakes/Cut from CP494 which is exactly what it states for 2 minutes 41 seconds without commentary. In both cases you may have to put up with advertising before the clips are loaded!

GRAHAM E.COOPER and PETER COULLS.

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LILLINGTON’S MEDIEVAL MANORS

A manor was the district over which a lord had domain and could exercise certain rights and privileges in medieval England. King William the Conqueror rewarded his Norman supporters for their help in the conquest of England by taking most of the land belonging originally to the English and giving it to Norman knights and nobles. These estates were known as Manors.

There were two known manors in Lillington, one being the manor of the Earls of Warwick, the other belonging to Kenilworth Priory and later the Puckering family. Both belonged to the Wise family by 1805.

There were two original manors at the time of the Norman invasion in 1066, 4 hides2 were owned by Edric and half a hide by Brunin. The Domesday Book [1086] records the greater portion was now held by the Count of Meuland and the lesser by R. de Olgi from Turchil of Warwick. The overlordship of both portions came to the Earls of Warwick. The land held by the Count passed through many hands until Thomas Wagstaffe sold it in 1611 to Sir Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke of Warwick Castle, who died in 1628. The manor descended with the barony until Francis Greville succeeded to it in 1727. He became 1st Earl Brooke and 1st Earl of Warwick and died in 1773, and his son George, 2nd Earl of Warwick, sold the manor and estate of nearly 500 acres to the Wise family in 1805.

The half-hide held by Turchil in 1086 was granted to the newly founded Priory of Kenilworth in 1121, whose property it remained until the dissolution in 1538. In 1596 the Queen granted it to Sir John Puckering, of the Priory, Warwick, whose descendants held it until 1709 when it was purchased by Henry Wise. The manor passed by family connection to Major- General Sir George Waller of Woodcote in 1888. Sir Wathen Arthur Waller died in 1947, leaving the manor to his widow, Viola, Lady Waller.

The north-western part of the parish (Blakedown, or Blackdown) was named as a 'reputed manor' in 1805. Its importance lay in its water-mill, given to Combe Abbey in the 12th century.

Reference: Victoria County History for Warwickshire Chris Rhodes Image: Clker.com

This Newsletter is published by the Lillington Local History Society, The Chain,

Crown Way, Lillington. All references prefixed CR refer to documents held in the County Record Office, Warwick. For further information, contact The Chain, Crown Way, Lillington.

2 The amount of land that could be cultivated by a plough team of eight oxen in one year

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