Lillington Local History Society
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Lillington Local History Society NOVEMBER 2015 NOVEMBER 2015 Contents James Hirons Visit to Umberslade Leamington Municipal Technical School Davis Rees and family Five shops in Lime Avenue? A Fire Station in Lillington Road? JAMES HIRONS 53 LILLINGTON ROAD Lillington Fun Day James Hirons died in 1941 in his mid-eighties. He had become Programme of wealthy through his ownership of shares in the ‘blue’ used in meetings some washing powders. Despite his modest early life in Aston in Birmingham, where he was a grocer, he left £250,000 to fund a Regular monthly convalescent home for “male poor persons living in Birmingham meeting Free Church and Coventry.” The Birmingham Mail for 26th November 1957 Hall, Cubbington Road, reported the establishment of the home in Leamington Spa, but 4.30 pm on the first that no one was using it. “There is room for 20 men and the Friday of each month. warden, Mr Pritchard.” The Birmingham Post and Gazette reported a year later that residents were still being sought. “Dormitories hold four or five beds each ... and residents can Contact us by help the permanent gardener in his work. It costs only 10s [50p] -Coming to one of the a week to live there. ... There are no strict rules for the home but Society’s monthly trustees are seeking men who will be able to get on amicably meetings, with each other.” -or by referring any queries about the society, Current staff have put together an interesting archive of contributions, photographs brochures that charts the development of the home from 1958 or reminiscences to onwards. These illustrate how much ideas have changed from Graham Cooper – those dormitories of the past to the modern and well equipped telephone 01926 426942 facilities of the present. Photo James Hirons website 1 VISIT TO UMBERSLADE On Wednesday evening 1st July, a dozen enthusiastic LLHS members made their way to Spring Lane, Hockley Heath, for a conducted tour and presentation about Umberslade Baptist Church. George Frederick Muntz, who was of the Baptist faith, lived in Umberslade Hall. He decided to build a Baptist Chapel at Hockley Heath on land owned by him. The first phase in 1876 was to build a wooden structure as a temporary place of worship. Prior to this, small house groups had been meeting in Umberslade Hall. The temporary Chapel was used until Christchurch Chapel was completed in September 1877. The wooden structure then became a ‘British School’ remaining in use until 1913. The old schoolroom was listed as a Grade II* by English Heritage in 2014. In their report they state ”It is an exceptionally rare survival (rarer than the surviving examples of the related ’tin tabernacles’.) We are struggling to think of another surviving example in England.” The permanent church was opened in September 1877 and remained in use until 1992. It was designed by Birmingham architect George Ingall in the Decorated Gothic style and is now Grade II* listed and in the care of the Historic Chapels Trust, and a rare extant example of his work. Externally, it has all the appearances of an Anglican country church, with two pretty rose windows, and a tower topped by an elegant spire. Inside, however, the building tells a different story. Windows are minimally decorated. The body of the church is a plain rectangle with an arch-braced timber roof. Three sets of pews, some with their original gas lamps, face an elaborate twin-staircased pulpit, the marble balustrade of the Baptistery and the Communion table. An unusual late nineteenth century organ by Bishop & Son stands in the south transept, and in the north transept opposite can be found a brass plaque to GF Muntz Jr, who it is said, in old age did not attend service, but listened to it in the comfort of the Hall via a microphone installed in the pulpit. Over time, the building was adapted to accommodate its growing congregation. The east end of the Church was extended to provide vestry accommodation and a large schoolroom which could be divided by a roller shutter. There was once also an additional door behind the Muntz plaque, G F Muntz Senior’s private entrance to the building. 2 The Baptistery, with steps down on one of the longer sides. Sadly, the Church has been neglected in recent years, situated as it is 300m away from the main road and passing traffic. It no longer has electrical power, thanks to thieves who stole the cables bringing electricity from the main supply. This makes the building even more vulnerable. With occasional help from volunteers, four stalwarts, including LLHS members Jan and Peter Coulls, work there once a month on Sundays, removing bat droppings, dusting the pews and tidying the churchyard. Burials still take place there, and the chapel can be hired for concerts, meetings, funerals and memorial services. The LLHS visit was a memorable one, with a presentation on the Muntz family and the history of the building by Peter Coulls and Simon Willcock, and what we have come to accept as ‘Lillington Standard’ refreshments. We had time to explore the churchyard with its listed War Memorial, a handsome Muntz family vault alongside Commonwealth War Graves and those of many prominent local families. Jan showed us the family plot of her ancestors, and that of the Newey family, well-known at one time for the production of hooks and eyes and press-studs, amongst other things. We would like to thank Jan and Peter, Simon and Judith Willcock for making us so welcome, - and for their sterling efforts to rescue the church and maintain all that it represents. M M R Photographs: Derek Billings, Peter Coulls 3 LEAMINGTON MUNICIPAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL Later known as Leamington Central School, Campion School for Girls, Campion School [for boys] and the Newbold Centre, the buildings stood in Leicester Street. Arguably, its most famous pupil was the late acclaimed artist Sir Terry Frost. A History Society is not only about looking into the past, but also about trying to preserve our places of historic interest for now and future generations. Although the building may be slightly outside Lillington, I thought it a worthwhile project to try and salvage some of its architecture. I have passed the school travelling by car, on the 67 bus, on push bike, on foot and in a pram many times in my life. Apart from my pram years, I have always wondered what it looked like inside. I was drawn to the mystery of what resided beyond the red and black brick walls with black iron railings. All one could see was the overgrown steep slope from street level going down to the doorway with the ‘18 Boys 94 Technical School’ engraved into the sandstone lintels. After some detective work I found the contact at Waterloo Housing who was in charge of their newly purchased site. Jenny Crowther was most helpful and arranged for me to enter the site prior to demolition and pick out what could be relocated in the new build (flats), or saved and stored by the Society. I realised when walking round the site that the original school had been demolished years before. Someone had had the foresight to do what I was now doing. Original stone work from 1884 had been saved and introduced to the new build. The only original features still in situ from the school of 1884 were the entrances for Boys and Girls, the front façade and the outer wall and railings. 4 I was a little disappointed the whole of the building was not in place but I was happy that the Society had a chance to continue the preservation started by that unknown person. Waterloo Housing has agreed to incorporate the following pieces of stonework into the new build. The Leamington borough emblem, Party fessewise argent and or a lion with forked tail vert over all a chevron vaire and in chief three molets gules all within a border azure charged with eight fleurs de lys was adopted later by North Leamington School. The attractive terracotta air vents are the exact same style as those that form part of St. Peters Catholic School (1879). However the later built Clapham Terrace School (1889) had less floral air vents. With Mary Kelly (committee member) and her husband’s help, we managed to save a lot of stonework, for where in Lillington we are not as yet sure. The massive stone lintels sadly had to be crushed. They were far too heavy for us to salvage. Colour photos and text Gary Timlin. Do you have memories of the original building? Did you go to school there? If you are willing to share those memories with us, please contact Gary Timlin through The Chain, Crown Way. 01926 739402 5 DAVID REES AND FAMILY – FARM ROAD David Rees, the great-grandfather of Rosalind Griffin, one of the bell-ringing team at Lillington Church, was a Schoolmaster, born and trained in Machynlleth, Montgomeryshire. After marriage to Jane Lind Morgan in Llanidloes in 1869, he took a post in Corris, Dolgellau, where the first of his thirteen children, David Willie, was born in 1870. David made a series of career moves: first to Glamorgan, and later to Pembrokeshire, Cheshire and Devon. before his last move to Offchurch in Warwickshire, where for some of the time Mrs Rees and Susie assisted David at the local school. The family lived in the school house, next door to the schoolroom. The house and schoolroom are still there, with the toilet block out in the school yard. Sarah, Lily, Susie and Jack all followed their parents into the teaching profession, though as was usual then, Sarah and Lily gave up their jobs when they married.