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Rugby is located about 15 miles (24 km) east of Coventry , on the eastern edge of Warwickshire, near the borders with Northamptonshire and Leicestershire . CLAIMS TO FAME Rugby is most famous for the invention of Rugby Football , which is played throughout the world. Legend has it that the game was invented by William Webb Ellis in 1823 at Rugby School , which is near the centre of Rugby. Rugby School is one of England's oldest and most prestigious Public Schools , and was the setting of Thomas Hughes 's semi-autobiographical masterpiece '' Tom Brown's Schooldays ''. A substantial part of the 2004 dramatisation of the novel, starring Stephen Fry , was filmed on location at Rugby School. Rugby is also a birthplace of the Jet Engine . In April 1937 Frank Whittle built the world's first prototype jet engine at the British Thomson-Houston works in Rugby, and between 1936-41 based himself at Brownsover Hall on the outskirts of the town, where he designed and developed early prototype engines. Much of his work was also carried out at nearby Lutterworth . Holography was also invented in Rugby by the Hungarian inventor Dennis Gabor in 1947 . In the 19th century, Rugby became famous for its once hugely important Railway junction which was the setting for Charles Dickens 's story Mugby Junction . Famous or notable people born in Rugby include the poet Rupert Brooke , writer Rose Macaulay , the scientist Norman Lockyer who discovered Helium , and the athlete Katharine Merry . Also, many famous names attended Rugby School, including Neville Chamberlain , Lewis Carroll , Matthew Arnold and Salman Rushdie . The bands Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized also came from Rugby. British Judokas Chris and Neil Adams were also natives of Rugby. RUGBY TODAY The modern town of Rugby is an amalgamation of the original town with the former villages of Bilton , Hillmorton , Brownsover and Newbold-on-Avon which were incorporated into Rugby in 1932 when the town became a Borough ; all except Brownsover still have their former village centres. Rugby also includes an area called New Bilton . The spread of Rugby has nearly reached the villages of Clifton-upon-Dunsmore , Cawston , Dunchurch and Long Lawford . The town centre is mostly Victorian and early 20th century, however a few much older buildings survive, along with some more modern developments. Much architecture in Rugby including Rugby School and St Andrews church, was designed by William Butterfield in the 19th century. Rugby town centre includes numerous restaurants of various kinds, many Pub s, and one nightclub. The town centre is noted for its large number of pubs, and was for many years in the Guinness Book Of Records for having the second highest number of pubs per square mile in England. The main shopping area in Rugby is in the streets around the Clock Tower, two of which: High Street and Sheep Street are pedestrianised. The town centre has an indoor shopping centre called The Clock Towers which opened in 1980 . A street Market is held in the town centre several days a week. In recent years several out-of-town retail centres have opened to the north of the town. Rugby also contains several large Park s, most notably Caldecote Park near the town hall. Places of interest Places of interest in the town include:
Places of interest around Rugby include:
NOTABLE BUILDINGS AND LANDMARKS
TRANSPORT
ECONOMY Rugby's economy is mainly Industrial . It is an Engineering centre and has a long history of producing gas and steam Turbine s at the GEC and at the AEI . The AEI was earlier British Thomson-Houston or BTH. They used to dominate employment in the town. They are now amagamated to form Alstom . Engineering in Rugby has declined in recent years and the future of the Alstom works looks shaky, but it is still the largest private employer in Rugby. Another major industry in Rugby is Cement making; the giant Rugby Cement works on the western outskirts of the town makes cement from the local Jurassic Lias limestone. The cement industry in Rugby dates back to the 1860s . In the mid- 1990s the Rugby Cement plant at nearby Southam was closed, and all production was moved to the Rugby plant which was dramatically enlarged and is now one of the largest of its type in Europe. Since the 1980s several large Industrial Estate s have been built to the north of the town, and Warehousing and distribution have become major employers. Further afield, within the Rugby Borough is the Peugeot car factory at Ryton-on-Dunsmore , and the Rolls-Royce engineering works near Ansty . Both of these are nearer to Coventry , but are also major employers in Rugby. Tourism is also important to the town's economy, especially related to Rugby Football . A link to Rugby's rural past can still be found in the Cattle Market held near the railway station. A cattle market has been held in Rugby since Medieval times. Rugby is to some extent a dormitory town for nearby places such as Coventry , Leicester , and Birmingham . POLITICS Rugby is administered by two which covers Rugby and its surrounding countryside. And Warwickshire County Council . The two authorities are responsible for different aspects of local government. Rugby is Unparished and so does not have its own Town Council . Since 1983 Rugby has been part of the Parliamentary constituency of Rugby And Kenilworth , which since the 2005 General Election has been represented by the Conservative Jeremy Wright . Between 1983 and 1997 the seat was held by the Consevative Jim Pawsey . And between 1997 and 2005 it was held by the Labour MP Andy King . Rugby has traditionally alternated between being a Labour and Conservative marginal. Prior to 1983, Rugby was a constituency in itself. This status will be restored at the next general election following recommendations by the Boundary Commission For England . The existing pairing with Kenilworth has been abolished, with Kenilworth going to its own pairing in the north, and Rugby having its own Seat Recreated EDUCATION Schools in Rugby include the Lawrence Sheriff School for boys, one of the few remaining public grammar schools in England. There is also the Rugby High School For Girls , in Bilton, and several Comprehensive School s, including the Ashlawn School , Bilton School (formerly Herbert Kay & Westlands School, and Bilton High School), Avon Valley School (formerly 'Newbold School') and the Harris School . Rugby is home to a College , which is now a part of the Warwickshire College group. NEARBY PLACES AND TWIN TOWNS
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. In and Watling Street . Twelve miles north of Rugby is High Cross (Roman name Venonae ), where the two roads cross. 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. 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". 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. One of the most significant events in the town's history was the founding in , 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. ]] 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. 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. 19th-century development Rugby really came into its own in the 19th Century . 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. 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 Rugby to expand along Bilton Road and Dunchurch Road. In 1835 Rugby was a small rural town with a population of around 2,500, but developed rapidly with the coming of the Railway s. 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. 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. 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. 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. In the 1880s several factories opened employing local women. 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 which made electrical equipment and later Turbines . Engineering would dominate the town's economy for most of the following century. In 1894 Rugby became an Urban District and gained its first elected council. 20th 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 in all directions. In 1901 the population of Rugby was 16,950, by 1931 it had reached 40,000. Due to its expansion Rugby became a Municipal Borough in 1932 , and the old Rugby Urban District Council was replaced with Rugby Borough Council. The nearby parishes of Bilton , Brownsover , Hillmorton and Newbold-on-Avon were incorporated into the new borough. Further local government reform in 1974 saw the borough expand to include the whole of the abolished Rugby Rural District . 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 Rabbit s chewing through the wires controlling detonation {Link without Title} . In the late 1930's Frank Whittle developed the Jet Engine in Rugby. With his work taking place at the British Thomson-Houston works, and at Brownsover Hall . 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. 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. Rugby expanded further, especially at Brownsover where new housing estates were built. 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. 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 House s. SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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