This is the twelfth in a series of glimpses into my new book Paranormal Warwickshire which will be published by Amberley Publishing on 15th November 2020.
I knew little of the ghosts of Rugby until I joined a fascinating town tour one afternoon led by Matthew, an entertaining and well-informed raconteur. Those who had booked for the tour gathered outside The Black Swan pub in Chapel Street. We were all to discover a rich history and a wealth of colourful and curious paranormal tales.
Famous of course for its school, (founded by the Elizabethan merchant and philanthropist Lawrence Sheriff) and for the popular sport to which the town gave its name, Rugby is to be found in the pages of the Domesday Book of 1086, when it was an Anglo-Saxon hamlet known as Routbie.
Over the years, it slowly grew until, following the Industrial Revolution, the town experienced swift growth with the arrival of the railways. In 1838 an early part of the present West Coast Mainline was built around the town. Soon after that, many wagon works and engineering facilities were opened.
A history tour of Rugby’s centre will provide a wealth of strange anecdotes. Several relate to the terrace of period properties in Chapel Street, foremost among which is the oldest house in Rugby, the 14th century building which once housed Tew’s the Butchers, famed for its appearance in the pages of Thomas Hughes’1857 novel Tom Brown’s Schooldays.
Other eerie and intriguing tales cling to the terrace of shops formerly occupied by the Lawrence Sheriff Almshouses in Church Street; the Rugby Theatre; a certain residence in Castle Street; and several buildings in the High Street, including the Lawrence Sheriff pub and two properties now occupied by retailers but which formerly served as locations for the Town Hall.
Finally several strange stories emerge from the memorial garden at St Andrew’s Church, and the gardens behind the church, an area which has a recorded history dating back to 1130 in the reign of King Stephen.
This magnificent church has stood at the heart of Rugby since the 14th century, with its west tower believed to be the town’s oldest structure. Here, in St Andrew’s Gardens, you may find many historical graves; and the land is believed to have formerly been occupied by a manor house protected by guards.
Do check out my other posts in this series, which I began on 14th August 2020 with Shakespeare’s Ghosts and Spirits, and which brings us up to the publication date of my book Paranormal Warwickshire – 15th November 2020.
Gaveston’s Cross and the Saxon Mill, Warwick
St Mary’s Warwick
Kenilworth Castle
Abbey Fields, Kenilworth
Leamington Spa
Baddesley Clinton
Stoneleigh Abbey
Thomas Oken’s House and Lord Leycester Hospital, Warwick
The other posts in the series will cover the following locations:
Nuneaton locations
Ettington Park Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon
Coughton Court, Alcester
You can pre-order Paranormal Warwickshire here.
scskillman.com 