Hillmorton

Hillmorton

Oxford Canal at Hillmorton
Hillmorton
Hillmorton shown within Warwickshire
Population 5,276 (2011 census[1])
Civil parish
  • Hillmorton
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town RUGBY
Postcode district CV21
Dialling code 01788
Police Warwickshire
Fire Warwickshire
Ambulance West Midlands
EU Parliament West Midlands
UK Parliament

Hillmorton is a suburb of Rugby, Warwickshire, England, forming much of the eastern half of the town. It is also a ward of the Borough of Rugby.

Before Rugby spread to the east, Hillmorton was a village. The village was formed by amalgamation of two settlements: Hull and Morton: The former being the part on high ground, the latter being the part on lower ground where the church of St.John the Baptist stands, and where the canal runs through. Morton was mentioned in the Domesday Book as land that belonged to Hugh de Grandmesnil. The church of St.John the Baptist is the oldest building in the locality with the oldest parts dating from the 13th Century.[2] It is now grade II listed.[3]

At one time a market was held in Hillmorton, and remnants of the old village green still remain. The market began in 1265 when a charter was granted to Thomas de Astley but was abandoned by the mid 17th century.[2]

Church of St.John the Baptist at Hillmorton.

Hillmorton is the ancestral home of a U.S. president, James Garfield, his ancestor, Edward Garfield, having immigrated to America from this village in around 1630.[4]

The Oxford Canal was built around Hillmorton in the 1770s, where a flight of three locks known as 'Hillmorton Locks' was constructed.[5] Later the London and Birmingham Railway was constructed around Hillmorton in the 1830s.[2]

Hillmorton was subsumed by the growth of Rugby in the early 20th Century, and in 1932 Hillmorton civil parish was formally absorbed into the Rugby municipal borough.[2]

In the 1940s, Hillmorton was home to a notorious character Unity Mitford; socialite and close friend of Adolf Hitler, following her return to Britain following a failed suicide attempt. She stayed with a local vicar and his family under close supervision.[6][7]

Most of Hillmorton consists of 20th century housing estates, although a some older buildings survive near the old village green.[2]

To the east of Hillmorton was the former Rugby Radio Station, which opened in 1926, and contained radio masts 820-ft (294 metres) high. For many years this was a major landmark, until 2007, when the last masts were demolished.[8][2]

The main secondary school serving the area is Ashlawn School.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "HILLMORTON Ward in West Midlands". City Population. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Parishes: Hillmorton". British History Online. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "CHURCH OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST (1035023)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  4. ↑ "Edward Garfield, "The Immigrant"". Geni.com. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "A Brief History of Hillmorton Locks". hillmortonlocks.co.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "The truth behind Hitler's spurned lover". Rugby Advertiser. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "When Adolf Hitler confidante Unity Mitford came to stay". BBC News. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "RUGBY RADIO STATION A short history". Our Warwickshire. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
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