Cubbington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cubbington | |
  Cubbington shown within Warwickshire |
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| Population | 4,034 |
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| OS grid reference | |
| District | Warwick |
| Shire county | Warwickshire |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | COVENTRY |
| Postcode district | CV32 7xx |
| Dialling code | 01926 |
| Police | Warwickshire |
| Fire | Warwickshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| European Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Warwick and Leamington |
| List of places: UK • England • Warwickshire | |
Cubbington is a large village (village population 4,034 with 1,648 houses in 2001) connected to the north-east of Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England. It is often (though incorrectly) regarded as a northern suburb of Leamington, being situated only 3 km from the town centre. The Welsh Road, running through the village crossroads, is rumoured to be an old sheep drovers' route connecting London and Wales. Since the 1950s when the village expanded there have technically been two parts to the village, Cubbington proper which was the old village core and New Cubbington which is to the west. In reality, little attention is paid to the divide and both are referred to as Cubbington.
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[edit] Amenities and schools
The village has three pubs, The King's Head and The Queen's Head in the old village and The Rugby Tavern on the Rugby Road into Leamington. The village hall (opened March 1951) is located on Broadway and the working men's club on Windmill Hill. The Warwickshire Beer Company is located in Queen Street. On the Rugby Road are found a fish and chip shop, a Chinese takeaway, a launderette, a grocery store, a paper shop, a pet shop, a garage selling off-road vehicles and a veterinary surgeon's surgery. Interestingly, in 1946 there was a legal battle between two local residents, one of whom wanted to open a fish shop next to an existing fish shop. In the end one shop sold fresh fish and the other fried fish. In the old village there is a bakery, a DIY shop, a Costcutter convenience store, and a takeaway shop. In Kelvin Road, in New Cubbington, is a hairdressers, an off-license and the locally well-known Kelvin Cycles. The 68 bus runs every half hour from Cubbington church to Leamington via several parts of the village. Leamington Spa railway station is the nearest station.
There are three grassed play areas for children in the village. The first is in the old village located next to the village hall on land purchased in 1952 by the Village Hall Trust. This play area contains a good variety of play equipment, a basketball court and the village football team's pitch. The second play area is in New Cubbington, near the Kelvin Road shops. This contains two mini football goals and swings. The final area is accessible from the Cubbington Road and through a small gap towards the bottom of South View Road. It has two play areas; one is for younger children or toddlers, whereas the other is for older children around the age of 10. They both contain swings, slides and other items of play equipment. There are two football goals and a monkeybar set.
Schools in Cubbington are Cubbington School, Our Lady and Saint Teresa's School, and Telford School, all state-run infant and junior schools. The local senior school is the state run co-ed North Leamington Community School and Arts College which is three kilometres from the village. There is also a horse-riding school located on the edge of the village, over the road from a large area of land set aside for allotments.
The earliest written record of a school in Cubbington is from 1780 on a different site to any of the schools now in existence. The first buildings on the site of the present Cubbington School were erected in 1846. Extensions to the school were made in 1893 and the 1960s. St Teresa's School was opened in 1961 on a site overlooking much of the surrounding countryside.
[edit] Cubbington history
There are two possible origins for the name of Cubbington based on its earlier names. The first is Cobynton, meaning 'town of the descendants of Coba'. The second is from the name used for a period of time after the Domesday Book of 1068, Cumbynton. Cumbe was a medieval word signifying that a settlement was in a low or deep hollow. The fact that the village lies in a shallow valley is seemingly proof that the second theory is true.
Cubbington's Church of England church, St Mary's, has a documented chronology of vicars dating from 1346. The church was originally a chapelry of Leek Wootton and was granted to Kenilworth Priory at the priory's foundation by Geoffrey de Clinton in 1122. By 1331 it had become a separate parish and was appropriated by (fully granted to) the monastery; a vicarage with house, mortuaries, altarage and small tithes being granted in 1345. The building of the present church was probably started by the Augustinian canons at Kenilworth in the early 12th century and when finished consisted of the nave, chancel, south aisle and western tower. The parish magazine is called Contact and is distributed throughout Cubbington and New Cubbington.
There is also a Methodist church in Cubbington. The original Wesleyan chapel fell out of use in 1843. A second was in use between 1844 and 1888. 1888 was also the year that the present church building was erected. A church hall was added in 1965.
In early November 1605 a group of men, including Robert Catesby, who were involved in the gunpowder plot, passed through the village. They were fleeing from London after the arrest of Guy Fawkes. Apparently they were on their way to Wales (via Warwick Castle to steal fresh horses), after a meeting at Dunchurch, near Rugby.
The village church aside, the other famous landmark of Cubbington's past was the windmill which stood at the top of Windmill Hill, the section of Welsh Road which crosses the road to Rugby. The first mention of the windmill was in 1355 in a dispute between the Prior of Kenilworth and the Abbot of Stoneleigh. No mention of it was made again however until it appeared on a map of Warwickshire over 400 years later in 1789. The sails of the windmill could be turned using a wheel to face in the optimum direction in relation to the prevailing wind.
Cubbington men played their part in First World War and the Second World War. In the First World War 139 men served their country, 31 of whom lost their lives. In the Second World War 10 men lost their lives. Although the village never received direct hits from Luftwaffe bombers two bombs landed in Cubbington Woods near the village after a raid on Coventry some 10 miles to the north.
[edit] Cubbington today
Thwaites Dumpers, a dumper truck company who sell throughout the UK and across Europe, have their headquarters on Offchurch Road in the village. The company was founded on that site in 1937 by Basil Thwaites.
Cubbington's most famous export is probably its Silver Band which plays all around Warwickshire. The current Cubbington Silver Band was formed in 1995 as a result of an idea by Ken Lindop, the vicar of St. Mary's Church. In March 2007 the band attained Midland Area Champions 4th section.
The village hall still plays an important part in village life for many people. The National Blood Service visits regularly to take blood from donors. Parties of all kind take place there as the hall can be hired out. The Cubbington OAP group meet there to organise fund-raisers for their outings and play bingo, as well as producing their monthly newsletter The Acorn. The hall also sees performances by the Cubbington Players, an amateur dramatics group. The highlight of the year for this group is the pantomime each December and January. Several times each year a funfair visits the village, locating itself by the working men's club.
In 2006, the villagers of Cubbington successfully campaigned against a mobile telephone mast being built along the Rugby Road. The mobile company appealed however and work on the mast started in April 2007 and was completed within a month. There was also an attempt to set up a Cubbington music festival but these ideas were cancelled after several objections were raised.
The Pingle Brook, which flows south-westerly through the village is a 2.3 kilometre long tributary of the River Leam. It is normally virtually invisible within the village due to the sheltered nature of its course and its size. However the heavy rains of 14th and 15th July 2007 caused the brook to burst its banks in spectacular fashion. This, combined with the geography of the area, caused some streets in the village to be flooded with over two feet of water. Photos and videos of the flood made local and even national TV news reports and newspapers.
[edit] Cubbington trivia
- The Member of Parliament for Cubbington is the MP for Warwick and Leamington Spa, James Plaskitt. After coming into office in 1997 Plaskitt has won a further two elections.
- The village was used for some scenes in the BBC television comedy series Keeping up Appearances starring Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift.
- Jane Austen's brother James lived in Cubbington for most of his adult life and was vicar of St Mary's between 1792 and 1820.
- Cubbington manor house (now demolished) was said to be haunted by a young female child who starved to death when her mentally-ill father locked them all in the house and refused to speak to the outside world.
- The village football team, Cubbington Albion (known by older residents as The Cubbington Earbiters), used to play an annual match against an Aston Villa XI comprised of Villa stars of the past.
- Until the mid 1820s the population of Cubbington was larger than that of Leamington, which now dwarfs Cubbington.
[edit] Cubbington statistics
Gender split (females:male): 50.6% : 49.4%
Average commute: 6.61 miles
Average age: 40
% Aged 0-19: 20.2%
% Aged 65 or over: 22.4%
% Homes owned outright/Paying mortgage: 39.7%/44.4%
% Homes rented: 13.0%
Student population: 2.4%
People in 'good health': 72.5%
Ethnic diversity: 96.3% White, 2.5% Asian, 0.7% Mixed, 0.31% Other, 0.23% Black
Unemployment: 1.8%
[edit] Population at selected dates
1068: 88
1665: 257
1730: 280
1801: 440
1851: 885
1901: 1,164
1951: 1,479
2001: 4,034
[edit] External links
- North Leamington School official website
- Silver Band official website
- Saint Mary's Church official website
- Cubbington Players
- Cubbington stats on the 2001 national census website
- Peppitt, G.F. (1971), "Cubbington", The Pleasaunce Press, Kenilworth. ISBN 0-902372-03-3
- Warwickshire Federation of Women's Institutes (1993), "Warwickshire Within Living Memory", Countryside Books, Newbury. ISBN 1-85306-252-9
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