Willoughby, Warwickshire

Infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Willoughby
latitude= 52.303258
longitude= -1.243898
civil_parish= Willoughby
population = 381 (2001)
shire_district= Rugby
shire_county= Warwickshire
region= West Midlands
constituency_westminster= Rugby and Kenilworth
post_town= RUGBY
postcode_district = CV23
postcode_area= CV
dial_code= 01788
os_grid_reference= SP515675

Willoughby is a village and civil parish in the Rugby borough of Warwickshire, England.

According to the 2001 census the village had a population of 381. The name 'Willoughby' derives from Old Norse "Viligbýr" = "willow farmstead".

Willoughby is next to the A45 road between Rugby and Daventry, and is near the border with Northamptonshire. The village has a hair salon and other retail businesses. The village pub, "The Rose", dates from the 16th century. There was once another pub called the "Four Crosses Inn" - originally the "Three Crosses Inn" - which has been converted into apartments. According to local legend the name was changed after the author Jonathan Swift, who was staying at the inn, had an argument with the landlord's wife, and engraved on a window pane "You have three crosses on the door, hang up your wife and she'll make four".

Willoughby used to have a railway station on the Great Central Railway. The station was originally called just "Willoughby", but was later changed to "Braunston and Willoughby" to try to attract traffic from the larger village of Braunston, a couple of miles to the south-east. The station closed in April 1957 and the line closed in September 1966. Almost nothing remains of the old station, or the 13-arch Willoughby viaduct, to the south, crossing the River Leam, but sections of railway embankment and abutments of the old bridge over the A45 can still be seen. Just west of Willoughby is the Oxford Canal.

The first mention of a post office in Willoughby is in 1865, but the village post office closed in May 2002.

Willoughby Cricket Club was founded in 1901 and cricket is still played at The Green, Pye Court, a hamlet on the edge of the village. Pye Court was originally Pie Court and was formerly the location of the 'Court of Pie Powder', a court somewhat lower than a magistrates court which meted out fines and punishments for acts of misdemeanour or nuisance and issued licences to hawkers, etc. A fair was held at Pie Court in those times.

Mineral water springs are to be found at the southern end of the village at Tattle Bank and at Willoughby House, formerly the Bath Hotel or Willoughby Bath Spa. The water is similar in quality to that found in Harrogate.

The church of St Nicholas, patron saint of seafarers, has stood at Willoughby certainly since 1215 and probably before. The church tower houses an early 18th-century clock and a hand-wound carillon which was installed in 1724 and plays five tunes. The carillon was restored in 1820 and again in 1983 and is in good working order. The font dates from 1230. In the north entrance porch can be seen evidence of where soldiers on their way to the battle of Edge Hill on 23rd October 1642 sharpened their swords.

External links

* [http://www.willoughbycc.org.uk/index.php] - Willoughby Cricket Club website.