Rugby, The School And Close c.1965

Photo ref: R69079

Photo of Rugby, The School And Close c.1965

More about this scene

This view shows Rugby School's First XV Rugby pitch, known as Old Big Side. The Memorial Chapel (left) was built in 1923. The main chapel, originally designed by Hakewell but completed by Butterfield, . The oldest existing school buildings are School House (centre right) and the Headmaster's House (far right), built in 1815 in Elizabethan style as a tribute to Lawrence Sheriff. It was here on the Close, during a game of football in 1823, that William Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it towards the tryline, thereby creating the new game of rugby. Here, too, a famous school rebellion took place, leading to a siege on the 'Island', out of camera shot on the far left of the Close. The Close is entered from Barby Road by gates commemorating the School's 4th centenary and dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II in 1967. To their left lies a mound created by a Second World War air raid shelter.

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A Selection of Memories from Rugby

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our website to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was, prompted by the photographs in our archive. Here are some from Rugby

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Stan Lloyd A Pupil At This School

My dad, Stanley Morgan Lloyd, was a pupil at this school.

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Added 12 March 2019

Policeman On Point Duty

And there he is...the policeman on point duty. We had a van that Charlie would deliver the bread in from our bakery in Regents St. I would sit on a wooden box in the passenger place next to the driver (there was no seat! One day, Charlie took his hands off the wheel and guided the van past the policeman with his knees.....very daring!

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Added 12 March 2019

My Home Town Of Rugby

I was brought up in Rugby 1949 - 1970. My parents owned Tudor Bakeries at 3 Regent Street. At first we lived above the shop with the bake-house in Oxford Street. Then we moved to Bloxam Gardens off Bilton Road and converted the two floors above the shop into the bakery. I have many happy memories - one being the policeman on point duty just along from the clock tower. I'll have to look up the names of the roads at the junction but I can remember Sheep Street and High St being up the road.

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Added 12 March 2019