Rugby (GB)

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Rugby Shoe cancel with 659 cancel
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Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. The town has a population of 70,628 (2011 census) making it the second largest town in the county. The town is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby which has a population of 100,500 (2011 census).

Rugby is on the eastern edge of Warwickshire, near the borders of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. It is 83 miles (134 km) north of London, 30 miles (48 km) east of Birmingham and 11 miles (18 km) east of Coventry.

Rugby School, an independent school situated in the town, is the birthplace of Rugby football. In 1845, three Rugby School pupils produced the first written rules of the "Rugby style of game".

Rugby served as a main office for a number of rural Branch offices

See: Rugby Outer Sub/Branch Offices

Rugby was issued with the 659 numeral by the Post Office in 1844

Rugby

Before 1850 the Rugby Post Office was on the High Street before moving that year to the North corner of Chapel Street.

By 1859 as the town grew, alterations to the buildings by the north corner of Market Place and Chapel Street; left the Post Office on the corner of Chapel Street.

In February 1901 a new town Post office opened in Albert Square this was found to be too small so the former Benfield House in North Street was purchased by the Post Office and the building demolished to make way for a new purpose built Head Post Office. Both the Head office in North Street and the Railway Sorting Office were amalgamated at this time into the new building at North Street.

By 1967 a reversal for the Sorting Office occured and it moved to the North side of the railway station on Mill Road where it remains today.

In 1973 Rugby got its own postcodes.

In 1983 the Head Post Office also had a reversal and it went back to the premises it occupied in 1901 on Albert (Square) Street.







Postmarks

Rugby to Lubenham 30 Aug 1858 with Rugby Shoe postmark, GB 1d Red Die II Plate 47
Backside Market Harborough receiving postmark 31 Aug 1858 and Lubenham UDC
RUGBY WARWICKSHIRE 1


Meter cancels

Meter cancel Rugby 2010.



Town Sub-Offices

The following offices were sub-offices of Rugby Town.

Rugby Station Office

RUGBY STATION #1 cancel on 1905 to Coventry.
RUGBY STATION 1905 Bars and Maltese Cross cancel 1905

The first railway station to be built in Rugby was a wooden temporary structure located around half a mile to the west of the present station. It opened on 9 April 1838 when the London and Birmingham Railway was constructed.

The first station lasted only a few years. When a junction was made with the Midland Counties Railway in 1840, a new station was built at the site of the junction, which opened on 4 July 1840; it was 990 yards (905 m) to the east of the original station, and 150 yards to the west of the present station. A new road, Railway Terrace had to be built to link it to the town centre, because at the time it was located in open countryside.

The second station lasted until the 1880s, when a new line from Rugby to Northampton (the Northampton loop) was built, the old station was deemed by the LNWR to be no-longer satisfactory, and in 1882, £70,000 was allocated to replace it with the current station which opened on 5 July 1885.

Bridget Street

Brownsover Mill Road Sorting Office

In 1886 a new town sorting office was opened next to Rugby L. & N.W. Station and was handling the sorting of mail on and off the trains and into the Rugby area by 1905.

Grosvenor Road

High Street

New Bilton

Newbold Road

Oxford Street

Winfield Street

Wood Street

Outer Sub-Offices

Rugby had many Sub-Offices in surrounding villages under their control and acted as the Head Office to them. They had their own cancels.
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Rugby town was a District County office to a number of rurally operated village Branch Offices in both Warwickshire, Leicestershire & Northamptonshire. These were spread out and covered a large area of all three counties.

Rugby Branch Offices

Barby

Braunston

Broadwell

Catthorpe

Church Lawford

Claybrook

Claybrook is an area made up from the two nearby villages of Claybrook Magna & Claybrook Parva

Clifton

Also known as Clifton upon Dunsmore.

Cold Ashby

Crick

Flecknoe

Harborough Magna

Harborough is an area made up from the two nearby villages of Harborough Magna & Harborough Parva

Hillmorton

Husbands Bosworth

Rugby (GB) HB a.jpg

Kilsby

Laughton

Lilbourne

Long Buckby

Long Itchington

Long Lawford

Marton

Mowsley

Naseby

Napton

Also known as Napton on the Hill

Newbold-on-Avon

Newton

New Kilworth

Also known as North Kilworth

Pailton

Primethorpe (Leicestershire)

Princethorpe

Shawell

South Kilworth

Stretton-on-Dunsmore

Rugby Branch Offices (GB) SOD a.jpg

Stretton-under-Fosse

Swinford

Thurlaston

Watford

Not to be confused with the Postal Town of Watford (GB)

Welford

West Haddon

Yelvertoft