Returning to the course of the river Avon: there was a mill at Rugby worth 13s 4d in the Domesday survey. Rugby Mill continued as an active corn mill longer than some of the other mills on the river Avon, continuing through the 1st World War and until 1928, when James T. Haynes was the miller. However trade directories* suggest that it was no longer a mill by 1932. It is now a thriving pub (called Avon Mill); most of the old buildings have gone and various extensions have been added since the 1900s.
Avon Mill swimming pool
The Avon Mill open-air swimming pool opened nearby on July 13th 1929. It was demolished in 1977 and is now part of the car park for the Hunter’s Lane recycling centre. You can see a photo and some comments about it here.
A trip down the River Avon revisited
This is part of a series of ‘before and after’ photographs based on the Rev. E.N. Dew’s lantern slides for a talk about the Warwickshire Avon. The original photos date from around 1900 and the linked article explains the history of the photographs.
Do you remember the swimming pool?
* Trade directories (the yellow pages of the day) are a really useful source of information about the 19th and 20th centuries and can be consulted at the Warwickshire County Record Office.
Comments
This is the point where Arthur Quiller-Couch (Q) launched his Canadian canoe on his trip down the Avon around 1890. The sketch drawn by his companion Alfred Parsons (P) shows what looks like a dove-cote in the grounds of the mill.
My father-in-law used to decorate The Avon Mill Pub many years ago. We used to visit it long before we moved to Rugby to live.
The Rugby Advertiser in it’s ’50 years ago’ feature recently included the following quote from February 18th 1966: ‘Rugby publican extraordinary, 84-year-old Mrs Emily Haynes, who has been ‘mine host’ at the Avon Mill, Newbold Road for 35 years, has never had an intoxicating drink in her life. The licence of the Avon Mill has been held by Mrs Haynes’ family for almost 90 years. She is the senior licensee in the town and the oldest woman publican in the county. “When I took over the licence the house was privately owned and part of the Boughton Leigh estate,” said Mrs Haynes, who still serves behind the bar and never goes to bed before 1 a.m.’
I remember the outdoor swimming pool. I, my sister, and two brothers spent many hours there in the summer holidays – I actually learnt to swim there.
We lived on the Glebe Estate from the 1950s onward growing up. The baths were a meeting place for the Glebe Gang. I have good memories of it and was sad when it closed.
Sadly the Avon Mill Pub is now closed and it’s future uncertain due to proposed road works.
Does any one know if the stones from the Mill That the late Mr Haynes saved when the Mill was demolished. Have been saved again in this last distruction.
Unfortunately the pub lay derelict for several years and was demolished in 2022. The site is currently being turned into a Starbucks drive through.
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