Northgate House is now used for among other things, meeting rooms for the council. This wasn’t always the case however.
The 1950s
In the early 1950s, my father worked for local government and moved from Norfolk to Warwickshire. As there was a shortage of housing just after World War II, his new employers promised to house him in a local authority property. The first property that we lived in for a few weeks was the Judge’s House in Northgate Street. A longer term solution was then offered which was about half of Northgate House, the other part being occupied by another family.
Playground for a small boy
I remember it as an ideal playground for a small boy with trees to climb, a lawn big enough to learn to ride a bike, and an old chapel in the vegetable garden; not to mention a couple of rooms big enough for a respectable football pitch. My sister founded the Magnolia Club which met under the magnolia tree that can still be seen today at the back of Northgate House. The purpose of the club seemed to be to charge older relatives a subscription of 6d.
Comments
The left hand side is Northgate House . The right hand side is always known as Northgate. That side belongs to the Phillips family and it is their magnolia tree. It has been called the grandest (and sometimes the oldest) semi-detached pair of houses in the country, though this may be an exaggeration.
The old North Gate had been removed by the early sixteenth century and it is not known exactly where it was. The inn and cottages which previously occupied the site were destroyed in the fire of Warwick, 1694 and this building replaced them.
According to a story told to me by a local historian, some German sympathisers used to signal to German bombers using lights during the war from this building. Until they were discovered and arrested.
Add a comment about this page