Houlton, Warwickshire

Houlton is a large housing development in the Borough of Rugby, Warwickshire. It is located between the Rugby suburb of Hillmorton, Warwickshire and Crick, Northamptonshire. The first residents took up residence in December 2017, and upon completion there are expected to be 6,200 houses.[1]

Houlton

Completed housing at Houlton
Houlton
Location within Warwickshire
OS grid referenceSP553736
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townRUGBY
Postcode districtCV23 1
Dialling code01788
PoliceWarwickshire
FireWarwickshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament

Between 1926 and 2007 the site on which most of the estate sits was part of the Rugby Radio Station site. It was on this site that the first transatlantic commercial telephone service signal was transmitted,[2] to the American Telephone and Telegraph receiver site in Houlton, Maine, after which its Warwickshire counterpart was named.

Facilities

There are several community features in the development. Dollman Farm is a restored farmhouse which greatly pre-dates the new estate and is used as a visitor information centre.[3] The Barn is a community centre/village hall which hold communal classes and clubs and can be hired for parties or events.[4] The Tuning Fork is a restaurant/cafe which is open to the public.[5] Nearby is a large adventure play area. Finally a new primary school has been opened, St Gabriel's CofE Academy,[6] named after the patron saint of communications.

Future plans include the building of two further primary schools and a GP's surgery. A 1.5-mile link road opened in late 2019 and has made access to Rugby town centre easier for residents as it bypasses Hillmorton.[7]

In October 2019 planning permission was granted for a new 11-18 secondary school, including Sixth Form, to be named Houlton School, which will be based partly in the old radio station buildings, and will have spaces for more than 1,000 pupils. This is expected to open in September 2021, initially to Year 7 pupils,[8] and will be a member of the Transforming Lives Educational Trust (TLET) family of schools. The Principal Designate is Michael McCulley.

In December 2019, planning application has been submitted to build a new David Lloyd Leisure centre which will include a health, fitness and racquets club and is yet to be approved.[9]

Transport

The A5 trunk road and Junction 18 of the M1 motorway are within 1.5 miles of the estate. The nearest railway station (Rugby) is four miles away, located on the West Coast Main Line. It offers direct trains to cities such as London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Holyhead.[10] Nearby bus routes include the Coventry to Northampton 96 and the Rugby to Northampton D2. The 78-mile long Oxford Canal, connecting Oxford and Hawkesbury Junction, borders the site and links with the Grand Union Canal.[11] Birmingham Airport is located 27 miles away.

Rugby Parkway railway station is a proposed station that will be much closer to Houlton than the main Rugby one, near the site of the former Kilsby and Crick station. In July 2019 Warwickshire County Council's Draft Rail Strategy for 2019-2034 proposed that the station would be opened between 2019 and 2026.[12]

References
  1. Coventry Telegraph article on Houlton
  2. "Subterranea Britannica: Sites: Rugby Radio Station".
  3. Mention of the centre on the Davidson's Group website
  4. Mention of The Barn in a Rugby Advertiser article
  5. The Tuning Fork website
  6. St Gabriel's website
  7. News about the road on the Rugby Liberal Democrats website
  8. "Planning permission granted for Rugby's newest secondary school". Rugby Advertiser. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  9. https://planning.agileapplications.co.uk/rugby/application-details/30800. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. Rugby stations page on the Virgin Trains website
  11. The canal's page on Canal Junction.com information site
  12. "Warwickshire Rail Strategy 2019-2034" (PDF). Warwickshire County Council. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
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