Houlton is a large housing development to the east of
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...
. It is located between the Rugby suburb of
Hillmorton, Warwickshire and
Crick, Northamptonshire
Crick is a village in West Northamptonshire in England. It is close to the border with Warwickshire, east of Rugby and northwest of Northampton. The villages of Crick and West Haddon were by-passed by the A428 main road from Rugby to Northampt ...
, west of the
A5 road and
M1 motorway. The first residents took up residence in December 2017, and upon completion there are expected to be 6,200 houses.
Between 1926 and 2007 the site on which most of the development sits was part of the
Rugby Radio Station
__NOTOC__
Rugby Radio Station was a large radio transmission facility just east of the Hillmorton area of the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. The site straddled the A5 trunk road, with most of it in Warwickshire, and part on the other ...
site. It was on this site that the first transatlantic commercial telephone service signal was transmitted in 1927, to the American Telephone and Telegraph receiver site in
Houlton, Maine, USA, the American town after which its Warwickshire counterpart is named.
Facilities
There are several community features in the development. Dollman Farm is a restored
farmhouse
FarmHouse (FH) is a social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate ch ...
which greatly pre-dates the new estate and is used as a visitor information centre. The Barn is a
community centre
Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...
/
village hall which holds communal classes and clubs and can be hired for parties or events. The Tuning Fork is a
restaurant
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
/
cafe
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...
which is open to the public. Nearby is a large
adventure play area. Finally a new
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
has been opened, St Gabriel's CofE Academy, 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.
In October 2019 planning permission was granted for a new landmark, state-of-the-art £39m 11-18 secondary school, including Sixth Form, to be named
Houlton School
Houlton School is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Houlton, Warwickshire, England. The school's buildings have been developed on the historic site of the Rugby Radio Station. Designed to serve 1100 students, the sch ...
, which includes the Grade II listed former radio station buildings, as well as three brand new teaching blocks. The secondary school will have spaces for around 1,200 pupils. Opened in September 2021, initially to Year 7 pupils, it is a member of the Transforming Lives Educational Trust (TLET) family of schools. The school has a professional standard digital radio station, and, in addition to its traditional academic programme will offer qualifications in broadcast and new media to honour the campus’ heritage as a global centre for communications excellence. The Principal is Michael McCulley and Vice Principal, Chloe Buckenham.
In December 2019, a planning application was submitted to build a new
David Lloyd Leisure centre which will include a health, fitness and racquets club and is yet to be approved. In September 2020 the application was approved.
Transport
![Houlton Bridge, Warwickshire](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Houlton_Bridge%2C_Warwickshire.jpg)
The
A5 trunk road and Junction 18 of the
M1 motorway are within 1.5 miles of the estate. The nearest railway station (
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
) is four miles away, located on the
West Coast Main Line. It offers direct trains to cities such as
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
and
Holyhead
Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...
. Nearby bus routes include the
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
to
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
96 and the Rugby to Northampton D2. The 78-mile long
Oxford Canal
The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to the River Thame ...
, connecting
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Hawkesbury Junction
Hawkesbury Junction or Sutton Stop () is a canal junction in England, at the northern limit of the Oxford Canal where it meets the Coventry Canal, near Hawkesbury Village, Warwickshire, between Bedworth and Coventry. The alternative name, Su ...
, borders the site and links with the
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...
.
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.
Media coverage
In September 2022, the national
Observer newspaper
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
gave coverage to Houlton in a piece entitled "Houlton Rugby: a new town that’s sending out all the right signals" by
Rowan Moore
Rowan Moore is an architecture critic.
Rowan William Gillachrist Moore was born on 22 March 1961. His brother is the journalist, newspaper editor and Margaret Thatcher's official biographer Charles Moore, Baron Moore of Etchingham, and his gr ...
. The article praised the development as offering 'thoughtful planning, nature on the doorstep – and a secondary school with shades of
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...
’s Turbine Hall’', and went on to praise the development as offering 'as serious a contribution', to the national housing crisis 'in both quality and quantity, as any organisation in the private sector has been able to think up.'
References
External links
The official Houlton websiteThe official Houlton School website
{{authority control
Villages in Warwickshire
Borough of Rugby