{{Short description|Suburb of Leamington Spa, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}} {{Use British English|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox UK place | official_name= Lillington | country= England | region= West Midlands | population= | os_grid_reference= SP329670 | coordinates = {{coord|52.3006|-1.5183|display=inline,title}} | post_town= Leamington Spa | postcode_area= CV | postcode_district= CV32 | dial_code= | constituency_westminster= | civil_parish=Royal Leamington Spa | shire_district= Warwick | shire_county= Warwickshire |static_image_name= CrownWay.JPG |static_image_caption= Crown Way, Lillington }} '''Lillington''' is a suburb of Leamington Spa, in the civil parish of Royal Leamington Spa, in the Warwick District in the county of Warwickshire, England. Historically a village which existed before the time of the ''Domesday Book'' (1086), it was incorporated into the borough of Leamington in 1890.<ref>Royal Leamington Spa, Lyndon F. Cave, Phillimore 1988, p.&nbsp;130.</ref> Lillington is a ward of Warwick District Council and Royal Leamington Spa Town Council.<ref>{{cite web|title=Local Government Boundary Commission for England Review – Warwick District 2017/18|url=https://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/west-midlands/warwickshire/warwick|accessdate=22 June 2020|archive-date=21 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221071008/http://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/west-midlands/warwickshire/warwick|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Geography== Lillington itself has two main areas – the new centre based around Crown Way which contains shops, dry cleaners and a post office. The area was predominantly built as a council house estate from 1950 onwards, and contains three tower blocks. The tallest of these, the fifteen-storey ''Eden Court,'' standing at the highest point of the estate, dominates the skyline and can be seen from south Leamington Spa, Radford Semele and for miles outside Leamington.<ref name="pevsner">The Buildings of England, Pevsner & Wedgwood, Penguin 1966. p.&nbsp;340.</ref> The second, and older area, contains the former village with the parish church of St. Mary Magdalene, the manor house, and some Victorian terraced houses as well as estates of predominantly semi-detached houses built since 1930.

===Campion Hills=== The ''Campion Hills'' are the highest area of Leamington, rising to an altitude of 97m (318 ft) above OD.<ref>{{cite web|title=Get-a-map|url=http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm?mapAction=gaz&gazName=g&gazString=SP3165066050|work=Ordnance Survey|accessdate=30 December 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093244/https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/os-maps-online.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Situated to the north of, and above Newbold Comyn park, they offer a view over the whole town. Sited here is Leamington's transmission tower which relays TV signals from Sutton Coldfield and broadcasts local commercial radio station, Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire.<ref>{{cite web|title=TV transmitters – West Midlands: Sutton Coldfield|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/transmitters/tv/tv_suttoncf.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129122555/http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/transmitters/tv/tv_suttoncf.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 January 2008|work=BBC Reception|accessdate=30 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Mercia Sound|url=http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/merciasound.html|work=MDS975|accessdate=30 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528083242/http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/merciasound.html|archive-date=28 May 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> Its Severn Trent water treatment plant serves the whole Leamington area.<ref>{{cite web|title=Map of water treatment works|url=http://www.stwater.co.uk/upload/pdf/FINAL_WATER_TREATMENT_map__.pdf|work=Severn Trent|accessdate=30 December 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422122403/http://www.stwater.co.uk/upload/pdf/FINAL_WATER_TREATMENT_map__.pdf|archivedate=22 April 2012}}</ref> Warwick District Council runs a BMX track on the hills.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bikes|url=http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/WDC/Leisure/Sports/Roller+Sports/BMX+Bikes.htm|work=Warwick District Council|accessdate=30 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424114758/http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/WDC/Leisure/Sports/Roller+Sports/BMX+Bikes.htm|archive-date=24 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Bins Brook=== The Bins Brook is a mainly culverted watercourse that runs south into Leamington. Just inside Lillington, on the Leamington town centre side adjacent to the Midland Oak, is a fenced area of meadow plants in a man-made depression. This excavated area is normally dry, but fills from the Bins Brook if it overflows during flash floods, to reduce the risk of local flooding to property.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buggins|first=Arryn|title=Trees uprooted in the fight against flooding|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Trees+uprooted+in+the+fight+against+flooding.-a080507680|accessdate=30 December 2011|newspaper=Coventry Evening Telegraph|date=1 December 2001}}</ref>

===The Midland Oak=== The Midland Oak by the junction of Lillington Avenue and Lillington Road marks the supposed very centre of England.<ref>The King's England – Warwickshire, Arthur Mee (Editor), p.&nbsp;165, p.&nbsp;9 (photograph)</ref> The original oak is thought to have dated from the 16th century. Having died, it was removed in 1967, which allowed the Lillington Road to be straightened. Its successor was planted in the 1980s, from an acorn collected from the original.

===Prehistoric and early remains=== In the 1930s prehistoric elephant and woolly rhinoceros remains were found in sand and gravel pits in Cubbington Road, near the site of the present Lillington Free Church. Some of these are displayed in Warwick Market Hall Museum. Stone Age remains have also been found there. Roman artefacts and burials have been discovered in the area of Highland Road and Braemar Road.<ref>Victoria County History of Warwickshire, Volume VI, p.&nbsp;161.</ref>

===Lillington Stud Farm=== Lillington was once well known as a centre for horse-breeding at the stud farm owned by Sydney McGregor (1889–1970).<ref>{{cite web |title=Sydney McGregor and Lillington Stud Farm |url=https://www.lillingtonhistory.org/page2_worthies.php |website=Lillington Local History Society |accessdate=24 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Scots & The Turf: Racing and Breeding – The Scottish Influence, Alan Yuill Walker (2006), Chapter 9. |isbn = 9781785301872|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XbA_DwAAQBAJ&dq=scots+and+the+turf+mcgregor&pg=PT100 |accessdate=24 June 2019|last1 = Walker|first1 = Alan Yuill|date = 25 November 2017| publisher=Black & White Publishing }}</ref> McGregor's best known horse was probably April the Fifth, which won the Epsom Derby in 1932.<ref>''Royal Leamington Spa Courier'', 12 April 1940, p5.</ref> The farm buildings and house stood at the end of Epsom Road. After 1970, the area was developed for housing, with many of the new roads having racing-related names.

==Education== The local schools are Lillington Nursery and Primary School, Telford Infant and Telford Junior Schools. The nearest secondary school is North Leamington School. A Sure Start Children’s Centre opened in late 2006, adjacent to the 1950s-built community centre, and Lillington Library on Mason Avenue.<ref>{{cite news|title=Children's centres to help parents|url=http://www.leamingtoncourier.co.uk/news/local/children_s_centres_to_help_parents_1_1046201|accessdate=30 December 2011|newspaper=Leamington Courier|date=9 November 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Lillington centre re-opened in tribute to couple|url=http://www.leamingtoncourier.co.uk/news/local/lillington_centre_re_opened_in_tribute_to_couple_1_1053234|accessdate=30 December 2011|newspaper=Leamington Courier|date=19 July 2007}}</ref>

==Churches== The Church of England parish church of St. Mary Magdalene in Vicarage Road retains some Saxon work, but was largely rebuilt between 1847 and 1884. The late Perpendicular tower also remains, with a contemporary bell cast around 1480. With two seventeenth-century bells and five more dating from 1927, the present ring of eight bells was formed. They were re-hung by Nicholsons' of Bridport in 2007.<ref name="pevsner"/>

The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady, in Valley Road next to the Public Library, was consecrated in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Parish|url=http://www.ourladyslillington.org.uk/index.php/church|work=OUR LADY’S LILLINGTON, CUBBINGTON AND OFFCHURCH|accessdate=30 December 2011|archive-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702204333/https://www.ourladyslillington.org.uk/index.php/church|url-status=dead}}</ref> It has notable stained glass in the 'Dalle de verre' style, designed by Dom Charles Norris of Buckfast Abbey, and made at Prinknash Abbey.<ref>{{cite web|title=Windows|url=http://www.ourladyslillington.org.uk/index.php/windows|work=OUR LADY’S LILLINGTON, CUBBINGTON AND OFFCHURCH|accessdate=30 December 2011|archive-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702204403/https://www.ourladyslillington.org.uk/index.php/windows|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Lillington Free Church is on the north side of Cubbington Road, close to The Holt.<ref>{{cite web|title=Your Local Lillington Church|url=http://www.lillingtonfreechurch.org/|work=Lillington Free Church|accessdate=30 December 2011}}</ref> <gallery> File:Lillington Church Warks.jpg|Lillington Parish Church File:Lillington Free Church.jpg|Lillington Free Church File:Lillington Warks Manor House.jpg|Lillington Manor House, Church Lane File:Lillington - Eden Court - geograph.org.uk - 9348.jpg|Eden Court, Lillington, from Mason Avenue Park File:Former Lillington Infant School - geograph.org.uk - 1206291.jpg|Former School and Parish Room, Cubbington Road File:Lillington Warks RC Church.jpg|Lillington RC Church, Valley Road File:Lillington Library.jpg|Lillington County Library, Valley Road File:Old Library, Lillington - geograph.org.uk - 8959.jpg|Former Board of Health meeting room, corner of Cubbington Road and Pound Lane File:Lane to Red House Farm, Lillington Warwickshire.jpg|Lane to Red House Farm. </gallery>

== Civil parish == In 1901 the parish had a population of 1,241.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10316364/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Lillington AP/CP/Ch through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=10 November 2022}}</ref> The parish was abolished on 1 April 1902 to form "Leamington".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10316364|title=Relationships and changes Lillington AP/CP/Ch through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=10 November 2022}}</ref>

==Nearby places== Lillington adjoins Cubbington to the north.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category|Lillington, Warwickshire}} *[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=57118/ Victoria County History, Volume VI – Lillington]

{{Warwick district}} {{Royal Leamington Spa}}

Category:Populated places in Warwickshire Category:Former civil parishes in Warwickshire Category:Leamington Spa