Christmas in Southam Workhouse
Cardall's Corner - Dec 2019 - Linda Doyle
The workhouse was the last place anyone wanted to be, whatever time of year, but especially so at Christmas. Whilst the poorest people could survive during ...
A New Home in Southam
Cardall's Corner - October 2018 - by Pam McConnell
Whilst pondering the impact of the new housing estates that are springing up all around Southam I am reminded of my own family’s move to Southam in October 1960. I was six years old and we moved from an isolated tied farm cottage on the Fosse near Harbury, to a new …
Southam’s Workhouse
Cardall's Corner - June 2018 - By Linda Doyle
Today, Southam’s Primary School stands where once stood Southam’s solemn and imposing Victorian workhouse (see photograph from 1910). It was a domineering place built in 1837 on Welsh Road West, then called Workhouse Road. The enclosure of land at Southam in 1761 brought to a head the need to provide for the poor …
Southam’s Rectory
Cardall's Corner - May 2018 - By Linda Doyle
Over the years Southam town centre has had many changes, but one of the more dramatic was when the old Southam Rectory (see picture) was pulled down in the 1960s to make way for a new library, police station and magistrate’s court. ...
Henry Lilley Smith
Cardall's Corner - April 2018 - By Pam McConnell
The 13th April this year marks the 200th anniversary of a meeting held at the Craven Arms Inn that established Southam’s Eye and Ear Infirmary in Warwick Road. In the days before the NHS, all medical treatment had to be paid for, and this Infirmary in Southam was the first of its ...
Southam Coat of Arms
CARDALLS CORNER - December 2017 - by Bill Pease
The arms and crest of Southam are familiar but how many of us know their origins and meaning? They were granted by the College of Arms to Southam Rural District Council on 19th May 1959. The red and silver of the shield are the basic colours of the arms of both Warwickshire County Council and [...]
The Merestone
CARDALLS CORNER - November 2017 - by Helen Morris and Len Gale
In the year 998 Aethelred (the Unready) gave some land which included Southam to Leofwine, the father of Earl Leofric of Coventry whose wife was the famous Lady Godiva. The description of the land still exists written in Old English in a Charter. The boundaries of Southam were carefully marked and remembered through the custom [...]
Southam’s Four Remaining Public Houses
CARDALL'S CORNER - July 2017 By Linda Doyle
In the late 18th / early 19th Century it is estimated that Southam had 15 pubs operating at the same time. Today, Southam has just four remaining public houses, but each of those four pubs boasts a historical background as long as the arm that raises your pint of beer! During the 17th Century there were [...]
The Many Fires of Southam
CARDALL’S CORNER - March 2017 By Linda Doyle
The original town centre of Southam has changed for many reasons over the years, but the most abrupt and sweeping changes have been caused by fires. Although not on such a scale as the Great Fire of Warwick in 1694, the reason a fire started and spread in Southam was no different, and the result [...]
The Bells of St James
CARDALL’S CORNER - January 2017 By Robert Sherriff
The following article by one of our members who is also a bellringer, gives us an insight into the workings of the bell tower of St James Church and the history of the bells themselves.
There are eight bells in St James Church bell tower and they sit in a double deck steel “H” frame, donated by [...]
Southam Banking
CARDALL’S CORNER - September 2016 By Linda Doyle
For many years until March 2016, Southam had two banks: Lloyds and HSBC (formerly the Midland), both situated in the town centre. Today, only Lloyds remains, and at the time of writing, the former HSBC building is up for sale.
Banking in Southam is known to go back to 1835, when in September of that year the Leamington [...]
Harbury Cement Works in WW2
CARDALL’S CORNER - August 2016 By Janet Cox
The Harbury Cement Works (HCW) was as near to Bishops Itchington as it was to Harbury. Indeed the men from Bishops Itchington walked or cycled down a lane or across a field from the village to go to work at HCW, which for many years was the only work around, apart from agriculture.
We lived in Bishops Itchington and [...]