Until the early 20th Century the villages were owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, and the cottages in the village were numbered sequentially 145 to 214 rather than being given a street address – see here for a discussion on those numbers and their location.
At that stage there was little development north of Smithy Lane towards Kings Newnham, nor south of the main Rugby to Coventry Road as you headed towards the outlying farms. See here for maps of that time.
Early road names in the villages once they came under local ownership were very much based on simple logic – School Street, Church Road etc, although the suffix of “street”, “lane” or “roads” were used fairly flexibly. Even the initial name of “Little End” for the short road near the village green had meaning. The matter of village-wide street naming and house numbering was initially raised at a Parish Council meeting in October 1952, with a view to getting nameplates made and located in the village. The situation at that stage can be seen in the Village Directories of 1950 and 1951. Initial suggestions early the following year included “Crown Place” for Smithy Lane, Coronation Road for Middle Lane, Green Lane to replace Little End. The latter two proved acceptable, but the residents of Smithy Lane lobbied successfully to retain their default name, even though there was no longer a functioning smithy in that road. The new names were approved in May 1953.
The old cottage numbers were to remain in use for several more years, and it was only in November 1958 that it was decided to number each street sequentially. The Village Directories of 1959 and 1960 reflect these changes.
The image is a view of School Street, looking down towards the green. The Old School Railings can just be seen on the left, then the four cottages 154-157 which were replaced with houses numbered 5 and 7. On the right is the old cottage 190, which was replaced in the early 1960s with Alf and Win Day’s bungalow at Number 4. The small building beyond 190 and the water pump is the Village Bakehouse, and beyond that are cottages 188 and 189 which were replaced by the row of three bungalows in the 1960s, number 6,8 and 10. The three-storey Fir Tree Farm house on the green still stands today.
A view of the Village Green with the White Lion and the four cottages that straddled Green Lane and Church Road – numbered 174-177
A view of cottages in Kings Newnham on the bend next to Manor Farm looking towards the Laurels. The exact numbering of these cottages will be confirmed, but the nearest cottage is thought to be 196, and those furthest, opposite the Laurels, are 199 to 201, with 197 and 198 at right angles between them .