Postcards of the past - Warwick

Warwick - the Town

Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, is situated on the
banks of the River Avon about 8 miles north of
Stratford-upon-Avon. It was founded in 914 AD and was built on a
small hill which was fortified and controlled the river crossing.
The town is of course dominated by Warwick Castle which is a
huge tourist attraction and which receives thousands of visitors -
try parking there in the summer !! But the castle is not the only
attraction for Warwick has many beautiful and historic buildings.

For more information about Warwick and its attractions, follow this link - warwick-uk.co.uk.

A lovely old view across the fields to Warwick, from the early 1900s.

Mill Street in the 1920s.

St Mary's Church - a 1920s postcard.

A 1905 postcard of East Gate.

This is a monument to Piers Gaveston who,
from the inscription, was not the most popular
Earl of Cornwall - so why did they erect a
monument ? Click on the image to read the
inscription in full.

An early 20th Century postcard of Castle Hill.

Another, earlier view of St Mary's.

A postcard of Mill Street from 1956.

Mill Street - a postcard from around 1910.

This postcard of West Gate was posted on New Year's Eve 1905. The pub sign
for the "Bear and Baculus" is just visible on the right.

An early 20th Century postcard of the Leycester Hospital Quadrangle.

A postcard of West Gate and the Leycester Hospital in Raphael Tuck's "Oilette" series.
From the back of the card - "This hospital was originally the hall belonging to two united guilds established in Richard II's reign. After the dissolution of the
monasteries the building passed to the town authorities, and under Elizabeth it was deeded by the Corporation to Robert, Earl of Leicester, who made it an
asylum for twelve indigent men."

An unused postcard of East gate and the "Porridge Pot", probably from around
1912.

This one was posted in 1904.

A nice view of the Leycester Hospital - an unused card so we can't date it.

Difficult to date this unused postcard of Oken's
Passage.

A view up the hill to West Gate in a postcard
which was mailed in 1908.

An undated view - probably around 1910 - of East Gate.

Three more of the Leycester Hospital from around the same period as those immediately above.

Mill Street, looking west - an unused and undated postcard.

West Gate in the snow.

Warwick School in 1920.

Two views of Eastgate, from the NE and SW. These postcards are unused and appear to date from the early 1920s.

A nice old postcard - unused and undated.

The Castle from St Nicholas Park - an undated postcard.

Another in Raphael Tuck's Oilette series, showing "Shakespeare's Country - Hayfield, Warwick". From the reverse : "Warwick, the ancient seat of the Nevilles, is
a charmingly situated town, the surrounding country being typical of the rural and pastoral scenery for which the county is famous. Among its most interesting
buildings are the old Norman Castle, Lord Leicester's Hospital and St Mary's Church." There is also a quotation from King Henry VI -
"The sun shines hot, and, if we use delay,
Cold biting winter mars out hoped for hay."

Two excellent quality postcards of the Leycester Hospital, both unused but, from the fashions in the card on the left, about 1920