Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In 2019 its population was estimated at 76,419, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby which has a population of 108,935.
Rugby is situated on the eastern edge of Warwickshire, near to the borders with Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. It is 83 miles north of London, 30 miles east-southeast of Birmingham, 11 miles east of Coventry, and 19 miles south-southwest of Leicester.
Rugby was a small rural market town until the mid-19th century, when the siting of a major railway junction at the town spurred the development of manufacturing and engineering industry, and the rapid growth of population.
Rugby School, an independent school situated in the town, is the birthplace of Rugby football which, according to legend, was invented in 1823 by a Rugby schoolboy William Webb Ellis. The school was founded in 1567 and rose to national prominence as a public school in the 18th century.