Willoughby is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) south of Rugby, Warwickshire, England.

[2] Henry I (reigned 1100–35) granted the Grandmesnil estates at Willoughby and Shrewley to a man called Wigan in return for service.

[2] By 1242 Ivo had died without an heir so his uncle Thurstan enfeoffed his 10 virgates at Willoughby to the Hospital of St John the Baptist, Oxford.

[2] The Augustinian Canons Ashby Priory in Northamptonshire also had an interest in the manor of Willoughby so the master of the hospital had to give the prior 50 marks of silver.

[2] In 1457 William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester founded Magdalen College, Oxford on the site of the Hospital of St John the Baptist.

[7] In 1248 the Hospital of St John the Baptist was granted the right to hold a weekly market at Willoughby every Tuesday and a two-day annual fair at Whitsun.

[citation needed] This was a court associated with the market whose business included licensing hawkers and punishing acts of misdemeanour or nuisance.

[citation needed] In October 1642 Parliamentarian troops on the way to the battle of Edge Hill tried to pull down an ancient cross in Willoughby but were dissuaded by the Vicar.

Construction of the Oxford Canal began north of Coventry in 1769 and was dug through Willoughby parish, reaching Napton-on-the-Hill by 1774.

The new main line crossed the River Leam on a 13-arch viaduct almost 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the village.

[citation needed] The Great Central Railway opened the line in March 1899 with a station at the village named "Willoughby for Daventry".