High Street

Telephone Directories don't help Lloyds and Midland are listed only as "High Street" in both the 1930 and 1939 directories - we need a man with some directories

Thanks to Heathite, the 1896 directory puts the Midland at 1, 2, 3 Little Park Street. I'll try to move backward and see who owned it before them. Ok, I've now looked at the 1886 directory, also courtesy of Heathite, and the corner of LPS is the Union Bank. Lloyds, Barnetts and Bosanquets Bank Ltd are further up the High Street. The 1874 directory is complicated but doesn't show Lloyds on the corner but 'Bank Chambers' block in a number of properties. No evidence that Lloyds were ever at the corner BUT if they absorbed the Coventry Union Bank, it's possible they were briefly housed on the corner of Little Park Street.

To demonstrate the changes to that area - on the left the 1874 directory, top right the 1897 fire insurance map and the 1850 Board of Health Map below. Note that Little Park Street was widened but as far as I can tell it was the east side that lost buildings.

It appears that the Midland Bank absorbed the Coventry Union Bank in 1889. The present building (i.e. Earl of Mercia) was constructed in the mid1890s, replacing the old headquarters of the Coventry Union Banking Company on the same site. So where is the Lloyds connection? Source: The Coventry Union Banking Company 1836-1889

Coventry Herald 12th October 1894:

So it appears it never was a Lloyd's Bank. The Coventry Pubs website must have assumed that Lloyds No 1 Bar was named after Lloyds Bank. In reality there are many Lloyds No 1 bars in the Wetherspoon Group; apparently it is the Group's "upmarket" segment.

Reading belushi's PDF about the Coventry Union Bank and filling in info from maps - there was a Little and Woodcock Bank at the west junction of the High Street and Greyfriars Lane which later became the Coventry Arms PH listed as 1 Smithford Street. Additional - in the 1828 directory the building was listed as the High Street. On the Fire Insurance map the numbers on the High Street only go up to 33 but they stop at the east corner of Greyfriars Lane. It's possible that the buildings assigned to the High Street continued into Broadgate and over what was to become Hertford Street and up to number 38 but that argues with the address of the Coventry Arms. Alternatively they may have got the wrong number. I think that is increasingly unlikely that Lloyds Bank were ever on the Little Park Street corner and it was always part of the Midland Bank pre or post history.

They almost certainly did! I've now updated those pages with the super information supplied by everyone on here, thank you all! https://pubhistory.historiccoventry.co.uk/main/pub.php?pg=lloyds

Next question - why was it called Cassidy's?

I can answer part of your question. Lloyds Bank was previously at 22 High Street. Halifax Building Society moved in once Lloyds had moved out. Halifax celebrated 50 years at High Street in 1986, so it didn't move into the building until 1936.

Hi Fourmilier, welcome to the forum And thanks for the extra information about the Halifax.

So if the current Lloyds building was built in 1932, then the old one must have been empty for four years before Halifax moved in, unless Lloyds operated from both buildings during that time.

Lloyds moved out in November 1932 and Halifax moved in during April 1936. Coventry Herald 18th November 1932:

Thanks Manor House. Another example of detailed newspaper reporting, the like of which is rare today in provincial newspapers.

High Street from library