Whitefriars Monastery and Workhouse

As usual, while looking for one thing on the British Newspaper archive some thing else pops up. May 1956.

Hello, I'm new to this page. My parents were Salvation Army officers and ran the then hostel from 1967 until the museum took over in 1970. I recently took a long detour to look at the site and have since been trying to marry family photos taken outside in the gardens. It's difficult. I wonder if anyone has photos taken durin the 1960s or any which show how the later workhouse buildings link up the ancient monastery sandstone ones. An aerial one like one member has already prosted would be ideal. Many, many thanks. I was only three when we moved from there but can remember snatches, mainly a spiral staircase which was too scary to venture and a large room we used as a playroom upstairs. My cousins tell me we had to go down some steps to get to the front door and our kitchen was dark. Thanks again Dawn

Hi Dawn If you look to the left you'll see a button in blue called Library pictures. Type in whitefriars and a load of thumbnail pictures will pop up. Click on each to see them bigger. There's even a plan. Repeat for button marked Rob's pics - our wonderful host's collection. For more of the aerial shots browse Britain From Above Link to BFA It's worth getting a login because it lets you zoom in. It doesn't cost anything and you don't have to use your real name. Old Maps - zoom out twice to see Whitefriars A map at the same site showing the Salvation Army Buildings If you have any trouble working out what's where, if you post the picture, we'll probably be able to work it out. Hope that helps.

It's weird looking at pictures of excavations of stuff there are photographs of. There is a lot of good documentation on Whitefriars.

Yes I actually visited the site, but you were not allowed near, no one wanted to answer questions, unless you could nail one of the diggers when he left the site. Different ball-game altogether in those days, so reading that, and although brilliant, it's not quite the same today as 1956.

Thank you very much for that helpful advice. I shall get on to it right away!!!!!

When I was at Blue Coat School, we had various tours of Whitefriars and were told stories about the quality of the wool of the herds looked after by the friars there. I remember it as a gallery, too, but feel sorry for the city council - not usually this generous - in that funding has been slashed so badly during not only austerity but the previous Labour government, too, that vitally important buildings in our city's past are left to rot. But then, that was the cry of my grandmother when even before World War Two historic buildings were being bulldozed in the name of progress. And in the redevelopment post-war. I wrote a blog post recently that the city of my childhood, youth and formative years was gone. And not replaced by anything better than was there IMHO. At least developers can't demolish what's left of Whitefriars, although when I worked at the CET I understood some allowances were made on the site for Cov Uni expansion. Mark

Here's some photos I took in 2008 - views of Whitefriars not commonly seen

Great colours and angles of the building MR . For those who don't know, the cylindrical feature in the first two pictures is the well. That area was enclosed on all sides and was the kitchen yard.

Whitefriars - Victorian Workhouse.

Hi there, I'm currently researching my family past and I have traced my great grandparents to be living at Whitefriars from about 1937-1939. I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about this area at this time or give advice as to how I could find out. I'm also very interested in the Irish in Coventry as I believe both great grandparents were Irish. Catherine x

Hello and welcome to the forum, While I don't want to suggest your ancestors were residents of the workhouse, this page does give a brief history of the area that would have been termed as Whitefriars at that time: www.workhouses.org.uk/Coventry

Hi all, Yes, thank you for your welcome greetings. I keep falling in love with all of these lovely ladies. Tell them I'm old, short & very ugly with lots of wrinkles. Worst of all, I'm so boring! So boring I fall asleep reading mine! Love to you both.

Strangely my great-grandparents lived right next door to the workhouse in a few houses at right angles to Gulson Rd called Herbert's Row. They later moved in the late 30's to Stoke. Though born in Coventry great-grandmother's father was Irish from Dublin. His first wife died of a cholera outbreak in Coventry in 1840's. Your ancestors may have worshipped at St. Osburg's, Hill Street unless a priest came to Whitefriars' which is possible. Look for marriages and baptisms in St Osburg's registers. They are kept at St Chad's in central Birmingham where they can be viewed but it could be they are by now available on Ancestry.com. The Herbert or Warwick County Archives may hold copies. Best of success in your research into the Irish community in Coventry.