Derby Lane, Pepper Lane and the Cathedral Quarter

Here is the photograph from 2025 (looking south along Cuckoo Lane). I'm trying to identify what the building would have been to the right where the beer garden is now (specifically in the 1830s). Please see my previous question in this topic where there is a picture with that space filled with a building.

Hi, and good to see you back! Helen added a great description below a super picture on Post 37 in the Coventry Stuff for Sale or Auction (inc. eBay etc.) topic, showing the buildings in that location before 1830. Also, in Post 89 in the Coventry Castle topic, Helen shows us an even closer-up view, the still extant County Court being on the left. Around 1830 they were pulled down and the Gaol was built, which can be seen below looking across from St. Michael's - the County Court (now the Blush and Barrel) being out of sight to the left.... By 1872 the part of the Jail in view above had been removed (leaving some jail space still in use behind the court-house), and the building of Gulson's Free Library was started, completed in 1873, and seen in the photo you've linked in your previous post.

Hi again Another view from Rob's excellent resource, a painting from the Aylesford Collection held at Birmingham library. There was another part of the prison seen on the right here However the picture you really want is in a book A History of Coventry by David McGrory, which has a black and white photo of a painting looking right down over the prison. It shows all of the area to the west of St Michael's in the right time for your research (1838). Ebay example The difficult part will be getting a copy in Australia for a reasonable price. I'd love to know where the original painting is as I'd grovel for a high resolution colour copy.

Thanks so much Rob and Helen! I can always count on you. So it looks like Mr Pryst's 'messuage' is the most likely contender as at 1830 but may have been demolished soon thereafter to make way for the gaol extension. I went ahead and ordered David McGrory's book from eBay - thanks for the tip Helen! Postage to Australia was £2.95 would you believe! You might also be interested in this extract from the Historical Note included in my novel regarding timing of completion of the new gaol extension. Onlly two months to launch date!!! Coventry Gaol The family history suggests that Tom would have been in the new Coventry gaol. However, in August 1833 the Coventry Herald and Observer reported on a parliamentary committee inquiry into municipal councils. The article made it clear that the new gaol (which was more of an expansion than a whole new building) had not yet been fully finished as late as February 1833 and that prisoners were still housed partly in the old gaol building. Note also that parliament had progressively passed new legislation over the previous decade to reduce the number of offences attracting the death penalty. It would therefore be unlikely that new cells for the condemned would have been a priority. It is therefore possible, perhaps likely given the nature of the offence (rioting was considered extremely serious, requiring the death penalty in every case), that Burbury and Sparkes were housed in the old gaol. The old gaol was notoriously filthy and inhumane and the 'day room' upstairs always overcrowded. And so, I have poor Tom and Ben in the dungeons. These are described exactly in accordance with a nationwide report on gaol conditions published in 1812. The report was scathing, describing the Coventry dungeons as 'a disgrace to the city'. I have detailed Tom's cell, its dimensions, the straw on the floor, the lack of light etc. exactly as per this report. The trapdoor in the court room floor still remains although it is bolted shut. The staff of the night club that now occupies the old courthouse assured me when I visited that the steps descending to the dungeons (now a wine cellar) lie beneath it.

I'm amazed at the postage! Well done. It's one of the best Coventry books. I remembered that there was a painting of the demolition, so I hunted it down and it's dated 1826 here. The prison proper was divided into 3 wings in a fan and each wing was divided in two with different types of prisoners in each (eg awaiting trial, debtors, etc). It's not unlikely that the most grievous prisoners would be the last to be moved to the newer cells. It's difficult to date images and when I first collected them I didn't really care, as I was just looking for the oldest ones.

Rob asked very nicely for permission to post the picture and great guy that he is, David McGrory replied "of course you can". Since things have a tendency to go walkies without permission or attribution, I've added a watermark that I hope doesn't detract too much. If you want an uninterrupted view, you need to buy the book

The book arrived, Helen, with that picture in all its glory! I'm reading the book now but I noticed Mr McGrory has completion of the new gaol in 1831.There were works continuing as late as Feb 1833 but perhaps most of it had been done by then. It mentions a meeting in 1829 to determine compensation payable to the Trust that owned a house adjoining County Hall. The house was occupied by a Mrs Baker and was to be demolished to make way for the gaol extensions. I imagine that's the same 'messuage' occupied by Mr Pryst some years earlier.