St Mary's Guildhall

Yes, it’s the recent work I am interested in, and how that spiral staircase looks! The cafe/restaurant looks good.

Working with old and new images of the same streets, you notice the changes. I try to work out how the original differed, which is blooming obvious when a row of timber buildings were knocked down to build a factory. At first it never occurred to me to look at the buildings that are still there for subtle differences. St Mary's Guildhall being a good example. Putting aside the new restoration works, there are some things that will never be restored to the 'original' and the windows are some of the most striking. I put 'original' in quotes because even the earliest visual records of the windows were a few hundred years after they were installed. What changes had happened before that is unknown. The earliest depiction I've seen is from Dugdale's Antiquities of Warwickshire but it's not an exhaustive list. Looking at the windows now, it's easy to see who was in the original windows, even if the depictions have changed due to repair... or is it? Probably the biggest change is the layout of the figures. The earliest image of the layout was not with a figure at the top and their coat of arms and label in the lower window. In 1819 there were two figures at the top and two below. Their shields were tucked in under their feet. In the larger four windows, the panels up the side were clear. This means that while 'originally' there were 12 figures on each side of the hall, now there are only 10. Four guys got the axe! Well actually it's five because there is very little evidence that Isabella, Queen of Edward II was in the original line up. Sorry. The windows weren't random, they were meaningful for the time they were created and while the main window might be full of historical figures, the side windows were quite specific to a short period of time and I think it was mostly the reign of Henry IV. Which is where I come to two mystery missing people. Dugdate claims the one on the left is Savile and the one on the right is Whittington impaled by Fitz Warin (ie a marriage with a woman influential enough for her arms to be added to his). I'm yet to work out who the Savile was... or even if it was a Savile. The true Savile coat of arms has a black band with 3 owls in white, like this (annotated) version does but the band isn't crimped. It might mean nothing but I've yet to find a suitable person to fit the bill. The other shield indicates that it was someone called Whittington married to a woman from the Fitz Warin family. There's a person who fitz.. I mean fits the bill and it's Richard Whittington, Mayor of London. Or Dick Whittington to you. His wife was Anne Fitz Warin. Why would Whittington be there in St Mary's Guildhall? Sure, he and his wife were members of the Trinity Guild but a window? Unlikely, until you find out how important he was in trade with Europe and with the kings Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V. He spans the years the hall windows were glazed. He supplied goods and lent money to kings. He was the Mayor of the Calais Staple through which Coventry wool would have been traded. Maybe he wasn't just influential, maybe he was vital? Richard Whittington The more you look at the shields, the more you find connections to Henry IV, including Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Arundel with whom he went into exile after that incident on Gosford Green. Half of the dukes and earls are related to each other either directly or by marriage. One of the most confusing relationships is with the four Beauchamp windows. 2 Couples, father William and son Richard perhaps? William and Joanna did have a son Richard who married Isabella De Spencer but he died and she married William's nephew, a different Richard Beauchamp. I suppose it saved getting the monogramed stuff changed. It's that Richard who features in the window. It may be that the windows are closely connected to the period round 1404 when Coventry hosted Parliament.

While I was perusing the window images I thought that one character looked very familiar. William Beauchamp of Bergavenny. The image below is from an old book on ancient costumes and is very similar to Dugdales' sketch (on the right) of the same man taken from the guildhall windows. Several others are taken from the hall, including at least two from the tapestry.

Thats very interesting Helen. The more I see of costumes as above the more I wonder what their textile industry was like through different ages of time. Such lavish attire would take weeks to make, even during our so called modern era. How would you fancy yourself in such as one above ? A far cry from the 'mini'.

Hot, and not in a good way. The cloth was probably wool and/or silk and the white with little Christmas trees was ermine. Purple was very expensive and was restricted in who was allowed to wear it. It was made from the mucus of a rare snail. Purple. Though there was no central heating in those days, so maybe I'd have appreciated the layers? Today I'm wearing the exudations of a caterpillar, covered in snail slime and trimmed with dead stoat doesn't sound so fancy.

From the Historic England book. I think this engraving is supposed to depict the time of the Black Prince who liked to stay there.

Great pictures Anne. It's possible to get a feel for when this image was made by the tracery window on the right. In 1819 the windows along that upper wall were timber and stretched along most of its length.

St Marys Guildhall. I have just acquired a book in mint condition. Front Cover St Mary's Hall, Coventry A Guide to the Building its History and Contents By Joan C Lancaster CBE FSA Drawings by Robert Overy Published 1981 First Published in 1948 by the City of Coventry My Daughter got married in the Hall twenty six years ago. She was attending the wedding of her Husband's brother's son in Cambridge, her Mother-in-law's Sister was also attending the wedding and had been at my Daughter's wedding, she had found the book in a shop in London. The book contains many hand drawn illustrations and three plans of the three floors. I would be interested to know if anyone has seen the book before. I'm a bit rusty sending photos to the site but will try to send them. Alan H

Hi Alan. I've got a version of it. Buff coloured front. I bought a copy at a second hand bookshop in Gosford Street as a thankyou to the owner for letting the public traipse through his shop to look at ancient remains. I didn't really want it but it turned out to be a great book about the hall. I believe that the older versions of the book had photos instead of drawings.