Stoke

Rob, the new feature on Stoke is great! I have just looked at every page. My mum was in the early intake for the original Stoke Park School in Bray's Lane, and I found it most interesting to read. Also the famous action of the King at the duel on Gosford Green brings it all to life. Has there ever been, or could there be, a re-enactment of the scene? It would be a proud moment for Coventry.

Hello, If you want to know about Stoke, in Coventry, our forum originator Rob, has compiled an account as a stand alone companion to our forum. It's fascinating reading. If you want to know about Mobray, or Bolingbrook, that's the place to look. A treasure chest of info. Thank you Rob! The work that's gone into this venture, the ease of use with the now & then picture technology the maps & events newsreel is the most fascinating read I've enjoyed in ages. A Good Read Make sure you get your hot chocolate first before reading, otherwise you might be banished overseas with a lifetime confiscation of everything you thought that you owned.

Hello Can anyone tell me please when Clements Street and Villliers St in Upper Stoke were built? This must be before 1911. They appear to be terrace housing from one of Rob's photos of No 8 Clements St. Were they built with bathrooms or was the toilet outside? Thank you.

There are documents relating to the building of Clements Street and Villiers Street at the Herbert archive here. Some time from 1906 seems to be the situation but you might need to read some of the references to determine when the buildings actually went up. There were more than one developer/builder involved as can be seen from the records and the different building styles. Even the footprint varies. Some have a rear extension, some have a small separate structure at the end of the very short yard at the back. I can't tell what the plumbing situation was from that.

I've often found the newspapers a super source for dating streets built within the last couple of centuries. The snippet below, from the Coventry Times of 6th December 1905, shows the planning for eight houses for Clements Street (about half way down the article). This was the earliest date that this street name appears in any newspaper, and aligns nicely with Helen's dating of the following year for the main building of the street. By coincidence, only yesterday Neil and I were looking at the next map along to the east of the one posted above. I was astonished to see that it was dated 1925, because it was clearly not of that date! The street, and in fact the whole "Poets' Corner" estate, where I live was built from 1931 onwards (our deeds show our house was built in 1932) - but yet the whole lot were all clearly marked as complete on the map. In 1925 Wyken House still had at least four more years standing before its grounds were auctioned off prior to demolition, and so the map should have shown acres of empty fields! From now on I will be very cautious about using maps for dating, unless we know otherwise.

Wow, thank you Helen and Rob. Treasure trove!! That means that both my paternal and maternal grandparents moved into 4 Clements Street and 96 Villiers Street when those houses were new, nice. Were any of those houses in Villiers Street built for the Humber migration in 1908 I wonder. Probably not, just a fortunate find not far from work. The two houses concerned, 4 Clements Street and 96 Villiers Street had back gardens that one could chat to each other and the families became very close. So these two houses must be on the same side of Clements St. Not sure which, does any one know please? Modern maps I have seen with house numbers on show the streets in a very different light, very industrialised or commercialised and numbering must have changed in the century since. That wonderful map Helen I see is copyright, where can I write to to get permission to copy it please? I want if for family history research and a little bit of it for a book I am writing for the family, My father's ancestor's go back to the mists of time in Coventry. Again, Wow!! and Thanks.

You're welcome 2elephants and thanks in return for the appreciation. You'd be surprised how few do remember that we're not Google or AI. I don't think that the houses were built specifically for any one business but because businesses were expanding and the population was exploding. At the same time the inner city was being stripped of very old, very decrepit properties in a programme of social improvement. The city authorities were very much driving it. There is documentation of a lot of what was going on at the time. Number 4 Clements Street was right on the south east corner of the two streets (survived the war but now seems to have been rebuilt) and 96 Villiers Street was just to the east (and was destroyed). 96 would have looked like a mirror image of 98, but 4 probably more closely resembled number 6 on the north corner, with a doorway onto Clements and was wider and longer than 96. Number 6 has had a shop at some point, which may throw some other changes into the situation. The styling would have matched the neighbours and each would have had slate roofs. The map belongs to the Herbert Art Gallery history archive but the scan belongs to Coventry Digital. The Herbert will have a policy for using its resources. The more informal the use, the lighter the restrictions.

Thank you again Helen. Sorry to hear No 96 was destroyed in the war, that would have upset the family. The two houses were different in size, No 96 was a two bedroomed house and No 4 a three. I worked that out from the 1911 census! Reflected the size of the families.Their gardens were adjacent my mother told me, great for chatting. The building at the end of some gardens was likely a shed. It is not an outside toilet or they would all have them and the size of the outbuilding is too large for that. I see your map must be from the twenties. Armstrong Siddeley is shown and that existed from 1919 through the twenties. My mother was secretary to John Siddeley. My next step I can see is to follow your advice and get in touch with the archives.

Another question please. Was Goring Road destroyed in the Blitz or was it subject to slum clearance? Looking at photos of the street and other details online the current houses appear to have been built from the 1950's to the 1970's. That could signify either occurrence. I am interested in No 44 before the war. My thanks.

As odd as they seem, I think that they were there before the war, because their weird footprint didn't change from that on the 1937 map. However only the group on the south west end had been built by 1926ish, so they were built later. On the 1926 map there were gaps in several of the roads, including Villiers Street and Hastings Road hadn't been started at all (subject to map accuracy).

Thank you, Helen. As you say a weird footprint, smaller than Clement and Villiers Street. I have just found a real estate firm online that says it was built between 1900 and 1929, so I seem to have answered my question! That works time wise.

Were ordinary houses used as alms houses? Perhaps as a reward for a lot of hard work over many years for a church?

Almshouses were dotted about the city, built by various groups. The city had charities specifically set up to build and maintain them. Not sure if the charities still exist but I suspect they do as some of the almshouses still house the elderly, including Ford's Hospital.

I used to visit family friends at 16 Goring Road in the late 40s and 50s. It wasn't a new build.😄

While there wasn't many years between number 16 and number 44, the building style is very different. I had trouble believing that the two stretches weren't decades apart, when I saw their map footprint.