Hertford Street

A really good image, it helps me get my bearings. Is that someone up the chimney?

Noted the police box on left of photo. Great image.

Prof I thought that it was a policeman at first, but then think it is the market gateman outside his box?

So where is the gate, Kaga? Presumably further inside Bull Yard?

Prof. The city wall and gates are not my expertise, but the old Greyfriars Gate, which stood at the bottom of Warwick Lane, before Hertford Street and Union Street were made on the line of the fortified wall which encircled the city, was an object of considerable proportions. Strong and massive were its walls with its angle towers. There is a measured plan of it in The Mander Collection, and a sketch "Pennants tour from from Chester to London (1782)".

Oooh, that's very interesting. Do you have a link or know where I could get hold of a copy of the plan? Are there many pictures of Coventry in Pennants tour or is it just a picture of Greyfriars Gate?

Helen, Sorry, never took it any farther so have no idea, just got the information from Historical Collection from the British Library book.

That's OK. It's interesting to know that a plan may exist, although it's an old book and the plans may have been destroyed.

Helen, the Pennants tour book is available as an ebook in Google books. I can't see any sketches though.

No, Kaga, I meant the gate to the market not the Greyfriars Gate! Did not know the market had a gate-keeper.

Prof. Neil's photo on post #196 you thought was a policeman, you could be right, but I thought the box was too big for a police box, and if the photo is of the thirties were there police boxes? Also I thought that Bull Yard led into the Barracks at that time. Market gateman/watchman/policeman - a choice of words, but I do believe in those days the Watch Committee employed people to patrol the the area. As far as I remember there were no gates to the market itself, as the stalls of the arcade were all indoors. So was the fish market. During the thirties most large premises had watchmen, but I was a kid so can't remember exactly what was what - I certainly know that in the early fifties the police box was outside St John's on the corner. The market arcade was a walk through, brick built with a big glass domed roof. It got littered with debris, and slightly twisted but still stood, but I believe the fish market was destroyed.