Earl Street (inc. Palace Yard)

This is an interesting shot of High Street - taken from Little Park Street before the Council House was built (so I reckon about 1912'ish). I love that lamp-post! You can still see those shop fronts in Rob's photo here (taken from High Street) - about to disappear!

I think you mean Earl Street?

Ah yes Dutchman - I'm forgetting where one ends and the other starts!

By sheer coincidence - I think these are those very same shop fronts I posted above!!

Helen - I'm sure you have mentioned this before but any idea why that gap besides those shop fronts on Earl St before the Council House went up? I'm looking at a 1900 or so map and there's still nothing along that area.

It seemed to take a long time from the demolition of the first buildings until they started the Council House. So much time, that in one painting there was even a lawned area between St Mary's Hall and Earl Street in 1908. They were all there in 1850. By 1889 numbers 14-18 which looked like they were all half timbered 2 storey buildings had gone but the court no2 behind 14 survived and that was mostly half timbered too. J Simpsons owned 5-13. All three storey and mostly brick but of varying ages. At least one of those number 4/5 was still there when they started the clearance for building. You can see the back of it in a photo taken from St Michael's steeple. Court 2 seemed to be demolished at the same time and can be seen still standing in photos showing Earl Street with Maycock's on the left. The last group owned by Maycock's was still there as they were building the Council House. I think I heard somewhere that they didn't want to sell. I'm guessing it took a long time to gain possession of all the plots. The easiest to persuade were those in older 2 storey buildings.

This is what I was looking at - I think that's about 1900, and not a lot there at that time!

An interesting view from Earl Street before the Council House was built, from Levi Fox's Coventry's Heritage

In the map above Anne's picture, is that Old Palace Yard opposite the Police Station and near the letters 'RE' in the word Street?

Almost certainly, yes!

Thanks Rob - I thought it must be!

Helen - I've found this one in one of my books. Need to establish the date but obviously pre-Council House and those shops are still there so pre 1910ish?

It must be about then, although there's a window of time where the buildings still standing on the left were isolated after the ones in between were demolished, and the final demolition. The distant one on the left was the same one you can just see in the Phipson 1908 picture that Anne posted. Even by that point it had lost the street frontage. So later than 1897 but before 1912.

I wonder if it is the parade of the Barnum and Bailey greatest show on earth, that came to Coventry in October 1898. The show was to be on the Agricultural Show Ground on the Birmingham Road (I have yet to find out where that was, it may be the same place that Buffalo Bill had his show which was where the Alvis site was). The parade was to go through the town including Earl Street. The parade featured a team of 40 horses. Sorry forget that, just read another article that says the parade was cancelled because it rained !! Nothing changes.

Don't know if anyone has noticed but the space below the listed Architect's offices and the courtyard beyond have been blocked off