Manor House Farm (aka Hall Green Farm)

Hello, this is my first topic. I have recently been adding information onto various Coventry-related Facebook groups enquiring as to whether anyone has any local knowledge or information on the Manor House Farm [also known as Hall Green Farm] which stood on the site of the Manor House Estate, however I was advised to join this group as this this was where all the experts were. The farm was held in my family for a period by my grandmother's grandfather, John Newbold Barnett, son of Joseph Barnett who held the Red Lion PH at Walsgrave-upon-Sowe. He sold the farm and all its stock in the early 1880's and retired to Courthouse Green. I inherited the for sale poster which was in pieces but I managed to scan it and attach it back together with Photoshop. I am related to John via his daughter Mary Ann Barnett who married John Flavell of the Bell Inn PH. They lived in Old Church Road along with a number of other Flavells and my great aunt Sally Worviell.

Hi Dave, welcome to the forum. Hopefully someone can help you. A lot of people pop in from time to time and information builds. Is the following link the right place? Zoom out to see map. Old Maps You might find something by using the search function. Something that you might be interested in is Rob's wonderful pub section - see button to the left. Based on the very fine Real Ale Rambles site by Fred Luckett, John Ashby. It includes the Red Lion and the Bell.

Lewis62, I knew the farm very well, worked on the one next to it, held by a Mr Taylor, all through the war as a National Hunt racehorse trainer, his son holding the title of youngest jockey in England. Taken over in 1950 by Coventry Council for the Wood End housing estate. The farm had two entrances, farm tracks wide enough for carts, one on Hall Green Road, the other in Aldermans Green Road, just behind the Rose pub - right on the corner. It also had a famous courting couples ride at the side of the river and tall trees called Lady's Lane, that ran from the farm to the brick kiln houses next to the railway coal track, all hidden by tall trees. Aldermans Green track, straight off the road, Hall Green track a small brick bridge, it was surrounded by water so a brilliant place for geese. The Manor House was what you would expect from an old Victorian manor, but Cov Council destroyed it all, as they did the Old Water Mill that stood opposite its boundary line with the Slough - the other boundary line being the Sowe river, being three parts round the manor. The manor stood on the small hill in the middle. In the days of your ancestors it would have been a glorious place to live, not touched by the coal industry except maybe underground.

Kaga, This is fascinating, many thanks. I am depressingly getting used to hearing and seeing pictures of all the wonderful old buildings that this city has lost but I'm so thankful that you can remember it and have passed on an insight from the past. I asked a similar question back in 1991 via the Ernie Newbold column "Here and There" which appeared in one of the local newspapers - probably the Evening Telegraph. I have never seen a photo of building and even the newspaper article saying that it is to be demolished did not show it. It sounded idyllic. Looking back now at the for sale poster it clearly states "Stock Sale" so John Newbold Barnett must just have been a tenant farmer and not actually owned it. I am aware that he previously farmed at Western Lawns Farm near Bulkington and Hollyhurst. He was cut out of his father Joseph Barnett's [of the Red Lion PH] will so there is mystery there to discover. There are a few legal articles in the Herbert regarding disputes [flooded fields, etc] but alas not elusive photo. Modern technology allows you to pinpoint exactly where buildings were and I thank Helen for her link. I would highly recommend that anyone who has not done so has a look at the National Library of Scotland's map archive's "side-by-side" feature which allows you to put a historic OS map along side the modern aerial version. When you move the cursor along one map it mirrors it on the other, even providing the grid reference. I like to think that somewhere there is a photo of somebody with the building in the background - how wonderful it would be be be able to go back and take photos of all the things you want.

I wish I could be more helpful but I've struggled to get stuff from the city centre, never mind the outskirts. That said, I'm surprised on a regular basis because something turns up, often from an unexpected direction - eg the Godiva Procession or a report on slaughter houses. Early photos are few and far between and mostly of the same views. I'm hoping that a shout out for images might be part of next year's City of Culture. Maybe there will be a family history drive? If not, maybe we could start them? There is at least one farm house without a location in the library pictures but it might not even be Coventry. I really don't know much about the wider city and some of the names are a bit vague about where they belong. I've only just noticed that there's a picture of Courthouse Green. The Herbert has a lot of uncatalogued stuff but I've only gone through the inner city, a fraction of what they've got. There might be something connected to the developers of the land? Kaga, thanks for your memories. Can you remember anything more? What were the buildings like? Stone, brick, timber?

Lewis62 Thanks for the mention of the "side by side" maps which many members have used on the forum For those following this thread, here is the Manor House

MR. Thanks that helps as I have trouble with putting maps on here! Lewis62. The house was on a slight hill, it was a brick house as far as I can remember, facing Hall Green Road. It had a large wooden staircase, huge fireplaces, carved wooden shelves. In reverse L shape, the out buildings, stables etc, was also in an L shape, making it a box, with open spaces each corner. On the left corner you drove in, the opposite diagonal corner led out into the back fields - it flooded often out the back. I was going to post again to say it was just a 'farm sale', as we knew it. I would think rented from a huge land owner, as often happened in Victorian times, similar to carpet baggers in USA. A well known guy in AG Rd would go to such a sale, buy everything in the sale except the large livestock, and come away without a thing, having made a few shillings on everything. The white triangle on MR's map above Hall Green Bridge was the pub - Rose something. We have a topic 'Bell Green', have you looked it up?

Kaga - is this the pub?

MR. No, this is the Rose and Crown at this end of Hall Green Road, at the top of the hill. Now the field behind belonged to another farmer, but it may have belonged to the manor back in Victorian times. It was not the Crown, but I forget, 'Manor House' our member described it on here. Look at your photo and the road stretches into the distance, it's on the right at the far end behind those trees, the bridge to the farm is halfway along Hall Green Road.

Kaga - "Rose in June"?

I'm not sure what has happened to this, but it appears to have been trapped in some lift doors. I'm not sure what year I took this photo: I've also got one of the Manor Guildhouse but I'm struggling to get it uploaded.

Lewis62. As soon as I glanced at your sale sheet I knew that the farm acreage had been something like twice the size as I knew it in the 1930 onwards. It was always regarded as grander and older than any other place in the area, and the farmhouse, stables and outbuildings told you so. Now looking at MR's photo of the Rose and Crown and cottage, there was another farm next to that cottage, top of the hill, whether that had once been part of the manor estate, I don't know, or whether the fields, now Pearson Avenue and across to Foleshill Road may have been, If your ancestor moved from Bulkington, he could have moved the whole lot in one go, livestock, implements and house contents, straight down the one lane - think what a day that would have been. At that time Coventry was a county so as the Watch and Magistrates covered Ansty they may have covered Bulkington as well. The bridge of your above photo was built in 1950, and the last time I visited the Manor over the little brick bridge was in the summer of 1944 - I used to pay a visit 2/3 times a week from about 1941, with grain, milk, etc. To people who don't know the area, beyond those railings at the foot of those trees on the above, runs the river Sowe. But looking at MR's photo with that double line of trees, shows just how pleasant the old countryside around Coventry was. At the far end and behind those trees was the 'Rose in June'.

Kaga It is interesting to hear that you believe that the farm was actually much larger 60 years before you had knowledge of it. As you mention, from your memory and from what I have read of the area, it must have been so lovely and a nature haven. It is such a shame that it was so close to Coventry [as it was then] and therefore inevitable that the urban sprawl would spread out and engulf it. I have a distant memory of seeing a grainy 1940's aerial photo of the area so must re-investigate my archive info to see if it is tucked away somewhere. This is the description of the farm from the History of the County of Warwickshire [plus an enlarged OS base plan of the buildings] here: I have uploaded some other info which may be of interest including reference to a fire at the farm [year not mentioned]. The name Grindal is one I have come across in my research and coincidentally a relative commented on face book with regard to my reference to the farm. I have managed to upload the photo of the Manor Guildhouse which was erected in the vacinity.

Jonathan Slingsby listed as a farmer in Hall Green in an 1874 directory.

Heathite, Many thanks for this. My relative John Newbold Barnett is indicated as a farmer at Hall Green as well. He is indicated as being at Manor House Farm on the 1871 census but at Weston Lawns Farm on the 1861 census and in between at Hollyhurst as below: