Archaeology around Coventry

Does anybody know with all the redevelopment going on round the city, are they planning to do anymore archaeology on the site that will be demolished?

Not certain, but I think if you get in touch with the Herbert Art Gallery/Museum they should be able to let you know. Apart from the Charterhouse dig of the mid-80s I also helped on the Bayley Lane dig behind where Browns is now. Excavated the Red Ditch and discovered a wall of Coventry Castle (which had just been a rumour up until then). Also West Orchard (NOT OrchardS as it seems to have been re-named !) where, when they excavated the old car park they found complete streets with cobbles and pavements underneath. The developers had just concreted over the rubble preserving the old street layout. Nothing like volunteering on a dig to give you a sense of belonging, and just incredibly interesting too !

There are cobbled streets all over Coventry buried under a thin layer of tarmac. In some cases they still have tramlines embedded in them!

It's like a ghost city underneath the current one !

This sort of stuff happens when there's any sort of development, and usually if there's any possibility of finding something interesting. You can see the reports on the planning portal, as they have to submit them as part of planning applications - there's an extensive one for the Far Gosford Street area online somewhere. I believe developers have to allow archaeologists a certain amount of time before they can proceed... If we see a lot more city centre development, then I guess we'll see a lot more digs, although apparently some sites have been rebuilt so many times evidence of earlier settlement has been destroyed... Interesting comments about the cobbled roads still surviving. I don't suppose you know where, Dutchman? I know there's still a fair amount of the city wall's ruins left underground, especially around the Cheylesmore Manor house area, and probably elsewhere in the city centre. Didn't the recent dig at Bond Street unearth a fair amount? And the dig on the Herbert Art Gallery site unearthed some Roman artefacts? Some people believe Coventry was a Roman settlement, but apart from the Lunt, I've never read any compelling evidence.

Check any sidestreet in an older area of Coventry. I personally witnessed Hawkins Road in Earlsdon being tarmaced over in the 1950s so the connecting roads (Collingwood Road, Ludlow Road, etc) must have been too. In Doe Bank Lane in Spon End the cobbles can still be seen on either side of the road as the tarmac was never extended to cover the gutters. I suspect that's true for many other side streets as well. When the junction of Hales Street and White Street was last dug up both the cobbles and prewar tramlines were found completely intact underneath.

Hello Greeny, The Herbert has come a long way since I left the city. It's been a valuable resource for me over the last few years. I remember the Bayley Lane dig as there were some toilets they demolished to make way for Browns and I remember hearing that they found some interesting stuff. I'm guessing that the developers were in a slight rush to finish the roads, that's why they didn't bother digging them up? It would be fantastic to come back for a weekend and dig on the city of Coventry, it would be wonderful. It would be very interesting for me as I've always been interested with digging and archaeology. Retracing you ancestors in a way! Thanks for the info Greeny

You will have to make a photo album of all the "ghost streets" from the hidden past!! It would be interesting to see what is still knocking around these day!

Just reviving this on the topic of old Cobblestones - anyone visiting Providence Street in Earlsdon will currently see - thanks to the surface breakup - several areas of exposed old Cobbles. Look around the area of the RSPCA shop.

Don't know if this has been mentioned before but the Warwickshire Industrial Archaeology Society have an index (pdf format) to their newsletters and their journal Retort here. I should have added that the newsletters and journals themselves are here.

Mods note : This thread was developing into an item about Doe Bank Lane (and its surrounding area), and therefore the relative posts have been copied or moved into a separate thread entitled "Doe Bank Lane", in order that this thread can stay on subject, ie Archaeology

I would absolutely love to see this!

Outside the Old Fire Station in 2002.

The cobbles and tramlines are still there I believe, reburied under new tarmac? It's amazing what lies under Coventry's hastily-laid road surfaces. There's a concrete box of some description under Albany Road which I assume had something to do with the neighbouring technical college. It was exposed during recent resurfacing work.