Maps of Coventry

I don't know whether it might be of any help but there are online insurance maps showing many Coventry buildings

They're great maps, the only one with house numbers on them that I know of. Sadly they don't cover the whole of Coventry.

For those who are not aware; the following link makes a fascinating read - The origins of Coventry from the Anglo-Saxon period to the eighteenth century: Historic Towns Atlas

Maps have always fascinated me and I was looking at some online maps of Longford & Foleshill and noticed how street names had changed over the years. On the 1887 OS map, Burbage's Lane was Tomlins Lane, School Lane (at Exhall, opposite Bayton Road) was Exhall Hall Lane At Ash Green, St Giles Road was Dead Lane and Blackberry Lane (directly opposite on the other side of Wheelwright Lane) was Rookery Lane. At the General Wolfe, Station Street West was Carpenter's Lane & Station Street east didn't exist. Further towards the city centre, Broad Street was Brick Kiln Lane On the 1919 map At Longford, Sydnall Road was Station Road and Grindle Road was Station Road West. Tomlins Lane had now been renamed Burbages Lane On 1923 map Lady Lane was Canal Road. On 1936 map Rookery Lane was now Blackberry Lane but St Giles Road was still Dead Lane. Canal Road was now Lady Lane. On 1944 map Tenerife Road (between Mason Road & St Lawrence's Road) was Madeira Road. Old Church Road was Chapel Lane.

I discovered this mapping tool the other day. It allows you to view historic maps alongside modern day maps, and if you move the cursor on one map it shows you the same spot on the old map. Really useful for seeing how the city has changed. You can also select different types of maps You can move the map around, zoom in and out etc. I discovered that top end of Middleborough Road used to be called Radford Street before it was joined with the lower part of Middleborough Road. Also useful to see what was on the site on your home etc.

Hi all & thank you MN757, Brill!

Thank you MN757. I shall certainly have a play around with that. I can see Poole Road where I grew up and what I think were the allotments that were there before the houses. When we played hopscotch we used to use clay pipes as chalk which would have been broken and thrown away by the gardeners.

I've mentioned that tool before on here - really clever and very useful. I use it a lot! Just a shame there are not more old maps to use in comparison.

Hi This a great tool made even better when you transfer it onto your larger television screen. Regards.

Some of you might already have seen mention of the 1897 Goad Fire Insurance Plans in this thread, post 35. Some might also have noticed that for a year or three an original set of these has been for sale on eBay..... had anyone noticed them disappear from there? Well, there's a reason for that..... https://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/covmaps/goad_fire_ins_plans.php. For your pleasure and entertainment I have now purchased and photographed them all, and made all 27 maps available for general use on the main Historic Coventry site. They were all, to be honest, rather tatty, and might not look as pretty as the ones on the www.bl.uk website. However, I imagine that "ours" have a real history behind them, as you can see how the original 1897 (in most cases) outline plans have been updated with newer buildings and streets - literally "pasted" into place - not digitally, but with glue and paper! I hope you will all find something of interest in these maps. I have not protected them, so any of you can right-click and save each one in full if it will help with research, etc.

They're an important stepping stone between the original Fire maps and what was there just before the war. The thing I've wondered - which insurance company had the rest of the city?

Just been on the Oldmapsonline site and noticed that they now have the 1897 insurance maps on there. Also a facility to superimpose on to a modern map but have not worked out how that works yet.