City Wall and Gates (inc. Cook Street)

Neil's photo is fairly early. Somewhere from the mid to late 1800s. The buildings on the left side are sat on the remains of the wall and were demolished, gone and replaced by 1888. Those didn't look tall enough to open onto the gatehouse. The buildings on the right hand side of the photo - outside the wall but also sat on the remains, were 2 relatively modern, brick, 3 storey terrace houses with what looks like a top shop and were tall enough to open into the gatehouse door way. All you can see of it here is the window and the roof. The other buildings on the right weren't connected to the gatehouse. I've come across the term Tower House recently but can't remember where. I am in the process of sorting my photos, if I find the reference I'll let you know. 37 Cook Street was the south side of the street, next door to the corner of St Agnes Lane. The tallest of its neighbours. It was also a three storey top shop style building.

Excellent! Do you know where these have come from? Private photos or a book?

The other side of that court photo is the bottom left photo on this page from Historic England.

Thought you would like those Helen. They were shared on a couple of the FB old Cov pages. I may have identifed the book they were from - just waiting for the postman to arrive to confirm!

So Helen is that Historic England one looking east or west? Towards St Agnes Lane or Silver Street? Or I have I got the wrong view/angle?

Your photo is looking south Neil and on the right at the end is a passageway. The Historic England photo is looking a bit south of true west, along the north side of the street. The building beyond the lamp post is the Angel pub, the last building before College Square (previously Pig Market). The brick wall, just behind the pile of wooden beams is the west wall of the passageway in your photo.

Brill Helen! Postman just arrived though - wrong book. I'll will try to get back in touch with the FB poster and work out where they are from.

"wrong book" " I'll will try to get back in touch with the FB poster"

Anyone know the origins of the name Cook Street?

Named after Captain Cook perhaps, like Trafalgar Street/House?? Was there a Nelson Street in Coventry, there's certainly Shackleton Road.

Street names COOK STREET* (vicus coci, late 13th century; (fn. 75) le Cokkestrete, temp. Edw. II). (fn. 76) The lower end of it was called Cook Street in 1410-11 (fn. 77) but had become Silver Street* by 1748-9. (fn. 78) At the NW. angle lay the sheep market. The basic translation of coci in Latin is cook but as a very outside chance it could also mean church or cock when mangled between old languages.

In 1814 at the bottom of Silver Street stood a large ash tree, but the boys of the Free School tried to raise the devil. By some means, they did so with their devices - it flew out of the window, settled on the tree, bore down its branches over the mill pool, causing it to moan horribly, thereby named "Old Nick's Tree".

It's hard to imagine a tree on Silver Street but there were trees at the back of the school. The mill pool and the likely tree that was called 'Old Nick's' Tree were further south than Silver Street, at the bottom of St Agnes Lane but they might well have been visible from the school as it was less distance than the Sainsbury's from the present day school.