Devils Dungeon

Greetings, I have been discussing with some fellow locals the origin of the depression in the woods on the corner of Beechwood Ave and Kenilworth Rd, known as Devils Dungeon to those of us who played there as kids. We were all told as youngsters that they are bomb craters from WWII,which always seemed plausible, but can find no reference to this. We have found a few mentions of "stone pits" in CCC wildlife walk leaflets and "Before Albany Road was constructed in 1898 Kenilworth Road was the only vehicular entrance to Earlsdon. A five barred gate prevented cattle wandering from the common into Earlsdon. No toll was levied at this gate but an old man used to open the gate for travellers and thus added to his income. Near where this gate stood, along the common, is the site of a large quarry from where the stone for building St. Thomas's Church (now demolished), Albany Road, was hewn and given by Lord Leigh." from the same source. We all loved the bomb crater story as kids but fear it may be an urban myth. Could anyone shed some light as we are now just plain interested? Many thanks Michael p.s. I did trawl the forum topics but didn't spot owt.

Hello Michael and welcome to the forum The subject was discussed briefly in this thread Rambling - where next? but I can't see any harm in starting a new thread on the subject. As I mentioned back then there is very little evidence today of stone having been quarried there but they would have made excellent blasting sites for unexploded bombs.

The kids still use that name, devil's dungeon and devil's kitchen.

Thanks Dutchman, Blast sites? Some homes on Woodland Ave are very close, but I have to admit ignorance on safe detonation technique! Also, do you have any thoughts on the quote re the quarry used to build St Thomas's? Yes Flapdoodle we knew the hollows at Canley Ford area as Devils Kitchen and the bigger one at Beechwood as Devils Dungeon. Don't know if this still applies?

When attending Coventry Technical School (Junior Tec) the annual cross country run went through Devils Dungeon, and before the run took place the fire brigade would flood it to make the going a lot harder. Happy days!

It's possible of course but it's not marked on any old maps I've seen as being a quarry, only as being a depression in the ground.

Here is a link to where the St. Thomas's stone came from for it to be built.

The page from which that passage is quoted is wrong as well Morgana. It's a reference to Styvechale Gate which is where Earlsdon Avenue (South) is today. Devil's Dungeon however is next to Beechwood Avenue some distance away.

Hi A link to pic St.Thomas' Albany Rd

To be fair I don't think Morgana was saying it was from Devils Dungeon. Just kindly pointing out the stone came from Stoneleigh Abbey.

Brilliant. Is that the Tech' college in the background? Yes! Just recalled it was where the retirement homes are now. Wow. Memories. thanks

Hello Michael Please refer to the main link from our forum, where I obtained the pic link from. PhotoLink

Thank you Michael. Morgana's post originally read slightly different and has since been corrected. Likewise I have since corrected my reply to it.

There is an interesting snippet in this month's Echo community Newspaper covering Earlsdon. Is this the same pit? It Happened This Month: 1876 - Five Children drowned after falling through ice in Welton's Pit on Stivichall Common, adjacent to Earlsdon Lane (Earlsdon Avenue South) and Kenilworth Road. I have a vague idea we have mentioned this tragic incident before?

Were you thinking of this discussion?