Pre-war Art Gallery or Museum

I think I've read most of the threads on this site over the past year and cannot remember a mention of any pre-war art galleries or museums in Coventry. Did we have them? If so, where were they?

The Herbert was first being built in 1939, so perhaps we did nt have any unless the council had a hidden store of our history.

Wikipedia says: Museums in Coventry before the Herbert included the museum of the Coventry City Guild and the Benedictine Museum**, opened by J. B. Shelton in the 1930s. However, Coventry City Council's collection of art treasures and museum pieces were housed in various buildings and so the council acquired a half acre site over a number of years costing £35,375. In 1938 the philanthropist Sir Alfred Herbert donated £100,000 to the Corporation to erect a Gallery and Museum on the site. Plans were drawn up by the Leicester architect Albert Herbert, a cousin of Sir Alfred, and building began the following year. The city's destruction during the Coventry Blitz meant construction was suspended with only the basement completed. City architect Donald Gibson's radical rebuilding plan for Coventry city centre became War time propaganda for the post-war reconstruction of Britain. But, Post-war economies required Gibson to concentrate on a building programme for the suburbs. Completion of the first building under his plan was delayed until 1953. New plans for the museum were drawn up in 1952 By the Leicester architects, Albert Herbert & Son, and in May 1954 the foundation stone was laid by Herbert, who also donated a further £100,000 to the project. Herbert died in May 1957, and the museum and art gallery that bears his name was opened on 9 March 1960 by his third wife Lady Herbert. ** This ought to say that it was "created" by JBS rather than "opened" - see this item from the main Historic Coventry site

From looking through the newspaper archives, the first museum was set up by the City Guild in 1920 in the council chambers of St Mary's Hall, then it was moved to the Old Bablake School buildings, where they remained until 1941 when the exhibits were moved to a place of safety (wouldn't it be nice to know where!). At the published meetings of the Guild, the secretary of which was Angela Brazil, details were given of items in the museum and recent donations, including the animal carvings. Also they mention the microscope made by Gutteridge which I know is now in the Herbert. In 1938 Sir Alfred Herbert made his offer of a donation for £100,000 for a new museum. Although the Bablake or City Museum had done a good job they commented that the building was a small size for a museum, being itself a museum piece with a damp interior and small windows. The original planning was for the art gallery and museum to be built on the corner of St Mary Street and Earl Street, but plans were stopped when the war broke out. The picture below is labelled 1939. The basements were then used during the war as an air raid shelter and the museum was built further down the road. I haven't quite worked out the orientation of the picture so I can't quite locate the buildings on the right. I know you will Helen and I am hoping it's Earl Street. In 1949 a temporary Art Gallery was opened in the Guild Headquarters in Cow Lane

Thanks, Anne. The picture is looking north from Earl Street with the east side of Bayley Lane on the right and St Mary Street on the left.

Sorry I haven't got a real photo, Anne, but this is from Google Street View c.2020

Thanks, MR and Helen. I now realise where it is. There is the 1946 BFA which interestingly shows the foundations after the war that never became the Museum. You can also see in the left hand corner Little Palace Yard with the temporary Bushills buildings at the end of the yard.

Great pic of that side of Bayley Lane, Anne