Coventry Workhouses

The vehicle entrance to the workhouse was indeed at No11. This would also have been the vehicle entrance for the workhouse infirmary before 1930. The neighbouring buildings were taken over by the Salvation Army and may have been a men's hostel between 1937 and 1946 but I'm not sure. The vehicle entrance itself was totally destroyed by bombing in 1940.

Wow, thanks for that Dutchman!

Hi there, I read your comments on Mary Anne and the Bird family and I'm fascinated. I can't find any more info anywhere. I'm currently living in what was the workhouse, Meddon Street. In the staff quarters. Would love to know more about the history. And the Bird family.

I have lived all my life in Foleshill and am deeply interested in the Foleshill Workhouse as several of my ancestors were inmates and actually died there. I know exactly where it was and have maps showing it's location but I cannot find when it actually closed (it was still standing in he 1920's) and I am amazed that there doesn't appear to be any photographs of the buildings. Anyone have any ideas or information

The only memory of the workhouse I have is at the start of the war, it was used to issue gas masks.

I have read that there were 'several' workhouses in Coventry in the nineteenth century. I have located Whitefriars and think that there was one based in Foleshill and one in Gulson Road. Does anybody know if there are any more and where these are located. Many thanks Frances.

I believe Foleshill Workhouse was located on the site of the present fire station opposite Old Church Road. My dad was a tram conductor based at the tram depot next door, I can remember him telling me about it but didn't understand what he meant, I was only six years old.

I think that the Foleshill Poor Law Union also ran Workhouses in Bedworth and Exhall. The one in Bedworth was I think somewhere around the Margaret Ave/George St Ringway area, and I would be very pleased to know where the Exhall one was. I have a theory that it may have been around the area of the old Exhall Green School and current allotments. Any information on this would be welcome.

What an interesting topic. I have just looked up on Amazon The Workhouse by Simon Fowler and another one called Life in the Workhouse. I have asked my hubby to buy me them as a belated Christmas prezzy as they will make a fascinating read. Many thanks to K from Somewhere for the recommendation.

If you look at the first post in this topic there's a link to a site which has info on most workhouses in England.

Thank you, Pixrobin, for pointing out the link. I had read the topic from the beginning but didn't open the link, which is brilliant. I have also noticed another book on it that I am interested in buying.

Heritage posted this message on the 'Coventry Workhouses' thread: "In 1859 the Foleshill workhouse moved from Brick Kiln Lane (Broad Street) to a new site close to what is Foleshill Fire Station. (Off topic but does anyone, but me, remember the Fire Station when it was in Holmsdale Road?)" This supports the theory that the Brick Kiln Lane site was closed c.1859 and has since been demolished - but still the exact location on Brick Kiln Lane remains a mystery. The House of Industry is not to be confused with the Foleshill Union Workhouse which, as Heritage rightly states, was close to the Foleshill Road Fire Station (opposite Old Church Road - formerly Chapel Lane). Oddsock

Found this aerial photo. Foreground shows former Dunlop Sports grounds on Lythalls Lane and Chapel Square & Reform Church on either side of Chapel Lane, later Old Church Road, Workhouse circled in red. Edited by Midland Red, 3rd Dec 2020 6:35 pm (Copied to the 'Dunlop' thread )

Near the end of Gosford Street, on the right, was the workhouse. Although conditions were poor and the workers struggling to keep their families together, it had extensive views of fields and hedgerows of great beauty, flowers and hundreds of brightly coloured birds. The prospect included the old Carthusian monastery called the Charterhouse. The workhouse was once the old Carmelite, or White Friars, Monastery, which shared the fate of others of similar kind during the reign of Henry VIII. The beautiful cloister, with roof of finely wrought stone, became the dining room of the inmates of the workhouse. The dormitories too. An ancient staircase leading from the dormitories to the church was well preserved in Victorian times. Not a mile from from the Charterhouse is Whitley Abbey, standing on rising ground from the banks of the river Sherbourne, and believed to be the place that Charles I occupied, when in 1642 he vainly summoned the city to surrender. The estate connected with the Abbey was about three thousand acres, separated from the Charterhouse by Whitley Common, over which the freemen held the grazing rights.