James Murray and the Pugins

Hi Kaga - I know Murray ended his (short) days at his home he designed within Stoneleigh Terrace but don't think EW Pugin ever lived in Coventry did he?

The pool is there on the 1749 map and is listed as 'the horse pool'. How much older it was I don't know. There looks like a ramp down into the water. Was it for just watering the horses or did they wash/cool them off there too?

Ah, different Pugin. Augustus Pugin took inspiration from Coventry but I don't know how long he stayed. His book on carved bargeboards include some of the examples still visible in his day but not all of them. Whether he drew the others, is not obvious.

I noted from the excellent (think we've linked before but worth another) Coventry Society article about him, they parted ways, noting 'differences', however he must have thought much of him to return for Murray's far too early funeral.

Neil, thanks for this on Murray and Pugin. Much detail there and very informative. Great!

NeilsYard, It doesn't actually say he lived there, now I've just read it again, but he called the houses on the Kenilworth Road pepper boxes, from their colour. The green extended to open land where Stoneleigh Terrace was. It was enclosed, by law, with wooden railings. In the field by Butts and Warwick Road there were some large elm trees, hit by lightning and killed a man sheltering underneath. The Irishman's path passed through, there were two ponds on the green, one was the red sea for horses drinking, the other held the ducking bucket. I stayed two nights in a hotel in the terrace, about the third or fourth house from the station end. My friend called to give me a lift to London to a race meeting, he sat down, ate one of my pieces of toast, added some hot water to the teapot, poured himself a cup of tea, and the landlord added tea and toast to my bill. Greyfriars Green was once Cheylesmore Green, it was outside the city walls. The Manor House, before the enclosure of the city walls, had a moat fed by springs, the crow moat. Water from it ran down a ditch into the Sherbourne.

A Pugin was the architect that built Big Ben, the largest four-sided clock in the world. He also built part of the Houses of Parliament.

He also designed this which is known as Pugin's gem, St Giles in Cheadle, where I worship

Off topic. Actually, Big Ben is the name of the bell, Kaga, and the largest four-sided clock in the world is the Duquesne Brewery Clock in Pittsburgh, USA. The largest public clock in the UK is situated at the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool.

Wearethemods, Correction, we were talking about A Pugin in Victorian times. He was asked to design a building to hold the largest clock in the world - this he did in 1869 and it was the largest. What happened afterwards, no one could foretell.