City Hotel, Broadgate

What happened to it? I don't remember reading that it was bombed like the Kings Head, not sure if I saw that it was demolished before the war to build some shops?

It had been demolished and a brick and steel building housing Burtons was in its place by at least 1935. It was bombed but was still standing after the war. It looked like it and the Wilsons next door might have been in partial operation (but damaged) in 1946 but by 1953 they had been levelled and the Godiva statue garden was in their place.

The book "The Character of Coventry" says it closed in 1928

Looking at this image, it looks unlikely it ever had a period of operation pre demolition.

Pictures dated 1933 show Burton's there then. On the opposite corner Dunn's is trading from the ground floor of the King's Head.

Thanks

I hope you all won't think I'm poking my nose in by mentioning that I've made a "now and then" pairing of this very building on this page.... https://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/nowandthen/content.php?pg=burtons-bgate, which might help with visualising the buildings' relative positions.

Not at all Rob, that's excellent! Thanks

That's a good one Rob. It spurred me to look at Google Street View that still shows the old road through Broadgate.

Yes great shot Rob - not seen that one before and gives a great impression of the location of the Market Tower - cheers mate!

Helen, do you have any definite info that it was demolished to build Burton's rather than remodelled? This picture shows why I am wondering. I can't find a side view from Broadgate to see how the height of the City Hotel was in relation to the version of the King's Head that was bombed, to compare how the height of Burton's with the King's Head was.

Fairly sure, yes. Burtons was a steel framed building as shown in its demolition and the fact it survived the bombing. That didn't come in until the late 1800s. The City Hotel was around much earlier and was probably a modified timber framed building. I've also got a feeling I've seen a picture of them building it but I can't find it. The City Hotel was the same height as the other buildings in Broadgate but as you can see from this picture, Burtons was higher, although not by much. Theoretically they could have clad the outside with a frame but I don't see why they'd do that.

Other things to note. Burtons had a flat roof, whereas the City Hotel had a shallow slope and a bit of a parapet at the top. Originally it probably had a much steeper roof that went down to the upper windows. The face you see on early images of it was relatively new, as it had been a second row. The City Hotel was part of the Bablake Boys School Estate in 1863.

Great! Thanks

Not sure if this is of any use Osmiroid but you can see how high Burtons was compared with The Kings Head: