Kenilworth Court, history?

Hello, What is the history of the Kenilworth Court tower, Cheylesmore, CV3 (Google map)? When was it built? Who designed it? Who built it? How was it built? What was its construction method? What was at that location beforehand? How did Coventrians feel about it? Any opinions, documents, links, etcetera are welcome.

Good morning & welcome to our/your forum. I've highlighted your post as a question.

Hi AJCarver, welcome to the forum 10 out of 10 for initiative but marks deducted for writing your comment like you want us to do your homework for you Some of what you want to know is online but a visit to the Herbert Art Gallery Archives would be quite productive. They have all sorts of resources including micro film of newspapers. One to start with is the Coventry Evening Telegraph - Wednesday 06 July 1960 page 33. It would tell you a lot of what you want to know and has an architect's sketch. If you know someone with British Newspapers Online, you can access this article directly. See also Coventry Evening Telegraph - Saturday 28 November 1959 page 20. Another resource is the Herbert archive search here, where a search for Kenilworth House gives a reference to a letter sent in by a concerned neighbour. There may be more things if you search for other key words. The area was very upmarket when the big houses along Warwick Road were built and still above average when the estates behind were built. People rarely like flats towering over their homes, spoiling their view and lowering the perceived quality of the area. Another key word to try is Dalecote House, in the garden of which the flats were built. There is an old photo of the house and part of the garden online (though beware, it is back to front - compare with modern photos). You can find the house on the map below. Coventry has a planning site with a map here. If you zoom out, move the map to the flat location, zoom in and click on the flats. Then select Planning Historical on the right, on the left will appear a list of planning applications. One of them has the original approval for the plan, who applied for it and why they didn't build the flats. It has a link to a form. There is information on what the land was long before Dalecote House here but there is more information out there about that type of land and how it was used. Information about the construction of the flats would be available but I'm not sure how you'd access it. It would be in a survey done for someone buying a flat, so a resident might be able to help you. The planning office or the archives might be able to help. The other option is to assume that it was generic for the time and look up how they were built in that time period. Hope these links help. If I find some more articles or complaint letters I'll let you know. Coventry Evening Telegraph - Wednesday 08 January 1947 page 5

Kenilworth Court was designed by the Helberg and Harris partnership. Rolf Helburg had an apartment there, from my memory it was two apartments made into one. I called there on a few occasions to repair the warm air heating, this wouid have been 1961-62. Alan H

My Nan moved back to Coventry from the south coast after my step grandad died in the late 70's and bought a flat on the ground floor of Kenilworth Court. It was a very nice appartment but totally unsuitable for an older person on her own but she initially did not want to get rid of any of her furniture. It was on two floors with an open stepped polished staircase that I was always afraid she would fall down. A very large lounge and kitchen. The lounge had a lovely big window but there were trees outside which did not let in any light. It had 3 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. It was not a very good decision and I think she only stayed about a year and bought a smaller one in St Nicholas Street which was also more convenient for mum to visit from Radford. Guess who finished up with some of the furniture, some of which I still have !

I worked at Warwick University in the mid sixties for a woman called Rosemary Augdahl who lived at Kenilworth Court. I went to tea at her flat for tea and thought it was very modern and probably very expensive.

Some great stories. Thanks Alan, Anne and Linda