Historian and CovSoc committee member, David Porter, has been researching a recently revealed wall in Spon End. David writes….
The recent demolition on Spon End of the warehouse and showroom previously occupied by Godiva Carpets has – quite literally – opened up an intriguing spectacle for anyone keen to learn more about the historical record of this this part of Coventry.
To give some context, to the east of the now open site is the Khushi Bar and Grill which occupies two buildings numbered 91 and 92 Spon End, with the Serene Mind and Body Therapy Centre in the adjoining white building next door at 93 Spon End, which for many years housed the well-known Malt Shovel pub.
On the left-hand side of the building at 91 Spon End the end wall is now partly exposed, revealing some evidence of structural timbers as indicated with red arrows below:
Prior to the recent demolition work, the Council commissioned a report from Jonathan Webster of Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd to outline the archaeology and history of the former Godiva Carpets site and its surroundings. The report published in March this year (see planning application PL/2024/0002471/FUL) highlighted the presence of timber-framed houses elsewhere along the street, which is not surprising given that Spon End was an important mediaeval settlement and thoroughfare. In recognition of their significance, many of these houses have been given Grade II listed status but in contrast the report states that “there are no further details about the buildings to the immediate east of the [Godiva Carpets] site in the Historic Environment Record.”
To attempt to address this apparent deficit, it might be helpful to look first at the map above from 1964. Here, the Public House marked on the north side of Spon End is the former Malt Shovel as mentioned above, with what is now the Khushi Bar and Grill occupying the group previously numbered 89 to 92.
These four units were at this time owned and rented out by the Coventry Railwaymen’s Club, which first appeared on Spon End in the early 1920s and remained here until it was finally closed in 2013. For interest, the large building shown above next to the River Sherbourne contained a concert hall on land which had until the late 1950s been owned by the Malt Shovel, behind which in previous years horses had been stabled.
At the time this map was drawn, number 89 Spon End – today renumbered as part of 91 Spon End – was occupied by Beesley’s Model Shop, whose proprietor Claude Beesley first opened his doors in 1938 and remained in business there until his passing in 1973.
Subsequently, as set out in a column produced by Ernie Newbold and published in the Coventry Citizen in 1985, an assistant from the shop called Cyril Baker explained that a builder was engaged at some point to remove a wall in the flat above the model shop. However, the builder was surprised at the construction of the wall and so decided to contact experts at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, who gave it as their opinion that “the building was of 15th century wattle and daub construction.”
Clearly, this is an anecdotal report but it is compelling to consider this account in conjunction with the evidence which has now emerged of what appear to be structural timbers of some considerable age. Indeed, the exposed wall has recently been examined in the course of a site visit by the Council’s Archaeological and Records Officer as well as the Conservation Officer, and so it will be interesting to learn of their findings.
By neat coincidence, the Council’s 2003 Area of Local Distinctiveness described Spon End as “predominantly Victorian/Edwardian in appearance, but with earlier roots that are still very visible” – today some twenty or so years later we now learn how right they may have been!
Postscript
For those who are interested to learn a little more of the history of this site and are happy to delve deeper, the following extract from the 1851 Board of Health map shows that this stretch of Spon End looked rather different in early Victorian times:
The Malt Shovel pub is marked on the right of the map, while on the left is the Spon End viaduct which had opened only the year before. What is immediately apparent from this map is that at this time a series of buildings was standing on what is today the demolition site, including the Waggon and Horses beerhouse. According to the seminal work on this area by John Ashby, these buildings were demolished in the 1930s and were replaced by a garage for a coach company called Bunty Motorways Ltd.
More specifically, the building indicated by the red arrow was 89 Spon End – now part of 91 Spon End today as described above – which of course includes on its left-hand side the wall we have been discussing. The marking on the map which appears on the left side of this building indicates the presence of a passageway to the rear of the building, which we know to have been in existence on this side of the shop.
From 1851 onwards, as borne out in census returns and trade directories, the buildings on this stretch of Spon End passed into the occupation and presumably the ownership of the Causer family, who ran a range of different businesses from these premises including watchmakers, coal merchants, undertakers and bakers – in this instance, notice the address given below for Henry Causer in the 1912-1913 Spennell’s Directory for Coventry:
To add to this property portfolio, in 1894 another Henry Causer – nephew of the baker listed above and himself a previous resident at 89 Spon End in his uncle’s household according to the 1891 Census – bought the Malt Shovel pub and ran the establishment himself as its publican for the best part of the next three decades.
David Porter 20th June 2025