Kenilworth Road

The other weekend were were waiting at the traffic lights at the junction of Kenilworth Road and the A45, when I noticed, through the broken fence, there appeared to be a body of water there. This is literally before the last houses on Kenilworth Road, coming out of the city centre towards Kenilworth, before the A45 crosses it. What is this? Is it a natural pond or in someone's garden? It looked quite large for a garden pond.

You should see it from the top of a No15 bus! In the 1960s at least it also had wooden pier with a small rowing boat moored to it. It was a private garden belonging to the neighbouring house as far as we could tell.

Is this it, via google maps

Yes, that's it. I wonder if it predates the houses? Looks like the ponds you sometimes see in the corners of fields amongst trees.

There was originally one very large house in that area and the pond was within its extensive grounds. There was also a small stream or "burn" somewhere near, a simple misspelling of which is thought to be the origin of the name "Burnt Post". Edited by member, 30th Mar 2014 9:40 pm

I've always been fascinated by this pond mainly because of its size and location as the water appears to go right up to the fence on Kenilworth Road. As Dutchman says you really need to be on top of a bus to see it properly. It seems to have been left untouched for several years although I seem to remember a couple of years ago there was also an inflatable boat on it. Some of the fence panels were replaced last year due to damage so it obviously is looked after to some degree by of someone.

It's not nearly as exclusive now as it used to be Dreamtime, many of the larger estates have been broken-up into smaller housing plots

Hi Dutchman, I well remember going to the convent on the school bus along Kenilworth road and on the left hand side was a house through the trees with the rendering painted blue with white clouds also, I got the impression it belonged to a Sky Blue member. I don't suppose the properties were sub divided in those days. Avaguden

While doing family history research in Coventry Library a few years ago I was shown an old map which defined the Burnt Post. In 1901 it was an area of scrubland owned by Lord Leigh of Stoneleigh. It occupied the approximate area enclosed by the yellow lines. It seems it was an area for farm labourers to set up camp when losing their 'tied cottages' when moving from one employer to the next. By the 1911 census my great-grandfather had moved to the Stoke side of Coventry while my grandfather had moved first to Kenilworth and then to Hampton in Arden before he moved, in 1916, to the cottages in Gibbet Hill Road (now gone of course) where he lived until the mid-1950s Edited by member, 8th Apr 2014 5:57 pm

Fascinating Pixrobin, I've long been curious as to the exact location of Burnt Post

I remember going to this garden with the large pond in about 1950/60. Our church (Christ Church Cheylesmore) held its Garden Party there. It was really a lake and there was a rowing boat on it and we had rides on the boat. From the map it looks as if the original large house has gone and been replaced by a number of smaller houses. The garden was huge too. Can't recall who owned the house or what the connection with the church was. The new Christ Church was still in the process of being built in Frankpledge Road and wouldn't have had a garden suitable for a Garden Party that year.

Hello & welcome, coventry49. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I remember being taken at a 10 year old in the very early 50s to a large house on the Kenilworth Road where a garden party was held. Alas from memory I thought it was further along the road toward Kenilworth on the other side of the road. Strange you should say Christchurch, the party I was taken to had also very strong connections as I was taken by my elderly aunt Annie Parker, a long standing member of Christchurch