More mystery Coventry scenes

It's been a busy summer and I haven't made huge strides ahead but I have unearthed some interesting images. The first mystery location is a good one and I know exactly where it is. It’s not listed by its location but as part of the Godiva Procession 1907. The Lady, La Milo (Miss Patsy Montagu). Can you recognise where the good lady is from these two images? This little group are called ‘old Swanswell house/manor’ but I don’t know where the house was on the map. The third place, I know the location but not which part of the building. It’s the kitchen at the Whitefriars building but where was the kitchen? The last image is listed as High Street but I’m fairly sure it was Jordan Well. But where? These are tough puzzles and I'm not expecting a rush of answers.

Patsy Monague Lady Godiva was from Australia. LINK Edited by member, 1st Oct 2014 8:18 pm

I think it was on the opposite side of White Street?

Not very clear as have taken it with my ipad as I have switched my PC off and for some reason it is upside down but jt shoes the same plan building as Dutchman so we agree that must be the manor. There is a little bridge by the swanswell which looks like the one in your picture

Yes, that was my guess but I couldn't tell if the group of buildings was a mill or not. It looks like it had been demolished by 1888. Thanks Dutchman.

Well done Anne, I hadn't noticed the bridge. I think that confirms it. One down, three to go.

LOL. That'll teach me to miss out the punctuation. But an interesting factoid all the same. I meant, where was the photo of the lady taken.

Looks like Far Gosford Street to me going up hill also what looks like top shops to me, which I think that was part of the route.

Good guess but the first location is within the city wall. There is a later photo that shows the left hand side of the first picture but it's not obviously the same place. There's also an earlier photo that shows the right hand side of the first photo. The building on the left hand side of the second photo was destroyed by bombing. Edited by member, 1st Oct 2014 10:05 pm

By the looks on the second photo the window with Magic written could be Butchers row. Edited by member, 4th Oct 2014 9:40 am

Hi again. I still don't know where the old houses are in Jordan Well but the others are now solved. The pictures of Patsy Montague were taken in Cox street looking towards Cope Street. These pictures might help you place them. The kitchen at White Friars seems to be in the remaining part of the cloister that originally ran towards the gatehouse (see the map). The images show the ornate ceiling at the end which would be where it turned into the main part of the existing cloister. And Anne and the Dutchman are almost certainly right about the location of the Swanswell manor.

Thanks for finally putting me out of my misery Helen I'd spent most of the last two days trying to locate those pics and would never have thought of looking at Cox Street Incidentally the Walsall Arms was built on the site of a pair of cottages with long front gardens which is why it is set back from the street and facing a slightly different direction to the buildings on either side of it.

Sorry Dutchman, I didn't mean to leave it that long before posting the answer. I found those photos while scanning all the pictures at full size and had missed them while using the Pictures of Coventry index, probably because in miniature they don't look that informative. At first I thought it was the corner of Spon street and Sherbourne Street as there is a similar set of buildings as you look south west. I'm wondering if the photos of the Godiva processions over the years hold other gems about what bits of old Coventry looked like. I'm tempted to see how many more the History Centre has that are not online. It's a useful bit of information about the Walsall Arms, thanks. The city wall must have run along the line of the wall with railings you can see in the photo of the Walsall Arms. There is a Dr Troughton sketch of the view looking the other way through the gate and of course quite a few images by different artists looking at the gate itself. I managed to work out where the kitchen was by looking at a lot more images. The strange walls and ceiling height was due to the merging of the old cloister with the 'new' wing for the house workers. There are a small series of paintings that show how that wing looked like with the exception of the very end wall. If anyone ever wants to know about Whitefriars there is an outstanding book about it called The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Some Conventual Buildings at the Whitefriars, Coventry (British Archaeological Reports British Series). Which can also be viewed at the History Centre.

Hi Helen. About what era are you making your model ? As you are now into Cox Street that used to Mill Lane which led to Bastille Gate and Mill. I have a few descriptions of the Mill and surroundings. It is mentioned several times in the records I have been looking at on line as my ancestors lived there.

Hi Anne. Well I want to include the gates and wall so any time before it was demolished really. The final model will be more of a flavour of the City because the size is just too big and the information too limited but I intend to plot each street house by house before hand with gaps or guesses where I can't find enough info. I have discovered that some of the deeds to buildings include mini sketches so I might resort to looking through those if I remain determined to fill in the gaps. There are several Dr Troughton sketches of the end of Cox street and the demolition of the buildings just outside the Gate. Another looks west along the remains of the wall towards where the mill was located. Sydney Bunney drew some of the buildings closer to the other end and there are a number of photos but there are a few niggling gaps. There aren't even any decent aerial photos. I hope to view sketches done by school children from (I think) the Fretton School ranging from about 1850-1900 including some of Cox street so they may hold a few clues.