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Page 3

The Ever Changing Face of Broadgate.

Whatever the era, Broadgate has never remained static, - major changes were happening long before the 20th century turmoil. In the 1820's, old houses and shops on the west side of what was then a narrow street were pulled down in order to vastly widen Coventry's main north-south thoroughfare. The drawing below, made sometime before that widening, depicts a typical scene from the Georgian era. The view above and early 1900's postcard below show broadly similar views looking northwards through Broadgate and down Cross Cheaping. The large advertising board showing "THE ROYAL" hotel to the right, marks the point where you could turn between Broadgate and Cross Cheaping into Butcher Row. At that point you would be facing Holy Trinity church. Another point of interest, literally at the centre of this photo, is the Fire Escape Ladder. A Coventry Fireman has informed me that it was probably one made by 'Merryweather of Manchester'. The wooden ladder, capable of extending to 50 foot, was originally based at the then new Hales Street Fire Station, but after a fatality due to the time taken pushing the heavy thing up the hill, it was decided to station the ladder at the "top of the town" in Broadgate. It was the wife of William Burdett who died in the fire at the back of the famous Burdett Printer's shop in Cross Cheaping, ironically hidden from view behind the escape ladder in this photo.
A better view of that shop can be seen on this page of the Now and Then section.

Move on just three decades, and the council had carried out their own brutal brand of modernisation with the demolition of the Butcher Rows, Ironmonger Row, Palmer Lane and part of Cross Cheaping. In their place by 1937 stood Owen Owen and Trinity Street, the result of which can clearly be spotted in this 1930's postcard.
Of course, within a year or so of this photo being taken, the new Owen Owen had become a burnt out shell, to be demolished soon after the war's end.

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To see just how dramatically the scene altered, click the photo once to see how it changed after 14th November 1940 - and once more to restore it to 1930....

Please click here if you wish to see the two photo's separately.

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In the 1970's, a person standing where the photographers would have stood for the shots above would see this view below showing the pride of post-war Coventry - Broadgate Garden Island. Closer inspection of the colourful view above also reveals the approximate date that this photograph was taken. On the far right hand side of the image, just behind the bus, can be seen the partially demolished shells of the temporary shops on the east side of Broadgate. This demolition took place in March 1974.

The removal of these well loved shops was not all bad news, however; they revealed a long lost piece of Coventry history - a well. Many people remember this quite well, (!) and one such person is Melanie Heath, who also informs me that it was built in front of the Mayor's Parlour in 1703 using stone removed from a tower near to Cook Street gate, and had a pump placed over it. I'm very grateful to Melanie for this extra information, and we'd both be extremely pleased if anyone has a photograph of that well in Broadgate Garden from sometime between 1974 and 1989. Please contact me if you can help.

For the 2005 view below I had to take a few steps to the left, or else I'd have only been photographing the side of Cathedral Lanes shopping centre! The modern building itself isn't an ugly one, but it has two major flaws.... firstly - the tent outside which makes a mockery of all that Broadgate stands for.... and secondly - it shouldn't have been built there in the first place!

Continued on Page 4 - "Pre-War Plans for Broadgate"

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Earliest photographs of Broadgate < - The Ever Changing Face of Broadgate - > Pre-War Plans for Broadgate
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