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1. Sixty Years of Cycling - 1897 magazine article
2. The Arno Motor Company of Coventry 1908-1916, by Damien Kimberley
3. The New Bablake Schools - 1889 article
4. Public Baths - The Building News, Jan 24th 1896
5. A short history of Coventry's Theatres and Cinemas, by Bill Birch
6. The Brough Superior, by Damien Kimberley
7. Proposal for St. Michael's Campanile c1890
8. Coventry's Rich Heritage, by Pete Walters
9. Coventry, the Home of the Cycle Trade - 1886 magazine article
10. The Dragoon Cycle Company of Coventry, by Damien Kimberley
11. Edwin Brown, Victorian Animal Artist, by Stephen Catton
12. The Old Vicarage, Binley, by Anna Eddleston
13. Coventry Volunteer Fire Brigade - Illustrated London News, Jan 4th 1862
14. The Great Flood of December 1900, and the lost Bridges, by Damien Kimberley
15. Coventry's Great Flood - London Daily Graphic, 2nd January 1901
16. New Drinking Fountain at Coventry - 17 Sep 1859
17. Henry Cave, and the 'Lady' Autocar of 1899, by Damien Kimberley
18. The Ira Aldridge Trail, by Simon Shaw
19. The Lion Bicycle Company of Coventry & Wolverhampton 1877-1882, by Damien Kimberley
20. The Beech on Wheels, by Derek Robinson and forum member Foxcote
21. Phil Silvers Archival Museum, by Paul Maddocks
22. Transport Museum pt.3 - Creating the Blitz Experience, by Paul Maddocks
23. What links a Spitfire's landing gear to a baby buggy? by Paul Maddocks
24. The sound that almost killed my Dad in the War!, by Paul Maddocks
25. D-Day and Monty's Staff Car, by Paul Maddocks
26. Transport Museum pt.2 - New Hales Street Entrance in 1985, by Paul Maddocks
27. Transport Museum pt.1 - How the Queen's 1977 visit sowed the seed, by Paul Maddocks
28. What links R2D2 to a Coventry Hydrogen/Electric cab company? by Paul Maddocks
29. Transport Museum pt.6 - The Royal Cars, by Paul Maddocks
30. Transport Museum pt.5 - The 1987 F.A. Cup Winners' Sky Blue Bus, by Paul Maddocks
31. The Tapestry and its Hidden Secret, by Paul Maddocks
32. Transport Museum pt.4 - Coventry's Land Speed Record Cars, by Paul Maddocks
33. Whitefriars Gatehouse and Toy Museum, by Paul Maddocks
34. WW1 and Wyley of Charterhouse, by Paul Maddocks
35. Miss Bashford, a Teacher's Tale, by Simon Shaw
36. Motor Panels (Coventry) Ltd, by Damien Kimberley
37. Not Forgotten, the 1939 IRA bomb attack, by Simon Shaw
38. Let's talk about Rex, by Damien Kimberley
39. Coventry, the Silk Trade and the Horsfall family, by Ian West
40. The Saint Joseph the Worker parish in Coventry, by Terence Richards
41. A brief history of Saint Osburg's, in pictures, by Damien Kimberley
42. Trinity National Schools - Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal, Vol.XVII, 1854
43. The First Tudor Feast, by Richard Ball
44. 1930s Austin's Monthly Magazine articles, by John Bailey Shelton MBE
45. Plan for the City Centre - The Architect and Building News, 21st March 1941
 

1930s Austin's Monthly Magazine articles, by John Bailey Shelton MBE

as originally published in Austin's Monthly Magazine from November 1832 to June 1939

Compiled and transcribed by R. W. Orland, 2005

I'm sincerely grateful to the Shelton family for their kind permission and encouragement to publish these works.

J. B. Shelton's post-war book A Night in Little Park Street can be viewed here (in PDF format).

Contents

Display ALL articles

Date:Subjects covered:

1932

NovGosford Gate
DecCo-op Site, West Orchard

1933

JanWest Orchard, Bridge etc.
FebBroadgate Excavations
MarBroadgate Excavations
AprBroadgate Excavations
MayBlack Bull Inn, Pepper Lane
JunBlack Bull Inn
JulCox Street - River Excavations
AugCox Street - River Excavations
SepCox Street - River Excavations
OctCox Street - River Excavations
NovCox Street - River Excavations
DecPark Side Excavations

1934

JanPark Side Excavations
FebBurges Excavations
MarBenedictine Site Excavations
AprBenedictine Site Excavations
MayBenedictine Site Excavations
JunBenedictine Site Excavations
JulCoventry Castle
AugBenedictine Site, Palmer Lane Guest House
SepBenedictine Site, Wooden Bridge
OctAntiquities Exhibition at the Drill Hall
NovWell Street Excavations
DecPriory Pool & Mills

1935

JanPriory Pool & DIstrict
FebNew Buildings, Tower Foundations
MarCity Wall, Cook Street Gate, Plumb House
AprPriory Tower
MayPriory Tower, Gulson Road, Round Tower, New Gate Foundations
JunBroad Well, Burges Ford, Palmer Lane
JulWhite Friars
AugMeeting House, Smithford Street
SepMeeting House, Smithford Street
OctMeeting House, Smithford Street, St. John's Hospital Excavations
NovSt. John's Hospital, Barracks Square, Black Bull Inn
DecBarracks Square, Black Bull Inn

1936

JanBarracks Square, Black Bull Inn
FebButcher Row
MarButcher Row
AprButcher Row
MayButcher Row
JunOwen Owen's Site
JulOwen Owen's Site
AugOwen Owen's Site
SepOwen Owen's Site
OctTrinity Street
NovTrinity Street
DecTrinity Street

1937

JanBenedictine Museum
FebPool Meadow to Priory Street
MarPool Meadow to Priory Street
AprPool Meadow to Priory Street Excavations
MayBull Ring, Pottery Kiln, Hippodrome
JunHippodrome, Rex Cinema
JulBablake Excavations
AugCow Lane Site Excavations

1938

MayRex Site, Trinity Street
JulBroadgate Excavations
SepBablake Excavations, Co-op Site, West Orchard
OctTrinity Street, Bull Ring
NovSt. Mary's Cathedral Site, Bull Ring
DecSt. Mary's Cathedral Site, Bull Ring

1939

JanPost Office Excavations
FebSt. Mary's Cathedral Site
MarArt Gallery and Museum
AprArt Gallery and Museum
MayArt Gallery and Museum
JunBablake Excavations

Co-op Site, West Orchard

December 1932

II. EXCAVATIONS IN WEST ORCHARD (Co-op. SITE) EAST AND WEST OF RIVER

Excavations reveal what may have been hidden for several hundred years or more, and although no great quantity of material was found, it was none the less interesting. The level of the riverbed, which was once a ford (Smyth-ford) was about 13-ft. 6-ins. deep, and on the east side had been made up in two or even three different periods. At about 5-ft. deep gate posts were discovered, and the hooks on which the gate hung were still in the decayed posts. It is quite probable that a roadway ran on the east side of the river into West Orchard before the present road on the west side was made. At a depth of 5-ft. a number of pinnacle stones were discovered, possibly from the destruction of the Hall which stood close by in West Orchard, originally called St. Nicholas Hall, and Corpus Christi, but later called Leather Hall. In this Hall a great deal of the important business of the City was transacted; the Hall was used for numerous purposes - a prison for captured soldiers - a licensed preaching-place in the 17th century where the ministers who were ejected from St. Michael's and Holy Trinity Churches held their services. The Hall became ruinous and unsuitable for services, and in 1700 the Presbyterians who had used this place for their worship decided to leave it, and a new building (now standing), was erected in Smithford Street on the site of an old inn named "The Cross Keys." In 1738 the ruins of the Hall were sold to Mr. W. Freeman for £55 5s. 0d.

Beneath the top five feet of 18/19 century tipping was found several feet of 14/15 century tipping, and below this some of 12/13 century, containing small pieces of black unglazed Norman pottery, also a bronze bodkin of the same period, which measures 71/4-ins in length. Deer's antlers in sound condition were found near the river - the deer may have been slain when drinking, in the days before the walls prevented them from entering the city.

On the west side the old stone boundary wall of the river was discovered. Beneath the buildings now pulled down a bed of tanning several feet thick was found - no doubt a tannery shed existed close by, this being a suitable place for washing skins, etc. The key of the tannery was discovered where it had been trodden into the mud, and is of 14th century period. The Barkers, of which Barkers Butts was at Radford, held their guild at the Leather Hall, and supplied eight men for the defence of the city. To keep green the memory of the "Barkers" we have Barkers Butts Lane and School.


 
 
 
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