This scene is unusual as it features a cluster of different ribbon weavers’ top-shops which, outside of Hillfields, were rarely found in large groups such as this. The photographic record suggests that they may be the only ones that fronted Foleshill Road. Although they could also be found in some of the old side lanes of Foleshill, only Stoney Stanton Road featured a significant number in Foleshill. This group does feature a rather special building on the left. The height of its loom loft and the decorative use of bricks are exceptional for any area of Coventry. Like some of the other less striking top-shops further up the road, their large loom lofts would have been built to take the Jacquard looms that had been recently introduced in the 1820s. They would also have been steam powered with the engine house out the back, all of which implies a date of construction of about the late 1830s to 1840s. A will of 1854, left by Charles Cross, a ribbon manufacturer of Foleshill (the man who gave his name to Cross Road), refers to four buildings and an engine house at Parting of the Heaths which was leased to a John Averns, and describes one of these sets of top-shops, though which one is not clear (Coventry Archives PA 101/7/80). Today the location can be found between Churchill Avenue and where Phoenix Way cuts through Foleshill Road. Only two of the top-shops still exist hidden behind the much altered façade of two retail outlets south of what was the Heath Hotel (originally the Bricklayers Arms), and is now a nursery. Fortunately the significance of the ribbon weaving industry to Foleshill’s past has been recognised in the piece of bold art work displayed on the nearby Phoenix Way traffic island.
Your download will start shortly, please do not navigate away from this page until the download prompt has appeared. Doing so may cause your download to be interrupted.
