Butcher Row

March 1936

BUTCHER ROW AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. (Continued.)

The name of Thomas Grascome is painted on the board at the Grey Friars' or Ford's Hospital as a benefactor. In 1825 William Hindman lived in this house. The house is very interesting to me, because history records that it was built adjoining the "Meal Hall," an ancient building where, I believe, the meal would be served out to the poor. It stood right opposite the Priory Cathedral door, where in 1448 the Poulterers were allowed to sell their victuals in the "Little Butchery." On the 17th of January, 1936, this "Meal House" has been revealed with its old oak beams and its wattle and daub. It forms the back premises to the front house, and in a later period has had a bakehouse close by. I find other Monasteries had a "Meal Hall" or "Meal House." Could it speak, what a story it could tell! The next row of houses running to the corner of Ironmonger Row were built on a site belonging to the "Meal Hall" by Goodall, Chief Constable of Coventry in 1819.

A drawing has just been discovered showing an old medieval house on this site, with corner of oak timbers carved similar to the old house next St. Mary's Hall and also corner of New Street.

On the opposite side, at the corner of Palmer Lane, stood the "Guest House," which was destroyed in 1820. It extended from the corner of Palmer Lane to the "Golden Lion" Inn. This was a rest house for the Pilgrims, and one can imagine both the Monks and Pilgrims looking from the windows (which happily Coventry still possesses) at the gruesome bull baiting which was so common a pastime in those days, and which is kept in memory by the name of the "Bull Ring." Adjoining the Guest House was an old inn built about 1642, called the "Golden Lion." Under this house are the cellars that once joined the Guest House and had a doorway leading under the roadway to where the Gibney boot repairing shop was, linking up their cellars with the West door of the Priory Church. The inn was in 1848, as also in 1873, called the "Golden Lion Museum." Its landlord was a taxidermist and had a wonderfully valuable collection of birds, animals, insects, etc., to which the public had free access. He also had a select harmonic company on Monday and Saturday evenings. D. Smith was the proprietor at this time, I am sorry to say the old cellars have been filled in without a photographic record being taken.

Coming now to the site of the Gibney on the east side of the Bull Ring, I find the old cellars reached to the Priory Church door. This door with its fine archway leading to the Cathedral was destroyed in the middle of the 18th century by a woman who built the inn called the "Spotted Dog." Evidently no building stood there up to that time. After the arch had been destroyed the Corporation of that day demanded she should re-build it, but that was never carried out.