The Definitive Guide to the History of
Pubs and Beerhouses in Coventry

Drinking in an Old English Town

Blackamoors Head, Derby Lane

These premises have been known by different names during their history:	FROM	TO	NAME
	1762	1859	Blackamoors Head
	1859	1868	Derby Arms
	?	?	Barley Mow
The word Blackamoor appeared in the sixteenth century and simply meant 'a black Moor', a black person. The sign was extremely common in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries for coffee houses as well as taverns. The reference was usually to the personal servant of a rich person. Black page boys were highly fashionable and must have been distinctive figures dressed in brightly coloured liveries as they inevitably were. A Coventry Times article in December 1886, discussing the newly published portfolio of artist G. W. Webster, tells us that "No. 7 is a drawing of the "old Blackamoor's Head," in Derby-lane, in its present ruinous condition, and as this hostelry once possessed a history peculiar to itself, and as it is about to be demolished, its production will be the more acceptable." Its demolition, of course, was to make way for the Gulson Library. The image on the left is scanned from an original. The pub adjoined the old Coventry Gaol, and in 1762 seven deserters from the army, who were confined to the dungeon belonging to the gaol, effected an escape by tunnelling under the wall and making their way through the Blackamoors Head. In the early nineteenth century the pub was run by Thomas Haywood. The pub was popular because of the quality of the home brewed beer it sold, and although he took large amounts of cash, Haywood never did any banking. He didn't need to. He was such a huge brute of a man that there was never any fear of him being robbed. He was nicknamed the 'Russian Bear'. His patrons were too scared to poke the fire and on the rare occasion that someone did break the rule, they were ejected by the scruff of the neck. Incidentally, in the mid 1700s there was also a Blackamoor's Head in Derby. Coincidence? By 1859 the pub had changed name to the Derby Arms.
LICENSEES: 1822 - 1823 Thomas Haywood 1842 Mr. Jephcotte
Street plan of 1851