Coach and Horses, 39 Much Park Street
| These premises have been known by different names during their history: | FROM | TO | NAME |
| 1684 | ? | Black Bear Inn | |
| c1706 | 1780 | Half Moon and Seven Stars | |
| 1781 | 1839 | Coach and Horses | |
| 1839 | 1841 | Old Coach and Horses | |
| 1841 | 1924 | Coach and Horses | |
The Coach and Horses is highlighted, two doors to the right of Whitefriars' Gate in Much Park Street, pictured here for the Godiva Procession of 1907. To the left of the old gatehouse is the Rose Inn.
Until 1780 this had been the HALF MOON AND SEVEN STARS, until sale was forced by the bankruptcy of Benjamin Lapworth, who appeared to use it only as a dwelling house from 1780 to '81, after which the pub was put up for sale. In October 1781 it became the COACH AND HORSES.
For a short time between 1839 and 1841, while Henry Bird held the license, the pub was known as the OLD COACH AND HORSES, reverting soon after to COACH AND HORSES.
In 1924 the annual licensing sessions meeting reported a significant increase in drunkenness in Coventry, leading to the decision that two pubs - the Coach and Horses and the Bowling Green in Harnall Lane - should have their licence renewals rejected on the grounds of pub redundancy. When the Compensation Authority met on the 5th September 1924, the Bowling Green was given a reprieve. However, the Coach and Horses licence was refused, and compensation was agreed at £2,000 in December.
In March 1925 Coventry Corporation discussed the problem of overcrowding in the city, suggesting the provision of municipal lodging houses. Subsequently this pub became the Coach and Horses Lodging House. It survived the Second World War but in late October 1960 the order for demolition was given to make way for the building of the Inner Ring Road.This was a common pub name since the seventeenth century. It indicates a stopping place for Hackney carriages and later stage-coaches and was an indication of the growth of traffic on the roads. | |||
LICENSEES:? Elizabeth Ratliff 1793 Cleophas Ratliff 1822 - 1823 H. Ryley 1828 Elizabeth Ryley 1835 William Ryley 1833 Mr. Barnes 1838 - 1839 Mrs. Barnes 1839 - 1841 Henry Bird (renamed Old Coach and Horses) 1847 George Johnson 1847 - 1850 William Oakes 1861 - 1874 Benjamin Smart, a tailor 1879 Henry Jennings 1881 Mary Russell 1886 R. Suddaby 1890 - 1896 J. Lynch 1903 G. W. Shutt 1905 F. Collyer 1909 G. Kirk 1911 - 1913 Frank J. W. Sketchley 1919 - 1922 Charles Twigger 1924 P. J. Cleverley | |||
OWNERS:1793 Richard (I) Hopkins | |||
 Street plan of 1851 | |||
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