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

Drinking in an Old English Town

Criterion Vaults, 52-53 Cross Cheaping

These premises have been known by different names during their history:	FROM	TO	NAME
	1812	1866	WINE AND SPIRIT VAULTS
	1866	1880	GRAPES
	1880	1910	CRITERION
Cross Cheaping 1892. The Criterion can be seen on the right. Previously the GRAPES. Was this below a Criterion Theatre? In 1888 William Preston, a customer at the Criterion, attempted to committ suicide by adding rat poison to his own beer. Surely it can't have been that bad! In 1897 the property was purchased by Ratliff's from Mary Elizabeth Howe Hyde. After their take-over Phillips and Marriotts valued it at £3,000. After being declared redundant in May 1909, the pub finally closed its doors on the 21st January 1910, and the Compensation Authority awarded compensation of £500 to the owner and £250 to the tenant. Phillips and Marriott sold the building for £3,900.
LICENSEES: 1880 - 1881 Margaret Elizabeth Andrews 1885 Henry William Thomas 1885 - 1886 William Allen Taylor 1887 James Sherrad 1889 - 1891 Joseph Thorley 1891 William Mullock 1891 - 1896 C. H. Webb 1898 - 1905 Walter Raven 1905 - 1909 Daniel Fisher
OWNERS: 1885 - 1897 Mary Elizabeth Howe Hyde 1897 - 1899 Ratliff's 1899 Phillips & Marriott
Street plan of 1851