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

Drinking in an Old English Town

Hertford Tavern, 20 Hertford Place

Alternative Addresses:	1 Junction Street
These premises have been known by different names during their history:	FROM	TO	NAME
	1840	1850	Hertford Arms
	1850	1868	Beerhouse
	1868	1960	Hertford Arms
	1960	1986	Hertford Tavern
In 1840 an inquest took place at the Hertford Arms, while in 1850 it was listed as the BEERHOUSE, Hertford Place. For many years it was called the Hertford Arms, but when Cyril Bowns took over the pub on the 7th September 1960 he examined the deeds for its transfer from from Ind Coope to Ansell's, and corrected the name to HERTFORD TAVERN. The pub was rebuilt in 1939, and its cellar was found to be of 'great age'. In 1962 the surrounding houses had been demolished to make way for the Butts Radial Spur and redevelopment. Yet the pub remained until 1986 when Ansell's, having spent a fortune on the lounge of the nearby Hen and Chickens, decided that the Hertford was redundant. It later, ironically, became a marriage guidance counselling centre. Did the name come from the Earls of Hertford?
LICENSEES: 1871 - 1874 C. Felix Testot (Tester) 1879 Mrs Lucy Testot 1881 C. F. Testot 1893 Eliza Phillips 1894 - 1905 J. G. Oldfield 1909 - 1924 James Oldham 1926 - 1927 F. Ward 1929 - 1936 W. E. Thornton 1937 - 1958 D. Cooke 1960 - 1962 Cyril Bowns (see also Swanswell Tavern, Swanswell Street) 1985 Paddy Swift 1985 Paddy J. Carey (of Carey's club), builder and glazier.
OWNERS: ? Ind Coope ? Ansells