Rainbow, 73 Birmingham Road, Allesley
| These premises have been known by different names during their history: | FROM | TO | NAME |
| 1800 | Old Rainbow | ||
| 1800 | 1802 | Crown | |
| 1802 | Rainbow | ||
This pub is thought to date back to 1680. It is Grade II Listed being described as an early 19th century refronting of an earlier timber structure of c1680 with the framework exposed on the east side. There is some early stonework at the base. It is of one storey with attics and a two storey wing on the right. There is a stone ingle-nook fireplace. Howeber, it seems unlikely that it has been a pub since then. The earliest reference we have to a license here is under the ownership of Samuel Roberts, who died in 1742/3 and who was described as an innkeeper. He sold the house to John Stone. The first use of the name RAINBOW comes in the will of Thomas Wade in 1785. In 1800 the Coventry Mercury advertises the pub in Allesley lately known by the name of the OLD RAINBOW, now the CROWN, being for sale. It is thought to have reverted to the RAINBOW in 1802.
The Birmingham Road was reconstructed as a turnpike between 1825 and 1841 by Thomas Telford. Before that time the road through Allesley was higher and steeper and the old level can be discerned by the fact that stone steps led up to the Rainbow.
The Rainbow is said to have been a meeting place for people engaged in cock-fighting. From 1798 it was owned by the Revd. Thomas Bree of Allesley and the Revd. William Bree of Coleshill. It continued in that family until it was sold to pay death duties in 1949.
Phillips and Marriotts leased the pub from the Brees in the 18th century as their tenancy lapsed on Ladyday 1900. Until the 1950s the bell ringer at All Saints Church got a pancake every Shrove Tuesday from the Rainbow.
In 1977 this was one of the pubs swapped from Mitchells & Butlers to Courage. It was an Atkinsons pub before Mitchells & Butlers.
A brewery was installed in the stables to the rear in 1994 but this ceased brewing c2010. As of 2013 the brewery was reinstated and continues to produce a bitter.
 The Rainbow has been used since the seventeenth century. Its distinctive shape and colours make it a good visual sign, while it may also refer to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. | |||
LICENSEES:18th Century Samuel Roberts 1785 John Rostil 1835 - 1845 Thomas Haywood 1850 Lucy Haywood 1863 - 1868 John Hammerton 1874 - 1892 James Wood c1900 - 1908 Samuel Anthony 1912 - 1929 Oliver Samuel Tatlow 1933 - 1958 Kate Tatlow 1958 - 1960 onwards Harold H. Fane 1968 - 1973 Tom & Elsie Quinney 1973 - 1977 Elsie Quinney 1982 Roger Maynard 2008 Jon Grote 2008 - 2010 Roger, Margaret & Damien Grote | |||
OWNERS:1742 - 1743 Century Samuel Roberts 1742 - 1743 John Stone 1785 Thomas Ward 1785 Thomas Hassall from 1798 Revd. Thomas Bree of Allesley & Revd. William Bree of Coleshill to 1949 Bree family 1960 Atkinsons to 1977 Mitchells & Butler from 1977 Courage 2010 Enterprise Inns | |||
| Previous page: Railway Refreshment Rooms | This page: Rainbow | Next page: Rainbow |