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

Drinking in an Old English Town

Rising Sun, 181 Spon Street

These premises have been known by different names during their history:	FROM	TO	NAME
	1756	1998	Rising Sun
	1896	1983	Rising Sun Hotel
	1998	c2004	Flares
	c2004	2010	Green Room
	2010	2014	Rising Sun
	2014	2016	Suave
	2016	2019	Arabella Shisha Lounge
The pub is said to have existed since 1750 and in 1756 three soldiers were billeted here. In 1774 it was used for auctions and in 1794 it was advertised to let. From 1831 to 1833 it was leased by Charles Rotherham. In 1833 it was owned by Henry Over's Charity and let to Charles Rotherham for 14 years. In 1865 it was owned by Bablake School in Spon Street and leased to John Barnwell for £29 14s 0d per annum. In 1896 Phillips and Marriott bought the pub for £700. In 1899 they valued it at £3,500, including the adjoining shop. The present building replaced a two-storey one that was taken down in January 1896. From then on No. 180 was a shop and the ground floor facade of the building was attractively panelled in wood. The shop became part of the public house in 1957. When Charles Cook reopened the pub in July 1896 it was advertised as the RISING SUN HOTEL. One of its best known landlords was Jimmy Winter, a keep-fit fanatic and member of Godiva Harriers, who was over 6 feet tall but weighed less than 9 stone. He installed a gym upstairs for boxing. Then in the 1980s, Jim Holton was landlord. He had played football for Manchester United, Coventry City and Scotland. A somewhat more impressive physique than Jimmy Winter, Jim was celebrated by the chant from the terraces 'six foot two, eyes of blue, big Jim Holton's after you'. £45,000 was spent on improvements to the pub in 1984. In 1998 the Rising Sun was renamed FLARES with a 70s theme. This included a brightly coloured exterior which did not go down well in medieval Spon Street. Eventually the colour scheme was toned down and by 2004 the pub was called GREEN ROOM. It had reverted to The Rising Sun by 2010 but in 2012 had closed. This is a common heraldic sign referring to Edward III, Richard III and other landed families.
LICENSEES: 1822 - 1829 Isaac Brown 1835 - 1839 Hannah Brown 1838 - 1841 John Humphreys (Married Hannah Brown) 1845 Mrs H. Humphreys 1848 - 1849 John Palmer 1849 - 1851 Thomas Eaves 1861 William Harbourn 1868 T. L. Broomfield 1871 - 1874 James Barr 1879 - 1886 Thomas Statham 1890 - 1891 S. Statham 1894 William Powell 1896 Charles Cook 1900 Matthew Henry Wallis, manager 1902 - 1903 Joseph Smith 1903 Charles Bass, manager 1904 William Skidmore, manager 1905 William Dennis Kingston 1905 D. Gamble 1906 - 1909 William Arthur Humphries 1909 William Bell 1910 - 1913 John William Biggs 1913 - 1922 Mrs. Elizabeth Murfin 1924 - 1926 E. Reynolds 1927 - 1936 James E. Winter 1937 - 1940 Mrs. M. M. Winter 1953 - 1960 and onwards Albert Victor Oliver 1983 - c1988 Jim Holton
OWNERS: 1833 Henry Over's Charity