Rose, 172 Lockhurst Lane, Foleshill
| These premises have been known by different names during their history: | FROM | TO | NAME |
| 1841 | BEERHOUSE | ||
| 1841 | 1997 | ROSE INN | |
| 1997 | 2004 | LOCKHURST TAVERN | |
This pub has stood on Lockhurst Lane, Foleshill, since around 1841 when it first appeared in Pigot's Directory and the census of that year. At this time it was a simple beerhouse, so it is safe to assume that it opened soon after the passing of the Beerhouse Act of 1830. It was owned by Thomas Stringer and remained in the same cottage premises for over a century, becoming a Flowers owned pub along the way.
In 1964, the new Rose Inn opened at the rear of the old one, which was knocked down. The new version was a rather nondescript glass and concrete structure. George Demidowicz, in his Buildings of Coventry (2003) says that 'The city's only interesting post-war pub, until Browns, was the modernist 'The Rose' (architects Yorke, Harper & Harvey 1964). Apparently in the Frank Lloyd Wright tradition, its plan is a stylized rose'.
Mr. Demidowicz is right to say 'apparently' as any affinity to a rose would only have been discernible from above, and then with difficulty, whilst the reference to Frank Lloyd Wright is presumably because the pub had a low elevation. I like Chris Arnott's comment in 1984 that 'when viewed from the air it looks like a rose. At ground level.... it looks like the control tower of a small airport'.
Although the original building lasted more than a century, the new Rose became distinctly tatty after 20 years. It underwent a name change to the Lockhurst Tavern in later years and was demolished in 2008 after just 40 years, leaving an empty space on Lockhurst Lane.This is by far the most popular flower mentioned in pub names. It is a national heraldic symbol. | |||
LICENSEES:1840 - 1845 Thomas Stringer 1850 William Sidwell 1861 Elizabeth Sidwell 1868 - 1874 William Gilbert 1876 - 1880 Mrs. Elizabeth Gilbert 1888 - 1903 Robert Dalton 1905 - 1924 William T. Cooper 1926 - 1940 F. H. Rider to c1955 John Kerr c1955 - 1964 Horace William Talbot 1984 Dave Radburn c1990 - 1996 James Miekle | |||
OWNERS:1931 - 1940 Flowers 1984 Whitbread | |||