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 began as a beerhouse run by Thomas Stringer, but on the 1st October 1840, after receiving excellent testimonials as to character and conduct, Thomas was granted a full victuallers license. The pub remained a cottage premises for over a century, becoming Flowers owned 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 - 1850 Thomas Stringer 1850 - 1860 William Sidwell (died Sep 1860) 1860 - 1861 Elizabeth Sidwell (widow of William) 1868 - 1874 William Gilbert 1876 - 1880 Elizabeth Gilbert 1888 - 1904 Robert Dalton (died 14th Mar 1909) 1904 - 1924 William Thomas Cooper 1926 - 1940 F. H. Rider to 1951 Edith A. Rider 1951 c1955 John Kerr c1955 - 1964 Horace William Talbot 1984 Dave Radburn c1990 - 1996 James Miekle | |||
OWNERS:1931 - 1940 Flowers 1984 Whitbread | |||