Saracens Head, Longford Road
| These premises have been known by different names during their history: | FROM | TO | NAME |
| 1765 | 1876 | SARACENS HEAD INN | |
| 1876 | 1924 | BEERHOUSE | |
| 1879 | 1922 | OLD SARACENS HEAD | |
| 1922 | c2000 | SARACENS HEAD | |
The Saracens Head and Coach and Horses stood alongside each other in the centre of Longford. Longford Wake was held outside the Saracens. In front of the Saracens Head was the 'cheap jack' selling china, cutlery and jewellery from Birmingham and other fancy goods.
In 1765 the Saracens head was used for auctions.
From 1876 to 1921 and in 1924 it was the BEERHOUSE, Longford.
In 1983 Manns brewery spent £60,000 on a renovation that included regency shop windows on the inside walls of the bar. It is now a Chinese restaurant.
Research by 'philex31' on the Historic Coventry Forum would suggest that the Sephtons and their extended family had connections with many of the pubs in the Longford area: Boat (Blackhorse Road), Boat (Grange Road), Greyhound, Elephant and Castle, Miners Arms, Bird In Hand, Green Man, Old Crown (Windmill Road), New Inn, Saracens Head, Coach and Horses, Engine. Also, away from Longford were the Park Gate Hotel and the New Inn (Stockingford). The majority of the Coventry Sephtons appear to be descended from James Sephton, a canal boatbuilder, who arrived in the Hawkesbury area c1805 from Shardlow in Derbyshire.
Somewhat at odds with this boozy background, other family members operated temperance hotels in the city centre (The Victoria, Warwick Row and The Priory, Bayley Lane).To the Greek and Romans a Saracen was a nomad of the Arabian desert. The word came to mean 'Arab' and then Moslem, especially with regard to the Crusades. Noble families whose members had taken part in the Crusades might include a Saracen's head as part of their arms. | |||
LICENSEES:1830 - 1850 George Hastelow Pickard 1851 John Clarke, licensed victualler at the Saracens Head, Little Beaton 1859 Alexander Daniels 1859 - 1864 John Orton, carpenter at the Saracens Head, Little Beaton, Foleshill 1864 Richard Young Teasdale 1863 - 1871 John Smith & boot & shoe maker 1874 Joseph Hammersley 1876 - 1924 this is listed as the BEERHOUSE, Longford 1876 William Marples 1921 - 1922 S. Mason 1929 - 1940 Arthur Sephton (see notes) c1949 - 1961 Jack Sephton Staley 1961 - 1962 and onwards Arthur Sephton Staley 1985 Frank Roden | |||
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