Present-day Earlsdon is one of the more diverse and affluent suburbs of Coventry. Its core area was laid out in the 1850s allowing better-off working people, especially watchmakers, to move their families and businesses away from poor conditions inside the city.
A local farmer and butcher, John Moore, had built a farmhouse in 1830 off what is now Moor Street. The 31-acre estate was sold to the Coventry Freehold Land Society in 1852. The Society laid out eight streets – Cromwell Street (renamed Berkeley Road South), Earlsdon Street, Moor Street, Arden Street, Warwick Street, Clarendon Street, Providence Street and Earlsdon Terrace, providing 250 self-build plots, each being supplied with water, as well as drainage for waste and rainwater. The Society hoped to sell the plots to members, who would then take out a mortgage and commission a builder to design and erect a house.
For each of these eight streets, the Earlsdon Research Group is documenting how the streets grew, from farmland in the early 19th century to their current state. Combining census records, photographs, maps and personal histories, these carefully researched documents present a fascinating picture of change and renewal. As each ‘street story’ is completed it will be made available via the download link shown below:
The ‘street story’ for Earlsdon Street is currently in preparation. Meanwhile, John Purcell and David Storey reflect upon the shifting character of the street through the 20th and into the 21st century as social and economic forces bring change in their wake. Click here to download this update.
Earlsdon Research Group 