The Gregory obelisk, blacksmith's house and forge, Stivichall Croft

Image: © Robin Stott Taken: 4 Dec 2012

The inscription (facing the road) reads: This green / with the adjoining hamlet of Stivichall / was presented to the City of Coventry / in 1932 / by Major Charles Hugh Gregory-Hood / in memory of the Gregory family / who were owners of the Manor of / Stivichall / for over 400 years In the 1920s Coventry was expanding fast as a manufacturing centre but the picturesque hamlet of Stivichall somehow survived 20th-century intrusions. This view shows the former blacksmith's house, left, and the former forge, right. Coventry History Centre has a photo of a horse being led to the forge to be shod. There was widespread regret when the Gregory family started building houses on their land in 1928. To preserve this relic of bygone Warwickshire the Corporation bought nine and a half acres and the Major, with some encouragement, gave a further one and a quarter acres – on condition that the gift was marked by a stone. It was erected in the winter of 1932-33, of pink sandstone, at a cost of about £88. See also SP3276 : Monument near Coat of Arms bridge and SP3276 : Coat of Arms Bridge Road. Shortly afterwards an almost identical obelisk was erected to the memory of the Conservators of the Stoke Commons, by the Binley Road in SP3578: Image This photo appears in a forthcoming book about Warwickshire's obelisks by the Warwickshire Gardens Trust.

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