Former General Wolfe public house, Foleshill Road, Coventry

Image: © A J Paxton Taken: 11 Sep 2021

This building is a former public house standing at 551 Foleshill Road, at the corner with Station Road West. There has been a pub here since at least 1793. The present structure dates from around 1900 and exhibits an ornate Renaissance style executed in red brick and terracotta. It resembles Birmingham pubs more than Coventry ones, particularly those of James & Lister Lea, who may have designed it, though the architect is unknown. See the Heritage Gateway site, which quotes the City of Coventry Local List of Buildings and another City Council publication, A Survey of Public Art in Coventry, 1980, p.22 https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCT317&resourceID=1029 . General Wolfe defeated the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec City in 1759, which proved decisive in winning Canada for Britain. Both he and the French commander Montcalm died of wounds received in the fighting. The pub was known as a rock and roll venue. It closed in 2011 and the building has since been used as a restaurant. See also the Historic Coventry site of Rob Orland https://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/cph/main/pub.php?pg=general_wolfe . At the time of writing and photographing the building was disused.

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