Former Ribbon Factory, New Buildings, Coventry

Image: © A J Paxton Taken: 18 Sep 2021

This structure was built in the mid 19th century as a ribbon-weaving factory, one of the first in the city, and represents the shift in the silk-weaving trade from cottage industry to the factory system. A house adjoins it, off to the left of this photo, which may have functioned as a manager's house or as offices. In the later 19th century the building became the drill room and armoury of the Coventry Rifle Volunteers. It became a listed building in 1990; see the entry in Historic England https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1265695 for more information. Older Coventry people remember the Exchange & Mart store, a popular second hand shop which occupied the ground floor in the later 20th century. The building was restored and converted into a restaurant with apartments over as part of the Priory Place redevelopment around the turn of the century. It can be seen in its pre-restored state in this geograph Image

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