Entrance to Riley Square from Henley Road, Bell Green

Image: © A J Paxton Taken: 25 Mar 2023

Riley Square is a shopping centre in Bell Green, on the edge of the largest concentration of council housing built in Coventry after 1945. It is also a housing estate, with flats built over the shops. It was constructed between 1957 and 1965 to the designs of the City Architect's Department under Arthur Ling. His team included Wilfred Burns, who advocated 'neighbourhood centres' of 100-150 shops. Riley Square was the only such centre built on this scale in the city. It is named after the local cycle and motor manufacturer William Riley, who is commemorated by a mural Image Four four-storey council housing blocks were erected, straddling the pedestrian entrances to the square on 'pilotis' or pillars, with shops on the ground floor to either side. Facing onto Henley Road, the main entrance to the square, is Joseph Latham House, the shortest of the four blocks. A 17-storey block of flats, Dewis House, also with shops underneath, was built at the centre of the square, and can be seen towering above Joseph Latham House in the photo. For more information see Coventry: The Making of a Modern City 1939-1973, by J Gould & C Gould, published by Historic England in 2016 and available at the Historic England site https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/coventry-making-of-modern-city-1939-73/ . Local people often date the decline of Riley Square to the year 2000, when the branch of Lloyds Bank closed. The square has struggled to compete with more modern suburban shopping malls, superstores and retail parks with better car parking. A redevelopment proposal received planning permission in 2022. It includes the demolition of Joseph Latham House to open up the approach from Henley Road and make the site more welcoming. See this Coventry Telegraph article, which also includes archive photos of Riley Square https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/history/history-riley-square-coventrys-iconic-19304017 .

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