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Upper Spon Street, COVENTRY, CV1 3BQ

Detail of the Weaver's House, 121 Upper Spon Street, viewed from the courtyard at the rear. The house is one of a row of five built in the 15th century, which have survived war and redevelopment and stand in an otherwise mainly modern district of Coventry just beyond the inner ring road to the west of the city centre. The Weaver's House has been restored as a museum recreating the house of John Croke, a weaver who is known to have lived and worked there around 1540. Behind the house a garden has been planted demonstrating plants that were grown as food and for medicinal and household use. https://theweavershouse.org/ The plant that can be seen here is fuller's teazle, the spiny heads of which were drawn across the cloth by weavers to raise the nap, which was then trimmed with shears to ensure an even finish. William Langland wrote in the 14th century that cloth " …Is not comely to wear / Till it be fulled under fote, or in fulling stocks / Washen well with water, and with teasels scratched / Towked and teynted, and under talour’s hands." (Quoted by Mary Chisholm here https://www.exploringbuildinghistory.co.uk/the-teasel-in-the-english-woollen-cloth-industry/ ) A carving of a teazle head can be seen on one of the columns of the buildings of Coventry Precinct facing on to Broadgate, a symbol of the historic cloth trade of the city.

The Weaver's House is here seen open to the public on the heritage weekend in September 2019. On the left, with the door open, is the Visitor Centre, no. 121 Upper Spon Street. To its right, and with its timber framing exposed, is no. 123, the house that has been restored to show how John Croke, a Coventry narrow-loom weaver, and his family might have lived and worked around 1540. The five houses in this row, known as Black Swan Terrace, were built in the 15th century and were rescued from dereliction at the turn of the 21st by the Spon End Building Preservation Trust. Of the five, no. 122 had the most medieval work surviving, and in places where it could be seen by visitors, which made it the most suitable to be converted into a museum and the least to be used for any other modern purpose. No. 121 was much altered in the 18th century, so was restored in the style of this period. It is used for activities such as welcoming and orienting visitors and for the weavers' craft workshop, as there is relatively little space in its neighbour. https://theweavershouse.org/

Part of the range of buildings now known as The Weaver's House. Later alterations, mainly 19th century, conceal the fact that the range is timber framed and has recently been tree-ring dated to 1453-5; Listed Grade II*. The painted advert has been retained as part of the early 21st century restoration. For a full description of the various buildings in the row, see https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/506448 .

This range of houses, 119-123 Upper Swan Street, is a rare survival of medieval Spon End. It escaped the attentions of Donald Gibson and his successor as city architect Arthur Ling, who oversaw the redevelopment of the district in the 1950s and 1960s. It also survived subsequent city council initiatives to dismantle historic timber-framed buildings (destroying much of their fabric and context in the process) and re-erect them in the preserved, heritage section of Spon Street on the other side of the ring road in the city centre. These five houses were listed Grade II* in 1991. N W Alcock described them as late medieval, probably 15th century. They belonged to Coventry Priory and later to the Mercer's Guild of Coventry. In the 19th century one house was a pub, the Black Swan, which has given its name to the row. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1226523 At the time of listing the houses belonged to the city council and were derelict. The Spon End Building Preservation Trust was formed in 1993 to restore them and by 2007 had completed this project. https://theweavershouse.org/restoring-black-swan-terrace/ No. 121 has been restored as a weaver's house as it might have appeared c1540 and can be visited on open days. https://theweavershouse.org/ According to the Weaver's House website the houses were built in 1455 by Coventry Priory for rent. https://theweavershouse.org/history-of-black-swan-terrace/

Known collectively as The Weaver's House, although this properly refers to no.122 with the exposed timber framing. The range retains much of the original mid-15th century timber frame, but is an excellent example of how individual premises were adapted over the centuries. The range shows adaptations from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, and was restored in the early 21st century. Listed Grade II* as a single entity. For a full description of the individual buildings, see https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/506448

The house with the timber beams and brick foundation dates from 1455, and has been restored to its original state. The large windows were necessary for the weaver to have good light on his loom, and similar features are found in buildings of all ages in Coventry. It is open to visitors. https://theweavershouse.org/ has more details.

This range of houses, 119-123 Upper Spon Street, is a rare survival of medieval Spon End. These five houses were listed Grade II* in 1991. N W Alcock described them as late medieval, probably 15th century. They belonged to Coventry Priory and later to the Mercer's Guild of Coventry. In the 19th century one house was a pub, the Black Swan, which has given its name to the row. For more information see Image

A careless time traveller has left a 21st century coffee cup in the home of John Croke, weaver of Spon End, Coventry, some time around 1540. This still life was photographed at the Weaver's House during the Heritage Open Days in 2018. For more on the Weaver's House see Image Next to the anachronistic coffee cup can be seen a rushlight in its holder. Gertrude Jekyll, writing in 1904, describes the rushlight as follows: "Till well into the third or fourth decade of the nineteenth century, many labouring families could afford nothing better than the rush-lights that they made at home, and this, excepting fire-light, had been their one means of lighting for all the preceding generations. In the summer, when the common rushes of marshy ground were at their full growth, they were collected by women and children. The rush is of very simple structure, white pith inside and a skin of tough green peel. The rushes were peeled, all but a narrow strip, which was left to strengthen the pith, and were hung up in bunches to dry. Fat of any kind was collected, though fat from salted meat was avoided if possible. It was melted in boat-shaped grease-pans that stood on their three short legs in the hot ashes in front of the fire. They were of cast-iron, made on purpose. The bunches, each of about a dozen peeled rushes, were drawn through the grease and then put aside to dry. An old cottage friend told me all about it, and though she ninety years of age, yet, when next I want to see her, she had gone out and found some rushes to show me how it was done. 'You peels away the rind from the peth, leaving only a little strip of rind. And when the rushes is dry you dips 'em through the grease, keeping 'em well under. And my "mother she always laid hers to dry in a bit of hollow bark. Mutton fat's the best; it dries hardest." See Gertrude Jekyll, Old West Surrey: Some Notes and Memories (1904), quoted at The Victorian Web https://victorianweb.org/technology/domestic/1.html .

The Weaver's House is a 15th century house, one of a row of five, which has been restored to suggest how the weaver John Croke and his family might have lived around 1540. The garden behind it displays plants that were grown for food, flavouring, medicine and household use. https://theweavershouse.org/ The Wyken Pippin, seen here trained up a south-facing wall, belongs to a later era. It is a traditional Warwickshire apple cultivar, named after the village of Wyken, now a suburb of Coventry. It is believed to derive from a tree that grew there in the 18th century, which may have been grown from a seed or seedling brought from the Low Countries. Laxton's Superb, a popular modern variety, was bred from it. http://www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?varid=6934& Wyken Pippin apples grown at Hill Close, Warwick, can be seen in this geograph https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6845217

Row of late medieval cottages, dating originally from 1455, but with various alterations since. In the 16th Century it was owned by the Mercers' Guild. The right hand end, now no 123, was from the early 18th Century the Black Swan Inn, until closure in 1905. Although in various uses over the years, both residential and commercial, with links to many of the historic Coventry trades, the buildings fell into decay, and were condemned in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Eventually responsibility for passed to a Trust, the Spon End Building Preservation Trust, who in the early 2000s restored them to their present well preserved state. In particular the building in the centre has been restored as a weaver's house from the 16th Century and is regularly open for tours, visits and demonstrations. See https://theweavershouse.org/ for the Trust's website. The whole range is grade II* listed - see www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1226523.