IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Priory Court, Albany Road, COVENTRY, CV5 6PX

Earlsdon 2000 Heritage Trail Earlsdon Library Inscription: Ancient pathway to the fields of 'Elsdon' One of a series of twenty heritage trail plaques in this historical district of Coventry. Instigated by the local historian Mary Montes

Library opened in 1913 funded by the Carnegie Foundation set up by the Scottish-American steel magnate, Andrew Carnegie. It was designed by the Coventry City Surveyor, J E Swindlehurst. Since 2008 the library has been operated by a charity as a combined community centre and library. Locally listed.

A plaque on the adjacent library wall describes this as an old track way that went to Elsdon Fields. It is now part of a local heritage walk in the area.

This is the site of one of a series of twenty "Heritage Trail" plaques in this historical district of Coventry. This project was instigated by the local historian Mary Montes in the early 21st C. Plaque Inscription: Ancient pathway to the fields of 'Elsdon' A close up of the plaque can be seen here Image

Earlsdon Library opened in 1913, having been constructed with money given to the City Council by the charitable foundation established by the Scottish-American steel magnate and 'self-made man' Andrew Carnegie. The grand entrance portal to what is otherwise a fairly simple building symbolises Carnegie's belief in reading and education as the gateway to self-improvement. The library building and its neighbours by the Earlsdon roundabout road junction, the Methodist church and the Co-op store, form a kind of triptych expressing an ethic of self-help and mutual aid that was characteristic of what was, in the early 20th century, a 'respectable' artisan district of Coventry. The trio is, however, counterbalanced by the presence on the fourth corner of the City Arms public house, giving rise to a local saying about 'Salvation, Education, Co-operation... and Damnation.' Threatened with closure by the City Council, the library was rescued by volunteers, who formed a charity in 2019. https://earlsdonlibrary.org.uk/about-us/

c.turn of the 19th/20th Centuries housing, first shown on the 1906 25 inch map.

One of three Carnegie libraries in Coventry; the others are on Broad Street in Foleshill and on Walsgrave Road in Stoke. Carnegie libraries were built with money given by the Scottish-American business magnate Andrew Carnegie; over 2000 were constructed between 1886 and 1929, 660 of them in Britain & Ireland. The libraries were an expression of his belief in self-help and were deliberately built in prominent public places, typically with a grand entrance with steps, symbolising the raising up of the reader through learning, and usually with a lamp, symbol of enlightenment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_library The city of Coventry approached Carnegie and his foundation in 1910 for funding to build three branch libraries, and was awarded £10000, on condition the city provided the land and an additional rate (tax) to cover their running costs. https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/20370/req00916 The Coventry libraries are built in red brick with sandstone dressings in a baroque style. They are all still in use as libraries, although Earlsdon, which opened in 1913, was threatened with closure by the City Council and was rescued by volunteers, who formed a charity in 2019. https://earlsdonlibrary.org.uk/about-us/

Methodist church in Albany Road by the roundabout with Earlsdon Street and Earsldon Avenues South and North. Originally designed in 1909 by Birmingham architects Crouch, Butler & Savage, it was not completed until 1922, opening in 1923. It replaced an earlier building in Berkeley Road South, now housing the Criterion Theatre - see Image

Built in 1912, one of three libraries in the City by Andrew Carnegie.