About
Co-founder of Our Town Story. If you have any questions about the site, or wish to provide feedback, please visit the Admin forum and post in the appropriate place - we'll do our best to help you out as quickly as we can!
We really want Our Town Story to be an album for your old photos, to fill in the gaps in the history books of our villages, towns and cities. We would also love for those pictures to be able to help others - for instance by using reminiscence therapy in treating dementia .
We're still a work in progress, and we appreciate all suggestions and observations!
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Gallery: Warwickshire Miscellaneous
Image Details
This engraving of the early 1800s shows a view from the Priory Mill Dam looking towards the Cathedral in Coventry. The spire on the left is that of the then Cathedral, whilst the one on the right is that of Holy Trinity Church, just a few hundred yards away.
The idyllic pool and mill site portrayed in the picture rarely received glowing reviews from inspectors, often because of the poor hygiene of the pool created by the dam. Its parlous state was highlighted in reports in both 1831 and 1841.
The mill was pulled down between 1847 and 1848, and replaced by what is now Hales Street and the Smithfield cattle market. Later, a pub stood on the site, known as the Smithfield Hotel, which was in turn pulled down in 2010 as part of the Phoenix project. It is now a garden, and despite considerable wartime destruction and subsequent reinvention, both spires can still be seen from the spot.
The engraving is by Rawle, from a drawing by JC Smith, and is known to be in existence in 1814.
Hint: Drag the orange pegman to see the Streetview image...
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