Strange and Interesting Facts about Hillfields

• In 1328 Land and Rents at Harnall were granted to the Hospital of St. John the Baptist by Nicholas Crump. This is the first mention of this area of the city.
• In 1619 John Johnson, who had poisoned five of his fellow inmates at Bond's Hospital, committed suicide after bring found out and was then buried on the Leicester Highway (now Stoney Stanton Road) with a stake through his heart.
• In 1768 Coventry Canal was constructed through the district of Harnall
• In 1828 construction work began in the fields between Swanswell Pool and Primrose Hill and "Newtown" was founded, which later became known as Hillfields..
• In 1849 many people in Hillfields died in a Cholera epidemic in the district. It is said that at the time there was only one drain in the area - in St. Peter's Street. In the same year Hillfields got its first gas street lamp.
• In 1852 there were weekly performances of the Equestrian Circus in White Street.
• In 1852 an inquest was held in the Swanswell Tavern on an unknown newborn infant who had been found sewn up in a sheet in the River Arthur, running between Swanswell Pool and Swanswell Street.
• In 1854 a steam flour mill, called the City Mill, was erected near Swanswell Pool.  At the official opening 14 men climbed to the top of the 200 ft. chimney and had lunch there.
• In June 1856 an inquest was held at the Elephant and Castle PH on John Medley, aged 3 years, who had died after being run over by a coal wagon.
• In 1857 a footrace for a wager of £5 was run over a distance of 120 yards on the Stoney Stanton Road between Tom Drakeford and Dick Richards, the former winning by 5 yards.
• In 1859 the River Arthur was culverted from the Swanswell to where it joined the River Sherbourne at Cox Street.
• In February 1861 a hurricane ripped off the roof of a house in Queen Street. 
• In 1864 there was a smallpox epidemic in the district.
• In January 1865 Henry Marston fell off the roof of his house whilst pointing the chimney. The inquest was held at the Alma Tavern.
• In 1876 the Victoria Skating Rink was opened at the corner of Alma Street and Hood Street.
• On the 18th January 1900 the two new tram lines were opened in the district. One ran along Stoney Stanton Road to Bell Green. The other along Ford Street and Lower Ford Street to Stoke. 
• In 1902 a murder took place at 54 Colchester Street. William Wilkes cut the throat of his four year old son, Stanley and his 8 month old daughter Dorothy and then committed suicide.  
• In 1906 George Poole was elected to represent Harnall Ward and became the first Labour councillor on the City Council.
• In 1918 a concert was held in Primrose Hill Park, the proceeds from which went to the establishment of a club for discharged servicemen.
• In March 1972, Mary Harrington and her nephew had a close escape when there was a gas explosion which destroyed 137 The Chantries.
• In December 1978 millions of gallons of water cascaded through the lower parts of Hillfields when Coventry Canal broke its banks when construction work on a new factory was being undertaken on Foleshill Road.
• In July 1984, tremors from an earthquake were felt in Coventry and bricks from a collapsed chimney cascaded through the roof of a newsagent in Lower Ford Street.
• In 1985 Father Connell Harkin and his housekeeper, Nora Wood, died when a gas explosion shattered the Presbytery of St. Mary's Church, in Raglan Street.
  

This page was last updated 02/04/02