The Weaver's House

Category: News

  • A busy September rounds off 2024’s Open Days

    A busy September rounds off 2024’s Open Days

    The Weaver’s House volunteers have had a busy month taking part in an off-site event at Fargo Village in the form of the River Festival 2024 and an on-site event with Heritage Open Days.

    The River Festival included guided walks, theatre, music and more and The Weaver’s House were joined by The Weavers’ Workshop and the Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, to represent the link to the River Sherbourne and the traditional textile industries.

    The river itself runs very close to The Weaver’s House house itself and can be seen just a few minutes’ walk away where it flows under the Spon Bridge at the top of Upper Spon Street. Which brings us to the theme of Heritage Open Days which for 2024 was ‘Routes’, appropriate for the little house which stands on one of the most historic streets in Coventry, a route into the city for hundreds of years, even though it is now cut in two by the ring road. Heritage Open Days was the final public opening this year and saw a steady stream of visitors enjoying cake, history and some sunshine!

  • Celebrate the River Sherbourne at River Festival 2024

    Celebrate the River Sherbourne at River Festival 2024

    The Weaver’s House will be represented at this year’s River Festival with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust which takes place at Fargo Village for the weekend of 7th and 8th September. Weaver’s House volunteers will be there on Sunday 8th September.

    Join in with this year’s River Festival which will include guided walks, theatre, music and more. The Weaver’s House will be joining in the fun on Sunday, to represent the link to the River Sherbourne and the traditional textile industries.

    The river itself runs very close to the house itself and can be seen just a few minutes walk away where it flows under the Spon Bridge.

    a shallow and short stretch of water that runs under the Spon Bridge
    A glimpse of the River Sherbourne which would have been used by former residents of The Weaver’s House.

    The festival is FREE and you can book your ticket via Eventbrite, here.

  • Update to August Open Day re musical performance

    Update to August Open Day re musical performance



    Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control, the planned performance by the Sherbourne String Quartet will not go ahead next Saturday. We look forward to welcoming the group to one of our Open Days in 2025, and are sorry for any disappointment.

    The rest of the Open Day will take place as usual with tours and refreshments. The last Open Day this year to visit the upper room containing the loom, as this room will not be open for Heritage Open Days.

  • Medieval Music in the Garden at August Open Day

    Medieval Music in the Garden at August Open Day




    The next Open Day is Saturday 10th August (10am – 4pm) when the Sherbourne String Quartet will be playing a selection of medieval and baroque music at various points throughout the day.  The group’s performance will be alternated with Weaver’s House trustee Jennifer Waters playing music of the period on the recorder. This will be the final chance this year to see the ‘solar’ the upstairs part of the house containing the replica loom.

    UPDATE: 3 August – the musical element of this Open Day has been postponed.

  • Coventry Collection on show at The Weaver’s House

    Coventry Collection on show at The Weaver’s House

    Our July Open Day saw an exciting new venture for us, for the first time ever we used the upper floor in the Visitor Centre for a temporary display of items, as Scott Duffin showcased his Coventry Collection. We have previously used the ground floor area, the garden and the Weaver’s House itself for various exhibitions including Spon Spun Arts & Heritage Trail, these wonderful patchworks, and art exhibits from Coventry Biennial. However this was the first time we had used the space which was previously our office, which was transformed into a mini-museum.

    The display included a loan of items from shoe shop Charles Ager (pictured below) alongside Scott’s personal collection of Coventry-related objects such as bottles made in the city and unique pieces such as mouldings from Edgewick Swimming Pool.

    And what a fantastic exhibition it was! Here are a few photographs.

    Of special interest for us was this sign from a Coventry Court.

    Not just any Coventry Court. This was the sign that belonged to the Court behind The Weaver’s House. It felt like it had used a homing instinct to make its way back!

    We were also delighted that Scott was able to bring an archive collection from Charles Ager, the footwear retailer, and a Coventry business since 1840. Their shop is located about ten minutes from The Weaver’s House, on Corporation Street.

    We had an extremely busy Open Day, the sun shone, and although we had some reduction in space in the garden due to our building works, we were still able to offer our homemade cakes thanks to a careful re-siting of the refreshments. We were delighted to be join by the Sketch Coventry group. You can see some of the artwork here.

    A huge thank you to all involved for making this memorable day happen!

  • Cleaner Required

    Cleaner Required

    We are looking for a cleaner for a few hours a week:

    Role and Responsibilities

    • To work for the Spon End Building Preservation Trust and provide 3 hours cleaning per week.
    • To provide cleaning services for communal areas of offices, kitchenettes and toilets. 
    • To monitor stock levels of cleaning products and consumables and request restocking via the administrator.
    • To have personal liability insurance cover.
    • The hours should be worked consecutively and at a regular time each week. Subject to negotiation with the Trust.
    • Reference required

    If you are interested, please contact the trust via info @theweavershouse.org (please delete the space before the @ when emailing, we avoid using the full email address as we end up with spam.)

  • Our new project is underway

    Our new project is underway

    If you’ve been following along with our story, you’ll know that last year we embarked on a new endeavour to tell the story of a different aspect of the site. If you missed that update, you can catch up here.

    We are currently transforming the area which has previously been unused, to reflect its previous incarnation as a ‘Coventry Court’ by marking out the area in bricks.

    This does mean we have a large number of bricks being stored on site! So if you are visiting us in July the top area of the garden will be out of bounds. The rest of site including the house itself, lower garden, toilets and the Visitor Centre including the display kindly provided by Scott Duffin, will all be accessible. We’ll still be providing our homemade cakes and tea and coffee.

  • Scott brings treasures to our July Open Day

    Scott brings treasures to our July Open Day

    Coventry resident Scott Duffin has a passion for the city and its history. Local heritage fans will be familiar with Scott from his guided walks, social media history facts and the book Elephants of Coventry as well as his enthusiasm for collecting Coventry related objects.

    Scott has also amassed a considerable ‘Coventry Collection’ of all kinds of items and paraphernalia relating to the city. We are delighted that he will be joining us for our Open Day on Saturday 13th July to bring a selection of objects to display.

    Scott’s Coventry treasures will be on show on the upper floor of the Visitor Centre at 122 Upper Spon Street (next to The Weaver’s House) from 10am until 4pm. The house and garden area will also be open with refreshments available.

    Admission is free. Please note the stairs to the upper floor are steep.

  • Walk across the West Midlands

    Walk across the West Midlands

    Walk Midlands creator Josh Allen is currently writing a book about walking across the West Midlands county, from Binley Woods on the eastern edge of Coventry, to Moseley Old Hall on the north western fringe of Wolverhampton. Along the way, he is spending time discovering some of the region’s people, places, and projects and this includes our Chairperson and Volunteer Co-ordinator Tina, who was interviewed by Josh at The Weaver’s House recently. You can read more about the project here and catch a taster of the book at this event in Birmingham on 20th June.

  • A trustee of many talents

    A trustee of many talents

    Swapping kirtles for scrubs… It’s not just the house itself which has had its moment on screen. Now, one of the Trustees of the house has also recently been seen on television as Dr Jennifer Waters has featured in her work as emergency medic in A&E: Crash Scene Emergency.

    The documentary series tells the stories of patients brought to University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, one of the largest Major Trauma Centres in the country. A complete contrast to her role at The Weaver’s House where she has variously served as Chairperson, trustee, musician, baker of amazing cakes and costumed guide!

    Young woman playing music in the garden

    You can find out more about the Channel 5 series here, on the hospital website.

    Jennifer has also been nominated for Volunteer of the Year for her work with the NHS UCHW charity in the 2024 Ladies First Awards. Huge congratulations from all at The Weaver’s House!