Our April Open Day kicked off the season on a Sunday – a bit of a change for us but an opportunity for people who can’t make it along to one of our usual Saturdays. Normal service will be resumed in May with the second Open Day of the year, on Saturday 9th May. Displays, tours and homemade refreshments abound!
In the meantime, our lovely garden is being prepared for the summer ahead. If you are interested in helping out in the garden, please see our Volunteers page for more info, we meet once a month during the growing season.
New growth on the lavenderLeek seed heads for next season
We couldn’t pass the opportunity to wish congratulations to the Sky Blues on promotion to the Premier League!
For the history of the colour blue and how it relates to textiles in Coventry, read more here.
The Weaver’s House hosted special guests for an Open Day that whisked audiences back in time via English music history. The Sherbourne String Quartet featured a selection of pieces that spanned several centuries from the Tudor era until the present day. This music was a backdrop to the usual Open Day activities, with the opportunity for people to sit and listen inside, or hear the music as they enjoyed the garden.
The next Open Day is on Saturday 12th July when Coventry Woodcarvers will be on site to show off their skills. As usual admission is free, and the site will be open from 10am until 4pm. Following that the house will be open for only three more days this year!
Visitors of all ages enjoyed our special spring time trail with hand painted animals to find.
Some were harder to find than others!
As usual, our fantastic volunteer team were on hand to show people around the site, demonstrate traditional skills and of course, serve our wonderful homemade cakes!
Open Days at The Weaver’s House are always free admission. Our next day is on Saturday 10th May.
The Weaver’s House reopens in April with our first open days on Saturday April 5th and Saturday May 10th, both 10am until 4pm with admission remaining free.
Come and join us – step back in time and experience the life of John Croke, a narrow-loom weaver, and his family as they lived and worked in the 1540s. The rescued and restored historic building features a full-size replica of a medieval loom in the upstairs ‘solar’ room, offering visitors a rare insight into the weaving practices of the era.
Wander through the working medieval garden, and discover plants used for food, flavouring, medicine, and household purposes. Our volunteers give talks about the daily life of a weaver in medieval times and the fascinating history of the building through time. Visitors may also have the chance to witness weaving and spinning demonstrations during their visit. And of course there are our famous home-made cakes!
For families, the Weaver’s House offers a springtime activity during the April Open Day: the Wildlife I-Spy Trail. Children can pick up a trail and see how many hand-painted wooden animals they can spot.
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.
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.
As Volunteers’ Week draws to a close alongside our June Open Day, it’s the perfect opportunity to thank all of our volunteers, past and present, established and brand new!
Thank you for everything that you do – from being tour guides and experts in Weaver’s House history, to the bakers of the best cakes ever (this is a well established fact), to gardeners, to costume makers and wearers, to demonstrators of crafts, to our trustees and to those who help at the front of house and those who provide behind the scenes support – we really couldn’t do it without any of you!
Cheers to Volunteers!
Of course, The Weaver’s House started out with volunteers who restored Black Swan Terrace back in the 1990s. Without them, the house would have been lost forever. Today, on a sunny afternoon in our lovely garden, visitors enjoyed tea and cake and the opportunity to learn about this unique piece of local history.
The Weaver’s House is a charity and is run by volunteers and we always welcome more! You can get involved in gardening, handiwork, showing people round, making tea or dressing up and demonstrating medieval life. Whether you want to be a regular or give occasional help, being a volunteer with us can offer an opportunity to share skills, meet new people and really make a difference!
We are thrilled to announce that we have received approval for our plans to develop the site and reveal more of the history of the buildings in the terrace.
The Weaver’s House is one of a terrace of cottages which were built in 1455, and which have been modified and added to over the centuries. They were restored by our Trust and reopened as a visitor attraction and retail/residential use in 2007.
The plans will let us create access from The Weaver’s House into the adjacent building (The Visitor Centre) to allow a one-way route for visitors. This will enable us to have visitor tours moving through the building, unlike at present where one group must exit before the next one can enter. It will also give us a new display space in The Visitor Centre to show artefacts and information that we simply don’t have room for now. We will also be adding a new dimension to our story by building up the remains of the former ‘Coventry court’ structure at the top of the garden.
Future plans and the ruins of the former Court building are examined by volunteers. Pictured: Colin Odell, Pam King, Maya and Orly Mundel and Anna Russell.
Our Chairman and Volunteers co-ordinator, Tina Woodroffe, said,
“We’re delighted that approval has been given to the planned works, which will enable us to improve the experience of our visitors. By opening up a new area to public access in the Visitor Centre, the cottage next to The Weaver’s House, we’ll be able to house exhibits to better tell the stories of the past residents of the terrace. We’ll also be able to improve the flow of visitors into the house, to allow more tours to take place.
“We’ll also be restoring the footprint of the former ‘Coventry court’ building, which previously stood behind The Weaver’s House and was used as housing in the 19th and 20th centuries, to illustrate what life would have been like for residents of those buildings.
“We’re asking the public to get in touch if they have any connection or memories of the Coventry courts to share – even if it is just scraps of information which might seem trivial as this might be a vital piece of the jigsaw!”
A concept for the ‘footprint’ structure building up from the remains of the court.Concept for the layout of the new development of the former court buildingAn old map shows the location of the former court buildings behind the terrace, The Black Swan pub building on the corner is now the building with the ‘Moira’s’ signage,Plans to tell the story of the ‘Coventry court’ buildings
The plans will be on display during Open Days throughout 2023 and photos, memories and family reminiscences would be very much welcomed to help us build an authentic picture of life in the court houses. You can contact us by email (please send to history @ theweavershouse.org, removing the spaces), post to The Weaver’s House, 121, Upper Spon Street, Spon End, Coventry, CV1 3BQ, or in person at one of the upcoming Open Days.
Tina Woodroffe of Spon End Building Preservation Trust, measures up the remains of the wallJennifer Waters of Spon End Building Preservation Trust and Matt Vaughan, architect
We were able to create the architects’ plans for the projects thanks to a donation from an anonymous funder which was facilitated by Heart of England Community Foundation.
The Weaver’s House took part in this year’s Heritage Open Days with house and garden open for visitors to hear talks on the history of the building. Our volunteers put together some extra features for the yearly festival of heritage.
A fresh batch of research by family history students on Coventry’s own electrical engineering innovators, The Glover Brothers, has revealed more fascinating facts about their lives and their inventions. The brothers have a connection to the terrace having at one point worked out of the old stable of the Black Swan Inn. This new research carried out by Weaver’s House trustee Peterson Cobbett’s students was made into a presentation, especially to link in with this year’s Heritage Open Day theme of Astounding Inventions.
Weaver and Dyer Sara Maycock was on site with a display of naturally dyed textiles, alongside a display of the traditional craft of spinning wool. Textile tutor Jane Cobbett exhibited an early Victorian coverlet and was on hand to discuss details of the research and work that went into recreating the original piece.
Visitors enjoyed a sunny day and a selection of home-baked cookies!
“Big thanks to the Trust and all involved with this Coventry gem” “Loved it. Really interesting. Volunteers made it!” “It’s very authentic”
The Open Days will return in 2023, privately booked group tours are still available out of the Open Day season.
Keep in touch through the winter to find out when the house reopens via the social channels @weavershouse (Twitter) WeaversHouseCoventry (Facebook) and theweavershouse (Instagram).
