Black Horse demolition: Centuries-old Coventry pub bulldozed for road widening

Coventry City Council decided to demolish the Black Horse in May

A 200-year-old pub has been demolished to allow a nearby road to be widened.

The Black Horse in Spon End, Coventry, was no longer operating as a pub and city councillors voted to knock it down in May, despite objection from heritage groups.

The authority said the road widening was necessary to reduce congestion on the B4106 and improve air quality.

It also said redevelopment in the local area and the pub itself had "reduced its significance".

A small crowd of people turned out to watch the demolition on Saturday, and many expressed their sadness on the Visit Historic Coventry Facebook page.

Some shared happy memories of drinking in the pub before its closure a decade ago.

The pub has been closed for more than a decade

People on social media expressed their sadness at the loss of the pub

A council report said the earliest reference it could find of the building was 1808, when the anniversary meeting of the Gooseberry Feast was advertised to be held at Mrs Bant's "at the sign of the Black Horse".

The report said it was possible the pub could be even older.

Later references revealed it served as pub which hosted auctions, inquests and other gatherings, and played an important role in the community.

The Black Horse was given Grade II listed status in September 2011 as an example of a "simple and modest urban Victorian pub", but that listing was successfully appealed by its new owners in May 2012, who stripped out the interior.

The council said redevelopment in the local area and the pub itself had "reduced its significance"

Instead it was "locally listed" by the council, which concluded in May 2022 the benefits of the B4106 widening "substantially outweighed" the loss of the pub.

Coventry City Council is under a legally binding direction from the government to improve air quality in the city "in the shortest possible time".

That directive set out measures it had to take, including improving capacity on the B4106 through Spon End, to reduce pollution caused by congestion.

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