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Coventry
- see the Coventry Walk leaflet
Coventry 1 – The road to Coventry.
The great contribution that George Fox has made to Christian theology may be summarized as the vision that he had ‘as he was approaching Coventry that there was something of God in every Man'. If he was coming down the road from Nuneaton and Bedworth it would be along the Foleshill Road. (probably near where the Courtaulds factory was and near where the Siree Krishna Temple is that the vision occurred).
Coventry 2 – Professor Craddock
When George Fox was 22 in 1646, he visited a Professor* Craddock and as he was discussing matters of importance as they were walking around his garden George absently trod off the path and onto the garden. George was taken aback that such a holy person and respected academic could so quickly switch from deep theological discussion to the anger about the mundane.
* as used in The Journal of George Fox it was a title for ministers of religion.
Coventry 3 – ‘inhabitants drunk’ In 1648 George Fox arrived in Coventry and was so disgusted by founding all the inhabitants drunk that he continued ont 'Dun Cow' (See Dunchurch).
Coventry 4 – Meeting house No 1 – The site of the present meeting house was bought as a burial ground in 1668 just outside the city walls beyond Hill Street gate and on it was a small building (a barn). This was used for about four years until the Vicars Lane Meeting house was built.
Coventry 5 - Meeting House No 2 - The main 'old' meeting house in Vicars Lane. Adjacent to it was another building where Bridget Soothern had a school. Her work continues as Soothern and Craner Educational Foundation www.soothernandcraner.org.uk The meeting house was sold following the building of the new one in Holyhead Road. Vicara Lane has been demolished and its site is under the precinct near the centre and was located just beyond the central cross of the precinct looking towards Broadgate on the right.
Coventry 6– Meeting house No 3 – The old meeting house in Holyhead Road. This was built in 1898 as a first day school backing onto the burial ground in Hill Street. An indication of the concern for education for the working people in the area. It was designed to accommodate large classes. By 1939 it had become too large for the Meeting and it was sold in June 1939, the plan being to build a new one in Michaelmas Road. Unfortunately the war started in September so all building plans had to be abandoned.
Coventry 7– Meeting house No 4 - Current Meeting House, this was built in 1953 on the burial ground bought in 1668 just outside the city boundary. The position of Hill Street gate is a few yards down the road. It was originally built with a flat roof at the insistence of the city council as a rule for post war development of the city centre. Just after the second flat roof started leaking we were able to fit the current hipped roof,
Coventry 8 – Martyrs memorial. This commemorates the burning in 1515 of several people whose crime was being Protestants and wishing to read the Bible translated from Latin into their own native English language. (Situated on a roundabout Number 4 on Coventry ring road). Whilst this has little connection with George Fox as such Mary Lago the mother of George Fox was of the ‘stock of Martyrs and the last burning of witches had been in Lichfield six years before George Fox was born.