The Definitive Guide to the History of
Pubs and Beerhouses in Coventry

Drinking in an Old English Town

Elephant and Castle, 23 Castle Street, Hillfields

Alternative Addresses:	51 High Street (until 1874)
These premises have been known by different names during their history:	FROM	TO	NAME
	1829	1965	Elephant and Castle
	1841	1851	Beerhouse
In 1829 the Elephant and Castle appears in a list of new pubs. In 1835 and 1841 this was listed as a Beerhouse, despite having been licensed as a Public House in 1829. Between 1868 and 1879 some directories referred to it as simply the Castle, while others maintained the full name Elephant and Castle. Until August 1874 the pub's address was 51 High Street, Hillfields. That month several street names were changed to avoid duplicate names after some districts were brought within Coventry's ever expanding boundary. From that time on, High Street was renamed Castle Street. Was this named after the pub? The pub closed c1965, when it was an Atkinsons pub. It stood next to the Castle Stores. The name comes from Coventry's coat of arms.
LICENSEES: 1829 - 1830 Daniel Rowbotham 1831 James Greenway 1840 - 1841 John Sidwell 1844 - 1847 John Kitson 1847 - 1850 James Hewson 1850 - 1851 William Coleman 1855 James Coleman 1855 John Edwards (Feb to Oct) 1855 Mark Edwards 1859 - 1879 Richard Charnock 1881 Joseph Ashley 1881 - 1886 Herbert Mayo 1886 - 1888 John Dunnicliff 1888 - 1913 Thomas Whitmore Bates 1913 - 1914 Frederick John Gorman 1914 - 1936 Henry Herbert Bates 1937 - 1938 W. J. Neville 1939 - 1940 T. A. Bayley 1941 Ambrose Bernard Wildsmith 1941 Frank Bennett (moved from the Talbot Inn, Cross Cheaping)
Street plan of 1851