Attractions

A preserved block of timber buildings from the city's industrial era in the Middle Ages. 

Today the street has become a sort of rest home for many of the historic timber framed buildings of the city.  Coventry was bombed badly during WW2 but, being on what was then the periphery of the city centre, many of the street’s timber buildings survived. During the post-war redevelopment of the city centre which largely resulted in the centre of Coventry becoming a largely glass and concrete jungle constrained by an over tight inner ring road (which cut Spon Street in half), many other medieval timber buildings were relocated to the portion of Spon Street within the ring road from elsewhere in the city in an attempt to preserve them. Some had been damaged in the bombing but others were simply just in the way.

This magnificent medieval guildhall houses an impressive stash of historic treasures like paintings, stained glass windows, and centuries-old armor. Famous figures have wined, dined, and been imprisoned within its walls.

Coventry Transport Museum opened in 1980, after it became clear that the road transport collection was outgrowing the space it occupied in the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.  The Museum’s current collection of vehicles is acknowledged as being one of the finest in the world, and the largest in public ownership.

The first exhibits were acquired in 1937 when Samuel Bartleet gifted the City of Coventry his own private collection of cycles.  The first motor cars were added to the collection in 1952, and the collection has continued to grow ever since.

The first major public exhibitions began in 1960 with the official opening of the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.  As the transport collection grew, the vehicles were housed in a number of local sites, eventually settling at their present location in 1980.

The Museum’s collection consists of motor cars, commercial vehicles, cycles and motorcycles.  In addition, extensive collections of automobilia, books, photographs and a wealth of other archive material is held and conserved at the Coventry Archives at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.  Most of the collection exists through the outstanding generosity of individual donors.

The city of Coventry has long embraced the legend of Lady Godiva and her nude protest ride through the city streets, but one of the stranger tributes to the famous figure is the Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom Clock that springs Godiva into action every hour while her creeping counterpart looks on.

The Herbert has extensive and wide ranging collections which are grouped under four broad headings:

• Visual Arts
• Social and Industrial History
• Archaeology
• Natural History

An indoor waterpark located in the heart of Coventry. Six high-octane slides precision-engineered for maximum fun, and a state-of-the-art gym and fitness suite to get the blood pumping.