White Lion Hotel Mosaic, circa 1919
This mosaic was uncovered during the regeneration of the Precinct in 2020. It was originally located at the front entrance of the White Lion Hotel on Smithford Street. The street ran diagonally from Broadgate to Fleet Street before the construction of the Precinct in the 1950s.
The earliest mention found so far for the White Lion Hotel dates to 1734, when Thomas Wildey, a Woolcomber, murdered his aunt Susannah Wall, and her daughter. Thomas was hanged on Whitley Common on 17th April 1734 and then his remains were gibbeted, which means put on display after death and left to rot to deter any other would-be criminals.
The mosaic dates to a refurbishment of the pub in around 1919, for which there are records in the Herbert Archives. In 1920, the pub became the temporary home of Pearl Hyde, who went on to become Coventry’s first female Lord Mayor. She moved from London to Coventry to learn the pub trade and lived with her sister and brother-in-law, who were the landlord and lady of the White Lion.
The pub sustained heavy damage during the blitz, when the top storey, where the staff had their quarters, was destroyed. Coventry City Council bought the premises from Brewery Ind Coope and Allsopp Limited in the early 1950s in order to demolish it for the purposes of developing the City Precinct.