Sitting just north of Coventry city centre, Hillfields has one of the more layered histories of any suburb in the West Midlands. Its origins stretch back to the medieval period, when the area was known as Harnall and formed part of the Holy Trinity Parish. The name Harnall appears in the Coombe Abbey Charter in the 12th century, recorded as belonging to the Prior’s Half of Coventry, and again in a passage describing a road running “through the middle of Harnall along the country of Stoke”. By the 13th century, the land had passed to Roger de Montalt, whose estate there amounted to little more than cottages and crofts.
From Harnall to Hillfields
In 1542, the land transferred from the Priory to the corporation, and by 1551 Prior’s Orchard, Swans Pool, New Pool, and Harnall Field had been folded into the endowment of Sir Thomas White’s Charity. A mill near Springfield Brook and Swanswell Pool was absorbed into Swanswell Waterworks in 1632, supplying water to Coventry. The modern chapter of the suburb’s story began in 1828, when Harnall became the first part of Coventry to develop beyond the city walls, prompting the construction of villas and earning the area the nickname New Town. Early progress was interrupted by flooding from the River Sherbourne, caused by two nearby mills, which were only removed in 1844 under an Act of Parliament. The Health of Towns Act 1848 led to a Local Board of Health surveying the city by 1850, and Hillfields emerged as a preferred location for new housing, with living standards there reportedly higher than in the crowded slums of the city centre at the time.
Community and landmarks
Hillfields has long drawn communities from beyond the British Isles. Irish settlers arrived first, followed in the mid-20th century by South Asian and West Indian communities. Today, Hillfields has one of the highest concentrations of refugees in Coventry. The suburb is perhaps best known to football supporters as the former home of Coventry City Football Club, whose Highfield Road stadium stood here before the club relocated to the Coventry Building Society Arena. Sidney Stringer Academy is the secondary school serving the area, and Primrose Hill Park provides green space for residents. The first school in Hillfields was recorded in 1816, housed in Primrose Hill House, which later reopened as a boarding school in 1848 under Rev. J. S. Gilbert and T. Wyles.