The De Montfort Hotel (now the Holiday Inn) opened in 1967, occupying part of the site destroyed by the landmine of the 21st November 1940. Historically, the Square had been more of an intimate affair, comprising a cosy triangular area enclosed by low rise buildings on all sides. The ‘then’ picture shows that at this time the clock tower was enclosed in a triangular traffic island, with a larger circular roundabout behind where previously Number 2 The Square, which survived the 1940 landmine, had stood.
Clock tower
The clock tower dates from 1906 and was presented to the town by George Marshall Turner, the proprietor of a large drapery emporium in Birmingham. The crown on top of the clock tower, which was declared unsafe and dismantled following the devastation caused by the 1940 landmine, was replaced in 1973.
James Fish’s 1692 map of Kenilworth show the remains of a market cross at this spot.
Comments
In 1975/1976 when I was thirteen/fourteen, my social worker used to take me there for coffee for our regular ‘chats’ in which she’d try to help me cope with life’s problems and troubles. It was a neutral space, she always used to say. Are social workers still allowed to do that? I wonder.
I worked in the De Montfort Hotel from 1974 until 1979, under Robin Gould and remember many other chefs who worked there when the hotel was part of the De Vere Group. I would love to get back in touch with anyone who remembers me
I came across an interesting promotional dollar by the De Montfort hotel in 1976 to promote a bi-centennial cocktail bar for the American Independence Day.
You can view both sides and the write up here.
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