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Blue plaques unveiled at Swallows campus
The Lord Mayor of Coventry Cllr. John McNicholas unveiled two Coventry Society blue plaques at King Henry’s Swallows Campus, the Firs, just off the Kenilworth road last Friday. The event was organised by the Coventry Society and supported by the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust and King Henry V111 school. The plaques celebrated two significant phases in the life of the uniquely early Georgian building which has occupied the site since 1720. The Coventry Society believe the regency building predates those in Leamington Spa, making it one of the oldest in the area and unique to Coventry. The unveiling was carried out on a brilliantly sunny day with the backdrop of two specialist Daimler cars, a sports convertible coupe and a Limousine, which the Mayor commented that he may well have worked on?
The Lord Mayor made a powerful speech about the importance of celebrating Coventry’s Motor Industry pioneers, as well as educational leaders such as the Rev K Swallow MC, John Sykes and John Phipps. All three were former owner headmasters at the Coventry Preparatory School which occupied the building after Instone moved out in 1920. The school was then taken over by King Henry’s in the 1990’s.
Proceedings started with a rousing fanfare from a brass ensemble played by pupils of King Henry V111 school. Speeches were made by Tony Merrigold of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust on Ernest Instone. Tony Richards an old boy from the school spoke on the Rev. Swallow MC & John Sykes. This was followed by a speech from Quinton Deeley who spoke of John Phipps and the values set by these headmasters which have been carried forward to the school today.
Peter Walters, Chairman of the Coventry Society, spoke of the importance of preserving and celebrating historic Coventry and the importance of discovering and protecting very old unique buildings in the city such as this one in the Firs. The Rev Sasha Slavic, the school Chaplain and Caroline Soan, Headmistress, made the dedication before the Lord Mayor made his speech and unveiled the two plaques. A tree planting and plaque dedication celebrating ‘one hundred years not out’ was led by the chaplain.
Between 1907 and 1920 the house known then as Styvechale Villa, was lived in by Ernest Instone. Instone was General Manager of Daimler Cars Coventry and helped build the company in its formative years from a luxury make favoured by Royalty, Edward V11, to the manufacturer of touring and sports cars that regularly won hill climbs and races, to a war time manufacturer of utility vehicles. Instone was a leading member of the Automobile Association, he Chaired the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and was a founder of the Stratstone luxury car dealerships. At one point in 1907 many of the road signs in Coventry were sponsored by Daimler Cars.
In 1920 Instone moved to London and the house at the Firs was sold to Rev. Kenelm Swallow MC, a war hero from WW1, where he founded Coventry Preparatory school. The school was uniquely innovative and philanthropic in the way it operated. During WW11 the school took in children escaping Nazi Germany. Mr Sykes took over from Mr Swallow in the late 50’s & 60’s followed by John Overton Phipps in the late 60’s. An interesting link was that John Phipps had attended King Henry’s Grammar School, bought Coventry Preparatory School, former residence of the Daimler General Manager and his father was an engineer at Daimler.
It was a tremendous privilege to celebrate the heritage of the Swallows site. Listening to former pupils talking about their time at the school was heart-warming and although times change, there were many parallels to learning and education then and now.Miss Caroline Soan, Headteacher, BKHS King Henry VIII Preparatory.
Links
https://www.jaguarheritage.com/daimler-history/ernest-instone/
