Arched Timber Market Building, Spon Street, Coventry

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At the far end of Spon Street, adjacent to the structure now occupied by Magnifisense, stands one of the street’s most distinctive and historically suggestive buildings. With its wide, arched bays at ground level and a long upper floor marked by diagonal braces, this structure may once have served a very different function than a typical home or shop. It has the appearance of a small market hall or a building designed for communal or trade purposes, possibly even associated with a local guild.

The building likely dates to the early 16th century and features elements not commonly seen elsewhere on the street. The open arches, now enclosed with glass, suggest that the ground floor was once open to the street, providing shelter for goods, carts, or people. It is this design, more than anything, that sets it apart from the more typical jettied houses and merchant dwellings that line Spon Street.

Spon Street, Coventry
Spon Street, Coventry


The timber framing above remains intact, with curved braces forming a repeating pattern across the upper façade. The steep tiled roof and the placement of upper windows complete the building’s distinct medieval character. The preservation of this structure adds a sense of variety to the Spon Street streetscape, reminding visitors that Coventry’s past was not built solely of private houses and shops, but also of communal and trade-related spaces.

While its current use may be more subdued, the building still holds visual power. As visitors approach from the west, it offers a fitting end to the sequence of preserved buildings along Spon Street, a quiet reminder that in medieval Coventry, the line between public and private space was often far more fluid than it is today.

Happy travelling.

A few other heritage structures of Spon Street

Location: Spon St, Coventry CV1, UK

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