Hearsall Common

Until the boundary changed in 1928, the terminus of the Maudesley Corporation bus was Hearsall Common, where passengers could quench their thirst at the combined drinking fountain and horse trough. This was erected by employees of the Coventry Chain Co., in memory of their 45 comrades who fell in the Great War 1914–1918. Although not damaged, this attractive monument was demolished after the Second World War. The nameplate was recently found at a car boot sale in the north of England and returned with great ceremony — it now stands at the entrance to the Koco Building in Spon End.

The common is seen in historical photographs still fenced from the days when Freemen of the City could graze animals on the land.

Despite encroachments and the opening of a golf course, Hearsall Common still had a somewhat wild and open prospect. Roads were not all fenced, and the cottages seen on the right in early photographs, which contribute so much to the pre-industrial feel of those scenes, were sadly demolished just as new houses were being built nearby on Canley Road.

The common remains a valuable open space for Earlsdon residents today, popular with walkers and wildlife enthusiasts alike.