In Cromwell Street (now Berkeley Road South) the little ribbon weaving shed — brick-built, approximately 40 by 20 feet — stood empty after the collapse of the ribbon trade. It remained unused until 1872, when it took on a new lease of life.
Most of the early Earlsdon residents, almost to a man involved in the watchmaking industry, were in religion nonconformists — Baptists, Congregationalists, Unitarians, but mainly Wesleyan Methodists. By the end of 1872 a small band of Methodists decided the time had come to establish a meeting place. The owner, David Spencer, was willing to lease the shed for a very small annual sum. The little group cleaned it up, put in some old pews, and held the first service in December 1872. Early accompaniment for hymns was provided by George Hollis on his concertina, later replaced by a small American organ.
Education being of prime interest to the Methodist watchmaking fraternity, Sunday School teachers began teaching the three Rs. With the 1870 Education Act coming into force it was realised a proper day school was needed. In 1882 a group of leading residents formed an education committee, obtained a grant from the British Schools Society, leased the shed on a weekday basis, and appointed young Charles Corelli Johnson as headmaster. He toured the estate, recruited as many children as he could, and on 24 April 1882 Earlsdon School officially opened with two teachers and seventy-three pupils.
When the Methodists moved to their new chapel in 1884 and the new school opened on Earlsdon Avenue in 1890, the shed became surplus to requirements and was demolished in 1893. It is only because it is marked on maps that we know its exact location.