Binley is a suburb in the east of
Coventry
Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
,
West Midlands, England. Binley evolved from a small
mining village on the outskirts of Coventry to a large residential area composing private residences and council-owned properties. It is famous for the Binley Mega Chippy, which is located within Binley.
Binley is part of the
ward of Binley and
Willenhall, which had a population of 17,774 at the
2021 census.
Binley is flanked by
Willenhall to the south (separated by the
Coventry to Rugby railway line),
Stoke Aldermoor to the west (separated by Allard Way road), and the Warwickshire village of
Binley Woods to the east, which almost joins Binley since the construction of the Eastern Bypass, a
B&Q store and a
T.G.I. Friday's restaurant between the two areas. The final side is Copsewood, leading to
Wyken in one direction, and Stoke the other.
History
Binley was originally a village, and was mentioned in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
of 1086.
Most of the old
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of Binley was incorporated into the City of Coventry in 1932,
with the remainder being transferred to
Baginton and
Combe Fields.
The local
church of St Bartholomew was built in 1773, at the expanse of
William Craven, 6th Baron Craven.
It is now
grade I listed.
Binley
colliery
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...
was opened in 1908, and was at one time the most efficient and prosperous colliery in the
Warwickshire coalfield, it was modernised in the 1950s, but was closed in 1963. The entrance was on Willenhall Lane. Herald Way industrial estate now occupies the site. Former pit worker cottages still remain along Willenhall Lane and St James Lane.
In the early 1970s, a new housing estate called
Ernesford Grange was built adjacent to Binley. Many of the new closes were named after miners who were well known in the community; William McKee, George Robertson, and Sam Gault being examples. Binley grew further in the 1990s with a large housing estate being constructed to the east of the old schools and extending to Brinklow Road (near to
Coombe Country Park).
The flight path of the
Coventry Airport in the nearby village of
Baginton runs just to the east of Binley.
The buildings of the old Binley school became "Lino's Restaurant", which was demolished in 2007 to make way for new housing. The three other Binley schools disappeared in the early 1980s to make way for a large industrial and office complex.
Places
The construction of St Bartholomew's Church was funded by
Lord Craven. It was consecrated in 1772, with its 200th anniversary being celebrated in 1972. It has a grey slate roof, and its walls consist of light-coloured stone which appear grey after being coloured with a cement wash.
The Coombe social club has been serving Binley locals since 1929 and has thousands of members.
Binley Mega Chippy
The suburb is the location of the Binley Mega Chippy, a
fish and chip shop
A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop or chippy, is a restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and chip shop ...
opened in 2004.
In early 2022, users on social networking platforms
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
and
TikTok
TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
started sharing ironic
memes
A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ...
about the chip shop.
[ A now renowned ]jingle
A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...
about the chip shop was created and the venue went viral on the internet.[ Staff and local shoppers admitted their initial confusion about the sudden surge in popularity.][ By May 2022, the venue had become so well known that it received visitors from ]Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, and Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
.
Proposed railway station
In 2023, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) put forward plans to open a new railway station at Binley on the line between Coventry and Rugby named ''Coventry East (Binley)''.
References
{{Reflist
Suburbs of Coventry