Alfred Herberts Legacy

About Lady Herbert's Gardens

City Wall

Close by the city centre, just off the ring road stand Lady Herbert's Garden.  Swanswell gate, one of the old gates in the city wall, makes up part of a corner of the gardens and large sections of the old city wall are included.

The garden was originally built in the early 1930s by Coventry industrialist Sir Alfred Herbert. He dedicated  the gardens to the memory of his wife. The formal gardens were intended to be enjoyed by the people of Coventry.

Sir Alfred was born in 1866. He founded the engineering works that became predominant in the production of machine tools. His company, Alfred Herbert Ltd, became the largest manufacturer of machine tools. However in the mid to latter part of the 20thC competition from abroad damaged the company until it could function no more.

The gardens were improved as part of the works surrounding the Swanswell gate area.