RELATIVES of the last family to live in Coventry’s Charterhouse visited the building’s £10million refurbishment before it opens to the public.
Bill Wyley and his daughter Emma Major are related to Colonel William Fitzthomas Wyley, the last person to live at the Grade I listed building between 1889 and 1940.
The former Carthusian monastery and its gardens are being fully restored by Historic Coventry Trust and the City Council and are set to open as a tourist attraction next spring.
The new attraction will have interactive displays from the site’s history since it was founded by King Richard II in 1385, and the inner precinct will be relandscaped as a walled garden.
Bill and Emma took a tour of the building and said that it was fascinating to hear the future plans for the building.
Colonel Wyley was a former Lord Mayor of Coventry and lived in Charterhouse before leaving it to the city.
He introduced Bill’s father, William Bertram Metcalf Wyley to Coventry’s society such as the freemasons and other charity work, including becoming treasurer of Warwickshire St John’s Ambulance organisation.
Bill and Emma also met members of the Coventry Charterhouse Association and the Charterhouse Residents Association.
Charterhouse’s general manager Hannah Jones said the duo had been invited to return to the official opening.
She said: “It was really interesting to meet Bill and Emma and hear their stories regarding Charterhouse which have been passed down.
“This was their first visit to Charterhouse and although parts of it resemble a building site, Bill found the construction and skilled craft work going on really interesting because his career was in civil engineering.”
