Literary Warwickshire Philip Larkin
King Henry VIII School In Coventry which educated Larkin
Larkin’s homes: TOP RIGHT: Poultney Road, Coventry; RIGHT: Coventry Road, Warwick; ABOVE: Coten End, Warwick
PHILIP Larkin, the poet, was born in 1922 soon after his father Sydney was appointed treasurer of Coventry Council. The baby was christened at the old cathedral (later blitzed). Sydney, Eva, daughter Kitty and young Philip lived first at Poultney Road in the Radford area of the city and later in Manor Road, near King Henry VIII School where Larkin was a pupil from 8 to 18.
He made some lasting friendships at school, found a lifelong enthusiasm for jazz and developed his talent for writing by contributing to the school magazine, The Coventrian. Favourite haunts outside school hours were the central library, Hanson’s record shop and (in the sixth form) the Golden Cross Inn.
Larkin and his schoolfriend Noel Hughes went on to Oxford, where in their first year they heard that bomber planes had destroyed large parts of Coventry. The pair decided to travel home and were alarmed to find both their family houses empty. Larkin was relieved to discover that his family was in fact safe; however, as bombing continued, Sydney and Eva decided to move outside the city. They stayed with friends the Colbournes in Coventry Road, Warwick, before buying their own house at Coten End in the town.
Larkin came to Warwick during vacations, describing in letters to friends how he slept in one attic room and wrote in another, went to the theatre at Stratford and to the cinema, and drank in The Crown Hotel on the corner with Coventry Road. Graduating in 1943, he lived with his parents while applying unsuccessfully for jobs with the Civil Service and Leamington Council. At this time he began writing his first novel, Jill, (published 1946) as well as poetry. He at last got a job in a library in Shropshire, but continued to visit Warwick regularly, going to sister Kitty’s wedding at St Nicholas Church.
During Christmas 1947 Sydney Larkin became ill and died on Good Friday. His son, by now working at Leicester University, came home to arrange the funeral. The Warwick house proved too big for Eva alone so Larkin soon sold it and bought another in Leicester for them both.
Larkin returned to Warwickshire was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Warwick in 1973, and four years later a Coventry Award of Merit at the city’s Guildhall.
