05/06/2026
Before the freeway decimated Crafers, there was a Butcher's shop in the main street. Originally Atkinson's butchers but later run by Gil Sharrad. The story goes that an itinerant who could not afford to pay for their purchase, offered to paint a picture on the wall of the shop. The offer was accepted and the painting of the Bull's Head remained on the wall until the property was being demolished for the freeway construction. The Atkinson family had the foresight to recover the painting by cutting it out of the matchboard wall and donating it to the Historical Society. It is one of the largest items in our collection which is unfortunately constrained by the available space in the Coventry Library.