Within the Southern part, in the district of Earlsdon,  a separate church, also dedicated to St. Thomas, was built at "The Butts", close to Albany Road, and consecrated in 1849. 

The reference numbers allotted to the Parish Registers, deposited at the County Record Office, Warwick, correctly reflect the two churches, but during filming by the commercial sites, the distinction appears to have been lost. The whole situation has been further complicated by the references to the Chapelry of Keresley with Coundon, and the building of St. Barbara's church, in Earlsdon.

The Chapelry of 'Keresley with Coundon' had registers which are deposited [ref.DR0641] and are separate from those of St. Thomas, Keresley [ref.DR0599].  To date, it has not been possible to identify the land upon which this Chapelry was situated, other than to say it was within the allotment to Holy Trinity.  The present church of St. Thomas, which stands on East side of the Tamworth Road [B4098] is now the remaining [Church of England] place of worship for those living in the Keresley area of the City.

St. Barbara's church [ref. DR0802], built on a corner of land between Palmerston Street and Rochester Road, Earlsdon, was dedicated in 1913.  The Curate of St. Thomas (Butts), Rev. E. W. Bryan,  became the first Vicar of St. Barbara's, and one assumes he was merely forgetful when completing the Registers since he continued to head its pages "St. Thomas, Coventry", rather than "St. Barbara".  This has certainly added to the general confusion!

NB. On 15th August 2022 the following update/correction was provided by Ian Leitch. "Although St Barbara's first Church was built in 1913, it did not become a parish until 1922 and was still part of the parish of St Thomas Coventry. A few months after St Barbara's became a parish, the Rev'd E.W. Bryan was transferred to a less busy parish because of very poor health." This gives an insight into the the paragraph above.

As a Coventrian, having spent most of my formative years living on the Western side of the City, attending to the addresses provided within the respective Registers has allowed us to allocate the Indexes to their respective churches.  Searching for forebears in and around Coventry can be confusing, but we hope this explanation will go some way to help those faced with the information that the event has taken place at St.Thomas's church.

Dr Carole. A. Eales, 2020.