[1][2] The street originally ran from St John the Baptist Church out of the city centre to the west, through the area known as Spon End, to the bottom of Hearsall Lane.

[1][2] The Spon End neighbourhood started to form in the 12th and 13th centuries CE, when dyers and tanners congregated just outside the city wall next to the Birmingham road near the River Sherbourne.

Spon Street at this time was lined with bars and tenements, stretching from what is now the West Orchards shopping centre to the junction of Allesley Old Road and Hearsall Lane.

The damage to Spon End, combined with the “drab and depressing appearance” of its Victorian housing stock led to the City Planning department's decision to declare the neighbourhood a “Comprehensive Development Area” in 1957.

This designation allowed the compulsory purchase of properties in the area, including surviving medieval structures in Spon Street, to make way for housing developments.

The restorations were criticised at the time for their lack of sensitivity – many historical features were removed because they were not original, including all the chimney stacks because they were made of Georgian or Victorian bricks.

[12][13] Spon Street is now promoted as one of Coventry's primary tourist attractions, and contains a number of pubs, cafes and shops in original or relocated medieval buildings.