Coventry Cathedral

Other than the tale of Lady Godiva and the WW II bombing of the city I knew nothing about it. Coventry is 95 miles northwest of London and 19 miles south of Birmingham. It is also the most central city in England, being only 12 miles (18 km) southwest of the country's geographical centre in Leicestershire.

A settlement near present-day Coventry was founded by the Romans and grew steadily. By the 14th century, Coventry was an important centre of the cloth trade, especially blue cloth dyed with woad and known as Coventry blue. Throughout the Middle Ages, it was one of the largest and most important cities in England. The bishops of Lichfield were often referred to as bishops of Coventry and Lichfield, or Lichfield and Coventry (from 1102 to 1541). Coventry claimed the status of a city by ancient prescriptive usage, was granted a charter of incorporation in 1345, and in 1451 became a county in its own right.[18][19] The plays that William Shakespeare witnessed in Coventry during his boyhood or 'teens' may have influenced how his plays, such as Hamlet, came about.

During the industrial revolution, Coventry became a centre for watchmaking, which became bicycle making, which became car making and then aircraft making. Like many UK towns and cities, Coventry suffered a major decline in the 1970s and 1980s as UK manufacturing declined. There has been a gradual recovery as new industries have moved to the area.

The current Cathedral Church of Saint Michael is the third cathedral in the city. The first was St Mary's, a monastic building, of which only a few ruins remain. The second was St Michael's, a 14th-century Gothic church later designated as a cathedral, which remains a ruined shell after its bombing during the Second World War. The third is the new St Michael's Cathedral, built immediately adjacent after the destruction of the former.

The current St Michael's Cathedral, built next to the remains of the old, was designed by Basil Spence and Arup, built by John Laing and is a Grade I listed building. The selection of Spence for the work was a result of a competition held in 1950. Spence insisted that instead of rebuilding the old cathedral, it should be kept in ruins as a garden of remembrance and that the new cathedral should be built alongside, the two buildings together effectively forming one church.

Coventry's new cathedral adopted a modernist design. The interior is notable for its huge tapestry of Christ, designed by Graham Sutherland, the emotive sculpture of the Mater Dolorosa by John Bridgeman in the East end, and the Baptistry window designed by John Piper (made by Patrick Reyntiens), of abstract design that occupies the full height of the bowed baptistery, which comprises 195 panes, ranging from white to deep colours. The stained glass windows in the Nave, by Lawrence Lee, Keith New and Geoffrey Clarke, face away from the congregation.

This YouTube video Coventry Cathedral provides a little more context about the cathedral’s building.

Here are some photos of this beautiful and fascinating cathedral.