COVENTRY CATHEDRAL

ENGLAND

PAUL SCOTT

HISTORY

[Wikipedia]

St Mary's Priory

The first cathedral in Coventry was St Mary’s Priory and Cathedral, 1095 to 1102. This became fact when Robert de Limesey moved the bishop’s see from Lichfield to Coventry, and remained so until 1539 when it fell victim to Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. Prior to 1095, it had been a small Benedictine monastery (endowed by Leofric, Earl of Mercia and Lady Godiva in 1043). Shortly after 1095 rebuilding began and by the middle of the 13th century it was a cathedral of 142 yards in length whcih included many large outbuildings. Leofric was probably buried within the original Saxon church in Coventry. However, records suggest that Godiva was buried at Evesham Abbey, alongside her father confessor, Prior Aefic.

St Michael’s Cathedral – First Structure

St Michael’s Church was largely constructed between the late 14th century and early 15th century. It was one of the largest parish churches in England when, in 1918, it was elevated to cathedral status on the creation of Coventry Diocese. This St Michael’s Cathedral now stands ruined, bombed almost to destruction during the Coventry Blitz of 14 November 1940 by the German Luftwaffe. Only the tower, spire, the outer wall and the bronze effigy and tomb of its first bishop, Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs, survived. The ruins of this older cathedral remain hallowed ground and are listed at Grade I. Following the bombing of the medieval cathedral in 1940, Provost Richard Howard had the words ‘Father Forgive’ inscribed on the wall behind the altar of the ruined building. The spire rises to 90 m (295 ft) and is the tallest structure in the city. It is also the third tallest cathedral spire in England, with only Salisbury and Norwich cathedrals rising higher.

Present structure

The current St Michael’s Cathedral, built next to the remains of the old, was designed by Basil Spence and Arup Associates, 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 to find an architect for the new Coventry Cathedral; his design was chosen from over two hundred submitted. Spence (later knighted for this work) insisted that instead of re-building 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. The use of Great Gate sandstone for the new Coventry Cathedral provides an element of unity between the buildings. The foundation stone of the new cathedral was laid by Elizabeth II on 23 March 1956. The unconventional spire (known as a flèche – French for ‘arrow’) is 80 feet (24 m) tall and was lowered onto the flat roof by a helicopter, flown by Wing Commander John Dowling in April 1962. The Cathedral was consecrated on 25 May 1962, and Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, composed for the occasion, was premiered in the new cathedral on 30 May to mark its consecration. Coventry’s new Cathedral adopted a modernist design. The interior is notable for its huge tapestry (once thought to be the world’s largest) of Christ, designed by Graham Sutherland. There is also 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. This 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. Spence's concept for these Nave windows was that the opposite pairs would represent a pattern of growth from birth to old age, culminating in heavenly glory nearest the altar, one side representing Human, the other side, the Divine. Also worthy of note is the Great West Window known as the Screen of Saints and Angels, engraved directly onto the screen in expressionist style by John Hutton. A pane of the Hutton window, depicting The Angel with the Eternal Gospel, was smashed during a burglary, in January 2020. (Although referred to as the West Window, this is the ‘liturgical west’ opposite the altar which is traditionally at the east end. In this Cathedral the altar is actually at the north end.) The foundation stone, the ten stone panels inset into the walls of the Cathedral called the Tablets of the Word, and the baptismal font were designed and carved by the migrant German letter carver Ralph Beyer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_Cathedral

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