Coventry
Cathedral
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Warwick Town
 To
walk from the ruins of the old Cathedral into the splendour
of the new is to walk from Good Friday to Easter, from the
ravages of human self-destruction to the glorious hope of
resurrection.
Your heart is lifted, your spirit is renewed
and you feel that there is hope for the world. Thanks to
God’s mercy, reconciliation is possible.
It is this that has made Coventry Cathedral a dynamic centre
of worship and mission, a place of pilgrimage, liturgical
creativity, healing; a focus for international
reconciliation, education and the arts; a frequent venue for
national services and television and radio broadcasts; a
church for the City, the Diocese and even for the world.
History of the Cathedral
Coventry’s earliest cathedral, dedicated
to St Mary, was founded as a Benedictine community by
Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and his wife Godiva in 1043. Built
on the site of a former religious house for nuns, its sheer
size is some indication of the wealth which Coventry
acquired in the middle ages.
In 1539, with the dissolution of the monasteries, the See of
Coventry and Lichfield was transferred to Lichfield and the
former cathedral fell into decay. Only in 1918 was the
modern diocese of Coventry created in its own right, and the
church of St Michael designated as its cathedral.
The majority of the great ruined churches and cathedrals of
England are the outcome of the violence of the dissolution
in 1539. The ruins of St Michael’s are the consequence of
violence in our own century. On the night of 14 November
1940, the city of Coventry was devastated by bombs dropped
by the Luftwaffe. The Cathedral burned with the city,
having been hit by several incendiary devices.
 The
decision to rebuild the cathedral was taken the morning
after its destruction. Rebuilding would not be an act of
defiance, but rather a sign of faith, trust and hope for the
future of the world. It was the vision of the Provost at
the time, Dick Howard, which led the people of Coventry away
from feelings of bitterness and hatred. This has led to the
cathedral’s Ministry of Peace and Reconciliation, which has
provided spiritual and practical support, in areas of
conflict throughout the world.
Shortly after the destruction, the cathedral stonemason,
Jock Forbes, noticed that two of the charred medieval roof
timbers had fallen in the shape of a cross. He set them up
in the ruins where they were later placed on an altar of
rubble with the moving words ‘Father Forgive’ inscribed on
the Sanctuary wall. Another cross was fashioned from three
medieval nails by local priest, the Revd Arthur Wales. The
Cross of Nails has become the symbol of Coventry’s
international ministry of reconciliation.
The competition to design the new cathedral was won by Basil
Spence, and HM The Queen laid the foundation stone on 23
March 1956. Gifts and donations flooded into Coventry, to
commission works of art and to sustain future ministry. In
keeping with tradition, the cathedral was to be filled with
art from the leading artists of the time. Graham
Sutherland’s tapestry of Christ in Glory in the Tetramorph
dominates the East End of the cathedral, whilst John
Hutton’s screen of Saints and Angels allows the spirit of
the Ruins to pervade the new cathedral. Coloured light
streams through John Piper’s Baptistry window and Epstein’s
St Michael and the Devil guards the cathedral steps. Other
contributors include Elizabeth Frink and Ralph Beyer.
The new cathedral was consecrated on 25 May 1962, in the
presence of HM The Queen. The ruins remain hallowed ground
and together the two create one living Cathedral.
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