Coventry Cathedral

Coventry Cathedral was definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far. It was one of the few places that I (Zac) had on my list of “things I definitely wanted to see in England.” I’ve heard a number of sermons that mention Coventry Cathedral, and ever since then, I’ve wanted to go. Here’s the story, in brief:

Coventry was originally home to one of England’s biggest gothic churches: St. Michael’s Church (later upgraded to St. Michael’s Cathedral), built in the 14th century. On November 14 1940, the cathedral was firebombed to near destruction during the Coventry Blitz by the German Luftwaffe. Instead of tearing down the ruins and building a new church on the same spot, the Church of England and the people of Coventry decided to leave the ruins as they stood, and build a new cathedral about 50 yards to the left. The new cathedral was finished in 1962, having started the process in 1950 with an architectural competition in which over 200 designs for the cathedral were submitted by professional architects.

As it stands, it’s a stone and mortar embodiment of death and resurrection. Of reconciliation.

The ruins of the gothic cathedral. Despite the 40,000 firebombs that were dropped in the area, the walls are still largely intact. You can see where the pillars would have been. The pulpit is in the bottom right of this image.

The altar was lost in the fire, but has now been restored. The cross behind the altar is made of two charred pieces of wood that were found amongst the ruins in the days following the Blitz in the same cross shape. (The one in the photo is a replica. The original was recently moved into the new cathedral and is framed in a dedicated space. The phrase now permanently engraved on the wall--"Father Forgive"--was first written there by the cathedral Dean in the days following the Blitz. Notice, it doesn't say "Father Forgive Them," just "Father Forgive."

The spire of the ruin is also still intact. Still climbable. And still the tallest building in the entire city of Coventry.

This is the ruin from outside the ruins. It's really something to see the giant stained-glass windows filled with sky.

This is outside of the new Cathedral. It's a modern style cathedral, but built with sandstone so as to give it aesthetic continuity with the ruined cathedral.

This is taken from the nave of the new cathedral, looking through the chancel to the altar at the far end. I've never been in a space quite like it, and I think it mostly speaks for itself. It's gorgeous.

This is the altar cross in the new cathedral. It's abstract, and frames a much smaller cross (which you can see if you look closely) which is made of three nails recovered from the roof of the ruins. This is one of three such crosses. If I remember correctly, one is worn by the cathedral dean, and the other was given as a gift to a cathedral is Dresden, Germany. Although I didn't find this supported in any of the cathedral's literature, my interpretation of this abstract cross is that it's a sword beaten into a ploughshare, and a spear beaten into a pruning hook.

The entire west wall (the wall opposite the altar) is called the Screen of Saints and Angels. It's mostly clear glass, which you look through to see the old ruined cathedral from inside the new, and is filled with angels and saints which have literally been carved into the glass.

This is the baptistry, found towards the back of the church. The stained glass window, designed by a guy named John Piper (No, not that John Piper) is made up of 195 panes and has been called the most beautiful stained glass window in England. The baptistry below is a stone from Israel. This is Jo Bailey Wells and Zac discussing their interpretations of the abstract window (Jo's being much better than Zac's) 🙂

Behind the altar is not a stained glass window, but a giant tapestry. It is, in fact, the biggest tapestry in the world (74' tall and 38' wide). It depicts Jesus, who's face is half Western half Asian, and the four figures representing the four gospels. The tapestry took 10 years to make, and was designed by Graham Sutherland.