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Coventry Cathedral

Basil Spence, Coventry, 1962

 

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  •     
  • South elevation of the cathedral    
  • View from south east showing the lady chapel on the right and on the left the chapel of Christ    
  • View of ruined cathedral to left with new cathedral to the right    
  • Western porch and bapistery window showing statue of St Michael in conflict with the devil    
  • View up into the porch    
  • The chapel of unity    
  • View east of nave windows    
  • West elevation of the new cathedral    
  • The chapel of unity from the north    
  • View from south east    
  • Chapel of unity linked to the nave by a glazed passage    
  • Baptistry window showing lighter glass panels in centre    
  • General view of the nave through the choir    
  • Two of the full height stained glass windows    
  • The font a boulder from Bethlehem in front of john pipers baptistery window    
  • Pipes of the organ divided into the two sides of the chancel opening    
  • Nave canopy supported by precast concrete columns    
  • Tablet on south wall    
  • Plan of ground floor and site    
  • Section through baptistery nave and chapel    

Anglican cathedral for Coventry incorporating four chapels, central chancel, verger's flat and the ruins of the old cathedral

The modernist design for the new cathedral developed as a result of the devastation caused by the 1940 Luftwaffe attack on Coventry.

The design is based around the theme of atonement and the sacrifice and resurrection in which both the old and the new cathedrals play their respective roles.

The two separate cathedrals are linked together by the great porch and steps leading up to it. The new floor plan is based on the traditional long basilican. The walls are saw tooth in design and made of Hollings sandstone with seventy-foot stained glass windows run from floor to ceiling.

The nave canopy is supported on precast concrete columns, cruciform in plan, standing on bronze pins, between the concrete ribs sit thousands of Sitka spruce rafters.

Attached to the central nave is the Chapel of Unity a decagonal structure with deeply recessed windows designed to resemble a Crusader's tent.

Data

  • Begun: Mar 1956
  • Completed: May 1962
  • Sector: Religious
  • Tender date: 1950
  • Address: 1 Hill Top, Coventry, CV1 5AB‎, United Kingdom

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