The 9th largest city in England has the distinction of being an historic cathedral city as well as a modern manufacturing hub.
The 14th century St Michael’s Cathedral was bombed out in the conflict and its remains have been preserved as an act of peace in contrast to a striking, modern cathedral that was built during the postwar period.
Within the Cathedral Quarter are traces from the time Coventry was a major city for the production of cloth during Medieval times, such as the stunning St Mary’s Hall from the 14th century.
Through the 20th century, Coventry was the center of British manufacture of cycles and automobiles and the prestigious brand Jaguar has its headquarters in Coventry.
Let’s look at the best activities during your time in Coventry:
1. Coventry Transport Museum
2. Coventry Cathedral
The 14th century Gothic St Michael’s Cathedral was destroyed on November 14, 1940 in The Second World War. This building has been left to decay as a monument, allowing visitors to stroll around the nave, and contemplate its window tracery.
This tower stands as the biggest remaining remnant of the structure, and is a functioning bell-tower which is home to a visitor’s centre on the ground floor. It is accessible for PS4. The cathedral that is next to it was created by Basil Spence and consecrated in 1962. It has since been named the most popular 20th century UK landmark.
Take the time to visit the huge weaving that is Christ from Graham Sutherland, the stained glass windows made by Lawrence Lee and the Expressionist Great West Screen by John Hutton.
3. St Mary’s Guildhall
A glimpse into Coventry’s illustrious Medieval past. St Mary’s Guildhall was built in the 1340s. It was later expanded to the size it is today in the latter half of the century.
It was also the headquarters for the considerable St Mary’s Guild, and it was later a united group of guilds, until they were repressed in the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century.
At the time the corporation and mayor of Coventry relocated to Coventry and stayed until the beginning of the 20th century. St Mary’s Guildhall is free to visit, and is among the most beautiful guildhalls that remain within the UK. It is possible to hear about Shakespeare as well as Mary Queen of Scots and stay at St Mary’s in Tudor times and look at the collection of weapons, art armor, furniture and other items.
The most impressive are most impressive is the Great Hall, which has Medieval stained glass, angels in the ceiling beams, and one of the most precious tapestries.
4. Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
Locally referred to as The Herbert The Herbert gallery and museum houses impressive collections in the visual arts, archaeologyand natural historical and social.
Begin at start at the British Life and Landscapes exhibition which features works by famous 20th-century English artists such as Paul Nash, L. S. Lowry, Stanley Spencer and David Bomberg, The outstanding work in the art collection Lady Godiva painted from the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Collier, appropriately displayed in Lady Godiva’s hometown city.
The archaeology department will take you through Prehistory through the Stuarts in the 17th century. It draws upon Stone Age ceramics, Roman artifacts found in Coventry’s Lunt Fort, Anglo-Saxon tiles vessels and weapons. Most valuable are the Medieval collection that harks back to the days when Coventry was at its peak.
In this time, you could examine a helmet dating to the 15th century, decorated choir stalls from the Carmelite friary, and the highest-quality stonework from an Benedictine priory.
5. Holy Trinity Church
The sole Medieval spot of worship in Coventry to have survived the war without injury The Holy Trinity Church has one of the highest spires (73 meters) of any church other than a cathedral in the UK.
The church was blessed around the year 1212. It was renovated during the 17th century and after that in the 1850s by the well-known restoration expert George Gilbert Scott.
What is what makes the Holy Trinity unique is its captivating “Doom” painting of the Final Judgment in an archway in the tower. The composition was made around 1430, however it could have been covered by limewash in the Reformation.
The painting was discovered in 1831, however restoration work didn’t start until the late 1990s, after which the painting was unveiled one again in 2004.
6. War Memorial Park
Following The First World War the city acquired fifty acres from Lords of Styvchale Manor to lay out an area of park to commemorate the war dead of Coventry. The gardens were finished in the decades of the 1920s and 1930s, with the most prominent feature being the 27-metre statue made of Portland stone, and inaugurated in 1927. In the early 2010s , the park received an overhaul of multimillions of pounds and is now a the coveted Green Flag status for its maintenance and amenities.
One part of the park is a memorial and garden, the other is a playing field and the “Splash ‘n’ Play Park” as well as an outdoor golf course, and tennis courts.
In the spring and summer months, there’s lots of events going on, such as for instance, the Sikh or Hindu Vaisakhi festival as well as The Caribbean Festival and the famous Godiva Festival, which we’ll be talking about in the future.
7. Warwick Arts Centre
The highly-regarded University of Warwick is under five miles to the southwest of Coventry and is the second biggest arts and culture complex outside London’s Barbican.
Warwick Arts Centre Warwick Arts Centre is in the central part of the campus of the university and hosts more than 3,000 events per year. Drama from the most renowned theatre companies, art exhibits and national opera, as well as lectures with Nobel-prize-winning authors comedy, contemporary and classical dance, and film screenings in five locations.
Being an educational institution, there are usually post-performance talks given by actors and artists and theater workshops run by the nation’s best companies.
8. Coventry Music Museum
Coventry as well as Warwickshire have produced a number of modern music pioneers, and they’re all honored in this lively museum.
It is possible to take a closer look at some artists, such as the Electronic Music pioneer Delia Derbyshire who was a part of Radiophonic Workshop of the BBC. Radiophonic Workshop and produced the famous electronic rendition that was the basis for The Dr Who theme. Coventry was also the center of Two-tone, a multi-cultural cross-pollination that straddled ska and punk.
There’s a great deal of space for exhibitions devoted to this genre as well as the most well-known band, The Specials.
The museum also includes a chronology of the musical history in the region that dates all the way back to Roman times, a model of an old record shop and an audio recording studio that can be interactive.
9. Midland Air Museum
With two hangars and an open space in Coventry Airport, the Midland Air Museum is an exhibition of British or international post-war aviation design.
It is home to its own Frank Whittle Jet Heritage Centre named for Frank Whittle, the Coventry native who developed and developed the first turbojet engine in the year 1930. A small selection of the exhibits include the Gloster Javelin, a Lockheed Starfighter as well as an MiG-21 as well as the Panavia Tornado, an Avro Vulcan, as well as the Dassault Mystere IV. There’s also an exhibit about the life of Frank Whittle and an array of gas turbine, piston and rocket engines. Five are made from Rolls-Royce and five made by Armstrong Siddeley.
10. Lady Godiva Statue
Lady Godiva was a historical figure, an 11th century noblewoman who was married to Leofric the Earl of Mercia.
According to a legend, she was in complete nakedness (covered with only her hair) on horses through Coventry to protest her husband’s exorbitant taxation of tenants.
Her modesty was protected because everyone in the city turned away from their eyes, except for one man, known as “Peeping Tom”, who was believed to have been blinded in a poetic punishment.
This is the source of the expression “Peeping Tom”, while Godiva’s statue from the legendary ride is visible from an solemn plinth at Broadgate and was constructed in 1949. Additionally, on Broadgate are a clock that features an image of Godiva that is displayed on the hour, viewed from Peeping Tom.
