Coventry Cathedral

On the 14th of November 1940 St. Michael’s Cathedral in Coventry was almost entirely destroyed in an air raid by the Luftwaffe.

The tower, spire, outer wall and tomb of the first bishop of Coventry survived but the rest of the building was obliterated.

In 1950 a competition was held to find an architect for the new Coventry Cathedral.

Over 200 entries were submitted, most suggesting the rebuilding of the original structure with others proposing to demolish what remained of the old building and the construction of an entirely new development.

The winning design was put forward by Basil Spence.

His idea was to build a new cathedral but retain the ruins of the older building as a memorial and develop it as a garden of remembrance.

Hollington sandstone, the material used in the construction of the original building, was used for the new cathedral, giving an element of unity between the two structures which were visually very different.

The foundation stone of the new structure was laid on March 23rd 1956 and the Cathedral was consecrated on May 25th 1962.

Basil Spence had been an intelligence officer during World War Two and had taken part in the D-Day landings.

On his second day in France he had watched British tanks destroy two Norman churches in Ouistreham and Hermanville. They had shelled the belfries to kill German snipers who were positioned up there.

That night a friend asked Spence what his plans were once the war was over.

He replied:

‘To build a cathedral...’