About
Coventry Cathedral stands as one of the most powerful and moving heritage sites in Britain, a place where medieval destruction and modern creation exist side by side to create an extraordinarily resonant monument to human resilience, artistic achievement, and the search for peace and reconciliation. The old cathedral, a magnificent medieval structure dedicated to St Michael, was almost completely destroyed during the devastating German bombing raid of 14 November 1940, when over five hundred German aircraft reduced much of Coventry to rubble in a single night of terror. In the morning aftermath, amid the smoking ruins of the medieval church, the cathedral's stonemason Jock Forbes placed two charred beams from the fallen roof in the shape of a cross — one of the most iconic images of the entire Second World War.
The decision not to clear the ruins but to preserve them as a permanent memorial, alongside a magnificent new cathedral, was one of the most inspired acts of cultural policy in twentieth-century Britain. The new cathedral, designed by Sir Basil Spence and consecrated in 1962, is a masterpiece of modern architecture and one of the most important post-war buildings in the world. Spence's bold design, which uses the roofless medieval ruins as the atrium and approach to the new building, creates a journey from destruction to hope that resonates deeply with all who experience it. The architectural achievement is matched by an extraordinary programme of modern art commissioned for the building.
At the cathedral's heart hangs the enormous tapestry designed by Graham Sutherland depicting Christ in Glory in the Tetramorph, the largest tapestry in the world, measuring 74 feet high and woven in France. John Piper's magnificent baptistry window, a blaze of abstract colour celebrating light and creation, floods the interior with kaleidoscopic light. Jacob Epstein's haunting bronze sculpture of St Michael and the Devil stands outside the entrance, a powerful image of good triumphing over evil that has become one of the most recognised works of British sculpture. Together these works create one of the greatest programmes of twentieth-century religious art anywhere in the world.
Beyond its architectural and artistic significance, Coventry Cathedral is the world centre of the International Ministry of Reconciliation, a network of partnerships and programmes working for peace and healing in communities scarred by conflict and division. The Cross of Nails — made from nails recovered from the fallen cathedral roof — has become an international symbol of reconciliation, and the community that grew up around it now extends to over two hundred partners in more than forty countries. Visiting the cathedral means encountering this living community of reconciliation and understanding why this place of wartime devastation has become a global centre for peace.
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Plan Your Visit
💡 Visitor Tips
- Allow at least 2 hours — there is far more to see than most visitors anticipate
- Attend a choral evensong service if one coincides with your visit — the building comes alive with music
- The ruins are particularly atmospheric in early morning or evening light — try to visit at these times if possible
- Look up at the baptistry window from inside — the colours change dramatically through the day
Highlights
The Ruins — Britain's Most Powerful WWII Memorial
The preserved shell of the medieval St Michael's Cathedral, bombed during the Coventry Blitz of 14 November 1940, constitutes one of the most emotionally powerful war memorials in Britain. Rather than being cleared away, the ruined nave walls, tower, and spire were preserved exactly as they stood after the bombing, creating a permanent open-air monument to both the destruction of war and the determination of the human spirit to endure and rebuild.
Visitors enter the new cathedral through or alongside these ruins, making the journey from destruction to creation a physical and spiritual experience.
The ruins are particularly atmospheric at dawn and dusk when the ancient stones catch the changing light.
Basil Spence's Architectural Masterpiece
The new Coventry Cathedral, designed by Sir Basil Spence and consecrated on 25 May 1962, is one of the finest and most significant buildings of the twentieth century, a daring architectural statement that made no attempt to replicate the lost medieval building but instead created a bold contemporary structure that honoured the past while embracing the present.
Spence's design uses warm red sandstone, dramatic angular geometry, and a saw-tooth wall arrangement that creates a series of deep-set windows flooding the interior with coloured light. The building's extraordinary artistic programme, encompassing tapestry, stained glass, sculpture, and decorative metalwork all by leading artists of the day, creates one of the greatest unified programmes of twentieth-century art and architecture in the world.
Graham Sutherland's Christ in Glory Tapestry
Dominating the east end of the new cathedral is Graham Sutherland's monumental tapestry Christ in Glory in the Tetramorph, measuring 74 feet tall and 38 feet wide — the largest tapestry in the world when it was created. Woven in Aubusson, France, over a period of years and installed in 1962, the tapestry depicts Christ in majesty surrounded by the four evangelists' symbolic creatures, with a small human figure standing between Christ's feet to emphasise the divine scale.
The tapestry's extraordinary scale, vibrant colour, and expressive power make it one of the most impressive single works of religious art created in Britain in the twentieth century, and it is the visual focal point of the entire cathedral interior.
John Piper's Baptistry Window
John Piper's magnificent baptistry window, at approximately 81 feet high and 52 feet wide one of the largest stained-glass windows in the world, creates a spectacular wall of light that transforms the character of the cathedral interior. The window's abstract design, composed of around two hundred different glass colours radiating outward from a central source of light, represents the light of the Holy Spirit flooding the world with colour and life.
Piper worked with glassmaker Patrick Reyntiens to realise this extraordinary vision, creating a window that changes character dramatically with the movement of light throughout the day and the seasons.
The window's kaleidoscopic splendour is one of the most purely joyful works of religious art in any British building.
Collections
The Ruins — Open-Air Memorial
Preserved shell of the medieval cathedral destroyed in 1940, maintained as a permanent memorial to war and the search for peace
The New Cathedral
Basil Spence's 1962 architectural masterpiece with its extraordinary programme of modern art including Sutherland tapestry, Piper window, and Epstein sculpture
The Cross of Nails International Ministry
Interpretation of the cathedral's worldwide reconciliation ministry and its network of partner organisations
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.