About
The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum is the principal museum and art gallery for Coventry and Warwickshire, a major cultural institution that tells the story of one of England's most historically significant cities through collections spanning art, social history, archaeology, and the natural world. Located in the heart of Coventry's city centre, directly adjacent to Coventry Cathedral and the ruins of the medieval cathedral destroyed in the devastating air raid of November 1940, the Herbert occupies a position at the very centre of the city's identity — a place where Coventry's long and dramatic history can be explored in depth.
The museum was established in 1960 and named after Alfred Herbert, a Coventry industrialist and philanthropist whose generous bequest made its creation possible. The building has been significantly expanded and modernised, most recently in a major redevelopment completed in 2008 that created the spacious, light-filled galleries and flexible exhibition spaces that visitors experience today. The Herbert is now one of the most visited free museums in the West Midlands, welcoming over 400,000 visitors annually.
Coventry's history provides the museum with an extraordinarily rich narrative to tell. The city's medieval prosperity, built on the wool trade and cloth making, made it one of the largest and wealthiest cities in England — the great church of St Michael, whose ruins still stand beside the Herbert, was the product of that wealth. The story of Lady Godiva, Coventry's most famous legend, is explored with a combination of historical evidence and creative interpretation that separates the known facts from the layers of myth and retelling. The city's role as a centre of the bicycle industry in the nineteenth century and the motor car industry in the twentieth is documented through objects, photographs, and personal testimony.
The Coventry Blitz of 14 November 1940, when the Luftwaffe devastated the city centre and destroyed the medieval cathedral, is one of the defining events of Coventry's modern history, and the Herbert treats this traumatic chapter with sensitivity and power. The museum's presentation of the Blitz connects the devastating attack with the city's remarkable post-war commitment to peace and reconciliation — a commitment symbolised by the new cathedral designed by Basil Spence and by Coventry's twinning with Dresden, the German city that suffered its own devastating bombardment. The themes of peace, reconciliation, and international understanding that emerged from Coventry's wartime suffering continue to shape the city's identity and the Herbert's programming.
The fine art collection includes significant holdings of British painting, sculpture, and decorative art, with particular strengths in twentieth-century British art and works connected with the city and region. The archaeology galleries present finds from Coventry and Warwickshire that trace human occupation from the prehistoric period through the Roman, Saxon, and medieval periods, while the natural history collections document the wildlife and geology of the Warwickshire countryside.
The Herbert also serves as a major venue for touring exhibitions and temporary shows, maintaining a programme of changing displays that ensures there is always something new to see alongside the permanent collections. The museum's education programme is one of the most active in the region, serving schools across Coventry and Warwickshire.
Categories:
Highlights
The Coventry Blitz and Peace and Reconciliation
The Herbert's presentation of the devastating Luftwaffe raid of 14 November 1940 — when Coventry's city centre and medieval cathedral were destroyed in a single night of bombing — is one of the most powerful Second World War galleries in any British museum. The display combines personal testimony, photographs, objects recovered from the ruins, and audio recordings to recreate the terror and devastation of that night.
But the Herbert goes beyond the destruction to explore Coventry's remarkable post-war commitment to peace and reconciliation — the decision to rebuild rather than merely restore, the creation of Basil Spence's modernist cathedral alongside the preserved ruins, and the twinning with Dresden that symbolised a determination to transform suffering into understanding.
The theme of reconciliation runs through the museum's identity.
The Lady Godiva Gallery
Coventry's most famous story — the ride of Lady Godiva through the streets of the city — is explored in a gallery that separates historical fact from centuries of myth and retelling. Lady Godiva (Godgifu) was a real historical figure, the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a significant landowner and benefactress in her own right in eleventh-century England.
The Herbert traces the evolution of the legend from its earliest written sources through its elaboration by successive generations of storytellers, artists, and interpreters.
The gallery includes paintings, sculptures, and objects that show how the Godiva story has been reimagined across the centuries, while establishing what can genuinely be known about the historical woman behind the legend.
Fine Art Collection
The Herbert holds a significant collection of fine art with particular strengths in British painting and sculpture from the eighteenth century to the present day. The collection includes works by Lowry, Spencer, Sutherland, and other major twentieth-century British artists, alongside earlier works and an important collection of topographical paintings and prints showing Coventry and Warwickshire through the centuries.
The gallery spaces created in the 2008 redevelopment provide excellent conditions for displaying art, with natural lighting and flexible hanging systems.
The collection is complemented by a regular programme of temporary art exhibitions that bring national and international contemporary art to Coventry.
Coventry's Industrial Heritage — Bicycles and Motor Cars
Coventry's transformation from a medieval cloth-making city into the centre of the British bicycle and motor car industries is one of the great stories of industrial history, and the Herbert documents this transformation with objects, photographs, and personal testimony that bring the city's engineering heritage to life.
The city's bicycle industry, which flourished from the 1860s, laid the foundation for the motor industry that followed — many of the skills, workshops, and entrepreneurs that created the British car industry had their origins in Coventry's cycle trade. Names like Rover, Hillman, Humber, Daimler, Jaguar, and Standard all have their roots in Coventry, and the Herbert preserves the memory of the skilled workforce whose expertise made the city the motor capital of Britain.
Collections
Godiva and the Story of Coventry
A major gallery exploring the full sweep of Coventry's history from the Lady Godiva legend through medieval prosperity, the Civil War, industrial transformation, the Blitz, and post-war rebuilding — using objects, art, and immersive displays.
Peace and Reconciliation
A gallery dedicated to the Coventry Blitz, the city's post-war commitment to peace, and the broader themes of conflict and reconciliation that connect Coventry's experience with global events. Includes personal testimonies, objects, and multimedia displays.
Art Gallery
The fine art galleries displaying the Herbert's collection of British paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts from the eighteenth century to the present, with regularly changing displays from the permanent collection.
Natural World
The natural history galleries covering the wildlife, geology, and ecology of Warwickshire and the wider West Midlands region, with specimens, interactive displays, and environmental interpretation.
Current Exhibitions
The Herbert hosts a continuous programme of temporary and touring exhibitions covering art, history, culture, and contemporary issues. Check the Herbert website for current shows and upcoming exhibitions.