A amazing experience in Coventry Thursday 22nd May

Today was another of those gob-smacking experiences.  We managed to get into Coventry, and eventually find a suitable carpark, but there are so many roads, and ring roads, and other roads cut off, that the driving task was quite stressful.  Our reason for stopping in Coventry was to avoid the huge city of Birmingham, and to see one of my g.grandfather's alms houses, built in the 1500's.

I chose to go to the Coventry cathedral, and the Guildhall.  John went to the Coventry Motor Museum.

I didn't realise the Cathedral was in ruins, left that way to depict the horrors of the bombings during 1940, when the city was bombed continuously for 11 hours.  There had been an agreement about not bombing cathedrals, but that seemed to not have carried through.  The Cathedral had an interesting past, in that it was first constructed in the 12th century then destroyed by Henry VIII all the valuables taken. Later the cathedral was rebuilt, only to be bombed and burnt in 1940.

This window remains undamaged and is at the opposite end of the burnt out building

Monument in the cathedral square of martyrs that were burnt

Buildings within the cathedral square prescint

I spent some time with the tourist information lady, trying to work out where John Bond, who was Mayor in 1516 (and my g.grandfather), had built his Alms House.  Then the penny clicked with the name and she told me that he built the Bond Hospital.  I didn't know that, and even better they sold postcards of it!

Then I went into the Guildhall.  And I was completely overwhelmed.  As the brochure says"venture through the medieval gates of St Mary's Guildhall and you will discover one of Coventry's greatest historic treasures."  And it was.  It is apparently the finest surviving medieval guildhall in the whole of the country.  It contains the council chambers, as they were when my ancestor was Mayor.  From the carved chairs, and the other furnishings, the room to house the treasures, to the chamber where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned.  I felt quite strange that I could sit in the same place as my ancestor from 600 years ago. Quite unreal.  

The Old Council Chamber housed meetings of the city from 1421 to 1863.  The Guild Chair dates from 1540, the oak table from 1610.  The room was restored in 1936, and the building escaped the bombs.

Dates to 1450

Then into the Treasury room.  It contains a Treasure Chest from the 13th century.

Down a few stairs into the Great Hall, an amazing room, dates from late 14th and early 15th century. The timber roof is adorned with a series of angel musicians and other finely carved ceiling bosses.  The stained glass incorporates historical figures including royalty, nobility religious persons and mayors.  Another series of stained glass depicts actual rulers from King Arthur through to Henry VI.

 But the most dramatic piece of work in the hall is a huge 15th century Flemish tapestry, which is thought to depict King Henry VI and Queen Margaret.  It was made to fit under the stained glass windows, and remains in that location 500 years from when it was made.  It took 4 years to weave.

The tapestry fits under the arched windows and even depicts the divisions between each panel

Almost impossible to get a full view, lucky for postcards

A few ancestors depicted on the stained glass windows

But probably one of the statues in the Guildhall is known world wide.  Lady Godiva.  She really did not prance around on a horse naked, but rather without jewels, but don't let me spoil an old legend.

Her statue is in the West side of the hall, and the Oriel window dates from 1394 - 1414, and was rebuilt in 1826.  W.C. Marshall created the 19th century statue of Lady Godiva.

Like the Hereford Cathedral and its secrets, this one is no different!  

From there it was into the main street, and it is much like many other towns, built around a central town square, and I just missed the glockenspiel at 12.00pm when Lady Godiva is chased by Peeping Tom, but there she was also in the middle, all decked out in blue paper!

Carved timber post on the oldest building (above)

Lady Godiva clothes in blue

That is the glockenspiel

Next we tried to find Hill Street.  Now Heidi was happy to put us on all the ring roads in the right direction, but the driver thought that was stupid so we headed for the school where the Alms house was supposed to be.  It wasn't and then we had another try, into the entrance to a car park!  And another try, and then we followed Heidi and this time she found the other end of the street, and there was the Bond Hospital!  Turns out the current school is not the old school, we weren't to know we were in the wrong place.

Bit of double parking and I managed to get some photos without us being fined!

Now an old age persons home

Entrance gate

Rugby was the next port of call.  Not the game, but the town.  On the way we passed the most enormous cement works, surrounded by heaps of old brick sheds, I am sure it must have been some sort of industrial compound during the war.  Something else to google.

Rugby is the home of the Rugby School.  Not your average school, but a whole series of private school buildings surrounding the city centre.  The game of rugby started here.  We found the museum in the Rugby shop and while they have quite a considerable collection of memorabilia, it was not what we expected.

But while we had a bit of a brag about our grandson Joshua, they told us that the St Paul's school have visited in the past!  

Quite heavy rain on the way back, with thunderstorms predicted tonight.  Perhaps a few more rabbits will be in the garden if it rains.

Our spacious room

Built for short people

The bathroom window

The crooked door

Tomorrow we tackle Birmingham to the University Library to view great grandfather James Sedgwick's papers that he wrote while he was a missionary in China.

Hopefully the University is not surrounded by heavy built up traffic, as we encountered today.