The Churches of Coventry

The Churches of Coventry - A
Short History of the City & Its
Medieval Remains

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Title: The Churches of Coventry A Short History of the City & Its
Medieval Remains
Author: Frederick W. Woodhouse
Release Date: March 2, 2004 [EBook #11403]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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CHURCHES OF COVENTRY ***

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[Illustration: COVENTRY, THE THREE SPIRES.]
THE CHURCHES OF COVENTRY
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE CITY & ITS MEDIEVAL REMAINS
BY
FREDERIC W. WOODHOUSE

WITH XL ILLUSTRATIONS
[Illustration: ARMS OF COVENTRY]
1909

BELL'S CATHEDRAL SERIES
COVENTRY
PREFACE
The principal authorities for the history of Coventry and its churches
have been Dugdale's "Antiquities of Warwickshire" and the "Illustrated
Papers and the History and Antiquities of the City of Coventry," by
Thomas Sharp, edited by W.G. Fretton (1871). Besides these the many
papers by Mr. Fretton in the Transactions of the Birmingham and
Midland Institute and other Societies, and the "History and Antiquities
of Coventry" by Benjamin Poole (1870) have been the main sources of
historical information. The Author is, however, responsible for the
architectural opinions and descriptions, which are mainly the outcome
of a lifelong acquaintance with the city and its buildings, fortified by
several weeks of study and investigation recently undertaken.
He desires to acknowledge his deep obligations to the Vicars of the
several churches for leave to examine, measure and photograph the
buildings in their charge; to Mr. J. Oldrid Scott for the loan of drawings
of St. Michael's; to Mr. A. Brown, Librarian of the Coventry Public
Library for advice and help in making use of the store of topographical
material under his care; to Mr. Owen, Verger of St. Michael's and Mr.
Chapman, Verger of Holy Trinity, for help in various directions, and to
Mr. Wilfred Sims for his energy and care in taking most of the
photographs required for illustration.
The other illustrations are reproduced from drawings made by the
author.
CONTENTS
MONASTERY AND CITY
THE RUINS OF THE PRIORY AND CATHEDRAL CHURCH
ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH:
CHAPTER I
. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH II. THE EXTERIOR III. THE
INTERIOR

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH:
CHAPTER I
. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH II. THE EXTERIOR III. THE
INTERIOR
ST. JOHN BAPTIST'S CHURCH
THE GREY FRIARS' CONVENT (CHRIST CHURCH)
THE WHITE FRIARS
ST. MARY HALL
THE CARTHUSIAN MONASTERY

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS:
COVENTRY, THE THREE SPIRES
ARMS OF THE TOWN
VIEW FROM THE TOP OF BISHOP STREET
COOK STREET GATE
SEAL OF THE PRIORY
WEST END OF THE PRIORY CHURCH
REMAINS OF THE NORTH-WEST TOWER IN THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
ST. MICHAEL'S FROM THE NORTH
ST. MICHAEL'S FROM THE NORTH-WEST
INTERIOR OF THE TOWER FROM BELOW
THE WEST PORCH
SOUTH PORCH FROM ST. MARY HALL
SOUTH-WEST DOORWAY
INTERIOR OF ST. MICHAEL'S FROM THE WEST
TOWER ARCH
BAY OF NAVE, NORTH SIDE
INTERIOR FROM THE SOUTH DOOR
THE CHOIR FROM ST. LAWRENCE'S CHAPEL
POPPY HEAD, LADY CHAPEL
MISERERE, LADY CHAPEL
CHEST IN NORTH AISLE
THE NETHERMYL TOMB
THE SWILLINGTON TOMB
ALMS-BOX

HOLY TRINITY FROM THE NORTH (ABOUT 1850)
PLAN OF TRINITY CHURCH
INTERIOR OF HOLY TRINITY, FROM THE WEST
NORTH SIDE OF NAVE-EASTERN BAYS
PULPIT
ARCHWAY BETWEEN THE NORTH PORCH AND ST.
THOMAS'S CHAPEL
ALMS-BOX
CHURCH OF ST. JOHN BAPTIST
PLAN
INTERIOR
CLEARSTORY WINDOWS
THE SPIRE OF CHRIST CHURCH
GREY FRIARS' CHURCH (PLAN OF CROSSING)
ST. MARY HALL
PLAN
PLAN OF ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH
[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE TOP OF BISHOP STREET.]
CHURCHES OF COVENTRY
MONASTERY AND CITY
The opening words of Sir William Dugdale's account of Coventry
assert that it is a city "remarkable for antiquity, charters, rights and
privileges, and favours shown by monarchs." Though this handbook is
primarily concerned with a feature of the city he does not here
mention--its magnificent buildings--the history of these is bound up
with that of the city. The connection of its great parish churches with
the everyday life of the people, though commonly on a narrower stage,
is more intimate than is that of a cathedral or an abbey church, but it is
to be remembered that without its Monastery Coventry might never
have been more than a village or small market town.
We cannot expect the records of a parish church to be as full and
complete as those of a cathedral, always in touch through its bishops
with the political life of the country and enjoying the services of
numerous officials; or as those of a