The Churches of Coventry

Bell's Cathedrals: The Churches of Coventry, by

Frederic W. Woodhouse This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Bell's Cathedrals: The Churches of Coventry A Short History of the City and Its Medieval Remains
Author: Frederic W. Woodhouse
Release Date: February 11, 2007 [EBook #11403]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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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]
LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS 1909

CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. TOOK COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

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 3
THE RUINS OF THE PRIORY AND CATHEDRAL CHURCH 16
ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH:
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 21 II. THE EXTERIOR 29 III. THE INTERIOR 41
HOLY TRINITY CHURCH:
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 61 II. THE EXTERIOR 65 III. THE INTERIOR 69
ST. JOHN BAPTIST'S CHURCH 79
THE GREY FRIARS' CONVENT (CHRIST CHURCH) 91
THE WHITE FRIARS 94
ST. MARY HALL 96
THE CARTHUSIAN MONASTERY 99

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
COVENTRY, THE THREE SPIRES Frontispiece
ARMS OF THE TOWN Title-page
VIEW FROM THE TOP OF BISHOP STREET 2
COOK STREET GATE 7
SEAL OF THE PRIORY 15
WEST END OF THE PRIORY CHURCH 16
REMAINS OF THE NORTH-WEST TOWER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 17
ST. MICHAEL'S FROM THE NORTH 20
ST. MICHAEL'S FROM THE NORTH-WEST 28
INTERIOR OF THE TOWER FROM BELOW 31
THE WEST PORCH 33
SOUTH PORCH FROM ST. MARY HALL 34
SOUTH-WEST DOORWAY 35
INTERIOR OF ST. MICHAEL'S FROM THE WEST 40
TOWER ARCH 42
BAY OF NAVE, NORTH SIDE 43
INTERIOR FROM THE SOUTH DOOR 45
THE CHOIR FROM ST. LAWRENCE'S CHAPEL 46
POPPY HEAD, LADY CHAPEL 48
MISERERE, LADY CHAPEL 48
CHEST IN NORTH AISLE 50
THE NETHERMYL TOMB 51
THE SWILLINGTON TOMB 54
ALMS-BOX 56
HOLY TRINITY FROM THE NORTH (ABOUT 1850) 60
PLAN OF TRINITY CHURCH 66
INTERIOR OF HOLY TRINITY, FROM THE WEST 68
NORTH SIDE OF NAVE--EASTERN BAYS 71
PULPIT 73
ARCHWAY BETWEEN THE NORTH PORCH AND ST. THOMAS'S CHAPEL 74
ALMS-BOX 77
CHURCH OF ST. JOHN BAPTIST 80
PLAN 85
INTERIOR 87
CLEARSTORY WINDOWS 88
THE SPIRE OF CHRIST CHURCH 92
GREY FRIARS' CHURCH (PLAN OF CROSSING) 93
ST. MARY HALL 96
PLAN 98
PLAN OF ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH At End

[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;