Coventry's medieval cathedral was destroyed during an air raid in 1944. It was decided to build a replacement alongside the ruins of the old cathedral. A competition for designs was held and it was won by a young architect called Basil Spence. Spence had previously designed one of the pavilions at the Festival of Britain. Spence decided not to use the traditional Gothic style. Instead, he tried to express the doctrines of Christianity in a modern format [Fig. 1].
Fig. 1 Coventry Cathedral
The new cathedral clearly shows the influence of Modernism. The walls are emphatically bare and stark, and there is no extraneous ornament. Yet the building is monumental, executed in stone. The walls are broken into angled facets with long stained-glass windows. The sun shines through these panels, and inside the light is focused onto the altar, the heart of the church. This is an ingenious use of lighting which gives an almost magical effect.
The key theme is the relationship with the old cathedral. Spence decided to preserve the ruins and build the new cathedral alongside them. This creates a moving contrast between the gaunt and skeletal ruin, and the vivid, monumental new building. The result is that the new cathedral seems to grow out of the ruins of the old. Spence used the metaphor of the phoenix rising from the flames, and in fact he wrote a book on the building called Phoenix at Coventry.
The design was very controversial because it did not use a traditional style or conventional religious iconography, but in fact Spence took great care to unify the new church with the old. First of all, it's built of the same red sandstone as the old cathedral. Secondly, the entire west wall is taken up with an immense glass screen, which acts as an opening rather than a barrier, so it facilitates communication between the two buildings. John Hutton produced these angelic figures which are etched into the glass [Fig. 2]. Their translucency gives them a very spiritual quality.
Fig. 2 Glass screen with angelic figures by John Hutton
All cathedrals are decorated with works of art, which express religious devotion, but Coventry Cathedral used work by leading modern artists. Sir Jacob Epstein was a sculptor who had worked at the Festival of Britain. He produced this bronze statue of St Michael and the Devil, which is fixed to the wall [Fig. 3]. The figures are very bold, showing the influence of Expressionist painting.
Fig. 3 St Michael and the Devil by Sir Jacob Epstein
The cathedral was an attempt to make Christianity relevant to modern society. Everything is abstract rather than heavy-handed and dogmatic. The Baptistery window has magnificent stained glass by John Piper, who was a successful painter of the time [Fig. 4]. Most church windows are like visual sermons - they illustrate a particular story from the Bible. Instead, this is an abstract design, which means it is open to different interpretations, rather than being one specific religious image.
Fig. 4 Baptistery window by John Piper
The walls are lined with stone panels inscribed with lines of scripture. These were carved by Ralph Beyer [Fig. 5]. They are deliberately stark and irregular, and speak of the hard labour involved in their creation.
Fig. 5 Carved panels by Ralph Beyer
The Chapel of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane is a secluded alcove cut into the wall, almost like a cave. It has a crown of thorns motif which represents Christ's agony in the garden, as well as foreshadowing the Crucifixion.
Coventry Cathedral was a heavily symbolic instance of post-war recovery. It used the contributions of major British post-war artists and designers.
