St Michaels. The second Coventry Cathedral. - Cathedrals on Waymarking.com

St Michael's Church in Coventry is what we think of as "the old cathedral" - becoming elevated to a cathedral in 1918. It is in fact the second cathedral. St Mary's Priory Cathedral being the first.

In 1086 the city was granted to the Earls of Chester and Bishop de Lymesay became abbot of the priory. Under him the City became dived in two. The Priors Half and the Earls Half. At first the Priors half was more powerful and subsequently the church of Holy Trinity became the parish church for the Priors half. St Michaels was the parish church of the Earls half of the city and was used by his tenants These two churches are both in the Centre of the City not more than 50 yards apart and both sitting on the hilltop. This explains why there are two churches so close together. (The first Cathedral of St Mary's was a monastery too and so did not survive the ravages of Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries).

St Michaels was built in stages around the 1370's. The Botoner brothers, William and Adam, rich merchants of the time, paid for the construction of the tower and their sisters, Ann and Mary, paid for the construction of the spire some 40 years later. There was said to be a brass plaque in the church which read...


William and Adam Built the tower,
Ann and Mary built the spire.
William and Adam built the church,
Ann and Mary built the choir.

The overall is some 300 feet in height standing on a base of around 30 feet square. There is a stone staircase which you can use to climb to the top of the tower. A well worth while climb though breathtaking for reason of exercise too. In 1773 thousands of pounds were expended on overcoming subsidence.

A bronze of the first Bishop of Coventry H.W.Yeatman-Briggs. First unveiled in 1925. This bronze is in the ruins of St Michaels.

At the outbreak of was in 1939 the stained glass from the cathedral was removed. It is now in the undercroft of the new Cathedral. On the night of the 14th of November 1940 the Luftwaffe attacked the City. The moon was bright. Coventry was laid out below them clear and sharp. Incendiary bombs formed part of the attack ordnance and a stick of these hit the cathedral setting the roof timbers alight.

When the morning of the 15th November dawned the tower and spire still stood, rather like the tower and spire of Christ Church. A cross formed from two charred timbers was formed and placed on the alter and a cross of medieval nails was formed also.

Religious affiliation: Anglican Date founded or constructed: 1370/01/01 Address: Not listed Web site: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
1.Describe your visit, including the date, with as much detail as possible
2.Provide at least one original photograph – no need to include your GPS in the picture

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   11/19/2015 Mark1962 wrote comment for it 05/08/2015 greysman visited it 04/23/2014 petendot visited it 03/22/2014 PazaUK visited it 08/05/2013 vix92008 visited it 08/05/2013 Angelina Ballerina visited it 08/16/2009 MeerRescue visited it 02/16/2009 yesno94 visited it 11/15/2008 Superted visited it 01/26/2008 Norfolk12 visited it 04/13/2000 RMR45 visited it

View all visits/logs