Cathedral of St Michael

Cathedral of St Michael

Cathedral built 1951-62, designed by Sir Basil Spence. The building is constructed in red sandstone ashlar with green slate cladding to the chapels and a concrete roof. It is a Grade I listed building of exceptional importance.

The cathedral forms a lofty space of seven bays comprising a nave with full-height aisles on either side. There is no clerestory. The building includes a full-height Lady Chapel and Western (liturgical) porch. Circular chapels occupy the north-west and south-east corners, both lit by windows. The cathedral aligns east-west and was built at right angles to the ruins of the old cathedral (formerly the Parish Church), attaching to its north-east corner.

The nave and chancel walls of the new cathedral cant outwards in vertical bands, creating a distinctive 'saw-toothed' plan. Four-light stained glass windows of full height face north-west and south-west.

The Western porch features tall circular sandstone piers and three flat-topped concrete vaults. To the south-west lies the Baptistry, which has a convex wall that is partly solid and partly glazed with closely spaced vertical stone mullions. Epstein's sculpture of St Michael and Lucifer is attached to the baptistry wall by the porch. The Chapel of Christ the Servant occupies the south-east corner as a circular space with closely spaced vertical mullions. The Chapel of Unity to the north-west is polygonal, with largely solid walls of riven slate and projecting fins that taper upwards, featuring vertical strip glazing at the ends and a blind east wall. The west wall is fully glazed from floor to ceiling and wall to wall, comprising nineteen lights divided into eight horizontal bands with bronze glazing bars of plate glass engraved with figures of saints and angels by John Hutton.

The roof is low and crowned by an openwork metal fleche surmounted by a cross, designed by sculptor Geoffrey Clarke.

The interior contains cruciform reinforced concrete piers that taper towards the base and support a concrete 'ribbed' canopy with timber-slat panels between the ribs. This has the visual appearance of a vault but is structurally and visually separate from the walls.

The cathedral interior incorporates fitments by the most prominent British artists and designers of the period. The font and choir stalls were designed by Spence himself. Monumental inscriptions to the walls and floor are by Ralph Beyer. Stained glass includes work by John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens in the Baptistry, Lawrence Lee, Geoffrey Clarke and Keith New in the aisle walls, Einar Forseth in the Lady Chapel, and Margaret Traherne in the Chapel of Unity. The pulpit and lectern were designed by Spence, with the lectern featuring an eagle book rest in bronze by Elizabeth Frink. A tapestry by Graham Sutherland dominates the east wall of the Lady Chapel. An altar cross and crown of thorns were designed by Geoffrey Clarke. Large ceramic candlesticks are by Hans Coper. Chairs were designed by Russell, Hodgson and Leigh, with mosaics by Einar Forseth and ceramic panels by Steven Sykes also present.

Coventry Cathedral was one of the most important architectural commissions of its date in Britain. It was built following an architectural competition held in 1951. The scheme was notable for the extent to which the bomb-damaged shell of the medieval church of St Michael was preserved and integrated into the new design.