Coventry Trails guide (single pages)

THIS IS COVENTRY - A BOOK OF TRAILS
Coventry was the ‘boom town’ of late medieval England.
Coventry’s population recovered rapidly from the Black Death
so that by 1377, it grew to be the fourth largest town in the UK.
Despite wartime damage and post-war rebuilding, Coventry has a remarkably
high number of surviving domestic medieval buildings. Most are in the former
medieval suburbs of Spon Street and Far Gosford Street.
1) St Mary’s Priory Undercroft
The first definitive event in Coventry's history
was the foundation of the Benedictine Priory
of St Mary in 1043 by Leofric, the Earl of
Mercia and Godiva, his wife. The Priory
church was elevated to the status of a
cathedral in 1102 but was destroyed under
the orders of Henry VIII in 1539.
2) Holy Trinity Church
Inside Holy Trinity, the 14th-century wall
painting of The Last Judgement, can be
seen above the west crossing arch. It was
revealed in 2004 after years of conservation.
3) Cathedral Ruins
St Michael's was founded in the 12th century
by the Earl of Chester. Before it gained a
cathedral charter in 1918 it had been one of
the largest parish churches in England, its
spire only exceeded in height by those of
Salisbury and Norwich cathedrals.
Whitefriars
Carmelite
Friary
4) St Mary’s Guildhall
See opposite page.
5) Whitefriars Carmelite Friary
The East Cloister and Gate of the friary
remains, tucked incongruously under a
section of the ring road. Whitefriars was
founded in 1342 and dissolved in 1538.
From 1801 it was used as a workhouse.
6) Charterhouse
Extend your route to the Charterhouse, the
remains of the Carthusian Priory of St Anne,
founded in 1381-2 by Richard II. Here you’ll
see fragments of a massive 15th-century wall
painting that depicts Christ on the Cross and
St Anne teaching her daughter, the Virgin
Mary, to read.