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Now the 9th largest city in England,
Coventry dates back to 1043 when Leofric, Earl of Mercia,
and his wife Lady Godiva established a Benedictine abbey here.
By the 14th century a settlement
that had grown up around the Warwickshire abbey had become
an important centre of the cloth trade. In 1345 Coventry
was granted city status.
The phrase 'sent to Coventry'
(ie being ostracised) is thought to have originated during
the English Civil War when the staunchly Parliamentarian citizens
were very hostile towards their Royalist prisoners.
In the late 19th century Coventry
became a centre of bicycle production (pioneered by Rover)
and this later developed into the British motor industry.
During World War II the city
suffered severe damage from German bombing and in 1940 a massive
air raid destroyed most of the city centre and its historic
cathedral. The city was mostly rebuilt in the 1950s and 1960s,
gaining a pedestrianised shopping centre and a new cathedral.
This celebrated modern building, designed by Basil Spence,
stands poignantly besides the ruins of the medieval cathedral.
Coventry remained prosperous
until the 1970s and 1980s when the demise of the motor industry
lead to high levels of unemployement. The Specials, a local
Two Tone band, wrote 'Ghost Town' about the decline of the
city.
Today Coventry has largely regenerated
by encouraging new industries into the city.
Its major tourist attractions
include Coventry Cathedral, the Coventry
Transport Museum, which houses the largest collection
of British Road Transport in the world, and the
Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. Just outside the city
stand the Lunt Fort (a partially reconstructed 1st Century
Roman fort) and the Midland
Air Museum, beside Coventry Airport.
Coventry's most famous resident,
Lady Godiva, is said to have ridden through the city naked
on horseback in protest at the high taxes imposed by her husband
on the citizens. The cityfolk were asked to look away as
Lady Godiva rode by but one did not and was struck blind.
He became known as 'Peeping
Tom' and originated the term.
A statue of Lady Godiva stands
in the city centre and a beautiful Pre-Raphaelite painting
by John Collier can be seen in the Herbert Art Gallery and
Museum.
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Coventry
