• Travelsignposts Home
  • Country Guides
  • City Guides
  • River Cruises
  • Europe Photos
  • About Us

England Travel

  • Home
  • Photos
  • Map
  • Weather
  • Site Map
  • Destinations
  • Sightseeing
  • Shopping
  • Food
  • Getting around
  • Useful facts
  • News & Events
You are here: Home / Featured / Coventry Cathedral and its Cross of Nails

Coventry Cathedral and its Cross of Nails

By Helen Page 1 Comment

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Coventry Cathedral – Also Known as St. Michael’s :

St Michael's Cathedral

Coventry Cathedral © Travelsignposts


Coventry was an armaments centre during World War II and as such it was a prime target for German bombing raids.  Much of the city, including Coventry Cathedral, was destroyed by the German Luftwaffe during the Coventry Blitz in 1940.

Rebuild of Coventry Cathedral

There are many churches and cathedrals in Britain, but Coventry’s Cathedral is one with the message of Reconciliation and Hope.

After the war, against the feelings of most people, the Cathedral Community resolved that the Christian message of forgiveness should be followed in the rebuild of the Cathedral. Maintaining the biblical imperative to “love thy enemies”, they wanted to extend the hand of friendship to those with whom they had been at war.

Basil Spence, the architect chosen for the design of the new Coventry Cathedral, insisted that the ruins of the old cathedral should be kept as a “garden of remembrance” and the new cathedral built alongside it.

Cross of Nails

Three medieval nails which were rescued from the rubble of the ruined cathedral were welded together with a “Cross of Nails”. As soon as the war was over, crosses were sent to the German cities of Dresden, Kiel and Berlin whose people had also suffered and where major churches had been destroyed.

Firm and lasting relationships were cemented and symbolized by the building of the new Cathedral which was completed in 1962. The Cross of Nails has become a symbol of peace and reconciliation across the world. There are now over 160 Cross of Nails centres all over the world, all of them bearing a cross made of three nails from the ruins, similar to the original one.

St. Michael and the Devil © Travel Signposts

The friendships and story continue to be an inspiration and example to hundreds of communities as they emerge from their own situations of conflict.

Coventry Cathedral is also known as St. Michael’s Cathedral. At the front wall of the Cathedral is the dramatic bronze sculpture  of St. Michael the Archangel and his Victory over the Devil.

There are many interesting features of the old cathedral that can be seen within the roofless ruins, including sculptures such as:

Wooden Cross at the Altar – When the cathedral stonemason saw two wooden beams lying in the shape of a cross on an altar of rubble, he tied them together. A replica of the wooden cross was built in 1964 and has replaced the original which is now kept in St. Michael’s Hall below the new cathedral.

The Reconciliation sculpture in front of the Girdlers’ Chapel – an identical copy of which has been placed in the Peace Garden in Hiroshima on behalf of the people of Coventry.

The Ecce Homo statue representing Christ before Pilate with his hands bound and a crown of thorns upon his head.

We didn’t go into the new Cathedral as time did not permit.

Map of Coventry:

My location
Get Directions

Click here to get a free PDF of this post

Do you agree or disagree?
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Featured, Sightseeing Tagged With: coventry cathedral, coventry cathedral england, coventry cathedral history, coventry cathedral reconciliation, cross of nails coventry cathedral, st. michaels church coventry

avatar

About Helen Page

Helen Page is a prolific blogger and ardent traveller; she runs Travelsignposts with her professional writer and photographer husband Tony.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CAPTCHA
Refresh

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You can also find us on

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Latest Additions

  • Cambridge: A Vibrant City for Everyone, Not Just Students
  • Visit Portsmouth and Discover England in Miniature
  • Brighton – The Coolest City in the UK
  • Liverpool- “A Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All”
  • Guernsey – A Little Bit of Heaven in the Channel Islands

Plan and Book Your Trip


  • www.classictic.com
  • www.travelsignposts.com
  • www.travelsignposts.com
  • www.music-opera.com

eNews and Updates

feedburner Sign up now to get emailed news as well as other site updates!

Get the Guerrilla Travel Photography ebook here now!
City Guides
Country Guides
River Cruises

Who is behind Travelsignposts?

Helen and Tony Page at Singapore Changi Airport

We're Helen and Tony Page, and we love travelling - lucky as we've been doing it for the last few decades!

Tony has long been a professional photographer and writer, but Helen now writes most of the posts and takes a lot of photos herself!

Travelsignposts is our main travel planning site, but we've just launched Travelsignposts China and Tony also runs the Travelsignposts Photo and Guerrilla Travel Photography web sites, as well as publishing the Take Better Digital Photos and Guerrilla Travel Photography eBooks.

Read more about Helen and Tony or contact them.

Other Countries

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Devon & Cornwall
  • England 2
  • Estonia
  • Europe (General)
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • Scotland
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine

Resources

  • Take Better Digital Photos eBook Take Better Digital Photos eBook
  • Take Better Digital Photos Free eCourse
  • Travel Signposts Photo – our main travel photography site
  • Guerrilla Travel Photography eBook Guerrilla Travel Photography eBook

Copyright © 2019 Travelsignposts Pty Ltd · All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy   |   Terms of Service   |   Affiliate Disclaimer   |   Log in

Get a free PDF of this post!
Just enter your email address below and we'll send it to you immediately.

Please enter your Email Address