Old Cathedral and Church of St Michael

It's interesting to see how high the floor in the ruins is. I'm sure this contributes to how small they feel when you enter them. I wish they'd lower the floor back to the original level. Having said that, I wish they rebuilt the thing back to what it was in the first place. But I generally get a bad reaction when ever I propose that!

Hackjo, hi, I have posted enough about the cathedral way back, I feel people of today cannot grasp just how much it meant to the people of Coventry prior to the destruction, probably because I was a lad and a church goer, I heard so many disgruntled moans of the lack of effort to rebuild, at the time it seemed a great mistake but today with the religion losing out it does not have the importance. With my age I can remember the deep emotion and feeling of a congregation in a packed church, today the television packs the church, but the feeling is not there, the deep belief is lacking, and although I no longer believe I do remember.

There was a shortage of resources after the war, although I'm not sure that was true by the time they started the cathedral. It was certainly cited as a reason for delaying the building permit (check out Spence's book). I haven't read it for years, but I recall he was annoyed because the building was actually concrete, not brick. Not sure they were 'capable of building all they wanted'. If you look closer into the post-war reconstruction, it wasn't particularly smooth politically (a lot of conflict between local politicians and Westminster) nor was it quick. Almost a decade after the war finished nothing of note had been built and the plans had been through endless iterations (in Europe a lot more reconstruction had taken place). The cathedral took a couple of decades to get finished and by the seventies most of the plans for the city centre had been abandoned - and then the economic crisis meant stagnation with a half-completed city centre, dwindling earnings and falling population. The reconstruction of the cathedral was also saddled with controversy as the original plan - a Gothic style church replacing the ruin but retaining the tower was cancelled as the Gibson thought the new structure should be 'modern' to fit in with 'his' new city (ironically, the Cathedral Quarter is one of the few areas to retain substantial remnants of the old city, and I suspect this original plan!) I've got a fantastic book somewhere that consists of a series of papers about the experiences of reconstruction in many European cities. Coventry's seems to have been quite troubled and probably why it has ended up just as disjointed as the old city!

Hi all If my mum was still alive, her opinion might differ as she might consider that the greatest loss was losing her shop, which was then rebuilt with straightened out bent nails & a few reclaimed bricks. The UK war debt was a huge factor, that I sometimes hope that the German politicians remember, when meting out their dictatorial attitude towards Greece. After the war, consolidation was a huge factor in the minds of war battled Coventry folk & the Cathedral was a symbolic of that coming together.

Much has been said and shown in the last few days of Hiroshima, with the "Atomic Dome" at the forefront - a symbol of what happened to that city in 1945, now surrounded by the rebuilt city where once such devastation reigned Similarly, our "Old Cathedral" stands, surrounded by the rebuilt city centre, as a symbol of the dreadful blitz in 1940, of the suffering and the courage of the city and its people In Liverpool, the shell of St Luke's Parish Church stands as a similar symbol, of their blitz in 1941 when the city and the great River Mersey stood firm against the enemy - and there was uproar a couple of years ago when plans were mooted to sell the site to developers These three ruins, and others like them, are valuable reminders of world and local history, and whilst they recall the evil of war, we should take pride in retaining and preserving them and the memories that they hold

Midland Red, I agree with you completely. We need these reminders, but unfortunately we seem to be slow to learn from the past. I took this picture at a Shinto Shrine close to the Atomic Dome in Hiroshima a few years ago. I found the wording rather touching.

Yes, I have learnt a lot from your posts, and thank you all. Longford Lad, the trouble with me is I am too damn old. One of our closest friends is a Japanese girl and her family, a lovely girl, a really nice family, but it can't erase the memory of the atrocities they inflicted on people, one who lived a few doors from you at that time. Just another long time memory.

Good evening. I thought I'd post some pictures of the old cathedral organ at Coventry. Built by Henry Willis & Son in 1887 and rebuilt and enlarged J. Charles Lee, Coventry in 1914. I've attached the correct stop list with pictures. Pedal 30 note Double Open Diapason 32 Open Diapason 16 Violone 16 Bourdon 16 Lieblich Bourdon 16 Octave 8 Violoncello 8 Bass Flute 8 Ophicleide 16 Clarion 8 Solo To Pedal Swell To Pedal Great To Pedal Choir To Pedal Choir 58 Notes Contra Gamba 16 Open Diapason 8 Lieblich Gedact 8 Dulciana 8 Gemshorn 4 Lieblich Flute 4 Piccolo 2 Corno di Bassetto 8 Tremulant Solo To Choir Swell To Choir Great 58 Notes Double Diapason 16 Open Diapason 8 Open Diapason 8 Open Diapason 8 Open Diapason 8 Claribel Flute 8 Octave 4 Principal 4 Flute Harmonique 4 Twelfth 2 2/3 Fifteenth 2 Mixture IV Trombone 16 Trumpet 8 Clarion 4 Solo To Great Swell Octave To Great Swell To Great Swell Sub Octave To Great Choir To Great Choir Sub Octave To Great Swell 58 Notes (Enclosed) Bourdon 16 Open Diapason 8 Lieblich Gedact 8 Vox Angelica 8 Viola d'Orchestre 8 Viole Celeste 8 Geigen Principal 4 Flageolet 2 Mixture 3 rks Contra Hautboy 16 Hautboy 8 Cornopean 8 Clarion 4 Tremulant Octave Sub Octave Solo Concert Flute 8 Concert Flute 4 Orchestral Oboe 8 Clarinet 8 Vox Humana 8 Tremulant Tuba 8 Tuba Clarion 4

Hi all & hi Organcrazy26 Welcome to our forum. Thank you for the detailed description of the cathedral organ. If we go into technical discussion regards the spec, it may be prudent for us to copy the post into our specific organ topic. When ever I am inside the ruins of the old cathedral, my attention is always drawn to the area of the ruin, where the organ was positioned, as that is the part of the cathedral that burnt most fiercely. The pipes acted as chimneys, drawing the air currents which fuelled the combustion. What a spec for an organ. What a waste too as it went up in flames. I remember not long after I was married, walking home on a miserable evening, only to find a local church fully ablaze. Holbrooks Evangelical in Parkgate Rd burnt in the same fashion, where a three manual pipe organ drafted the destruction of itself. Later that evening when the flames were out, I walked around to see the damage & I wish that I hadn't. It was an electrical fault that started that fire, not a German incendiary. PS Here is a link explaining a bit about organ stops. Please go to our general organ discussion topic for any technical discussion.

Hi all, I was once told that the organ in the old cathedral that was destroyed, was owned at one time or played by Handel himself, anyone know if this is correct? Thanks in anticipation. Kaga.

This article mentions the organ being famous because Handel played it.

Osmiroid, thank you, I have read a good many articles on the blitz, but that's the first I've seen that talks of the cathedral organ, also I'm not sure if we had a raid the next night, because early Sat morning, my dad took me to see the city centre, first time I ever saw water in his eyes, was when we scrambled through the rubble at the top of Trinity Street and saw the ruins of the cathedral, it was still smoking and heat came from the rubble, later we collected pieces of wood and incendiary and returned home, he had hardly slept for two nights, later he made a stick from the pieces, my brother still has the stick, I think he was going to make a cross but for some reason never finished it. I have a strong feeling there was a small booklet printed about the organ way back in the thirties we may have had, but its all hazy stuff now. Thanks anyway. Kaga. ps, Seem to remember a booklet with a squiggly red design edge.

Hi all A meet-up with friends saw me inside our cathedral ruins today. Remedial construction work to expose the medieval floor in progress.

It probably is true that Handel played an organ in St. Michael's church some time in the early 18th century (long before it was a cathedral), but the organ that was destroyed in the blitz was a different one - and installed at the opposite end of the church, too - in late Victorian times, I think. I think our Philip will know a lot more about the type of organ, and I've a copy of a picture showing the older one from around 1860, which I'll need permission to put up here as it's not mine.

Hi all Classical or church organs have never been my forte, but we do have a professional classical organist in our current membership. He supplied the info on post 198. I will copy this post in to our general organ topic. The word "Stop" as used here is simply that it controls or "Stops" the flow of air through or over a set of pipes. Sets of pipes are often referred to as ranks. Some pipes or ranks have the air blown through them, like a flute, some have vibrating reeds, like a clarinet, some the air passes over the top, similar to a panpipe or when you blow over the top of a pop bottle. Some stops control what other stops are doing, like coupling one manual (keyboard) to another, or coupling pedals to a keyboard. So, if you press note C with your foot on the pedals, the same note C will play on the keyboard, or all of the keyboards if so set. Some stops couple octaves, so, if you play a C on one keyboard, the next C up will also play. You might be by now, if you are still conscious, realising where the word organ comes from, "Organisation". Hope that helps.