Coventry Heritage Open Days

Those who saw the crypt, exactly which civic centre was it? I've seen 2 and 4 in the advertising. If someone can locate it on a map I might be able to say what it belonged to.

A lot of people don't realise just how many historical things there are in the city. I know people who've lived here for 30 years and they're surprised when I mention some of them. It's no surprise, really, as what do most people do in Coventry? They drive to the shopping centre, walk around the precinct a little and then go home. Drive straight to IKEA/Skydome and then go home. I work with someone who lives in Coventry and hasn't even been into the city centre for 20 years! There are two Coventries, IMHO. The 'post war' one that dominates and the bits and pieces that survived that seem to sit there and aren't really part of the city anymore, they're lost amongst the empty streets and flyovers. There was no place for it in the new 'precinct' or with the new road system, so they're just sitting there, looking sadly out of place and not really enjoyed most of the time, even for their aesthetics. As Dutchman said, he grew up surrounded by 'heritage' and didn't need special weekends to appreciate it.

When I said "The Cathedral looked dull and grey" I meant the inside really. It has some wonderful parts, the windows, the little Chapels and the marvellous slender pillars which support the roof. Also the figures by Elizabeth Frink and other sculptures, not forgetting St Michael and the Devil. The tapestry look faded and patchy and a bit wrinkled and I've never quite got used to the uncomfortable position Christ is in. The organ was playing jangling discordant music which didn't help the general air of neglect and lack of joy. A bit harsh maybe, but if you go into Holy Trinity or St John the Baptist it's a much nicer experience.

Ah, I see. I agree, about the chapels. They work well. Those slender pillars aren't load bearing, by the way, the shell of the building is concrete so it doesn't need things like pillars and flying buttresses. The original plan was to have those pillars resting on spheres, but I think they cost too much so they apparently made them taper to a point instead. I've not been in the new Cathedral for years. I'm not religious so I don't tend to go into churches unless it's as tourist attraction, which is what the older ones are. The new one is to religious for me! Holy Trinity seems larger on the inside that it looks outside. I'm surprised they didn't just turn this into the new Cathedral after the war.

It is in Civic Centre 2, opposite the end of Bayley Lane. You enter through an automatic door into a lobby, then down one floor via lift or stairs. The crypt is at the end of a short corridor behind a door marked 'Do Not Enter'. If you look on Google Streetmaps, my estimate would be that it is under the shop called 'The Deli'.

I found this on the English Heritage web site: Earl Street basement It's on the 'at risk' register. I wonder what will happen to this when the council vacate the civic centre?

Ah, that makes sense, thanks MisterD-Di + flapdoodle. The Old Star was the fourth building from the corner of Much Park Street.

I'm not religious either. I like History & craftsmanship and they're good places to go to see it. The tombs in the Beauchamp Chapel in Warwick Church for instance, or the bell in Monks Kirby Church that's still in use after 700 years. The Cathedral was frankly a bit cobwebby and didn't seem to have any joy about it. A nice choir would have helped or some flowers. The first person we met gave us an envelope to put money in and told us we were lucky to come today because it was free to get in. Yuk.

I do agree with you, Davey. I think the new cathedral is a soulless eyesore. The comment about the person who gave you that envelope doesn't surprise me in the least. It would seem to be nothing more than a tourist trap now, and there are far better places to spend your tourist £s in the city. I wonder why they need to beg, given the vast fortune the CofE owns. I believe it's normally about £7 to walk round. The idea of charging to go into a church makes no sense to me.

Mister D-Di, I agree with both you and Davey, and you put it better than I, and I, one of the few people today, who went to, and I suppose idolized the Cathedral as a kid, only to find out I had been hoodwinked if that is the word, in this instance our opinions agree. Off topic sorry. Davey the finest craftmanship I ever saw in cathedrals was in Milan.

Did not have much free time at the weekend to enjoy all of this but I've been wanting to get inside this for years. Fantastic to see - what a gem!

I knew I'd forgotten to go somewhere.

Heritage Open Days 2016 A good list. Whitefriars Monastery is opening this year which I particularly want to visit. Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 September.

Thanks, Helen. There are a few of those I'd still like to see. I will go and see some of the ones outside the city centre this year, I think. We went to city centre venues last year and they were a bit of a mixed bag. I had really looked forward to seeing the Godiva clock and hoped it would be a tour of the works where the horse travels in and out. What a letdown when the guide, who had no idea and made no comment at all, just opened a door and let everyone look through it at the mechanism of the clock itself for a minute or two. I shall pick more wisely this time.

The Council House is well worth a visit Mister D-Di