Coventry
- For alternate meanings see: Coventry (disambiguation)
Coventry is a city in the West Midlands, England. With a population of 300,848 (2001 census), Coventry is the tenth largest city in England, and is a twin city to Dresden.
It is traditionally a centre of motor and cycle manufacture, the Triumph motorcycle having its origins in 1902 in a Coventry factory. Although the motor industry has declined, the Jaguar factory remains and a large Peugeot car factory is located in Ryton just outside the city.
Large areas of the city were destroyed during World War II in a massive German bombing raid on November 14, 1940. The city's medieval cathedral was destroyed along with 60,000 of the city's 75,000 buildings, and 568 people were killed. The attack was carried out by 500 Luftwaffe bombers that dropped 150,000 fire bombs, 503 tons of high explosives, and 130 parachute mines.
The rebuilt Coventry Cathedral was opened in 1962 next to the ruins of the old cathedral. It was designed by Basil Spence and contains the tapestry, "Christ in Majesty" by Graham Sutherland and the aluminium statue of St Michael and the Devil by Jacob Epstein.
Coventry is the home of the University of Warwick and Coventry University. It is also home to the Museum of British Road Transport, where the world speed record breaking cars, Thrust2 and ThrustSSC are displayed. The father of the modern jet engine, Frank Whittle, was born in Coventry.
In fiction, Coventry was the model for Middlemarch in the famous George Eliot novel.
A city within the historic boundaries of Warwickshire, Coventry administratively became a metropolitan district of the West Midlands metropolitan county in 1974. After the disbanding of the metropolitan council in 1986 it has remained a metropolitan district, administered as a unitary authority area.
Coventry's most famous resident was Lady Godiva, who allegedly rode through the city naked on horseback. There is a statue of her in the city centre. The city is also traditionally regarded as the home of the original Peeping Tom.
In football Coventry is represented by Coventry City F.C.
In Britain, to "send someone to Coventry" means to ostracise them.
Neighbouring towns: Rugby, Kenilworth, Warwick, Nuneaton
History
Coventry is believed to have been established in the year 1043 when a Benedictine Abbey was constructed. The abbey was founded by Leofric Earl of Mercia and his wife Lady Godiva. And soon afterwards a market and a settlement was established at the abbey gates.
By the 13th century Coventry had become a centre of many textile trades, especially those related to wool. Coventry's prosperity rested largely on the dyers who produced "Coventry blue" cloth, which was highly sought after across Europe due to its non-fading qualities. Coventry became one of the largest and most prosperous cities in Medieval England and for many years was one of the few cities in England to have a protective wall.
Due to its importance, in 1451 King Henry VI granted Coventry a charter, which made Coventry a county in itself, a status it retained until 1847. It was restored as a county borough in 1889.
In the 16th century due to the restrictive practices and monopolies of the trade guilds, the cloth trade declined and the city fell upon hard times.
The phrase "sent to Coventry" may have originated during the English Civil War, when Coventry, a stronghold of the Parliamentarian forces, was allegedly used to house Royalist prisoners. Others claim that the phrase grew out of the hostile attitude of residents of the city to troops billeted there.
In the 18th century Coventry became home to a number of French immigrants, who brought with them silk and ribbon weaving skills, which became the basis of Coventry's economy. Coventry began to recover, and again became a major centre of a number of clothing trades.
During the 19th century Coventry became a centre of a number of industries, including watch and clock making, manufacture of sewing machines, and from the 1880s onwards bicycle manufacture. Due to this industrialisation Coventry's population grew rapidly.
Population growth in Coventry
- 16,000 (1801)
- 62,000 (1901)
- 220,000 (1945)
- 335,238 (1971)
- 303,900 (1995)
By the 1930s Coventry had developed a large car manufacturing and motor industry, becoming the centre of the British motor industry. The city remained prosperous and largely immune to the economic slump of that decade.
Coventry's darkest hour came during World War Two. Hitler singled out Coventry for heavy bombing raids, due to its historic architecture and the fact that it was a major industrial centre.
On November 14th 1940 a massive bombing raid by the Luftwaffe destroyed vast areas of the city, and the medieval centre of the city was obliterated, including its famous cathedral. In total 554 people were killed and over 60,000 buildings were destroyed in the raid, although unofficial figures put the number of people killed far higher.
After the war the city was extensively rebuilt. The new city centre built in the 1950s was considered one of the most modern of its time, and copied by city planners throughout the world. A new modern cathedral was also built.
The population of the city peaked in the late 1960s at around 335,000. However during the 1970s and 1980s the city fell into recession with factory closures and high unemployment, the population of Coventry also declined by around 10% during this time. In the early 1980s, a hit record was made about Coventry called "Ghost Town" by a band called The Specials, which summed up the grim economic situation in the city.
In recent years Coventry has begun to recover, with new high tech industries locating in the city.
Coventry's main industries today include cars, electronic equpment, machine tools, agricultural machinery, man-made fibres, aerospace components and telecommunications equipment.