Coventry Cathedral and St Mary's Guildhall

Thu 5th Jun 2025

09:00 am

Lecturer:

Trip to Coventry

The Arts Society Nottngham is delighted to be offering a day visit to Coventry on Thursday, 5 June 2025. The trip includes guided tours of two of the most iconic buildings housed within the city and conveniently situated in close proximity to each other.

St Mary's Guildhall and St Michael's Cathedral - the latter is newly built and consecrated in 1962 following the extensive bombing of the original during WW2.  For the more energetic, it should be possible to fit in a short visit to the Herbert Art Gallery about 100m from the Cathedral.

The morning will be spent at St Mary’s Guildhall where, after coffee and cake enjoyed within the “in-house” Tales of Tea Cafe, our party will be split into groups and given a guided tour of the building and the jewels that lie within. St Mary’s Guildhall acted as the centre of power in England during the War of the Roses, housed the crown jewels, was the prison of Mary, Queen of Scots and hosted famous literary figures such as George Elliot. This medieval building has recently undergone a 2 year, 6 million pound restoration that included opening up the original medieval kitchen. In the stunning Great Hall, the famous Coventry Tapestry still hangs in its original spot after 500 years. Follow the threads of the medieval wool trade, which made Coventry an important centre of commerce and power.

We will stay in the Guildhall for a soup and roll lunch and then move over to the new St Michael’s Cathedral built alongside the ruins of the original, which was badly bombed during WW2. Once again we will be given a guided tour and Lizzie Holden, who has organised our tour, has requested that our guides focus on the art works commissioned to be housed within the Cathedral. The new Cathedral, designed by Basil Spence, was consecrated on 25 May 1962 by Cuthbert Bardsley, Bishop of Coventry. Benjamin Britten's War Requiem was composed for the occasion and premiered there on 30 th May.

The Cathedral contains powerful and permanent works of some of the greatest artists of the twentieth century for many of whom the project became deeply personal.  These include:

The coach will pick us up at the Clifton site of the Park and Ride tram stop at 9 am and will deposit us back there at about 5.30 pm. Members can drive to the Park and Ride and park there all day (please note that it is necessary to buy a tram ticket and leave it on the windowsill of the car). Alternatively the site can be reached by tram on the line running south of the city.

Accessibilty in Coventry - the coach can park directly outside the Cathedral and our party wiill need to walk 120 metres to St Mary's Guildhall for the first tour and lunch.  Following the tour of the Cathedral, our coach will be available to board directly outside. Both venues have lifts and levelled access and, in the case of St Mary's, some raised platforms. However St Mary's is an old building and there are some areas which do not have full step free access. These areas are included in a 360-degree photo tour which is available on tablets at reception.

The price per person is £60 which includes coach travel, coffee/tea and cake on arrival, soup and roll with coffee/tea for lunch and two guided tours.  It is because two tours are included that this trip is slightly more expensive than the 2024 day trip to Elton Hall.

We have booked a 53 seater coach and places are offered on a "first come, first served basis". Members can book for partners, family members and friends at the time of booking.