Coventry Through The Ages – An Ancient City
January 1, 2010 by Trevor Johnson
Filed under Destinations
Coventry is a very large town in England and is one of the largest cities in the Midlands. This city is the farthest from any of the coasts in the country and is not considered a core cities group because it is too close to Birmingham. This town was the first to twin with another city. Coventry was twinned with what is now known as Volgograd.
Coventry itself is considered ancient as its history predates the many other larger nearby cities. This development was most likely due to the bowl shape at the town center as it was thought the first settlement was from the Bronze Age. Much of the surrounding area had plenty of water, shelter and food.
Coventry contains a Benedictine monastery, roman settlement and Saxon nunnery throughout time. The abbey eventually held a market outside its gates which caused m ore people to settle in the area. During the Middle Ages the cloth trade was very prominent and this was a very important spot for cloth in England. In the 18th and 19th centuries Coventry was one of three centers for watch making and clock manufacturing. This industry flourished until the Swiss began producing watches.
Coventry also found success in bicycle manufacturing which eventually led to car manufacturing. At one point in time Coventry had more than 100 different car producers in Coventry. However the last car to be produced in Coventry was in 2006 and since then only offices and headquarters for the main automobile producers are located in Coventry.
A popular tourist attraction in town is St. Michael’s Cathedral and it is also one of the best known landmarks. Much of the cathedral was destroyed during bombing raids in World war II but a few sections of the cathedral can still be seen, mainly the spire and outer wall. There is a new Coventry Cathedral located right next to the ruins, designed by Basil Spence.
The Coventry Transport Museum is another popular tourist destination as this contains the largest collection of road vehicles that were all made in England. The museum holds several world speed record breaking cars. In the center of the city is the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum and is found in a reconstructed Roman fort.
Coventry is mentioned in many works of music and literature and has been used in several televisions productions.
Find your next Coventry hotel here.