|
Sent back to Coventry
8 March 2001
The excavation of Coventry's first cathedral is the most important cathedral dig in more than 25 years. It was thought to have been virtually obliterated by Henry VIII. But a great deal more has survived than expected. Time Team was sent back to Coventry to catch up on the latest.
Website video clip exclusive! Mick 'the Dig' Worthington interviews Coventry City Conservation Officer George Demidowicz about the news from the site.
Read about it
Time Team's first Coventry dig
Find out more
Quiz
How much do you know about British cathedrals?
VR gallery
Take a virtual trip around the excavation with our 360-degree panoramic VR clips.
Photo gallery
Photos, finds and reconstructions from the dig.
The four-day dig
When Time Team went to Coventry, in 1999, in search of the city's first cathedral, the programme (screened as part of the 2000 series) marked a break with the Team's usually strict three-day rule. A discovery made late on the third day could not be properly excavated in the time left available. So when the rest of the Team packed up and went their separate ways, a camera crew stayed behind to watch one of the Team's diggers, Caroline Barker, and Coventry archaeologist, Paul Thompson, finish the job.
The reason for the breach in the usual routine was the discovery of a stone-lined grave cut into a floor uncovered at the base of Trench 1. This was the site of the chapter house of the Benedictine priory associated with the original cathedral. The location of the grave, just inside the main doorway to the chapter house, and the quality of the remnants of the shattered tomb lid, suggested a high-status burial – possibly that of a prior. Since a building was to be erected on the site after Time Team's excavations were finished, it was decided that the tomb could not simply be covered up again and left: it had to be investigated.
The following day, the remains were uncovered of a burial that had survived Henry VIII's dissolution and destruction of the monastery in the 1530s. The absence of records meant that it was impossible to be sure who the body belonged to, but its location meant it was quite likely that it was that of a former prior. Forensic examination of the bones also told us that they belonged to someone who was diabetic and overweight and died in late middle age.
Why the Team went to Coventry
Time Team had been invited to Coventry originally to see what it could discover about the city's first cathedral by the city council, which was planning to redevelop the site on which it once stood for public gardens and other facilities. The cathedral, St Mary's, once stood in an area adjacent to the modern cathedral and the earlier one, destroyed by the Luftwaffe in a bombing raid during the Second World War. All that remained of it above ground were two fragments at its east and west ends, but these were sufficient to give an indication of the scale of what would have been a large and prestigious structure, as befitting a city that was one of the most important in medieval Britain. There are no surviving contemporary illustrations of St Mary's, however, so our idea of what it might have looked like was dependent on conjecture based on antiquarian accounts.
Both the cathedral and its associated priory were demolished by Henry VIII at the time of his dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s. In most cases at this time, the churches linked with monasteries were saved. The cathedral was offered to the people of Coventry by the king, but they declined to meet the cost of its purchase and upkeep, so Henry – who had a particular disliking for the Benedictines – had it demolished. Its contents were removed, its stone and other materials used as a sort of vast urban quarry.
What they found
Time Team's investigations centred upon four excavations. Trench 1 was dug on the site of the old chapter house, the building second only in importance to the cathedral itself, where the administration and organisation of the monastery would have taken place. Trench 2 was to see Mick 'the Dig' Worthington becoming the first person in almost half a millennium to stand on one of St Mary's original plaster floors, with a solitary green medieval tile preserved in situ four metres below the present-day ground level.
Trenches 3 and 4, meanwhile, were to reveal the locations of two central crossing piers, which would have borne the weight of the main cathedral tower and roof. The discovery of these two piers enabled the Team to redraw the conjectural plan of the cathedral. Its nave (the long central part of a church) turned out to be shorter than originally thought – nine bays rather than ten – while the chancel (the part of a church containing the altar, sanctuary and choir) was correspondingly larger.
Why they went back
Since Time Team's first visit in April 1999, further excavations have uncovered large sections of both the Benedictine priory and St Mary's cathedral. While Coventry Archaeology focused on the priory – including extending the trenches first opened by Time Team – Northampton Archaeology concentrated on the cathedral itself. Among their finds in the area around the cathedral's west entrance was a layer of clay, overlying the floor and steps, which still bore the impression of wheel ruts from carts coming into the cathedral to haul away its stone.
Other finds in this large excavation area have included the head of a statue with red painted lips, several pier bases, large quantities of stained glass and great swathe of intact tiled floor. Elsewhere on the site, meanwhile, archaeologists uncovered fragments of a 600-year-old wall mural, its colours as brilliant as the day they were painted. The apocalypse picture, based on a Book of Revelations prophecy and showing three kings' heads, was spotted by archaeologist Barry Lewis on a fragment of Warwickshire sandstone, which was being lifted out of the ground by a mechanical digger.
What was most remarkable about the excavations, however, was the extent and preservation of the archaeology. The undercroft added to the Benedictine priory, in particular, was found to be stunningly preserved, with walls and pillars and even window frames surviving to a considerable height. And a spiral staircase running down the side of the chapter house produced particular excitement as it was uncovered.
The Team decided that the excavations were so impressive that they should return and film a follow-up programme, which they did early in 2001. 'I don't think anyone dreamed that we would find archaeology so well preserved,' said Tony Robinson. 'This is the most important cathedral site to have been dug in the last quarter of a century. We not only wanted to come back out of curiosity – we felt we had a responsibility to show the viewers what has been found. We knew the site would be good, but it had also been completely demolished by Henry VIII in his fury. But he wasn't furious enough and it's amazing to see what has survived.'
'So in total we've been here for seven days, which is a record,' said Tony. 'We've only been back to one other site, Turkdean the largest Roman villa ever uncovered. I would say this ranks among the top three sites we've ever done.'
On to Find out more
Back to the Time Team Past programmes page
Back to the 2001 series page
| 
