Coventry
13 February 2000

The missing cathedral and the diabetic prior

The incident room at Coventry.

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Excavations in a heavily built-up urban environment such as at Coventry pose special problems for the Team. Underground drains and cables and buried rubble not only made digging difficult, they also rendered geophysics survey work almost useless.

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View an animated reconstruction of Coventry Cathedral (412k)

Another programme, another first. Time Team's visit to Coventry, in search of the city's first cathedral, saw a break with its usual 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 One. 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.

Time Team had been invited to Coventry 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. St Mary's, as the cathedral was named, 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 early 1500s. 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.

Time Team's investigations centred upon four excavations. Trench One 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 Two 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 Three and Four, 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.

Raiders of the lost arch

The excavations at Coventry were bedevilled by all manner of unexpected problems, from dramatic hailstorms to the discovery of apparently modern bones, which would have required informing the coroner and calling in the police, but fortunately turned out to be very old after all. John Gater and Chris Gaffney's geophysics surveys were of little value: there were simply too many underground cables and drains and too much buried rubble for useful results. The same hazards also hampered effective excavation work.

But one of the most baffling problems occurred in relation to the excavation of the chapter house. An earlier excavation in the early 1960s had uncovered the doorway to the building, and there were drawings and even photographs of its finely carved stonework. Yet as Carenza and her diggers excavated Trench One they could find no trace of it now. Not until the third day did they solve the mystery. The stonework must have been removed – 'robbed out' as Mick put it – by the earlier excavation team. 'Raiders of the lost arch,' punned Carenza in humorous condemnation.

The delay in identifying the location of the doorway contributed to the late discovery of the grave which lay inside it. The geophysics folk partially rescued their slightly tarnished reputations as a final survey carried out on a muddy surface in heavy rain pointed towards a possible site of a grave in the chapter house floor. 'We can't leave without investigating it,' said Chris Gaffney, and so the seeds were sown for that extension into a fourth day.

The time remaining on Day Three was only enough to reveal that there was indeed a grave in the position indicated by the geophysics results. The following day, Caroline Barker and Paul Thompson uncovered the remains of a burial that had survived Henry VIII's dissolution and destruction of the monastery. The absence of records meant that it was impossible to be sure who the body belonged to, but its location means 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.

Time Team had fulfilled its objective in reconstructing the plan of the medieval Coventry cathedral; it had made some finds of beautiful medieval stone and glasswork; and it had produced an unexpected bonus in the shape of the body of a likely diabetic prior who had taken the programme into a unique fourth day. Even in the midst of a highly developed modern city centre, relics of the past still have the capacity to surprise us.

Quiz

Resources

This website contains links to other websites which are not under the control of and are not maintained by Channel 4 Television. Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of these sites and does not necessarily endorse the material on them.

Other Websites

Peter Barton has worked as both a web designer and photographer, and it shows in his website on the city of Coventry. This includes concise, well-presented pages on the city's history (www.exponet.co.uk/peter/hstoric-Cov/default.asp) and its modern-day cathedral (www.exponet.co.uk/peter/cathedral/default.asp). Further information, including a brief history, can be obtained from the Coventry Cathedral website at www.coventrycathedral.org.

Lichfield Cathedral, which Tony Robinson visited in search of an indication of how the original Coventry Cathedral may have looked when it was built, has a splendid setting and a fascinating history. Its three spires are unique amongst medieval cathedrals and are often referred to as the 'Ladies of the Vale'. Lichfield City Council's website provides information on its history at www.lichfield.gov.uk/lcc-cathedral-early.html, and the cathedral itself has details of its history, together with a floor plan and photo album at www.lichfield-cathedral.org.

If your interest in cathedrals covers a wider area than this, the Britain Express 'online travel magazine' supplies a handy A-Z of British cathedrals with basic information and photos, plus some links, at www.britainexpress.com/Where_to_go_in_Britain/Cathedrals/Cathedrals1.htm.

A special mention may be appropriate here for one of the internet's growing encyclopedic resources. The Catholic Encyclopedia at www.newadvent.org/cathen is a remarkable compendium of historical, religious and other information, which provides a rich factual resource, albeit with an obvious Catholic emphasis. It has, among very much else, detailed encyclopedic reports, with thoroughly researched linked sections to matters of related interest, on Henry VIII (at www.newadvent.org/cathen/07222a.htm) and the dissolution (called here the suppression) of the monasteries (www.newadvent.org/cathen/10455a.htm). There is access to the encyclopedia's index from every page, so you can browse further to your heart's content.

Stained Glass
Among the remains of Coventry's first cathedral uncovered by Time Team were many remnants of what must have been magnificent stained-glass windows, one of which was still contained in its original lead moulding. The Team employed a traditional stained-glass-making technique in an experimental reconstruction of a painted window for the programme. The technique, detailed in a medieval book, On Divers Arts, by the monk Theophilis, involved the use of a hot iron to crack and cut the glass and original pigments, which the book said should be dissolved in urine or wine.

The two stained-glass experts who enabled Time Team to carry out the reconstruction were Rodney Bender and Colin Telford, from the Architectural Stained Glass Department of Swansea Institute of Higher Education. The Architectural Glass Centre in Swansea is the commercial arm of the department. Its services cover most aspects of commissioning, manufacturing and installing decorative glasswork and it runs an informative website at www.agc.org.uk about various aspects of stained-glass production and education.

Further reading

There is an immense range of reading on medieval cathedrals, only a sample of which can be listed here, together with a few key texts on medieval monasteries, abbeys and priories.

Guided by a Stone-Mason: The Cathedrals, Abbeys and Churches of Britain Unveiled by Thomas Maude (I B Tauris, 1997) £8.95
Visiting historic buildings is one of Britain's most popular pursuits. Visitors, however, are often frustrated by existing guidebooks, which assume much prior knowledge of architectural history and terms. This book presents a new look at cathedrals, abbeys and churches through the eyes of the experienced stonemason, Thomas Maude. He uses historical and technical information, colourful anecdotes and his knowledge of building structures and techniques to convey the excitement which they hold in store.

Discovering Cathedrals by David Pepin (Shire, 1994) paperback £6.99
An introductory guide in the popular Shire series.

Cathedrals and Abbeys of England by the Dean of Norwich (Jarrold Publishing, 1999) £7.95
Illustrated introductory guide.

The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages by Alain Erlande-Brandenburg (Thames and Hudson, 1995) paperback £6.95
A colour-illustrated handbook/guide to the history of cathedral building in medieval Europe. Shows how they were built, by whom, and for whom, together with documentary sources.

Discovering Abbeys and Priories by Geoffrey Wright (Shire, 1998) paperback £5.99
The new edition of this user-friendly handbook clarifies the difference between abbeys and priories, traces the history of monasteries from Anglo-Saxon times to the dissolution, and describes the different monastic orders. Considerable reference is made to sites open to the public.

Abbeys and Priories by Glyn Coppack (Batsford/English Heritage, 1990) paperback £15.99
This well-illustrated introduction to the archaeology of monasteries explains the development of the variations on the familiar layout of church and cloisters; it discusses the monastic precincts and such fundamental topics as the drainage and sanitation.

Medieval Monasteries by J Patrick Greene (Leicester University Press, 1992) paperback £19.99
A good overview of the archaeological (and literary) evidence for monastic houses in Britain in the Middle Ages and life within them with frequent reference to important sites. Everything from the layout of buildings to the diet and drinking habits of the monks who inhabited them is covered in this wide-ranging book. The archaeology is put in the context of the complex history of monasticism in Britain, from its origins on isolated islands to the dissolution of corrupt and wealthy monastic estates in the 16th century. Clearly written, with no architectural or ecclesiastical jargon.

Life in a Medieval Abbey by Tony McAleavy (English Heritage, 1996) paperback £6.95
Colourful picture book explaining monasticism in simple terms, from a 'who's who' of medieval monks to an evaluation of the political role of the church in medieval England. Distinguished from other guides by some brilliant reconstruction paintings.

Medieval England: A social history and archaeology from the Conquest to 1600 AD by Colin Platt (Routledge, 1997) paperback £17.99
Colin Platt has the knack of weaving the varied sources of history into a convincing and readable tale. Here, he ranges from the Domesday Book through castles, cathedrals and monasteries to social issues such as the Black Death, social unrest and life in the towns. Well written and beautifully illustrated.

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