Historic England Coventry

An illustrated history one of England’s finest cities - Coventry.

Coventry has a remarkable bicycle manufacturing heritage. From the first velocipedes built in 1868, the city went on to become the home of the British Cycle Industry, and at one time produced the greatest output of cycles in the world – with well in excess of 350 individual cycle manufacturers over a 100 year period.The Coventry Machinists’ Company were the first in Britain to mass produce cycles, and steadily, more and more companies were established in the city. Soon Coventry became internationally recognised as being a place where only the very best machines were made, and the name ‘Coventry’ itself became a stamp of quality engineering and fine craftsmanship.Richly illustrated with 100 outstanding photographs from The Coventry Transport Museum, many previously unpublished, this is the first book of its kind to cover the history of Coventry bicycle manufacture and the men who built them. From Dunlop, Hobart, Singer, Premier, Rover, and Triumph to other less well known local companies, their legacies are still enjoyed by cyclists today.

This is the first major book to study English architecture between 1945 and 1975 in its entirety. Challenging previous scholarship on the subject and uncovering vast amounts of new material at the boundaries between architectural and social history, Elain Harwood structures the book around building types to reveal why the architecture takes the form it does. Buildings of all budgets and styles are examined, from major universities to the modest café. The book is illustrated with stunning new photography that reveals the logic, aspirations, and beauty of hundreds of buildings throughout England, at the point where many are disappearing or are being mutilated. Space, Hope, and Brutalism offers a convincing and lively overview of a subject and period that fascinates younger scholars and appeals to those who were witnesses to this history. Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

This book examines management of the built cultural heritagethrough the use of the concept of cultural significance. Itconsiders how and why cultural significance is assessed and how itcan be used as an effective focus and driver for managementstrategies and processes. Effective management of the built cultural heritage requires aclear understanding of what makes a place significant (and how thatsignificance might be vulnerable) but the book also emphasises thatthis understanding of cultural significance must inform allactivities in order to ensure that what is important about theplace is protected and enhanced. The book was written in the midst of much fundamentalrethinking, both nationally and internationally, on approaches tothe conservation of our built cultural heritage. Managing BuiltHeritage: the role of cultural significance is analytical andreflective but also draws on real life examples to illustrateparticular issues, looking at current approaches and drawing outbest practice. The authors consider key policies and procedures that need to beimplemented to help ensure effective management and the book willbe useful for specialists in built cultural heritage - conservationofficers, built heritage managers, architects, planners andsurveyors - as well as for facilities and estates managers whosebuilding stock includes listed buildings or buildings inconservation areas.

Detailed, accurate illustrations of 43 homes in wide range of styles: Mark Twain House, House of the Seven Gables, Nathan Hale Homestead, Robert Frost Place, The Breakers, many more. Informative captions.

This report describes excavations at the St Mary's Priory and cathedral church, Coventry, conducted between 1999 and 2003 as part of the Phoenix Initiative, Coventry's Millennium Project. The Priory was located on the site of a late Saxon Abbey whose benefactors were Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and his wife, Lady Godiva. Its church became a cathedral in the early 12th C AD and the priory grew to become one of the largest monastic communities in the region. It was suppressed on 15th January 1539 and the cathedral became the only one in the Kingdom to be destroyed as a result of dissolution. This excavation report describes the history of the buildings and then presents new discoveries about the cathedral, the monastic house, the service buildings and priory mill. Detailed studies of finds include chapters on floor tiles, apocalyptic paintings in the Chapter House, pottery, coins, leather, wood, glass and human bone.

This is the first overview of the career of Alison and Peter Smithson, the most controversial yet most widely-influential of post-war architectural practices. From their first youthful project, the school at Hunstanton, to their final works, they epitomised the idea of the avant-garde architect, and were strongly engaged with artists and critics and with groups and tendencies in Britain and beyond. 0Structured thematically and chronologically, the book gives a coherent and compact narrative of the Smithsons' work and ideas. As well as all of the major buildings - including the Economist complex, the Garden building at St Hilda's College, and the Robin Hood Gardens estate - the book also discusses unbuilt projects, including substantial work for the British embassy at Brasilia and the Kuwait mat-building. It culminates with the less well-known factory additions, museum and house for Axel Bruchhauser, a furniture manufacturer in Germany. Central to their work, Mark Crinson argues, was a concern with belonging, with how we identify ourselves with places in a context of change.0Lavishly illustrated with new colour images as well as original drawings and historic photography, this book is an essential read for architects, students and enthusiasts for modernism wanting to learn more about the Smithsons.

The German Luftwaffe's air raid on Coventry, England on the night of November 14, 1940 represented a new kind of air warfare. Aimed primarily at obliterating all aspects of city life, it was systematic, thorough, unconnected to any immediate military goal, and indifferent to civilian casualties. In a single night, roughly two-thirds of the city's buildings were damaged or destroyed as the bombers laid waste to legitimate industrial targets and civilian structures alike. The old St. Michael's Cathedral, a 14th century Gothic structure that burned to the ground that night, still stands in ruins today as a testament to the city's destruction during the raid. Pragmatic British government propagandists would exploit Coventry's perceived status as a "historic town," playing down the city's industrial reputation. This would prove to be a powerful tool, and, as Frederick Taylor shows, was instrumental in tipping public opinion in the then-neutral United States away from isolationism and in favor of help for Britain. But the bombing would also set a dangerous and destructive precedent as Allied air forces would study the Germans' methods in the attack and ultimately employ similar tactics in their equally ruthless and destructive attacks on German cities, eventually leading to the bombing of Hamburg in 1943 and Dresden in 1945 that killed hundreds of thousands, mostly civilians. On the 75th anniversary of the Coventry bombing, acclaimed historian Frederick Taylor brilliantly narrates this momentous act and analyzes its impact on World War II and the moral quandaries it still engenders about the nature of warfare.

The general perception of the west midlands region in the Roman period is that it was a backwater compared to the militarized frontier zone of the north, or the south of Britain where Roman culture took root early – in cities like Colchester, London ,and St Albans – and lingered late at cities like Cirencester and Bath with their rich, late Roman villa culture. The west midlands region captures the transition between these two areas of the ‘military’ north and ‘civilized’ south. Where it differed, and why, are important questions in understanding the regional diversity of Roman Britain. They are addressed by this volume which details the archaeology of the Roman period for each of the modern counties of the region, written by local experts who are or have been responsible for the management and exploration of their respective counties. These are placed alongside more thematic takes on elements of Roman culture, including the Roman Army, pottery, coins and religion. Lastly, an overview is taken of the important transitional period of the fifth and sixth centuries. Each paper provides both a developed review of the existing state of knowledge and understanding of the key characteristics of the subject area and details a set of research objectives for the future, immediate and long-term, that will contribute to our evolving understanding of Roman Britain. This is the third volume in a series – The Making of the West Midlands – that explores the archaeology of the English west midlands region from the Lower Palaeolithic onwards.