Holy Trinity Coventry

Very nice church in the heart of the old city, just one step from the Cathedral. Glass windows are very colorful with pictures of Jesus king of the world, Virgin Mary with the Baby surrounded by angels, coat arms, Jesus birth, Jesus crufucied,etc. Services takes place on Sunday at 8, 9.30, 11 and 16.30; Tuesdays and Thursdays at 13; and Wednesdays at 10.30. The church was opened when I visited and everybody was very generous.

The first known reference to Holy Trinity Church is in 1113. Its beginnings are tied in to the history of the Benedictine Priory of St Mary which was associated with Earl Leofric and Lady Godiva. The church appears to have originally been established next door to the Priory to act as a “side chapel”. The original Norman church was destroyed in a fire in 1257, being the north porch the only original part of the building to survive. The rest of the church was entirely rebuilt during the 14th century with three naves. The columns are amazing, and so is the wooden ceiling painted in but with gold stars. Amazing is also the vault in a gothic style.

During the 1430s, the painting of the Last Judgement, also known as the "Coventry Doom", was created above the tower arch to demonstrate the eternal consequences of both charitable and uncharitable acts; the image of judgment, blessing and damnation described in Chapter 25 of Matthew's gospel. Christ sits in the centre with the twelve disciples on either side. To His right kneels Mary amidst the dead rising from their graves. Above them is the stair to heaven. To Christ's left kneels John the Baptist who appears to be pleading for the souls of the damned below him.  These unfortunates include two kings, a cardinal and a monk, not to mention the city's ale wives who were thought to be corrupt.

The church underwent massive upheaval during the Reformation in the reigns of Henry VIII and his son Edward , losing most of its priests and many of its treasures. There is a chapel at one of the naves that was founded in the reign of Henry VIII called “Marler’s Chantry & Chapel”

Holy Trinity was not untouched by the Blitz, it lost its great east and west windows, which were replaced. When most buildings in the city, including the cathedral, were destroyed, the amazing efforts, preparation and bravery of Rev Graham Clitheroe, the Vicar, along with two or three others, including his curate and one of his sons, defended the church building from incendiaries and explosive devices all night. They had been sleeping in the North Porch to allow them to keep watch during previous raids and Rev Clitheroe had bought hydrants and ladders which they used to stop fires taking hold. On the night of 14th November, they spent the whole night extinguishing fires around the building and even pushing bombs off the church roof to stop further damage.