History was made on May 25, 1962 when
the new Coventry Cathedral was consecrated eleven years after Sir
Basil Spence won the competition to design it. The new edifice
is a long, squat stone building joined by a pillared entrance porch to
the blackened ruins of the old cathedral, destroyed by German bombs in
November, 1940.
The new building took six years to build and cost £1,350,000. It
is dominated by a baptistry window set with richly stained glass designed
by John Piper and by the giant tapestry by Graham Sutherland of Christ
enthroned among the four beasts of the Revelation. Both are over 70 feet
high. Epstein’s St. Michael treading the Devil underfoot commands
the main entrance.
A souvenir number in full colour entitled ‘Coventry’s
New Cathedral’ published on May 26, 1962
(Appendix List No. 165) shows all the above
features in natural colour
photography or coloured photolithography. The centrefold shows a scene
looking back from the altar: the great nave with its immense baldachino
and walls of coloured glass, during work in the choir stalls.
The cover is the usual advertising wrapper with the words indicating the
special nature of the issue in the top half.
This is issue number 6408, vol. 240, pages 825-872, measuring 36 x 27
cm and priced at two shillings and sixpence.
