‘A staggering design and to my mind a masterpiece.’
Described by Spence as a masterpiece the Baptistery Window is made of 198 brightly coloured glass panels and measures 26 metres high.
The artist John Piper was asked to design the stained glass. His view was that with 198 small areas of window to fill, the glass needed dazzling colour and an abstract pattern to create unity.
Working with glassmaker Patrick Reyntiens, he created the window from thousands of differently-sized pieces of glass to visually vary the space and rest the eye.
Directions andaccessibility
Wheelchair accessible
Level access from the main Cathedral nave.
Wheelchair accessible
Assistance dogs are welcome.
Exploreour buildings
The New Cathedral
Sir Basil Spence’s 1962 masterpiece embodies both the stark and the beautiful, to powerful effect.
The Ruins are the remains of a medieval parish church. Hit directly by several incendiary bombs, the Cathedral burned with the city on the 14th November 1940.
The principle of a Chapel of Unity binding the Church of England and the Free Churches together for Christian service in Coventry was born out of the sufferings of war and the ecumenical enthusiasm of the church leaders.
Designed by Graham Sutherland, this impressive tapestry was woven by hand on a 500 year old loom and was at one point the largest continuously woven tapestry in the world.
The impressive large glass ‘west’ screen was designed and hand engraved by John Hutton over the course of 10 years, and features 66 figures depicting saints and angels.