Coventry has come a long way since its large-scale destruction by enemy action in November 1940. One of the worst hit cities during the Second World War, Coventry had been a thriving industrial hotspot for 700 years before the Luftwaffe famously reduced much of the city to rubble, destroying lives, buildings and livelihoods. But the city bounced back remarkably quickly during the post-war years, and now, 81 years on from that fateful day, is poised for a year of celebratory events as it becomes the UK’s City of Culture, following in the footsteps of Londonderry (2013) and Hull (2017).

Coventry was granted city status as far back as the Middle Ages, and by the 14th century was one of the most important cities in England. Historically part of Warwickshire, it is now a city and metropolitan borough in the ceremonial county of West Midlands.

Early Coventry
The medieval market town of Coventry emerged from earlier settlements by the Romans and Danes south of the River Sowe, expanding in the mid-11th century around the Benedictine monastery founded by Leofric, the Earl of Mercia, and his wife, the legendary Lady Godiva. A motte and bailey castle, built by Ranulf de Gernon, the 4th Earl of Chester, briefly dominated the town during the 12th century, and was at the centre of a skirmish between the Earl and Robert Marmion during The Anarchy of 1135-53. The castle’s life was very short lived, and by the 14th century the site was occupied by St Mary’s Hall, which became the headquarters for several local merchants’ guilds.

By this time, Coventry had a number of well-established local trades. Cutlery manufacture thrived from the 13th century, but it was the cloth trade, during the 14th century, that sealed the town’s industrial importance.

The manufacture of woollen cloth was a mainstay of the city for the next two hundred years, with much of Coventry’s working population variously employed as weavers, dyers, fullers, spinners, drapers and the many other jobs associated with the industry. Coventry had its own mint from 1465, one of only five mints in England at the time – the others being London, York, Norwich and Bristol – further emphasising the city’s status as one of the country’s chief manufacturing centres.

This prosperous period was relatively short lived, and by the 16th century the cloth trade was in decline, largely due to competition from foreign imports. A flourishing tanning trade briefly revived the city’s fortunes during the early 16th century, but nevertheless unemployment was widespread, and in the early 17th century further misfortune struck when the city was ravaged by the plague.

Industrial revival
The decline of the cloth industry in Coventry was replaced in the 18th century with several major new industries, including ribbon making, button manufacture and clock and watchmaking. By the 19th century the city had burgeoned into a major manufacturing centre, becoming the cradle of bicycle manufacture that later evolved into a flourishing motor industry. The arrival of the railway in 1838 put the seal on Coventry’s status as one of the most important industrial cities in England.

The seeds for the cycle industry in Coventry were sown in 1885 by inventor James Starley (1830-1881). Initially involved in the manufacture of sewing machines, he moved from London to Coventry in 1861 and co-founded the Coventry Sewing Machine Company. Soon his interest moved on to bicycles, and among his many improvements was the differential gear system.

His nephew John Kemp Starley (1855-1901) designed the first commercially successful safety bicycle, the Rover, which quickly became popular and took over from the distinctly unsafe penny-farthing. By the turn of the century, Rover had evolved into making motorcycles and cars, establishing Coventry as the centre of Britain’s motor industry.

Another cycle manufacturer, Triumph, which had been founded in London in 1885, moved to Coventry in 1889 and began producing motorcycles in 1902, helping to cement Coventry’s reputation for motor production.

The 20th century also saw Coventry become a centre for the manufacture of tools, electrical goods and aeroplanes. Little wonder that during the inter-war years Coventry was a city full of optimism, its flourishing industries and modern developments sitting comfortably alongside the relics of its past.

In his 1927 book In Search of England, H.V. Morton described Coventry as ‘a modern manufacturing city which is spread like thick butter over a slice of medievalism’. Poignantly, in view of what was to follow just over ten years later, he added: ‘It is a lucky city. Fire, which wiped old London from the map, has spared to Coventry several of the finest buildings of their kind in the world.’

J.B. Priestley, in English Journey (1934), was particularly impressed with the way Coventry had consistently adapted itself over the centuries, having ‘acquired the trick of keeping up with the times… It made bicycles when everybody was cycling, cars when everybody wanted a motor, and now it is also busy with aeroplanes, wireless sets, and various electrical contrivances.’

Echoing Morton’s sentiments, he added: ‘As I write, the place has passed its worst period of decline.’

If only that had been the case. As war raged in Europe, Coventry’s industrial might and proliferation of munitions factories made it a target for the enemy, and overnight the city went from major success story to war casualty.

The Blitz and recovery
On the night of 14 November 1940, the Luftwaffe unleashed a ferocious bombing raid over Coventry in what the Germans called Operation Moonlight Sonata. The 14th century Cathedral Church of St Michael, in the heart of Coventry’s medieval town, was almost completely destroyed, along with around 4,000 homes and most of the city’s factories. Around 500 people lost their lives, with many more injured.

After the war, a huge recovery and redevelopment effort was soon underway. Damaged buildings were swept away, new buildings and housing developments sprang up and the city began to prosper again, largely thanks to its burgeoning motor industry.

The most significant post-war building was the new cathedral, designed by Scottish architect Sir Basil Spence (1907-1976) and built adjacent to the remnants of the old cathedral, which includes the soaring 300ft spire, the tower and parts of the outer wall. The new Coventry Cathedral is a potent symbol of the city’s post-war rebirth and renewal, and its imposing presence alongside the forlorn and rather eerie remnants of its predecessor is a poignant one.

The cathedral was consecrated on 25 May 1962, an occasion marked five days later with the premiere of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, commissioned for the occasion.

Around the cathedral are several buildings from Coventry’s medieval past that survived the Blitz. St Mary’s Hall – recognised as Britain’s finest medieval guildhall – was largely unscathed, and is currently undergoing major reconstruction and renovation work. The Holy Trinity Church, which dates from the 12th century, also remained intact.

The post-war era was one of optimism for Coventry, but by the 1970s its fortunes as a manufacturing city were in decline. Rover had moved to Solihull, eventually to be subsumed into British Leyland – a fate that also befell Triumph, its Coventry factory closing during the early 1980s. Unemployment soared, and there was widespread hardship in the city. By the beginning of this century, though, there had been another turnaround for Coventry, and the city is now a centre for business, finance, retail, research, design and the leisure industry.

Now, as the 2021 City of Culture, Coventry can hold its head high as a city that has endured mixed fortunes but has survived, tackling the challenges that fate has thrown its way, and forever proudly embracing its past while looking ahead to its future.