St Mary’s, Coventry, 1095–c.1250: 

From Lichfield/Chester to Coventry (1095–1102)

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In the later 11th century, the Benedictine house of St Mary at Coventry stood on the cusp of transformation. Robert de Limesey (d.1117), bishop of the diocese then commonly styled Cestrensis (the see having been translated to Chester in 1075), sought to move his bishop’s seat to Coventry by the mid-1090s. Contemporary and near-contemporary witnesses agree on the outline: Limesey effected the move c. 1095, and papal authorisation in 1102 regularised the translation, thereby raising the priory church to cathedral status. [i]In effect, St Mary’s became a cathedral priory with a monastic chapter under a prior and an episcopal cathedral in the nave, one of several Norman arrangements that yoked a Benedictine house to a bishop’s seat.

 

The ecclesiastical politics around Coventry were neither placid nor purely administrative. Already in the 1070s–80s Archbishop Lanfranc had to admonish Bishop Peter of Lichfield (Limesey’s predecessor) for harrying the Coventry community: the bishop demolished monastic buildings for materials and appropriated food renders, evidence that episcopal designs on Coventry’s resources pre-dated the formal move of the see. [ii] The VCH’s architectural survey preserves the tradition that around c. 1100 Limesey ‘plundered’ the priory, tearing down the monks’ quarters and carrying off stone. Ironically, this act of destruction both impoverished the community and set in motion the ambitious rebuilding that followed once the site gained cathedral status.[iii]

 

A crucial notice in John of Worcester under 1123/4 confirms the new reality on the ground: Roger (de Clinton), newly consecrated to the Cestrensis see, “was afterwards enthroned…in the episcopal chair at Coventry,” a plain acknowledgement that by the 1120s Coventry functioned as the bishop’s cathedral.[iv]

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Building a Great Church (c. 1115–c. 1250)

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Archaeology and later description reveal that the 12th–13th-century cathedral grew into one of the largest churches in England:[v] A vast cruciform church, about 425 feet (130 m) in length, with a central tower, twin west towers (likely spired), and a broad west front nearly 145 feet (44 m) across.[vi] The observable remains at either end of the plan and measured traces fix the overall length; Historic England’s listing and local syntheses encapsulate the main dimensions and elevations.

 

Stratigraphic work and stylistic reading suggest a two-phase building campaign. The first major Romanesque phase (already under way by c. 1115–1140) advanced from the east-chancel first, before moving westwards; the eastern termination likely had a later, faceted apse. After mid-century disruptions (see The Anarchy), a long second phase (c. 1150–c. 1250) completed nave and westworks in a Romanesque-to-Early Gothic style. This phasing, now widely cited, rests on the Phoenix Initiative excavations[vii] and related reports, together with earlier observations in the undercrofts.

 

The scale of the project makes sense only within Coventry’s unusual urban economy. The town being split between the Prior’s Half (north) and the Earl’s Half (south). Domesday Book (1086) already records a substantial settlement associated with Godiva’s landholding; in the 12th century the priory’s liberties and markets sustained the chapter, while the comital half - ultimately in the hands of the earls of Chester - encouraged a climate of civic competition and growth.[viii]

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Disruption and Siege in the Anarchy (1143/4)

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The civil war of King Stephen’s reign struck Coventry when Robert de Marmion seized the partly built priory precinct to assault Coventry Castle, expelling the monks and turning the churchyard into a fortification.[ix] Archaeology confirms siegeworks on the nave line, and chroniclers record Marmion’s death soon after, remembered as divine judgement for his profanation.[x]

 

This episode shows the broader militarisation of sacred sites during the Anarchy, reiterated in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle’s lament over castles and oppression.[xi] A fuller discussion of the priory’s role in these events is treated in the companion page in Coventry and the Anarchy.

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Resumption and 13th-Century Completion

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Despite mid-century violence and periodic financial strain (not least the earlier depredations under Limesey), work resumed. By the mid-13th century, the church had achieved its full footprint - a 130m cruciform, with a commanding west front and multiple towers.[xii] The cathedral’s lengthy construction period (c. 1150–1250) coincided with the revival of Coventry’s urban economy on both halves of the town and with the stabilisation of diocesan structures. John of Worcester’s record of the enthronement (1123/4) marks the beginning of a succession of bishops later styled as ‘of Coventry and Lichfield.’ In practice the see remained divided between the two centres, but Coventry gained an unusual degree of episcopal attention for a monastic church without its own cathedra.[xiii]

 

Archaeology has helped to recover important details of the cathedral’s architecture. Excavations in the 19th and 20th centuries uncovered the undercrofted ranges (including the frater and its substructures) and traced the west-end footings, which established the building’s main dimensions. Work carried out between 1999 and 2003 built on these findings, creating a coherent construction history and explaining anomalies—such as the siege trench—within a secure stratigraphic framework.[xiv] The surviving remains at the west end (now Grade I listed) still display finely cut ashlar and carefully set piers, evidence of a great Romanesque nave later refined in the medieval period.[xv]

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[i] Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae: Coventry and Lichfield (Institute of Historical Research, n.d.).

[ii] British History Online: VCH Warwickshire, vol. VIII, Religious houses & schools (St Mary’s) (n.d.).

[iii] William Dugdale, The Antiquities of Warwickshire Illustrated (London: Thomas Warren, 1656).

[iv] John of Worcester, Chronicon ex Chronicis (1123/4).

[v] David McGrory, A History of Coventry (The History Press, 2022), pp. 25–26.

[vi] Historic England, Remains of Coventry Cathedral of St Mary (List entry 1076588, n.d.); Historic Coventry: St Mary’s Cathedral (n.d.).

[vii] J. Rylatt and D. Mason, The Phoenix Initiative Excavations, Coventry, 1999–2003: Archaeological Report (Northamptonshire Archaeology, 2003); I. Soden et al., Archaeological Investigations at Coventry: Priory Precinct and Environs (Archaeology Data Service, 2003).

[viii] Open Domesday: Coventry Settlement, Lady Godiva’s Landholding (n.d.).

[ix] Heritage Gateway, Coventry HER: St Mary’s Priory & Cathedral (n.d.); Historic Coventry: St Mary’s Cathedral (n.d.).

[x] Dugdale, Antiquities of Warwickshire.

[xi] Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Peterborough Recension (n.d.).

[xii] Historic England, Remains of Coventry Cathedral of St Mary (n.d.).

[xiii] Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae: Coventry and Lichfield (n.d.).

[xiv] Rylatt and Mason, Phoenix Initiative Excavations; Soden et al., Archaeological Investigations at Coventry.

[xv] Historic England, Remains of Coventry Cathedral of St Mary (n.d.).