Christchurch, New Union Street
Here are two views of Christchurch, which stands between New Union Street and Warwick Lane. Both photos are from a similar standpoint but separated by nearly one hundred years (2006 and 1909). If you're interested in seeing more of these "before and after" type of photos, I have many more in the "Now and Then" section of the website.
The original church on this site was built in the early 1200's by Franciscan monks known as the Greyfriars and was much larger than its 19th century rebuild - 240 feet in length by 60 feet wide. The structure was cruciform in shape and straddled the centrally placed spire. However, it became another of Coventry's victims to King Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. Fortunately, the tower and spire were retained, keeping for our city its third spire for which we are now famed.
By the beginning of the 1800's Coventry's population was again on the increase and with St. Michael's parish alone containing over 12,000 inhabitants it became a priority to build another church to share the load. By the mid 1820's donations and subscriptions had been collected and the existing tower with spire was given to the church by Coventry Corporation. The second half of the decade was spent on the final obstacle of freeing up the land around the spire that had been built upon since the project was begun.
The foundation stone was laid on the 16th March 1830 and Bath stone with brick was used for its construction. By spring 1832 it was complete and had its consecration ceremony on the 3rd August that same year. Due to the restrictions of the surrounding buildings, the new Christchurch was only 124 feet in length and 55 feet wide and the spire was now at one end of the church forming the chancel, rather than centrally positioned.
However, the lifespan of the second church was even shorter than the first. It survived the first major air-raid of November 1940, but Coventry suffered two more air-raids of similar magnitude on the 8th and 10th April the following year, and it was the first of these that destroyed the main church building for the second time in its history. In spring 1950 the remains of the walls were demolished and Coventry's third spire now stands alone once more.
